Patriann Smith

Transcript available

Dr. Patriann Smith is well known for her transdisciplinary research at the intersection of race, language, and immigration in literacy education. Her book, Black Immigrant Literacies: Intersections of Race, Language and Culture in the Classroom (2023), and her co-authored book, with Drs. Arlette Willis and Gwendolyn McMillon, Affirming Black Students’ Lives and Literacies: Bearing Witness (2022), reflect these intersections and have been published by Teachers College Press. With her scholarship, Dr. Smith advances solutions such as ‘a transraciolinguistic approach’ and the framework for ‘Black immigrant literacies’ for transraciolinguistic justice in literacy classrooms. Dr. Smith’s research is published in journals such as The Reading Teacher, American Educational Research Journal, Reading Research Quarterly, Teachers College Record, and in blogs such as the International Literacy Association’s Literacy Now and the London Society of Economics United States Politics and Policy. You can also find her in another recent podcast, A Transraciolinguistic Approach for Literacy Classrooms, on voicEd Radio. She is a co-editor of the Caribbean Educational Research Journal and an Associate Editor of Linguistics and Education. Dr. Smith’s current projects include two books under contract with Cambridge University Press. Dr. Smith is a member of the Board of Directors of the Literacy Research Association (LRA) and co-author of LRA’s recent report, Advancing Anti-Racism in Literacy Research. Dr. Smith was recently co-awarded a three-year, $3.6 million grant from the United States Agency for International Development to partner with the University of the West Indies Cave Hill in Barbados to create an educational research center to help support decision making and policy in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. This Caribbean Educational Research Center (CERC) is part of the broader USAID-funded initiative titled Research Initiative for Supporting Education in the Caribbean (RISE Caribbean). Dr. Patriann Smith is an Associate Professor of Literacy Studies in the College of Education at the University of South Florida, where she was recently awarded the prestigious USF Outstanding Research Achievement Award and the USF World Global Excellence in Research Award.

Resources and articles:

• A (Trans)Raciolinguistic Approach for Literacy Classrooms

• Five Steps to Address Anti-Blackness: Black Immigrant Literacies

• Beyond Anti-Blackness in Bilingual Education: Looking through the Lens of the Black Immigrant Subject

• Renewing Hope with English Literacies: Insights from Middle Schoolers

• Finding (Radical) Hope in Literacy: Pedagogical Literacy Insights from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

• Re-positioning in the Englishes and Literacies of a Black Immigrant Youth: Towards a 'Transraciolinguistic' Approach

• Let's use Literacy to Open Minds

• Critical Awareness for Literacy Teachers and Educators in Troubling Times

• Silencing Invisibility: Towards a Framework for Black Immigrant Literacies

• The Case for Translanguaging in Black Immigrant Literacies

• Should Non-Standard English Be Taught in Schools?

• Racial Justice in Literacy Research

• A Distinctly American Opportunity: Exploring Non-Standardized English(es) in Literacy Policy and Practice

• Establishment of Caribbean Educational Research Center

• Launch of Interdisciplinary Research Center in Partnership with Caribbean University

• “How Does a Black Person Speak English?” Beyond American Language Norms

• Why Eurocentric Literacy Measures may be Creating the Illusion that Black Students are Underperforming

• Factors that Influence Academic Performance of Students in the Caribbean: An Empirical Study.

• Why for Black Speakers, Despite what they are told, Using ‘Standard English’ will not lead to Acceptance

• Literacy Studies at USF Statement on Anti-Racism

• The Role of Literacy Research in Racism and Racial Violence

To cite this episode: Persohn, L. (Host). (2021, Nov 23). A conversation with Patriann Smith. (Season 2, No. 14) [Audio podcast episode]. In Classroom Caffeine Podcast series. https://www.classroomcaffeine.com/guests. DOI: 10.5240/CDCE-5B71-CBFF-6CC8-F68A-X