As more students of color enroll in public schools, the need increases for a curriculum and teacher practice that affirms their identity and experiences as well as recognizes and reverses inequities. This is particularly important in today’s secondary writing classrooms where too many students of color are not performing well on the tests that measure writing. Research shows performance levels are not a reflection of student ability, but the ramifications of a disconnect between cultural writing practices and what is emphasized in formal schooling. The skills in writing classrooms can be useful tools for students facing marginalization, yet these classrooms are in the crosshairs of culture and curriculum wars in the current political and social climate placing writing teachers squarely on the frontlines. This single-participant, qualitative case study examined the experiences of a high school English teacher who instructs writing to a majority of students who identify as Black or Hispanic/Latino. It aimed to see if this teacher implemented any components of Dyches and Boyd’s (2017) social justice pedagogical knowledge (SJPK) by incorporating culturally accessing, critical, or agency-inciting approaches to her instruction. Using semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis, the study provides insight into theways a teacher navigates a limiting curriculum, embeds culturally affirming and critical instruction through rapport-building and choice-based techniques, and moves students toward agency and action in their writing. Findings also include how a teacher becomes self-actualized in SJPK methods in order to infuse the same practices in her instruction.
