Wilton Wright, Assistant Professor of English at William Penn University and expert in composition studies, discusses the barriers to implementing social justice pedagogies in the classroom. He emphasizes understanding the roots of student resistance and the importance of student voice. Wright advocates for flexible teaching methods and inclusive practices, encouraging instructors to rethink assignments and textbook selections. Insights into how films can guide identity and community highlight the connection between education and pop culture.
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Book Interview
Wilton Wright, author of "Rewriting Resistance to Social Justice Pedagogies," discusses his book on the New Books Network.
He's interviewed by Michael Johnston, a fellow professor at William Penn University.
insights INSIGHT
Resistance is Complex
Resistance in the classroom takes many forms, from silence to open challenges.
It's an act of student agency, often a disconnection, not always conscious.
insights INSIGHT
Resisting vs. Resistors
Wright uses "students who resist" to avoid labeling resistance as an identity.
Everyone resists; it's an action, not a fixed trait.
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Resistance to feminist, queer, and antiracist pedagogies can take many forms in the composition class: silence during class discussion; tepid, bland writing that fails to engage with course content; refusal to engage with feminist and queer ideas; open and direct challenges to professors’ authority. According to Wilton Wright, Rewriting Resistance to Social Justice Pedagogies (Lexington Books, 2024) argues that composition studies has not adequately addressed the complex and deeply local contexts and causes of resistance. Therefore, the author argues that resistance research must first understand the origins and purpose for a student’s resistance, interrogating the language used to name and describe students who resist. Composition instructors must then give students the tools to uncover and investigate their reasons for resistance themselves, challenging students to continually interrogate their resistances. This book utilizes feminist composition pedagogies, masculinity studies, and queer pedagogies to engage student resistance in the writing classroom.
Michael O. Johnston, Ph.D. is a Assistant Professor of Sociology at William Penn University. He is the author of The Social Construction of a Cultural Spectacle: Floatzilla (Lexington Books, 2023) and Community Media Representations of Place and Identity at Tug Fest: Reconstructing the Mississippi River (Lexington Books, 2022). His general area of study is at the intersection of space, behavior, and identity. He is currently conducting research about the negotiation that humans make between oneself, identification of place, and the attachment/s they have to those places. To learn more about Michael O. Johnston you can go to his personal website, Google Scholar, Bluesky (@professorjohnst.bsky.social),Twitter (@ProfessorJohnst), or by email at johnstonmo@wmpenn.edu
New Books in Critical Theory 