Building Language Bridges: Ernest Morrell expands literacy education research at Notre Dame | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame






	
	





  	Skip To Content
	Skip To Navigation
	Skip To Search






  
  
    University of Notre Dame

    
      
      Notre Dame News

      
      
    


    
    
      
        
        
        	
	Experts
	ND in the News
	Subscribe
	About Us
	


      
        
          
          
          
          
          
        

      


      
    


    
    
      	 Home
	 Contact
	 Search
	
          
          
            
            
          
          Menu
        
        


      
        
          
          
          
          
          
        

      

    

  

  
  

  

  
    	Home › 
	News › 
	Building Language Bridges: Ernest Morrell expands literacy education research at Notre Dame


    
      
        
          Building Language Bridges: Ernest Morrell expands literacy education research at Notre Dame

          
            
              
                
                Published: September 30, 2020
              

              
                Author: Brendan O'Shaughnessy
              

              







          

          
          
          

          
        
        
        
            
              
              Professor of English Ernest Morrell teaches a class on Toni Morrison.
            
          Teaching English at Oakland High in the late 1990s, Ernest Morrell faced the age-old problem of how to get modern students interested in a canon of long-dead writers and poets.

“I just got tired of teaching the regular way that I was supposed to — it did not seem all that enticing or effective,” said Morrell, now the director of the Notre Dame Center for Literacy Education. “I think, more than being innovative, I was a pragmatist and realized if I wanted to get kids looking at me and not at the top of the desk, I had to do something different.”

So Morrell and a colleague, who were both pursuing a higher degree, decided to introduce elements of pop culture such as rap songs into their classrooms as a way to engage the students with topics that kids know and care about. The goal was to start where they are and connect it to what they needed to learn, using hip-hop culture “as a bridge linking the seemingly vast span between the streets and the world of academics.”

To read the story, click here.

        

        
        
          
            
              Posted In:

              	Research


            

            

          

        
      
      
    
  
  
    	Home
	Experts
	ND in the News
	Subscribe
	About Us


  

  
  
    
      
      
      
        
          Related

          
            

    
        
    

  
    
      

      

      




October 05, 2022

    
    
      Astrophysicists find evidence for the presence of the first stars
    

  


    
        
    

  
    
      

      

      


October 04, 2022

    
    
      NIH awards $4 million grant to psychologists researching suicide prevention
    

  


    
        
    

  
    
      

      

      


September 29, 2022

    
    
      Notre Dame, Ukrainian Catholic University launch three new research grants
    

  


    
        
    

  
    
      

      

      


September 27, 2022

    
    
      Notre Dame, Trinity College Dublin engineers join to advance novel treatment for cystic fibrosis
    

  


    
        
    

  
    
      

      

      


September 22, 2022

    
    
      Climate-prepared countries are losing ground, latest ND-GAIN index shows
    

  

          
        
    
     
  
  

  
  
    
      	For the Media
	Contact


    
            
    
      
	Office of Public Affairs and Communications


      Notre Dame News

      
        
          
            500 Grace Hall
 
            Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA
          
          
          
          
        

        
          	 Facebook
	 Twitter
	 Instagram
	 YouTube
	 Pinterest


        
      

      
© 2022 University of Notre Dame

    
    
      

        
      
      
        
          	Search
	Mobile App
	News
	Events
	Visit
	Accessibility


        
        
          	 Facebook
	 Twitter
	 Instagram
	 YouTube
	 LinkedIn