Ernest Morrell is Associate Professor of Urban Education and Cultural Studies and Associate Director of Youth Research at the Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access (IDEA) at UCLA. He is a writer of poems, plays, essays, novels, and academic books, book chapters, articles, reviews, and encyclopedia entries. For more than a decade he has worked with adolescents, drawing on their involvement with popular culture to promote academic literacy development. Morrell is the author of, Linking Literacy and Popular Culture: Finding Connections for Lifelong Learning and Becoming Critical Researchers: Literacy and Empowerment for Urban Youth. Morrell has been invited to give numerous keynote addresses for postsecondary institutions and national organizations and he consults with schools in urban areas including Boston and Los Angeles.
View Ernest Morrell's Resume/Vita, Publications and Workshops.
Level: K-12
- Media Literacy
- Media Production
- Literature Instruction
- Mass media
- Hip-Hop Poetry
- Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
The Art of Critical Pedagogy: The Possibilities of Moving from Theory to Practice in Urban Schools
Critical Literacy and Urban Youth: Pedagogies of Access, Dissent, and Liberation
Popular Culture and Literacy Development in 6-12 Classrooms
This multimodal interactive workshop will explore the possibilities for educators to include popular culture in their curricula to increase the academic and critical literacy development of their students. Drawing on nearly two decades of research and practice Morrell will explain some of the core concepts surrounding the teaching of popular culture and its impact on student motivation and achievement. Morrell will also share numerous examples of his work with teachers and students. Finally, participants will have the opportunity to share with one another and consider how they might use popular culture in their own classrooms.
Boston Plan for Excellence
Serves as consultant and workshop facilitator for project with urban teachers in Boston Public Schools that engage students in critical research projects for literacy development and social change.
C to the B Productions, Paramount Pictures
Serves as a consultant to a show under development by Paramount Pictures that uses hip-hop music and culture to increase language and literacy learning among pre-school children.
Lansing Unified School District: Lansing, MI
Worked with English Language Arts teachers brainstorming ways to more effectively teach critical multicultural works of literature in diverse classrooms. Helped district administration to design a summer program for at-risk youth, 2002–present.