2012 Call for Program Proposals
Reclaiming Joy in Teaching, Learning, and Research
St. Louis, MO July 19-21, 2012
2012 Proposal Form 
Pre-Conference Call for Proposals: The Pre-Conference will be held on Thursday, July 19. It is based on a long tradition of political activism and advocacy for social justice in a democratic society, especially with respect to literacy research, theory-building, and pedagogy. Pre-Conference Proposal Form
Submission Deadline: October 28, 2011
The Whole Language Umbrella’s 23rd Annual Literacies for All Summer Institute is intended to focus on the extremely political act of reclaiming classrooms and other settings for learning as places of joyful engagement, and complex relationships. Joy is one of the most hopeful emotions, and for us, as whole language educators, the search for and support of joy is central to what we do and who we are. As a growing number of us engage in critical literacy work with learners, the intensity of such work may suggest a marginalization of joy, but we are countering that notion because the work of becoming conscious of power, struggles, positions, and more, although sometimes painful, is the very essence of what it means to be an informed citizen in a democracy. An informed citizenry experiences the deepest and highest meanings of joy because of the profound understandings that such consciousness allows.
Join us in sharing your students and your stories of joys, those remarkable accomplishments that take place in spite of or in response to the repressive environments in which we might work. Or, if you are fortunate enough to work in a supportive setting, share those stories, too, of course! Figuratively, and perhaps literally as well, in the summer of 2012 we will tell the stories of dancing even if we were told to be still, singing even if we were told to be silent, and feeling even if we were told to dismiss emotions.
Join us in reclaiming our joys and celebrating them in the wonderfully supportive forum that gathers each year under the whole language umbrella.
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