Donovan Livingston Delivers Keynote Address at NC Teacher’s Conference
Donovan Livingston, Staff Affiliate for the Program for Leadership and Character, Assistant Dean in the Office of University Collaborations, and Ph.D. candidate in Educational Leadership & Cultural Foundations at UNC-Greensboro, delivered the keynote address for the annual fall conference for the North Carolina English Teachers Association on the campus of UNC-Charlotte on October 11, 2019.
Following the theme of the weekend, Literacy in the 21st Century, Livingston’s talk was entitled Reading between the Lines: Toward a Literacy of Disruption. It explored the idea of inclusive education and how innovative educators can collaborate to foster critical thinking about existing systems, advance the wellbeing of the community, and create active citizens who promote justice, equity, and mutual accountability. Livingston illustrated educational innovation by performing a spoken word verse that provided commentary on subjects ranging from cultural appropriation to women’s rights. This moment of disruption demonstrated Livingston’s overarching message that one does not need to be directly affected by these issues to productively address them in the classroom.