Making Room for One Another ─ Dynamic and Designed Dialogicality in a Kindergarten Classroom

Quoting an abolitionist preacher, Martin Luther King Jr. once said, «The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice». This is true, but the moral arc doesn’t bend on its own. We must lean into the task. Making Room for One Another is the story of how one kindergarten teacher did just that. This critical ethnography lies at the intersection of democratic, transformative pedagogy and differences that impact an urban kindergarten. Drawing largely on discourse analysis, the book explores the interplay between Zeke, the classroom teacher, and his students. The participation, resistance, and discourse patterns of one particular student exemplify the complex nature of social systems in general and emancipatory pedagogy in particular. All educators recognize their responsibility to hone students’ cognitive abilities, to teach students to read and to write and to reason. Making Room for One Another is written for educators who dare ask themselves the question, «Read and write and reason about what? To what end must students read and write and reason?»

Gerri August (PhD in education, University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College) is Assistant Professor of Educational Studies and the Director of the M.Ed. program at Rhode Island College. She is the co-author of Safe Spaces: Making Schools and Communities Welcoming to LGBT Youth.