The Dance of Diversity: White Male Teachers and Arts Based Instruction for Classrooms

Reading and Writing for Adolescence and Adulthood is a course for teacher candidates that introduces them to arts-based literacy instruction. The purpose is to train teachers to enhance reading and writing skills in adolescents. The pre-service teachers were encouraged to study theory and perform practical exercises using the arts so that they could share their experience with their own high schools students. Evidence of their growth as teacher/leaders who understand and value the arts, regardless of the content area that they work in, is evident in their comments about arts-based literacy instruction. This study is a reminder that young teachers from all backgrounds represent a significant opportunity to change the course of literacy instruction so that more youth are successful in and outside of formal learning institutions.