Igniting the Fire Within: Culturally Relevant Expository Writing

Abstract

This article presents the findings of an action research study that explored the impact of culturally relevant writing instruction in an English classroom. Research practitioners have used terms such as real-life (Moore-Hart, 2005), innovative (Kinloch, 2009), and culturally relevant writing pedagogy (Winn & Johnson, 2011) to denote the type of experiential and relevant writing instruction that should be occurring in classrooms. These terms are synonymous because they require students to leverage their culture, perspectives, interests, and personal experiences as inspiration for writing. The discussion begins by presenting the literature on culturally relevant literacy instruction. Then, the author discusses the steps for implementing this pedagogical approach and provides key insights on the subject matter.