Building on our #NCTE15: G.05 Teaching Beyond the Classroom: Social Media as Teacher Activism and Professionalism and the focus of the 2016 annual convention, Faces of Advocacy, we are forming a roundtable, Confronting Educator Advocacy with Pre-Service and Early Career Teachers.

We see a need for addressing the experiences, struggles, and strategies for supporting advocacy by pre-service and early career teachers.

Administrators, veteran teachers, teacher educators, as well as pre-service and early career teachers—our stories and how we confront the need for teachers to challenge policy, racism, sexism, and classism in our schools and society will be the focus of the presentation and roundtables.

If you are interested in joining this proposal, email me (paul.thomas@furman.edu) ASAP.

Table/topics addressing challenges for advocacy related to race/racism, gender/sexism, sexuality/homophobia, and classism are encouraged.

Some draft table ideas include:

Table: Teacher Advocacy: A Southern Dilemma

P.L. Thomas, Sean P. Connors, Nicole Amato, Kristen Marakoff

Table: Guilt as Guidance

Shekema Holmes Silveri

Table: Risk and Reward in Writing for the Public?

Peter Smagorinsky, Christina Berchini

Table: Writing for the Public – Positive Stories, Critique, or Both

Steve Zemelman

Table: Schools of education in advocacy partnerships with parents, students, communities, and k12 school personnel

Julie Gorlewski

Table: Advocating for Disability Access

Patricia Dunn

Table: What does Advocacy look like in the Rural and Small Town School

Patricia Waters