Margaret C. Hagood

Telling Themselves Who They Are: What One Out-of-School Time Study Revealed about Underachieving Readers.

The purpose of this study was to explore whether or not adolescents who are deemed underachievers and who struggle to read school-assigned textbooks will engage with popular culture texts of their own choosing (e.g., magazines, comics, TV, video games, music CDs, graffiti, e-mail, and other Internet-mediated texts). The 60 student participants, who were enrolled in grades 7–9 in a small city school district in the southeastern U.S., self-identified mostly as not being interested in reading. Thirty attended weekly meetings of an out-of-school time media club and kept a daily out-of-school time activity log for 14 weeks (the intervention group); the other 30 were assigned to a comparison group and did not attend the weekly media club meetings but did keep a daily out-of-school time activity log for the same 14-week period. Independent t-tests applied to data from the daily activity logs revealed several interesting contrasts between the two groups. One unexpected finding was the relatively large amount of time that participants in both groups reported they spent reading outside of school.

Appreciating Plurality Through Conversations Among Literacy Stakeholders

This editorial focuses on connecting literacy education contexts (e.g., local and global), stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, scholars, and practitioners), and literacies (e.g., foundational print-based and new, digital). The editors outline their vision to build upon previous editorships in building a participatory culture where Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy (JAAL) readers not only consume content but also produce new ideas through conversations. The editorial outlines how JAAL will serve as a forum for discussion of innovative research and practical applications of diverse adolescent and adult literacy learners engaged in reading, writing, speaking, viewing, listening, and designing in print and online formats.

An Ecological Approach to Classroom Literacy Instruction: Lessons Learned from No Impact Man.

236 In early spring, I dragged my husband and two sons to a documentary film screening of No Impact Man (Gabbert, Schein, & Wurmfeld, 2009), the story of 40-something Colin Beavan, his wife Michelle Conlin, their two-year-old daughter Isabella, and dog Frankie and their decision to go “off the grid” in an effort to have no personal net impact on the environment for a year while living in New York City. According to an online description of the movie, “It means eating vegetarian, buying only local food, and turning off the refrigerator. It also means no elevators, no television, no cars, busses, or airplanes, no toxic cleaning products, no electricity, no material consumption, and no garbage” (Oscilloscope Laboratories, 2009). Whoa! I was curious. That seems really out there! Produce no garbage and live in Manhattan? No electricity and live in a ninth-f loor apartment? The screening was hosted at a local yoga school that we frequent, and the film was projected on a wall in the studio. We rolled out our yoga mats, cuddled up on the f loor, and enjoyed the film. Afterwards, the audience hung around discussing the film. Everyone agreed that sustainability (i.e., the way biological systems remain diverse and productive over time) of the environment is a crucial issue in contemporary life. Conversation turned to examples in the film and how some of Beavan’s decisions seemed radical (e.g., using no toilet paper, cutting off the electricity, drinking no coffee), while others seemed reasonable, even do-able (e.g., no plastic water bottles, plastic bags, or paper towels; self-propelled travel; thrift store shopping), if not for an individual’s benefit then at least for the benefit of our planet. The film highlights the family’s struggles to stay true to their no net impact plan, as they become more and more aware of the throwaway, selfindulgent lifestyle that Americans have come to take for granted. Also, as in all feel-good movies, it reveals a silver lining. For the Beavan-Conlin family, that included deeper connections to others and to the environment, physically (and perhaps mentally) healthier lifestyles, and a more fulfilled and positive sense of purpose and self. The audiences’ reactions to potential implications of such personal lifestyle changes ranged from absolute “no way, not for me” Margaret C. Hagood C O M M E N T A R Y

Building on Content, Bridging Literacies, and Broadening Community

This editorial lays out the editors’ vision for Volume 57 of the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy: to provide rich research, review a variety of print and digital texts for adolescents and adults and highlight diverse perspectives across departments regarding literacies learning and education. Also, the JAAL editors continue to cultivate active engagement of JAAL readers as both consumers and producers in the JAAL community through JAALs Facebook page. Further, editors continue the inclusion of multimedia material through feature article video clips and podcasts.