ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the field of English language arts (ELA) is defined and practiced through the experiences of teachers and learners. It examines the assumptions and beliefs that underlie the field of ELA and then introduces a critical perspective. The chapter discusses how professional organizations, policymakers, educational scholars, and practitioners define the purposes and practices of ELA. It presents and contextualizes the implicit and explicit definitions of terms such as ELA, literature, literacy, discourse, pedagogy, and critical theory in terms of their political origins and implications. The chapter also explores definitions of curriculum and pedagogy, and how theoretical constructs play out through classrooms. The hidden curriculum is unofficial, involving norms, values, and messages about what expectations and perspectives are related to academic achievement, power, and status in educational institutions. The chapter concludes with a set of guiding questions designed to help readers compare and contrast definitions of the field in relation to the beliefs and assumptions that support them.
