Out the Box Submissions

What and How to Submit to DLLP

The Sandbox seeks submissions from literacy practitioners for a new section called Out the Box: Designing Literacy Learning Practices (DLLP). The section will feature course and program design for peer-review and publication in the journal. As with all accepted submissions to The Sandbox, contributors will receive an honorarium of $750.00 for their work.

Our intention is to highlight the innovative work done in literacy learning across traditional and nontraditional sites and encourage further ingenuity in the literacy instruction space to reflect the enthusiastic contexts and contemporary challenges in which many literacy advocates do their work. To that end, we are not seeking submissions of syllabi of courses. Rather, we wish to see a wholly original design work that notes a problem in literacy learning and practice, argues for a fresh intervention to the problem, provides a snapshot of that approach in praxis, and through critical reflection on that work, resources The Sandbox readers with ways to consider new approaches in literacy learning and practice in their own instruction and program/workshop facilitation.

Submission of DLLP can be of literacy programs, workshops, courses (e.g. K-12, college, and graduate seminars), or other events where literacy learning and practice are the central objective. We especially wish to see submissions that center community literacy in practice or highlight the ways that building and sustaining community is both embedded in and an outcome of the DLLP.

To submit your writing / manuscript, please email it to brownchairinenglishliteracy@gmail.com.

Be sure to include “Out Of The Box Submission” and the genre of your submission in the email subject line. Our team will review your submission, and, if accepted, will advise you on next steps.

What Can Be Submitted

Literacy Programs

Workshops

Courses

or other events where literacy learning and practice are the central objective.

We especially wish to see submissions that center community literacy in practice or highlight the ways that building and sustaining community is both embedded in and an outcome of the DLLP.

Submissions must:

provide in-depth description of the learning design,
contextualize the conceptualization/theorization of the design with citation of all sources (scholarly/academic and otherwise) that inform the design,
incorporate a reflexive commentary on the design focusing on the innovations it makes in literacy learning and practice,
Include a syllabus/plan/schedule that clearly demonstrates the implementation of the course/program, including readings and activities (e.g. writing/craft assignments, discussions, etc.).

We invite anyone interested in submitting an DLLP to query The Sandbox Editorial Team prior to submission with any questions about what they plan to submit. As this is a peer-reviewed publication, the DLLPs will undergo a peer-review process and, if accepted, may be required to provide revisions to the DLLP before publication.

You can reach the team at brownchairinenglishliteracy@gmail.com

Submission Guidelines

DLLP submissions should be approximately 12-15 pages, double-spaced, in length excluding bibliography and the DLLP schedule/syllabus. Included in the 12-15 pages must be the following sections:

DLLP Description including details about the context in which the course/program takes place, its facilitator, and participants
Detailed articulation of problem that DLLP seeks to address
Detailed conceptualization/theorization of the DLLP with emphasis on how the course/program makes an innovative and productive intervention into the problem including extensive discussion of readings, film screenings, writing/craft exercises, activities, and related assignments.
Reflexive commentary on the design
Bibliography of all sources consulted in the development of the DLLP including those cited in the submission
Program Plan/Syllabus with a calendar of meetings structured by units, weeks, and/or days of meeting (for example, “Unit 1: Week 1, Day 1,” not specific calendar dates), assignments, and activities. (Must be identical to what instructor/facilitator shared with students/participants in your course/program, though appropriately omitting information only relevant to your program/institution)

Also, please observe the following formatting guidelines for your submission:

Times New Roman font style
Double Space
12-point font size
Chicago Style endnotes and bibliography
Ensure syllabus/program plan has a calendar breakdown by day or week of meeting.

How Will My Piece be Reviewed?

Peer-Reviewers of submissions to ‘Out the Box: Literacy Learning and Practice Design’ will be asked to evaluate each submission for:

The problem it seeks to address in literacy learning and practice that is of concern to literacy workers
The innovativeness of the course/program created to address the issue
The contextualization of the course/program with sources in the literacy learning and advocacy space (scholarly/academic and otherwise)
The depth and breadth of the critical reflection on the course/program
The clarity of the syllabus/program plan
Whether the submission goes beyond a simple reflection on a past teaching experience into a cogently argued, conceptually considered, example rich presentation of a literacy learning and practice design

Ready to Submit?

Email us your manuscript and, if your piece fits, a member of our team will reach out with next steps.