Portfolio
We want to share a glimpse of Dr. Brown’s active research and scholarship. Her engagement with the field of education, on every level, including community service initiatives, illuminates Thought Spectrum’s expertise and preparedness to work with you.
Illuminating The Relationship Between Learning and Leadership
Our approach is to illuminate the relationship between learning and leadership, teaching and reflection, criticality and community. Our partnership is with the idea that the pursuit of excellence is on-going, much like the spectrum of light.
Research That Honors Your Community’s Needs
Thought Spectrum attends to the needs of each partnership. Research and collaboration are imperative for decision making processes, which must be responsive and authentic.
Education Excellence Takes Center Stage
Responsive education is our responsibility. Excellence is a requirement- not a goal. In order to get there, we must engage in the hard work; the processes that require our thinking and our collective commitment to excellence.
Publications
Ayanna F. Brown continues to engage in the production of scholarship in the areas of language, literacy, curriculum & instruction, and teacher professional development. Dr. Brown’s scholarship builds from examining social context in order to explore learning and community. Dr. Brown’s experience as a researcher and writer directly informs her teaching and serves as a foundation for an informed approach to consulting and community leadership.
Journals
“A very talented scholar and writer, Dr. Ayanna Brown has scholarly publications in major peer reviewed journals, numerous book chapters, and a book.”
Jerome E. Morris, Ph.D.
The E. Desmond Lee Endowed Professor of Urban Education
University of Missouri St. Louis
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Brown, A.F.& Bloome, D. (2020). Deconstructing and reconstructing language, race, and power relations in a secondary classroom in the United States. Revista Linguagem em Foco. V.11,2,46-62.
Brown, A.F. (2018). “Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people:” Literacies within and without. Voices from the Middle. National Council of Teachers of English
Brown, A.F., Bloome, D., Morris, M., Power-Carter, S., & Willis, A.I. (2017). Classrooms conversations in the study of race and the disruption of social and educational inequalities. In Fisher, M.T. & Souto-Manning, M (Eds.). Disrupting inequality through education research: Review of Research in Education. 41, 1, 453-476
Brown, A. F.& Tuck-Lively, J. (2012) “Selling the farm to buy the cow”: black names and racialized consequences narrativized within African American communities. Journal of Black Studies, 43, 6, pp. 667-692.
Brown, A.F. & Copot, H. (Fall 2012) Deconstructing “race” in (re)constructing change. Council on Undergraduate Research, 32, 5, p. 30.
Brown, A.F. (December 2011) “Descendants of ‘Ruth’: Black girls coping through the ‘black male crisis.’” The Urban Review, 43, pp. 597-619.
Books
“Her scholarship and teaching have consistently focused on bridging research with practice to advance educational equity.”
Alfredo J. Artiles, Ph.D.
Professor of Education
Stanford University
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Edited
Brown, A.F. (2022) Racial literacies: Sociopolitical and Sociocultural Contexts for Youth. Volume 2. National Council of Teachers of English.
Brown, A.F. (2023). Race. In L. M. Barker, D. Gorlewski, J. Gorlewski, & C. Miller (Eds.), Encyclopedia of English Language Arts Education (pp. 191-197). Brill.
William-White, L., Muccular, D., Muccular, G., and Brown, A.F. (Eds.). (2013). Critical consciousness in curricular research: Evidence from the field.NY: Peter Lang
Chapters
Bloome, D., Brown, A.F., Kim, M.Y, & Tang, R.(2019). Languaging Personhood in Classroom Conversations and Literacy Practices. In Beach, R. & Bloome, D. (Eds.). Social Worlds: Retheorizing The Teaching And Learning Of Literacy And The Language Arts. Routledge
Brown, A. F.(2018). Culturally relevant pedagogy.In Lubniewski, K., Cosgrove, D. F., & Robinson, T. Y. (Eds.). Supervision modules to support educators in collaborative teaching: Helping to Support & Maintain Consistent Practice in the Field. Pp. 39-54 Information Age Publishing.
Brown, A.F. (2013) We will understand it better by and by: Sojourning through racial literacy. In L. William-White, D. Muccular, G. Muccular, and A.F. Brown (Eds.).Critical consciousness in curricular research: Evidence from the field.New York, NY: Peter
Tuck-Lively, J. & Brown, A.F. (2013). Grandma’s Brer Rabbit wasn’t the fool you so admire: Teaching to Oppose the Conveniences Blackness Affords Whiteness In L. William-White, D. Muccular, G. Muccular, and A.F. Brown (Eds.). Critical consciousness in curricular research: Evidence from the field. New York, NY: Peter Lang
Bloome, D. & Brown, A.F. (2011) Classroom reading and “All That Jazz,” in Grenfell, M. (Ed.) Language, Ethnography, and Education. NewYork: Routledge.
Brown, A.F. (2010). “Just because I am a Black male doesn’t mean I am a rapper!”: Sociocultural Dilemmas in Using “Rap” Music as an Educational Tool in Classrooms. In Alridge, D. (Ed.). Message in the Music: Hip Hop, History, and Pedagogy. Tapestry Press: PA.
Brown, A.F. & William-White, L. (2010). We are not the same minority: The tales of two sisters. In Robinson, C. & Clardy, P. (Eds.) Tedious Journeys: Autoethnography by Women of Color in Academe. Peter Lang, USA.
Bloome, D., Carter, S., & Brown, A.F. ( 2010). Studying literacy practices in classrooms using critical discourse analysis: From the bottom up. In Miller, sj & Kirkland, D.(Eds.). Change Matters: Critical Essays on Moving Social Justice Research from Theory to Policy. New York: Peter Lang.
Brown, A. F. (November, 2005). Using Hip-Hop in Schools: Are we appreciating culture or raping rap? The Council Chronicle. Retrieved March 10, 2010. http://www.ncte.org/magazine/archives
Richards, H., Artiles, A.J., Klingner, J., Brown, A. F. (2005). Equity in special education placement: A school self-assessment guide for culturally responsive practice. Form B. National Center for Culturally Responsive Education Systems. Retrieved May 4, 2012. www.nccrest.org.
Richards, H., Artiles, A.J., Klingner, J., Brown, A. F. (2005). Equity in special education placement: A school self-assessment guide for culturally responsive practice. Form B. National Center for Culturally Responsive Education Systems. Retrieved May 4, 2012. www.nccrest.org.
Richards, H., Brown, A.F., & Forde, T. (2004). Addressing Diversity in Schools: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. National Center for Culturally Responsive Education Systems. Retrieved March 10, 2010. www.nccrest.org
Online
“Dr. Brown is a national thought leader in the areas of education and the intersection of race, equity, and culturally responsive pedagogy…”
Constance A. Mixon, Ph.D., MPA
Elmhurst University
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On-Line Journals
Brown, A.F. (2021). Literacies as equitable practices: Turning lesson plans inside-out.
Walking the Talk: Voices for Educational Equity, 17, 2, pp. 16-23. https://center4success.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Voices-for-Educational-Equity-v17-2-November-2021.pdf
Invited Blogs
Brown, A.F. (2021). A great reward. National Council of Teachers of English. https://ncte.org/blog/2021/10/a-great-reward/
Invited On-line National Talk
Brown, A.F., Cooks, J., Parker, K., Perry, T. (2021 “Literacies as freedom tickets: Black caucus reflect on the texts that set them free.) National Council of Teachers of English.
Invited Book Review
Perry, T., Zemelman, S., Smith, K.(2022) Teaching for racial equity: Becoming interrupters. Stenhouse Publishers
Manuscripts in Review
Brown, A.F.(in review) The confluence culturally responsive teaching and the societal demand for racial literacies: A case for 2020 vision. National Council of Teachers of English invited book chapter for The Black Caucus.
