Oil and Water Do Mix: Foregrounding Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy in Developing Disciplinary Identities

This qualitative single-case study examined how a spoken word poetry unit foregrounding principles of culturally sustaining pedagogy culture uplifted students’ cultures and identities while developing their disciplinary habits of practice in English language arts (ELA). Through a research-practice partnership conducted in a middle-grade ELA classroom, the study documents the design and implementation of a curriculum that positioned students as co-constructors of knowledge, drawing on anchor texts that more closely reflected their lived experiences in an intentional effort to disrupt and ultimately expand traditional notions of the literary canon. Findings reveal that, in honoring their powerful ways of knowing (and being) and creating space for their negotiation and sharing of self through poetry, students began to understand the practices privileged in the discipline as tools to support their meaning-making process. The study highlights how culturally sustaining pedagogy fostered critical literacy skills, rhetorical awareness, and a deeper sense of agency in academic spaces. Additionally, evidence suggested that integrating disciplinary habits of practice within a culturally sustaining framework enhanced students’ ability to analyze and interpret texts while cultivating a classroom environment that affirmed diverse voices and perspectives. These findings have implications for literacy education, particularly in reimagining the role of disciplinary literacy within English Language Arts instruction. By shifting from a model that privileges traditional Eurocentric approaches to one that centers students' cultural and linguistic assets, educators can create more inclusive and equitable learning experiences and expand canonical ways of knowing. This study advocates for envisioning pedagogical approaches that are more transformative and reach toward ‘collectividuality’ (Stetsenko, 2017)—realizing ourselves and the world.