
2023 AETA ANNUAL Conference
Date: Saturday, September 23, 2023
Time: 8:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. (Light breakfast and lunch included with registration)
Location: The University of Arizona, Tucson
Registration & Membership: $50 per person
Proposal Submission Deadline: June 30, 2023
The Arizona English Teachers Association, your state affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English, invites you to submit a proposal for the 2023 AETA Conference: Cultivating Spaces for Healing and Joy through English Language Arts.
We - educators and students - have not yet recovered from the devastating effects of the last three years marked by a global pandemic, disparities in health outcomes, police brutality against communities of color, gun violence in schools, and more recently, challenges to students’ right to read literature that reflects their cultures, concerns, and experiences. Navigating and sustaining resistance to social and systemic injustices such as these requires creating spaces where we can heal, restore, and nurture our spirits in order to grow and develop as teachers and learners (hooks, 2015).
This year, we are honored to welcome Dr. Jamila Lyiscott, to help us think and work through the issues that challenge teachers in the state of Arizona and beyond and to help us cultivate spaces for healing and joy through the English Language Arts. Dr. Lyiscott, aka Dr. J, is an aspiring way-maker, a community-engaged scholar, nationally renowned speaker, and the author of Black Appetite. White Food: Issues of Race, Voice, and Justice Within and Beyond the Classroom. She is most well known for her TED.com video, “3 Ways to Speak English,” which has over 5 million views. Dr. Lyiscott currently serves as Associate Professor of Social Justice Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she is the co-founder and co-director of the Center of Racial Justice and Youth Engaged Research. Her scholarship and activism work together to explore, assert, and defend the value of Black life globally. Her research examines the liberatory capacity of literacies in the lives of youth of color, racial healing, youth-led research, and the capacity of African Diasporic cultures to transgress white coloniality.
As you write your proposal, we invite you to reflect on the restorative and transformative practices you have made this year towards healing and cultivating joy in your schools, classrooms, and communities. Consider the following questions:
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What new insights about teaching and learning did you discover in the past year? How have they challenged or restored you and your students? What strategies have they offered to enact more just and equitable literacies in your classroom?
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What changes have you made in your practice to turn your English Language Arts classroom into a restorative space for you and your students?
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How have you recognized and responded to the needs of your English Language Arts students?
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What teaching strategies have you used to promote social, academic, and community wellness with your students, especially those who come from communities that continue to be resilient in the face of adversity?
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How have you navigated policies about “divisive concepts,” book bans/challenges, or other obstacles to meet the needs of your students?
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How have you used literature, media, and writing with your students to engage current social issues and restore agency and hope for the future?
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How have you created nurturing sites of resistance within and beyond your school community to grow and develop as a teacher?
We know that each of you does something transformative for your students, schools, and communities. Please share what you are doing with AETA!
*We especially encourage educators from multiple-marginalized backgrounds (based on race, class, gender, sexuality, and/or disability), first-time presenters, early career, and rural educators to submit a proposal.
Keynote speaker
Jamila Lyiscott
We are honored to have Dr. Jamila Lyiscott, a social justice advocate and researcher, as our keynote speaker for the 2023 AETA Conference. Jamila Lyiscott aka, Dr. J, is an aspiring way-maker, a community-engaged scholar, nationally renowned speaker, and the author of Black Appetite. White Food: Issues of Race, Voice, and Justice Within and Beyond the Classroom. She currently serves as an Associate Professor of Social Justice Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she is the co-founder and co-director of the Center of Racial Justice and Youth Engaged Research. Dr. J is most well known for being featured on TED.com where her video, ‘3 Ways to Speak English,’ has been viewed over 5 million times. Dr. J is the recipient of the AERA Outstanding Public Communication of Education Research Award, the AERA Scholar-Activist & Community Advocacy Award, and the CIES Ernest D. Morrell Emerging Scholar Award. She has been invited to keynote at 100s of institutions nationally and internationally.
Dr. J’s scholarship and activism work together to explore, assert, and defend the value of Black life globally. Her research examines the liberatory capacity of literacies in the lives of youth of color, racial healing, youth-led research, and the capacity of African Diasporic cultures to transgress white coloniality. Dr. J serves as co-editor of the journal of Equity & Excellence in Education, and holds faculty fellowships at the University of Notre Dame, and Teachers College, Columbia University. In her active efforts to disrupt the bounds of the academy, she has also been featured in Spike Lee’s “2 Fists Up,” on BBC Radio, NPR, Cosmopolitan, NowThis, and many other media outlets nationally and internationally.
SUBMIT YOUR PROPosal
Proposal deadline: Friday, June 30th, 2023
What you will need to add to your Proposal Form:
1. Presenter(s) Information:
Include name(s), title, school affiliation, mailing address, phone, and email address. If you are part of a group presentation, all correspondence is sent to the first presenter’s name. Please keep your colleagues informed as correspondence continues. In accordance with professional tradition, all presenters must register for the conference.
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Member of a historically marginalized and resilient community (Based on race, gender, sexuality, and disability)
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First-time presenter
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Early career educator (years 1-5)
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Rural educator
2. Session Information
Type of Session:
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Panel presentation—50 minutes shared amongst all presenters (2-3 recommended)
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Individual presentation—Please note that the program committee will put 2-3 presenters together in one session along the lines of a similar theme/approach
3. Session Title:
4. Session Description: (150 words)
Concurrent sessions will be held throughout the day on Saturday. These 50-minute sessions typically present a best practice or engage teacher-participants in a focused presentation and/or discussion of a topic relevant to the theme of the conference. In a paragraph, describe your session, how it relates to the conference theme, materials/project/lesson teachers will walk away with, and how you are involving the audience. This description helps the proposal-reading team decide where your session will go in the program.
5. Session Abstract: (50 words)
This brief description will appear in the conference program. Please identify your main idea/project and what teacher-participants will walk away knowing.
6. Suggested Strand:
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Writing
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Reading/Literature
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College & Career Readiness
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General
7. Suggested Level:
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Early Childhood
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Elementary
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Middle
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Secondary
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College
8. Caucuses:
NCTE & AETA value diverse voices and those who advocate for historically marginalized and underserved community members in our classrooms and in our profession. Please check one of the Rainbow Themes from the established caucuses of NCTE below if you feel your presentation addresses one of the groups below.
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Black Caucus
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Latinx Caucus
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American Indian Caucus
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Asian/Asian American Caucus
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Jewish Caucus
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Other: ______________________
9. Presentation Needs:
Each session meeting room is a mediated classroom (equipped with a computer station, audio, video and projection). Please let us know if you need additional accommodations.
For any questions about conference proposals, please email the AETA Program Chair, Sybil Durand, at sybildurand@gmail.com
Conference Registration
Coming Soon...