Teaira McMurtry, Ph.D.
Teaira McMurtry, PhD, a Milwaukee native, has served 12 years at Milwaukee Public Schools as a high school English teacher, literacy coach, and district administrator. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Secondary English Education at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. McMurtry also teaches educational leadership courses centered on equity at Alverno College. Her work focuses on humanizing pedagogies that place students’ native language at the epicenter of instruction, fostering cultural maintenance, empowerment, and success of African American students. Thus, she urges educators to critically reflect on their acceptance or rejection of students' rich linguistic capital and equips teachers (in and preservice) with the knowledge, attitudes, and approaches to cultivate language as a tool to empower students.
Thursday, November 18, 2021 | 10:30 AM - 11:45 AM (CT)
With Liberty and Linguistic Justice for All: Pledging Allegiance to Anti-Racist Language Pedagogy
The truth is that all Americans speak an English that has been transformed by the language of Black Americans” ~ James Baldwin (1980)
In the land of the free and the home of the brave, Black Language (BL) must be a part of teachers’ conceptualizations of multilingualism. BL is a living linguistic legacy, an embodiment of Black culture, and much more than simply a list of grammatical features that veer for White Mainstream English. Thus, for teachers to move toward dispositions and language and literacy pedagogical practices that are inclusive, just, and anti-racist, they must become aware of and interrogate their real trouble with BL through guided and continuous critical, introspective, and reflexivity. After providing an understanding of BL through a sociolinguistic perspective, Dr. McMurtry will engage participants in activities that elucidate concepts that are vital to Black linguistic justice. She will conclude by providing recommendations and resources for how teachers can begin and sustain their journey in committing to anti-racist linguistic justice in educational contexts and beyond.
