Language, Nation, and Identity in the Classroom

David Hemphill is a professor, researcher, and musician. He is Professor and Chair in the Graduate College of Education at San Francisco State University, where he has been on the faculty for three decades. He writes widely on culture, language, literacy, and power in education. Erin Blakely has worked in elementary and middle schools for fifteen years as a reading and math specialist, academic dean, and school leadership facilitator. She develops curricula and policy, designs equity initiatives, facilitates collaborative leadership teams, and provides professional development for local school districts.

«If you think you understand language learning, David Hemphill and Erin Blakely will challenge you to think again. This book insightfully shows how today’s schooling, far from exemplifying progress, is rooted in historic processes and practices that organize people into unjust hierarchies. Using marvelous examples to illustrate their keen analysis of the state of U.S. education today, the authors skillfully dislodge assumptions about language and literacy learning that commonly pass as truth.» (Christine Sleeter, Professor Emerita, College of Professional Studies, California State University Monterey Bay)«David Hemphill and Erin Blakely challenge us to re-engage social theory if we are to understand the persistent reproduction of inequality in our school system. They illuminate the perils of our ahistorical and decontextualized approach to teaching and teacher development, while reminding us of the legacy of colonialism in twenty-first century discussions about the role of schools in our society.» (Jeff Duncan-Andrade, Associate Professor, Raza Studies & Education, San Francisco State University)

• Contents: Narratives of Progress and the Colonial Origins of Schooling – Deconstructing Modernity – Multiculturalism and the Domestication of Difference – Globalization, Transnationality, and Citizen-Consumers – Social Cognition – Commodification of Language and Literacy – Discourse and Discipline.