At the heart of Rethinking the "Adolescent" in Adolescent Literacy
is a call to English language arts teachers to examine the very
assumptions of adolescence they may be operating from in order to
reimagine new possibilities for engaging students with the English
curriculum.
Relying on a sociocultural view of adolescence established by scholars
in critical youth studies, the book focuses on classrooms from diverse
contexts to explain adolescence as a construct and how this perspective
of youth can encourage educators to re-envision literacy instruction and
learning. Working from and looking beyond Adolescent Literacy: An NCTE
Policy Research Brief, the authors explore the "myth" of adolescence
and the possibility of a curriculum that positions youth as experts and
knowledgeable advocates fully engaged in their own learning.