Fandoms in the Classroom

“What an incredible and thoughtful book, inviting you to learn, play, and reimagine the boundaries of your classroom. Drs. Karis Jones and Scott Storm ask you to embrace your inner geek and let fandom transform your classroom. With a critical eye on the pressing needs in classrooms today, Jones and Storm make clear that fandom is not (only) a laughing matter; across multiple disciplines, Fandoms in the Classroom builds a case for how centering student and teacher interests is nothing less than a topic of revolutionary social justice.”

Antero Garcia, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education at Stanford University

“Fandoms in the Classroom: A Social Justice Approach to Transforming Literacy Learning is a joyful and necessary read that considers the role of fandoms in reframing the purpose of English education and literacy learning in students’ lives. Thoughtfully written with both students and teachers in mind, this book accounts for how and why young folks engage with various forms of text, including digital and social media, and takes care to articulate clear definitions of what this work is, how it can be developed in collaboration with students, and its implications for social change. Jones and Storm offers practical approaches to classroom teaching that supports students’ identities and futures, centering young people’s agency as a site for speculative future-building and pedagogical design.”

Lauren Leigh Kelly, Associate Professor, Rutgers University Graduate School of Education

“Generations of literacy educators are familiar with the Freirean lesson that when students read the word in the form of classroom texts, they are in fact learning to read the world around them. In this book, Jones and Storm make a crucial clarion call for us to expand the range of “words” that we invite into school and welcome the wide range of interpretive fan communities through which today’s youth are defining themselves, cultivating community, and understanding society. The framework and concrete strategies in these pages will not only help teachers to honor the affective attachments that students have to fandoms and leverage these attachments to hone critical literacy skills, but also prepare them to support students in their quest to build more equitable, inclusive, and playful worlds to come.”

Nicole Mirra, Associate Professor, Rutgers University Graduate School of Education

List of Tables and Figures

Acknowledgement

Foreword: Teachers as Fans, and What Fandom Can Teach Us
 Ebony Elizabeth Thomas

Introduction
 Teacher-Researcher Positionalities
  Karis
  Scott
 Structure of This Book

Chapter 1: Why Fandoms?
 What is a Fandom?
  Texts
  Fans
  Interpretive Communities
 Fandoms Matter for School
 Learning Across Academic and Fandom Spaces
  Co-Creating Expansive Goals
  Learning Across Interpretive Communities

Chapter 2: Shifting Models for Teaching
 Fandoms as a Student-Centered Teaching Model
 The High School Context
  Fandom Kingdom
 Toward Student-Centered Classrooms

Chapter 3: Designing Objectives Together
 Celebrating but not Co-Opting
 Expansive Literacy Learning Objectives
  Short-Term Goals
  Long-Term Goals
 Three Steps for Customizing Your Learning Objectives
 Learning Goals in Fandom-Based Classrooms

Chapter 4: Designing Humanizing Assessments
 Designing Assessments With Learning Goals
 Designing Student-Centered Assessments
  Fandom Blogs
  Creative Con
  Fandom Transformation Projects
 Assessing Assessment

Chapter 5: Designing Instructional Routines
 Fandom Kingdom Seminars
  Preparing for Seminars
  Seminar Structure
  Inside a Fandom Kingdom Seminar
 Fandom Kingdom Writing Conferences
  Fabienne’s Fan Fiction
 Fandom Kingdom Pitch Meetings
  Setting up the Pitch Meetings
 Building Student-Centered Units From Pedagogical Routines

Chapter 6: Imagining Academic Disciplines as Fandoms
 Disciplines as Fandoms
  Navigating Across Disciplines and Media Fandoms
  Fandom Kingdom Students Navigating Interpretive Communities
 Bending Interpretive Communities Toward Justice
  Math Communities
  Science Communities
  History Communities
  Music Communities

Chapter 7: Implementing Fandom Pedagogy in and out of Schools
 Fandom Pedagogy in School
  Transforming an Existing Literature Unit Into a Fandom-Based One
   Student-Led Seminars
   Writing and Creating for the Community
   Hosting Classroom Fandom Events
 Fandom Pedagogy Outside of Schools
 Bringing Fandom Issues to Community Centers
  Applying Remixed Ideas in Fandom Spaces

Chapter 8: Tackling Barriers to Fandom-Based Teaching
 How Can I Use a Fandom Approach if my School Mandates That I Teach Certain Texts?
  Standards and Assessments
  Available Resources
  Curricular Mandates
 How Can Teachers Navigate Teaching Nonprint Texts?
 What About Mature Content in Fandom Spaces?
 How Can Teachers Navigate Book Bans and Censorship?
 How Can Educators Teach Unfamiliar Texts?
 How Can Educators Avoid Deadening Fandoms as we Bring These Texts Into the Class?
 What if Students Don’t Want to Share Their Fandom Interests in Class?
 How Can Teachers Collect and/or Assess Work Published in Fandom Spaces?
 What if Students are not Excited About Publishing Their Work Online?
 How Might Teachers Take Their Class to Fan Conventions—or Make Their Own?

Conclusion

About the Author

Index

Karis Jones

Karis Jones (Ph.D.) is an educator, literacy consultant, public humanities scholar, and community activist, as well as Assistant Professor of English Language Arts at Empire State University – SUNY. She studies issues of equity in literacies learning and writing across disciplinary, fandom, and gaming spaces. She has been published in the Journal of Literacy Research, Equity & Excellence in Education; Journal of Language & Literacy Education, Linguistics and Education, English Teaching: Practice & Critique, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education -- English Education, and English Journal. She is the recipient of the 2022 Shelby Wolf Award from the AERA Literature SIG and serves on the executive board of AERA’s Writing & Literacies SIG.

Scott Storm

Scott Storm, PhD, is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Education at Bowdoin College. Scott is a former high school teacher with 15 years of experience including his work in co-founding and sustaining open-admissions urban public schools. As a teacher-leader Scott has held many roles including curriculum developer, English Department Chair, Professional Learning Community Organizer, Grade Team Leader, and Writing Center Director. As a professor, Scott teaches courses on the social and cultural foundations of education, teaching for social justice, teacher education, urban education, and issues around literacies and language. Scott’s research agenda engages in three connected lines of inquiry aimed at improving schooling experiences—particularly for queer and working-class youth of color. This program of research includes: 1) studies of how educational systems reinforce inequalities, 2) asset-based studies of youth literacy and language practices, 3) design-based studies that transform educational spaces toward social justice. Scott’s research has appeared in Journal of Literacy Research, Equity & Excellence in Education, English in Education, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, English Teaching Practice & Critique, Theory Research and Action in Urban Education, Schools: Studies in Education, and Literacy Research and Instruction among others. In his spare time, Scott enjoys baking elaborate cakes and spending time with his husband.