In this study, we explored students’ experiences while enrolled in a culturally sustaining literacy pilot program, which incorporated multicultural audiobooks. We examined components of this program and how it engaged and improved literacy practices and strategies. Twenty-four adult males in a correctional institution participated. We utilized constant comparison to analyze the data, which included a reflexive journal, observations, lesson plans, writing samples, reading responses, a survey, and a focus group interview. We identified three major themes: “This is me,” “Y’all are students”, and “Gracias, Thank you.” Students demonstrated increased confidence in discussions and their literacy skills and strategies.
AuK. (2011). Literacy achievement and diversity: Keys to success for students, teachers, and schools. Multicultural Education Series. Teacher College Press.
2.
BemissE. M.DoyleJ. L.StyslingerM. E. (2017). Learning from students behind the fence: A critical book club with incarcerated youth. English Teaching: Practice & Critique, 16(2), 268–284. https://doi.org/10.1108/ETPC-05-2016-0067
BennettS. V. (2017). Hozho: “I like the way you dance with the children”. In StaikidisK.Ballengee-MorrisC. E. (Eds.), Transforming Our Practices: Indigenous Art, Pedagogies, and Philosophies!National Art Education Association Press.
5.
BennettS. V.CalderoneC.DedrickR. F.GunnA. A. (2015). “Do I have to leave?” Beyond linear text: Struggling readers’ motivation with an innovative musical program. Reading Improvement, 52(2), 51–60.
6.
BennettS. V.GunnA. A.Gayle-EvansG.BarreraE. S.LeungC. (2017). Culturally responsive literacy practices in an early childhood community. Early Childhood Education Journal, 46(2), 241–248. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-017-0839-9
7.
BennettS. V.GunnA. A.LeungC. (2016). Comprehension strategy instruction with literature circles and response journals: Promoting preservice teachers’ metacognitive thinking about a multicultural text. Journal of Literacy Practice & Research, 42(1), 26–33.
8.
BennettS. V.GunnA. A.PanosA.HartS. M.SchneiderJ. J. (2022). Five frames: A multi-curricular approach to culturally sustaining literacy practices. In CantrellS. C.Walker-DalhouseD.LazarA. (Eds.), Culturally sustaining pedagogy: Developing socially just literacy teaching practices. Teachers College Press.
9.
BennettS. V.GunnA. A.PetersonB. (2021). Access to multicultural children’s literature during COVID-19. The Reading Teacher, 74(6), 785–796. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2003
10.
BennettS. V.GunnA. A.PetersonB. J.BalaraA. (2023). “Connecting to themselves and the world”: Engaging young children in read-alouds with social- emotional learning. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687984231196232
11.
BishopR. S. (1990). Mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors. Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom, 6(3), 9–11.
CalderoneC.BennettS. V.HomanS.DedrickR. F.ChatfieldA. (2009). Reaching the hard to reach: A comparison of two reading interventions with incarcerated youth. Middle Grades Research Journal, 4(3), 61–80.
14.
CantrellS.Walker-DalhouseD.LazarA. M. (2022). Enacting culturally sustaining literacy practices: Toward more socially just teaching. In CantrellS. C.Walker-DalhouseD.LazarA. M. (Eds.), Culturally sustaining literacy pedagogies: Honoring students’ heritages, literacies, and languages (pp. 159–170). Teachers College Press.
15.
ChangI.-Y.ChangW. (2012). The effect of student learning motivation on learning satisfaction. International Journal of Organizational Satisfaction, 4(3), 1–26.
Conway-TurnerJ.WilliamsJ.WinslerA. (2023). Does diversity matter? School racial composition and academic achievement of students in a diverse sample. Urban Education, 58(6), 1085–1117. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085920902257
18.
Correctional Education Association (2016). No illiterate or poor-reader prisoner should be left behind: Teaching nonnative criminal prisoners to read through cognitive processing of emotions. Journal of Correctional Education, 67(1), 17–38.
19.
CreswellJ. W. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. Sage.
20.
DyceC. M.Owusu-AnasahA. (2016). Yes, we are still talking about diversity: Diversity education as a catalyst for transformative, culturally relevant, and reflective preservice teacher practices. Journal of Transformative Education, 14(4), 327–354. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541344616650750
21.
GardnerJ.KlonskyA.ClemensI.GallardoS.HarrisR.RosarioN.SuarezA.TorresB.TorreM. E. (2022). Back in on the outside: Racialized exclusion at Chicago’s school/prison nexus and the promise of student voice. Urban Education, 59(4), 1078–1105. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420859211068465
GubaE. G.LincolnY. S. (2005). Paradigmatic controversies, contradictions, emerging confluences. In DenzinN. K.LincolnY. S. (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 191–215). Sage.
25.
GunnA. A.BennettS. V.LeungC. (2014/2016). Preservice teachers’ “revelations and connections”: Fostering deep conversations while reading multicultural literature. Journal of Contemporary Research in Education, 3(1/2), 37–52.
26.
GunnA. A.BennettS. V.PetersonB. (2022). “She looks like me:” Putting high-quality multicultural literature in children’s hands during COVID-19. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 36(3), 363–380. https://doi.org/doi 10.1080/02568543.2021.1991532
27.
GunnA. A.BennettS. V.van BeynenK. (2020). Talking about religious diversity: Using multicultural literature as a tool. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 33(1), 10–16.
28.
GuthrieJ. T.WigfieldA. (2000). Engagement and motivation in reading. In KamilM. L.MosenthalP. B.PearsonP. D.BarrR. (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. 3, pp. 403–422). Erlbaum.
29.
HughesL. (1994). The collected poems of Langston Hughes. Knopf, Random House. 1902-1967.
30.
HussainS. T.BatoolS. Y.RehmanA. U.ZahraS. Y.MahmoodK. (2023). Examining the status of prison libraries around the world: A literature review. International Foundation of Library Journal, 49(1), 180–200.
31.
IoannidouE.KiourtiE.ChristofidouC. (2019). Literacy education in prison: Developing a social literacy programme in prison school of Cyprus. Research Papers in Education, 34(5), 597–620. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2018.1524925
32.
JingnaD. (2012). Application of humanism theory in teaching. Higher Education of Social Science, 3(1), 32–36.
33.
JonesT.BrownC. (2011). Reading engagement: A comparison between e-books and traditional print books in an elementary classroom. International Journal of Instruction, 14(2), 5–22.
34.
KruegerR. A.CaseyM. A. (2000). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research (3rd ed.). Sage.
35.
Ladson-BillingsG. (1995). But that's just good teaching! The case for culturally relevant pedagogy. Theory Into Practice, 34(3), 159–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405849509543675
36.
Ladson-BillingsG. (2009). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers for African-American children. Jossey-Bass.
LarsonL. C. (2015). E-books and audiobooks: Extending the digital reading experience. The Reading Teacher, 69(2), 169–177. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1371
39.
LeechN. L.OnwuegbuzieA. J. (2007). An array of qualitative data analysis tools: A call for qualitative data analysis triangulation. School Psychology Quarterly, 22, 557–584. https://doi.org/10.1037/1045-3830.22.4.557
40.
LoveB. L. (2019). We want to do more than survive: Abolitionist teaching and the pursuit of educational freedom. BeaconPress.
41.
McCulleyY.GillespieC.MurrA. H. (2014). Assessing the effectiveness of text-to-speech software in incarcerated adult literacy education. The Journal of Correctional Education, 65(2), 2–19.
42.
McGrewK. (2016). The dangers of pipeline thinking: How the school-to-prison pipeline metaphor squeezes out complexity. Educational Theory, 66(3), 341–367. https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.12173
MilnerH. R.BennettJ. (2022). Lessons on pedagogy in the carceral system and teacher education. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 124(3), 237–264. https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681221087001
47.
MorganH. (2021). Restorative justice and the school-to-prison pipeline: A review of existing literature. Education Sciences, 11, 159–168. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11040159
48.
MuthW. (2016). “A big circle of unity”: Incarcerated fathers being-in-text. Journal of Literacy Research, 48(3), 317–345. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296X16661609
49.
MuthB.SturtevantE.PannozzoG. (2017). Performance and beliefs: Two assessments of literacy learners in prison part 1. The Journal of Correctional Education, 68(1), 71.
NashB. L. (2023). Attending to the sounds of stories: The affordances of audiobooks in the English classroom. Changing English, 30(2), 99–106. https://doi.org/10.1080/1358684X.2023.2169899
52.
NeumanS.KnapczykJ. (2020). Reaching families where they are: Examining an innovative book distribution program. Urban Education, 55(4), 542–569. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085918770722
53.
NoahT. (2019). Born a crime: Stories from a South African childhood. One World.
54.
NogueraP. A. (2003). Schools, prisons, and social implications of punishment: Rethinking disciplinary practices. Theory into Practice, 42(4), 341–350. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4204_12
55.
OemigP.BaptisteH. P. (2018). Investigating the development of science-literate identities through a multicultural perspective. Multicultural Perspectives, 20(2), 81–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2018.1447070
56.
OlaghereA.KremerK. P.FongC. J. (2021). Learning opportunities while incarcerated: Association of engagement in literacy and numeracy activities with literacy and numeracy skills. Adult Education Quarterly, 71(3), 232–250. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741713620988505
57.
ParisD. (2012). Culturally sustaining pedagogy: A needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. Educational Researcher, 41(3), 93–97. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X12441244
58.
ParisD.AlimH. S. (Eds.). (2017). Culturally sustaining pedagogies: Teaching and learning for justice in a changing world. Teachers College Press.
59.
PattonM. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Sage.
60.
PowellP. H. (2017). Loving vs. Virginia. Chronicle Books.
61.
RasinskiT. (2014). Fluency matters. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 7(1), 3–12.
SaldañaJ. (2016). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Sage.
64.
SandenS. (2012). Independent reading: Perspectives and practices of highly effective teachers. The Reading Teacher, 66(3), 222–231. https://doi.org/10.1002/TRTR.01120
65.
Severson-IrbyE. A.FinleyC. M.MuthW. R. (2020). Expanding college programs in U.S. Prisons: Insights from Virginia. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 64(3), 342–346. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1101
66.
StakeR. E. (2005). Qualitative case studies. In DenzinN. K.LincolnY. S. (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 443–466). Sage.
67.
StrachotaE. (2006). The use of survey research to measure student satisfaction in online courses [Paper presentation]. Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, University of Missouri-St. Louis, MO, October 4–6, 2006.
68.
StraussA.CorbinJ. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Sage Publications.
69.
TatumA. W. (2019). Incarcerated youths, adults and texts: The ambivalent literate identity. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 63(1), 111–114. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.980
70.
TatumA. W.MuhammadG. E. (2012). African American males and literacy development in contexts that are characteristically urban. Urban Education, 47(2), 434–463. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085911429471
71.
TaylorR. T.McAteeR. (2003). Turning a new page to life and literacy. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 46(6), 476–480.
72.
VaccaJ. S. (2004). Educated prisoners are less likely to return to prison. Journal of Correctional Education, 55(4), 297–305.
73.
VillegasA. M.LucasT. (2002). Preparing culturally responsive teachers: Rethinking the curriculum. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(1), 20–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487102053001003
74.
WaldJ.LosenD. J. (2003). Defining and redirecting a school-to-prison pipeline. New Directions for Youth Development, 2003(99), 9–15. https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.51
75.
WelshR. O.SwainW. A. (2020). (Re)Defining urban education: A conceptual review and empirical exploration of the definition of urban education. Educational Researcher, 49(2), 90–100. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X20902822
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
