2025-26 Statewide Book Studies on Words & Actions: Teaching Languages Through the Lens of Social Justice
The Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages (OBEWL) of the New York State Education Department (NYSED) is proud to sponsor 2025-26 book studies of Words & Actions: Teaching Languages Through the Lens of Social Justice. Up to three virtual book studies will be facilitated by teams of individuals who were trained by Dr. Pamela Wesely (co-author) and Dr. Lori Langer de Ramirez in 2024-25. NYS world language educators from district, charter, religious, and independent schools, as well as administrators who supervise world language departments, are encouraged to participate.
Click here to download the book study flyer.
Click here to register for this book study.
Words & Actions explores the integration of social justice concepts and approaches into the language classroom, grounded in standards, objectives, and goals in both social justice education and language education. The second edition of this book features an expanded framework, a variety of new unit, lesson, and activity examples from different languages and levels, and additional content on how social justice education fits within the context of contemporary approaches to language instruction. The text provides concrete examples to help readers navigate the opportunities and challenges inherent in adopting a social justice lens, such as the differences between a good cultural lesson and a social justice lesson. Expanded chapters also provide support for adapting curriculum in different contexts, including those that emphasize immersion, comprehensible input, Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS), and content-based instruction. New educator voices and examples from both commonly and less commonly taught language classrooms provide an authentic picture of social justice work taking place in classrooms across the United States. A new chapter about critical moments in the classroom has also been added to provide a clear guide and explicit tools to help teachers address complex events and challenging moments in the classroom. The book study is structured so that time will be provided during each meeting for small groups to process and apply new ideas to school contexts.
Book study groups will meet once a month from September to May from 4:00-5:15pm via Zoom. We are offering three different book study groups from which to choose:
- Mondays: September 29th, October 20th, November 10th, December 8th, January 5th, February 2nd, March 2nd, April 13th, May 4th
- Wednesdays: October 1st, October 22nd, November 12th, December 3rd, January 7th, February 4th, March 11th, April 15th, May 6th
- Thursdays: September 25th, October 30th , November 13th , December 11th, January 8th, February 12th, March 12th, April 23rd, May 28th
Please note that to run a book study, at least four facilitators and at least 25 participants must register. Should these requirements not be achieved, OBEWL will reach out to any impacted registrants.
Attendance policy: participants must attend at least eight of the nine book study meetings in full (from 4:00-5:15pm) in order to receive CTLE/attendance credit. Those who attend all meetings in full will earn 22.5 hours and those who attend at least eight of the meetings in full will earn 20 hours. Failure to meet the attendance policy will result in forfeiture of all credit.
To continue NYSED’s efforts to be environmentally conscious and fiscally responsible, we have transitioned exclusively to e-books for these book studies. Following the first meeting, attendees will be sent an e-book at no charge to use for this book study. Participants must have a laptop, desktop computer, or other device with which to access the e-book. Only one e-book will be provided per attendee. There is no other cost to participate in this book study.
Please contact Candace Black via phone (585.356.0951) or email (candace.black@nysed.gov) with any questions regarding this book study.