Everyday Advocacy Workshop

by Cathy Fleischer

Exciting news on the advocacy front! EMWP’s third summer workshop drew in attendees from around the state and the country. New Everyday Advocates joined returning fellows to learn ways of organizing for change in their local contexts, with a goal of reframing the conversation about the teaching of literacy. Teachers created action plans for developing allies, identifying decision-makers, honing their message, naming realistic goals, and coming up with tactics that might lead to real change. Among the plans that the participants came up with:

Alaina Feliks is working to help parents, teachers and administrators understand why it’s important to create a vibrant and well-supported reading community.

Liz Thackery has created a plan to help teachers, departments heads, and curriculum leaders understand the importance of teachers implementing innovative, research-based curricula in their schools.

Daniel Potter is helping policy makers better understand how teachers are already helping students learn literacy and involving decision-makers in these ways of teaching.

And more exciting post-workshop news: the Everyday Advocacy website that grows out of this work and that is sponsored by NCTE is almost ready to launch—with amazing information about becoming a change agent and lots of examples from teachers who have taken EMWP advocacy workshops. We’ll have a big presence at this year’s NCTE convention in Atlanta: teachers from across the country (and in the EMWP network) have gone through 3 evenings of online workshops and will lead a series of sessions at convention. The goal is to help members of NCTE see themselves as Everyday Advocates and to rewrite the story of literacy education!

Come join us there and take a moment to view our website!