Digital Storytelling of Two “Underperforming” and “Misbehaving” Boys of Color in a 2nd-Grade Classroom

ABSTRACT Disparities in school discipline data indicate that children of color, particularly boys, receive more frequent and harsher disciplinary actions than their white peers, and this begins in early schooling. Within today’s print-centered, bodily restricted school curricula, literacy instruction is often reduced to highly controlled, leveled readers and narrowly tailored writing tasks. Drawing on data from a qualitative study, we present the literary counter-stories of two boys of color in an urban 2nd-grade classroom, both from low-income, single-parent families, each being initially reported as “low performing” and having “misbehavior issues” prior to 2nd grade. Framed by the critical theoretical perspectives of critical race theory, intersectionality, and raciolinguistics, the study investigates digital literacies, multimodality, and identity performances embedded in two juxtaposed cases. The findings address the significance of cultivating boys of color as artistic individuals and providing meaningful, multimodal “writing” opportunities to promote creativity, inclusivity, and educational equity.