Associate Dean for the Humanities and Equity, College of Arts and Letters; Coyle Professor of Literacy Education, Director of the Center for Literacy Education

Ernest Morrell

Bio

Ernest Morrell is the Coyle Professor of Literacy Education, a member of the faculty in the English and Africana Studies Departments, and Director of the Center for Literacy Education at the University of Notre Dame.

Ernest is also Director of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) James R. Squire Office for Policy Research in the English Language Arts. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Education, an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an elected Fellow of the American Educational Research Association, and a past president of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Since 2015, Ernest has been annually ranked among the top university-based education scholars in the RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings published by EdWeek. He is also the recipient of the NCTE Distinguished Service Award, the Kent Williamson Leadership Award from the Conference on English Leadership, and the Divergent Award for Excellence in 21st-Century Literacies. His scholarly interests include critical pedagogy, English education, literacy studies, postcolonial studies, and youth popular culture. 

Ernest has authored 104 articles, research briefs, white papers, and book chapters and 17 scholarly books - most recently: Best Practices in Literacy Instruction (7th Ed.) (Guilford Press, 2023), Freire and Children's Literature (Bloomsbury, 2023), Tuned in Teaching: Centering Youth Culture for an Active and Just Classroom (Heinemann, 2022), Every Child a Super Reader: 7 Strengths for a Lifetime of Independence, Purpose, and Joy (2nd Ed.), (Scholastic, 2022), Educating Harlem: A Century of Schooling and Resistance in a Black Community (Columbia Univ. Press, 2020), Stories from Inequity to Justice in Literacy Education (Routledge, 2020), and Critical Media Pedagogy: Teaching for Achievement in City Schools (Columbia Univ. Press, 2013), which was awarded Outstanding Academic Title by the American Library Association. Ernest has earned numerous commendations for his university teaching including UCLA’s Distinguished Teaching Award. He received his Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Culture from the University of California, Berkeley where he was the recipient of the Outstanding Dissertation award.

Google Scholar

Office
100I O'Shaughnessy Hall
Phone
574-631-8042
Email
emorrel1@nd.edu
Category
Center for Literacy Education Faculty and Team
IEI Fellows
ND PIER Faculty Committee
Education
  • Ph.D., Language, Literacy, and Culture, University of California, Berkeley
  • M.A., Language, Literacy, and Culture, University of California, Berkeley
  • B.A., English Literature, University of California, Santa Barbara

 

Publications

BOOKS

  • Ernest Morrell, Nicole Mirra, Antero Garcia, Cati de los Rios, and Jamila Lyiscott, editors.Critical English Education: Enduring Voices, New Perspectives. Routledge, 2025. (In press)
  • Wallace, Derron, Kassie Freeman, Ernest Morrell, and Hank Levin, editors. Education Across the African Diaspora: Historical Perspectives,Contemporary Challenges. Routledge, 2024.
  • Morrow, Lesley, Ernest Morrell, and Heather Casey, editors. Best Practices in Literacy Instruction (7th Ed). Guilford Press, 2023. 
  • Morrell, Ernest, and Jodene Morrell. Freire and Children’s Literature. Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2023. 
  • Allyn, Pam, and Ernest Morrell. Tell Your Story: Teaching Students to Become World-Changing Thinkers and Writers. ASCD, 2022. 
  • Garcia, Antero and Ernest Morrell. Tuned in Teaching: Centering Youth Culture for an Active and Just Classroom. Heinemann, 2022.
  • Allyn, Pam, and Ernest Morrell. Every Child a Super Reader: 7 Strengths for a Lifetime of Independence, Purpose, and Joy, 2nd Edition, Scholastic, 2022.
  • Morrell, Ernest, and Jennifer Rowsell, editors. Stories from Inequity to Justice in Literacy Education: Confronting Digital Divides. Routledge, 2020.
  • Erickson, Ansley, and Ernest Morrell, editors. Educating Harlem: A Century of Schooling and Resistance in a Black Community. Columbia University Press, 2020.
  • Allyn, Pam, and Ernest Morrell. Every Child a Super Reader: 7 Strengths to Open a World of Possible. Scholastic, 2016.
  • Mirra, Nicole, Antero Garcia, and Ernest Morrell. Doing Youth Participatory Action Research: Transforming Inquiry for Researchers, Educators, and Students. Routledge, 2016.
  • Morrell, Ernest, and Lisa Scherff, editors. New Directions in Teaching English: Reimagining Teaching, Teacher Education and Research. Rowman and Littlefield, 2015.
  • Morrell, Ernest, Rudy Duenas, Veronica Garcia, and Jorge Lopez. Critical Media Pedagogies: Teaching for Achievement in City Schools. Teachers College: Columbia University Press, 2013. 
  • Garcia, Antero, and Ernest Morrell, editors. “City Youth and the Pedagogy of Participatory Media.” Learning, Media, and Technology. Taylor and Francis, 2013.  [Special Journal Issue]
  • Duncan-Andrade, Jeff, and Ernest Morrell. The Art of Critical Pedagogy: The Promise of Moving from Theory to Practice in Urban Schools. Peter Lang, 2008.
  • Morrell, Ernest. Critical Literacy and Urban Youth: Pedagogies of Access, Dissent, and Liberation. Routledge, 2008.
  • Morrell, Ernest. Linking Literacy and Popular Culture: Finding Connections for Lifelong Learning. Christopher-Gordon, 2004.
  • Morrell, Ernest. Becoming Critical Researchers: Literacy and Empowerment for Urban Youth. Peter Lang, 2004.

SELECTED ARTICLES, BOOK CHAPTERS & WHITE PAPERS

  • Morrell, Ernest. “Media Literacy.” The Sage Encyclopedia of African-American Education, 2nd Edition. Edited by Kofi Lomotey, Aama Najuha and Darrius Stanley. Sage, 2025. 
  • Morrell, Ernest. “Literacy for Freedom: The African American Impact on U.S. Education.” Cultures of Memory, Amnesia & Misprision - The Neiman Symposium Book. Edited by William Donohue and Jens Gurr. DeGruyter, 2025. 
  • Morrell, Ernest & Kassie Freeman. Introduction: Education and the African Diaspora: From Research to Praxis Comparative Educational Review, vol. 67, no. 4, 2023, 797-802.
  • Morrell, Ernest. “Social Justice and Equity in the Literacy Classroom.” Best Practices in Literacy Instruction, 7th Edition. Edited by Lesley Morrow, Ernest Morrell, and Heather Casey. Guilford, 2023, pp. 41-60.
  • Morrell, Ernest and Jodene Morrell. “Storytelling”. Encyclopedia of English Language Arts Education. Edited by Julie Gorlewski, Lisa Barker, and David Gorlewski, Brill, 2023, pp. 219-225. 
  • Morrell, Ernest. Foreword. Curating a Literacy Life: Student-Centered Learning with Digital Media, by William Kist, Teachers College: Columbia University Press, 2022, pp. vii-xi.
  • Hobbs, Renee. Denise Chapman, Candance Doerr-Stevens, Seth French, Tom Lynch, Cruz Medina, Ernest Morrell, Chris Sloan, Lisa Stringfellow and Kristin Ziemke. “Media Education in English Language Arts”. National Council of Teachers of English. Position Statement. 2022.
  • Morrell, Ernest and Jodene Morrell. “Critical Literacies & Social Justice: Cultural Justice across Populations”. International Encyclopedia of Education (4th Ed.). Edited by Robert Tierney, Fazal Rizvi, Kadriye Ercikan and Graham Smith, Elsevier, 2022, pp. 225-234.
  • Wallace, Derron, Kassie Freeman, Ernest Morrell and Henry Levin. “Diaspora: Exploring New Solutions for Old Problems. Peabody Journal of Education, vol. 96, no. 2, 2021, pp. 117 - 124.
  • Morrell, Ernest and Jodene Morrell. “Critical Literacy and the School to Prison Pipeline.” School Not Jail, edited by Deborah Appleman and Peter Williamson. Teachers College Columbia University Press, 2021, pp. 50-69. 
  • Morrell, Ernest and Jodene Morrell. “Linking the Word to the World: Connecting Multicultural Literature to the Lives of 21st Century Youth.” The Dragon Lode, vol. 39, no. 2, 2021, pp. 7-13.
  • Morrell, Ernest and Jodene Morrell. “Student Voice in the Polyvocal English Classroom”. English in Texas vol. 51, no. 1, 2021.  pp. 11 - 15. .
  • Morrell, Ernest, and Jodene Morrell. Becoming Powerful Readers of the Word and the World: Promoting Multicultural Readings of Children’s and Young Adult Literature. Savvas Learning Company, 2021. 
  • Morrell, Ernest, and Yolanda Sealy-Ruiz. “Digital Divides and COVID 19: A Conversation with Ernest Morrell and Yolanda Sealy Ruiz.” Interview by Paul Barnwell. Council Chronicle, vol. 30, no. 1, 2020, 6-9.
  • Morrell, Ernest. Cultural Responsiveness and Engagement in Secondary English Classrooms. Pearson Education, 2020. 
  • Lee, Dorothy, Ernest Morrell, and Jodene Morrell. Why Stories Matter. LitWorld and The Notre Dame Center for Literacy Education, March 2020.
  • “Digital Equity and Antiracism in the Post-Covid ELA Classroom.” Interview by Paul Barnwell. Council Chronicle, vol. 30, no. 1, September 2020.
  • “From Digital Consumption to Digital Invention: Toward a New Critical Theory of Multiliteracies.” Theory Into Practice, vol. 57, no. 1, 2018, pp. 12-19.
  • “An Anticolonial Framework for Urban Teacher Preparation.” The New Educator, vol. 14, no. 3, 2018, pp. 231 - 251. 
  • “Towards Equity and Diversity in Literacy Research, Policy, and Practice: A Critical, Global Approach.” Journal of Literacy Research, vol. 49, no. 3, 2017, pp. 454-463.
  • “Confronting the Digital Divide: Debunking Brave New World Discourses.” The Reading Teacher, vol. 71, no. 2, 2017, pp. 157-165. 
  • “The Dual Pedagogy of YPAR: Teaching Students and Students as Teachers.” Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, vol. 39, no. 2, 2017, pp. 139-160.
  • “Youth Participatory Action Research and Critical Epistemologies: Rethinking Educational Research.” Review of Research in Education, vol. 41, no. 1, 2017, pp. 311-336.
  • “Overcoming the Digital Divide: Four Critical Steps” [Literacy leadership brief]. International Literacy Association, 2017.
  • “Critical Ethnic Studies in the High School Classroom: Academic Achievement via Social Action”. The unfulfilled promise of racial equality in education: Current realities and future prospects, edited by Pedro Noguera, Jill Pierce and Roey Ahram. Springer, 2016, pp 177-198.
  • “Teaching English Powerfully: Four Challenges.” English in Texas, vol. 45, no. 1, 2015, pp. 5-7.
  • “The 2014 Presidential Address.” NCTE Council Chronicle, vol. 24, no. 3, 2015, p. 14.
  • “Powerful English at NCTE Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: Toward the Next Movement.” Research in the Teaching of English, vol. 49, no. 3, 2015, pp. 307-327.
  • “Toward a Critical Pedagogy of Race: Ethnic Studies and Literacies of Power in High School Classrooms.” Race and Social Problems, vol. 7, no. 1, 2015, pp. 84-96.
  • “The Council of Youth Research: Critical Literacy and Civic Agency in the Digital Age.” Reading and Writing Quarterly, vol. 31, no. 2, 2015, pp. 151-167.
  • “Popular Culture 2.0: Teaching Critical Media Literacy in the English Language Arts Classroom.” New England Reading Association Journal, vol. 50, n. 1, 2015, pp. 5 - 7.
  • “English Teaching as Teaching Students to Read the Word and the World: A Presidential Commentary.” NCTE Council Chronicle, vol. 24, no. 2, 2014, p. 28. 
  • “Critical Action Research and the Future of English Education: A Presidential Commentary.” NCTE Council Chronicle, vol. 24, no. 1, 2014, p. 11.
  • “Toward a Critical Model of Teacher Learning: Lessons from the South Carolina Reading Initiative.” Reading and Writing Quarterly, vol. 30, no. 3, 2014, p. 207 - 210.
  • “Cultures, Contexts, and Codes: An Interview with NCTE President Ernest Morrell.” English Journal, vol. 103, no. 4, 2014, p. 12-15.
  • “21st Century Literacies, Critical Media Pedagogy, and the Future of English Language Arts.” Reading Teacher, vol. 66, no. 4, 2013, pp. 300 - 302.
  • Multicultural Readings of Multicultural Literature and the Promotion of Social Awareness in ELA Classrooms.” New England Reading Association Journal, vol. 47, no. 2, 2012, pp. 10-16.
  • “Powerful Leadership in English Education.” English Leadership Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 2, 2011, pp. 14-18.
  • “Critical Research and the Future of Literacy Education.” Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, vol. 53, no. 2, 2009, pp. 96-104.
  • ”Rebel Musics: African Diaspora Popular Culture and Critical Literacies.” Teach Freedom: The African American Tradition of Education for Liberation, edited by Charles Payne and Carole Strickland. Teachers College Press, 2008, pp. 222-235.
  • “Comin’ from the School of Hard Knocks: Hip-hop and the Revolution of English Classrooms in City Schools.”  City Kids, City Schools: More Reports from the Front Row, edited by William Ayres, Gloria Ladson-Billings, Gregory Michie, and Pedro Noguera. New Press, 2008, pp. 197-207. 
  • “The Critical Uses of Hip-hop in Antiracist Education.” Everyday Antiracism, edited by M. Pollock. New Press, 2008, pp. 161-165. 

Ernest Morrell