“We read to resist.”: how critical bilingual educators prepare for justice-oriented interactive read-alouds

Purpose The purpose of this study is to present two case studies of bilingual, culturally sustaining elementary educators engaging students in daily interactive read-alouds with justice-oriented picturebooks. Design/methodology/approach Using qualitative multi-case study and ethnographic approaches, along with constant comparative methods, the authors analyzed two case studies to explore how educators work toward disruption and transformation through literacy instruction in dual language contexts. Data included interviews, classroom observations of interactive read-alouds and classroom artifacts. Findings The authors found that the teachers prepared for teaching with justice-oriented picturebooks by developing Humanizing Critical Sociocultural Knowledge (HCSK), growing critical content knowledge and enacting culturally sustaining pedagogical knowledge. The authors argue that culturally sustaining literacy instruction requires that teachers not only curate justice-oriented texts but also cultivate their own HCSK through lived experience, activism and pedagogical preparation to create student-centered interactive read-aloud spaces. Research limitations/implications This article underscores the consequential development of educators’ HCSK and culturally sustaining pedagogies as foundational to justice-oriented literacy instruction, which should be emphasized in teacher education research and programs. Practical implications This article demonstrates that critical interactive read-alouds are most effective when teachers intentionally prepare through ongoing self-reflection, activism and purposeful text curation that centers students’ lived experiences. Originality/value This article offers an original contribution by shifting the focus from text selection to the critical preparation and humanizing sociocultural knowledge teachers must cultivate to meaningfully enact culturally sustaining interactive read-alouds with justice-oriented texts.