He explains it in his book “Shut Up and Listen: Teaching Writing That Counts in Urban Schools.” It’s a way to “transform our schools from the silencing, oppressive places they are.”
Knaus is a professor of education and director of educational leadership at the University of Washington-Tacoma. He has taught in urban schools and worked with African American and Latino students to understand the silencing effect of Eurocentric curriculum, teachers and instruction.
“African American students consciously resist educational silencing through maintaining a voice that reflects cultural values and forms of expression,” the book notes. Often, however, that voice earns students of color no points with teachers because it is worlds away from how mostly white educators were raised, taught and grade.
