Join a book club with the dije subcommittee.
The diversity, inclusion, justice, and equity (dije) committee invites Michigan teachers to join a dije book club, a group of teachers striving to learn more about issues of diversity, inclusion, justice, and equity as they relate to race in the United States.
Our book clubs read fiction and nonfiction as we consider our roles in creating more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive classrooms.
We seek participants from all parts of our state eager to gather and collaborate on appropriate lessons. Our goal as the dije committee of the Michigan Council of Teachers of English is to collaborate on ways of thinking about and reflecting on racism, especially as it relates to pedagogy, lessons, and talking to others.
Our students are seeing events and behaviors they likely will need help to think through in order to form opinions and equitable actions. As educators, we want to be ready to nurture productive conversations exploring these acts of racism. But, we realize, we must learn about the roots of the problems in order to facilitate productive conversations with our colleagues and students, our administrators, and community members. This learning starts with ourselves, and that is where our book club will begin thinking. Then, we will expand to talking about how it looks in our classrooms.
The goal of the dije book club is to read books together, to journal, meet online, and discuss the books in small groups.
Our past reading list:
Dear Justyce, Nic Stone, Winter 2021
Cutlivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy, Gholdy Muhammad, Fall 2020
How to Be an Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi, summer 2020
“The most successful aspect has been the opportunity to interact with other teachers, to hear different perspectives, and to function more as a group of learners than teachers.”
–Comment from a book group participant
From NCTE’s position statement on Teachers as Readers
Why Should Teachers Form Book Groups?
- Explore your own literacy.
- Share quality literature with colleagues.
- Model lifelong reading pleasure.
- Gain experience and confidence with book discussion.
- Reflect upon and learn from personal experience with books.
- Enhance teaching and learning.