ABSTRACT

Through the most recent education reforms and policies put into action in public

education, standardization has begun to characterize American schools, posing

several issues for marginalized students in particular. Through the study outlined in

this thesis, I answer the question of how to provide equitable learning environments

that will best serve students on the margins of society. My research method was

entirely qualitative with the exception of studying other authors’ quantitative

research. I reviewed a number of resources about individual topics—the state and

consequences of America’s current education policies, the roles students’ contexts

play in education, the New Literacy Studies, Social Justice Education, and innovative

techniques in literacy education—and compiled key ideas within the literature to

provide a comprehensive resource teachers can use in developing socially just

classrooms that serve all students. Findings from my research led to the conclusion

that teachers can, by utilizing students’ contexts in deciding how they approach

literacy education and then combining these informed decisions with the principles of

Social Justice Education and other holistic education frameworks, reach their students

more meaningfully and walk them through navigating the institution that functions so

contrarily to their everyday lives.