Embracing Expansive Literacies: Our Collective Editorial Vision

Abstract

As the incoming editors of the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, we are excited to build on the legacy of this longstanding and high-impact journal. We thank the previous editorial team, Judith Franzek, Koomi Kim, Heather Porter, and Matt Sroka, for their editorial work over the past 5 years which has expanded the scope and reach of JAAL. We are also indebted to previous editorial teams since the shift from the Journal of Reading to JAAL in 1995, including Kathy Hinchman and Kelly Chandler-Olcott and Margaret Hagood and Emily Skinner, who have shaped many readers' trajectories in the field of adolescent and adult literacy. Additionally, we appreciate and honor the educators who have published their work in JAAL and scholars who have served as reviewers to help bring manuscripts to publication.

As we receive the torch as JAAL co-editors, we aim to uplift the spirit of collective literacy scholarship from our own diverse lived experiences, academic pathways, and ways of interpreting and acting on the world. As an editorial team, our collective pursuits address literacy for equity and justice. In this inaugural issue, we share our vision, our shared commitments, and our invitations to the readers and contributors of JAAL.

We adopt a pluralistic view and holistic understanding of literacies that is grounded in a strong, justice-focused orientation. Our vision addresses explicit goals aligned with critical literacy, such as disrupting oppressive systems and leveling power structures in literacies teaching, research, learning, and leadership.

We believe that JAAL should continue to encourage discussions about the evolving multidimensional nature of literacies. Beyond traditional reading and writing skills, the advancement of pluralistic literacies should highlight the role of criticality in digital and non-digital literacies. The world is moving at a fast pace, and we recognize the potential of multimodal meaning-making informed by AI and other innovations. Likewise, we steadfastly promote culturally sustaining pedagogies and linguistically responsive teaching. We believe that these approaches amplify the work of scholars of color and emerging researchers and practitioners, fostering generative knowledge and practices in adolescent and adult literacies. We value multiple theoretical lenses while encouraging reflexivity on literacy practices, processes, and perspectives. We recognize multiple learning contexts and inter-relationships with particular attention to the overlooked contributions and ingenuity of educators and communities historically excluded and marginalized across local and global spaces.

We are committed to advancing research and practice at the intersections of literacy, equity, and social justice—embracing literacies as inclusive, expansive, empowering, and grounded in praxis. In alignment with the needs of educators and researchers, we envision JAAL as a space for illuminating disparities, disrupting oppressive systems, and promoting pluralistic, emancipatory, and transformative understandings of literacies.

We invite ILA and non-ILA members alike to become more familiar with the longstanding impact JAAL has had and the possibilities for impacting the future. We invite you to do as many of the following as possible: (1) Contribute to JAAL by submitting articles, discussions, reviews, etc. Encourage colleagues to submit their work; (2) Circulate the work of JAAL. As the journal is in an online format, sharing newest titles, early view articles, and social media posts about recent publications elevates the strong work of JAAL authors; (3) Volunteer to review for JAAL and be a part of the process of ensuring expansive work in literacies is made public.

JAAL is at the forefront of advancing inclusive, pluralistic, and emancipatory literacies in the evolving field of literacy. We look forward to engaging collectively with readers, authors, members, and those outside of our fields to be a part of this critically important work (Figure 1).

Eric Claravall

Associate Professor in Literacy and Special Education, Teaching Credentials, College of Education, California State University, California.

Before my position as a university instructor, I was a middle school special education teacher in a culturally diverse school district in northern California. I also taught in elementary school from kindergarten to fifth grade. My research advocacy is to address social justice, disrupt forms of oppression, and dismantle the structure of colonial ideologies in education through critical literacies and civic engagement. As a Filipino American immigrant, I bring a rich cultural perspective and resilient spirit shaped by my journey from the Philippines.

Eric Junco.

Director for Academic Cultivation and Engagement and Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education, Northern Illinois University.

I am an Afro-Latino, cis-gender male educator with 12 years of high school and community college English teaching experience. My work centers on cultivating literacy as a tool for liberation, equity, and inclusion. My research explores how literacy and critical inquiry can support inclusive pedagogy and systemic change within educational institutions.

Jung Kim

Professor of Literacy and Co-Chair of the Department of Education at Lewis University.

A former high school English teacher and literacy coach in Chicago Public Schools, I am a 1.5 generation Korean American, cis-gender woman, mother, and educator. I have long been interested in issues of race, representation, and equity in schools, literature, and praxis. Having witnessed firsthand the outcomes of inequitable and oppressive systems that exclude and marginalize youth, my work focuses on greater inclusion and representation in literature and literacy.

Jill Castek

Professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies, University of Arizona.

I came to literacies research as a practitioner and literacy specialist in elementary and middle schools working with multilingual learners and families. My research literacy teacher education focuses on digital literacies and multiple ways of meaning making. My work addresses adult education and learning across the lifespan to encourage teaching, learning, and global connections for building community. I support literacies learning in all of its modes and forms across the lifespan. My research aims to create spaces for literacies researchers and educators to find solidarity and collaboration.

Michael Manderino

Associate professor in the Curriculum and Instruction Department in the College of Education, Northern Illinois University.

I have taught and led literacy and curricular efforts in two large high schools for over 20 years that serve predominantly Black and Brown students and families. My research focuses on digital literacies for disciplinary learning as ways to expand what it means to build and circulate knowledge and ideas. Through these lived experiences and my positionality, I am committed to the work of equity and justice for young people and their families.

Betsy Carter

PhD candidate in Second Language Acquisition & Teaching at the University of Arizona.

I am a language educator with several years of university, community college, and high school experience teaching German and English. My research focuses on the impacts of study abroad on learners' future lives, an interest sparked by my own experiences studying in Austria and Germany, as well as leading a study abroad program in Germany each summer. Through my teaching, I aim to challenge the racialized and colonial underpinnings that have fostered the spread of both German and English, facilitating more equitable, critical language learning.

Tyler H. J. Frank

PhD student in Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies at the University of Arizona and Professor in Basic Education for Adults (BEdA) at Clark College in Vancouver, WA.

I am a PhD student and Cloverdell Fellow. My work focuses on strength-based approaches to education, which I have infused throughout my teaching. I have experience working as an instructor and tutor in community organizations and schools, teaching reading, writing, math, GED, and English language acquisition. I create supportive spaces where adult learners can work toward their personal, academic, and career goals, develop their voice, and find paths to further empowerment. My international experience extends across Peru, South Africa, Malaysia, and Ghana in community development, business, education, and non-profit sectors.

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.