CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS: Journal of Language and Literacy Education 2018

In her presidential address at the annual American Education Research Association conference, Dr. Vivian Gadsden encouraged educators and researchers to reframe pedagogical practices, seek places of optimism, and find interdisciplinary synergy to strengthen educational ideals. This invitation echoes various scholars who understand the necessity to reimagine and redefine how we research, how we teach, and how we acknowledge and sustain differences in language and literacy. For this year’s conference, we aim to heed Gadsden’s call by expanding, reimagining, and reshaping the boundaries that may constrain progress. We invite scholars to generate new ideas aimed to push research to new conceptual, empirical, and philosophical heights. We invite innovators and originators to think about ways to create inventive symbiosis. We invite traditionalists and those who enjoy the classics to reinvent current practices and find the inherent synergy that can create renewed vigor for classic approaches. We invite people from all facets of education to think about the ways we can join together to propel ideas about language and literacy into the future.

The JoLLE conference is a hands-on and participation based conference where presenters involve their audiences in the subject, process, and hope of their presentations. This year’s theme: Reframing Pedagogical Practices and Language and Literacy Research: Teaching to the Future invites teachers and researchers to examine what works well in our classrooms, the changing needs to 21st Century Students, and what literacy classrooms will look like in the future.

In order to be considered, proposals must adhere to the following guidelines:

Abstract – 75 words or less
Proposal – 500 words or less
Proposal MUST have the following rubric components: participant engagement; innovation and relevancy

All presentations must be original. The following presentation categories are welcome:

Full Paper Presentations (individual and group)
Roundtable Sessions (for works in progress)
Posters (less formal sharing of ideas)

Possible questions can include, but are not limited to the following:

How can we create synergy between research and practice in language and literacy education?
In what ways can language and literacy scholars work with other disciplines?
What does the future of language and literacy look like?
How can we expand, reimagine, and reshape the boundaries that may constrain progress in language and literacy education?
How can we reinvent traditional methods for the next generation?
How can we use traditional methods of research and practice to promote innovation?
What does the future of language and literacy look like?
What new and innovative language and literacy methods are you using in your classrooms?

When: February 3-4, 2018 (Conference) February 2, 2018 (Pre-Conference Gathering if participants are in town)

Where: The University of Georgia Hotel and Conference Center – 1197 S Lumpkin St, Athens, GA 30602

Theme: Reframing Pedagogical Practice and Language and Literacy Research: Teaching to the Future

Cost: Students -$60 w/o provided lunch and $85 for students w/provided lunch; Regular Participants – $150 (group discounts available, please email for more information)

Submissions Accepted: September 13, 2017 – October 25, 2017

Notification of Acceptance: By November 15, 2017

Submission Link:https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=jolle2018

Conference Proposal Rubric and list of possible topics can be found on the conference website

Questions: Jolle.Conference@gmail.com

In order to be considered, proposals must adhere to the following guidelines:

Abstract – 75 words or less
Proposal – 500 words or less
Proposal MUST have the following rubric components: participant engagement; innovation and relevancy

Featured Speakers

Dr. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas: Dr. Thomas is an assistant professor in Literacy, Culture, and International Education at the University of Pennsylvania. Her work synthesizes postcolonial, critical, and critical race theory with data from her empirical research in classrooms to examine the ways that literature is positioned in schooling and society today. Dr. Thomas graduated with her PhD in English and Education from The University of Michigan and her research interests include children’s and young adult literature, the teaching of literature, English Education, African American Education, and Classroom interaction research.
Donalyn Miller: Donalyn Miller, an expert middle school teacher from Texas is well known as an expert practitioner in English and Language Arts that believes in her students learning that they are readers, and then reading ravenously. Affectionately known by those who read her first book as “The Book Whisperer,” Donalyn Miller has since published a follow up to her first book, The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader of Every Child entitled Reading in the Wild: The Book Whisperer’s Keys to Cultivating Lifelong Reading Habits.

About the Author

Aptly described by the Independent newspaper as “a man of many parts”, Prof. Mahfouz A. Adedimeji is a Fulbright scholar, interdisciplinary researcher, university don, public affairs analyst, communication consultant, peace advocate, interfaith worker and public intellectual. He obtained his academic degrees from the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, where he was a Professor of English (Pragmatics and Applied Linguistics) before his appointment as Vice Chancellor as the pioneer Vice Chancellor of Ahman Patigi, Nigeria, in February 2021. He started his academic career in 2000 at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, shortly after which he joined the services of his alma mater, the University of Ilorin. A man of eclectic academic background, Prof. Adedimeji was educated in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Markaz Shabaabil Islam, Iwo, Osun State and Markaz Ta’aleemil Araby, Agege, Lagos. He obtained advanced training in Education, Political Science, Communication and Media, Research and Peace Studies at the National Universities Commission’s (NUC) Virtual Institute for Higher Education Pedagogy (VIHEP); the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) Virtual Institute for Higher Education in Africa (VIHEAF); Governors State University, University Park, Illinois, USA; University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana; and Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana, USA. Apart from serving as a cultural ambassador to the US under the auspices of the Institute of International Education (IIE), New York, Prof. Adedimeji had won or co-won the research and conference awards/grants of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) of the National Research Council, Nigeria, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU). He has written extensively for a wide range of newspapers and periodicals including “Unilorin Bulletin”, “Unilorin Watch”, “DeLight”, “National Pilot”, “Daily Independent”, “Daily Newswatch”, “New York Parrot” and “New Telegraph”, among others. A versatile academic and award-winning scholar, Prof. Adedimeji has attended academic conferences and undertaken research in several universities across Nigeria as well as in Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Malaysia, Sierra Leone, Australia, France and United States of America, among others. His hundreds of academic, Islamic and general/opinion articles have been published across outlets in Nigeria and beyond. He has also facilitated and participated in seminars and workshops both nationally and internationally. A former Head of the Directorate of Corporate Affairs of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Adedimeji was the Director of the Centre for Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ilorin, between 2013 and 2017. Apart from serving as Rapporteur-General to the Presidential Committee that organised the 2017 Federal Executive Council’s Retreat on Education in Nigeria, he has consulted for the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Nigeria Inter-religious Council (NIREC), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence and Corps (NSCDC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). For years, he was a Coordinator and Facilitator of the Executive Management Course of the Nigerian Army Education Corps (NAEC) and Editor-in-Chief of the “Journal of Peace, Security and Development”, University of Ilorin. He has also served as a resource person to agencies like the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), National Orientation Agency (NOA), National Institute for Security Studies as well as a number of Civil Society Organisations. He is a recipient of several awards and honours including those of the International Chartered World Learned Society, American Biographical Institute, National Congress of Nigerian Students (NACONS), Union of Campus Journalists, University of Ilorin, the Nigerian Army Education Corps, Postgraduate Students Association, UNILORIN, Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), UNILORIN, Students’ Union, UNILORIN, and National Association of Osun State Students (NAOSS), just to mention a few. A Fellow of bodies like the International Association of Research Scholars and Administrators (FIARSA), Institute of Corporate Administration, Nigeria, (FICAN), Society for Peace Studies and Practice (fspsp) and World Institute for Peace (FWIP) , Prof. Adedimeji is a former Member of the Governing Council of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) and until recently a Member of the Executive Council of the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (ESAN). He is a member of the Editorial Boards of Research in Pragmatics, journal of the Pragmatics Association of Nigeria (PrAN) and ANUJAT, an international multidisciplinary journal of the All Nations University, Koforidua, Ghana. He has about 15 books to his credit as author, co-author, editor and co-editor.