Linda Christensen

Director of the Oregon Writing Project

program: Oregon Writing Project
office: 424 Rogers Hall
phone: 503-768-6131
e-mail: lmc@lclark.edu

Professional Biography

Linda Christensen is the Director of the Oregon Writing Project (OWP), located in the Graduate School of Education at Lewis & Clark College. The OWP is part of the National Writing Project network, the oldest and largest professional development project in the United States. NWP sites use a teacher-teaching-teachers model that draws on the knowledge, expertise, and leadership of successful classroom teachers. Linda is the author of Reading, Writing, and Rising Up: Teaching about Social Justice and the Power of the Written Word and co-editor of Rethinking School Reform: Views from the Classroom and Rethinking Our Classrooms. She has given keynote addresses at local, national, and international conferences about her work on literacy and social justice. Her articles about literacy and social justice have appeared in numerous journals. For the last thirty years, she has taught high school Language Arts and worked as Language Arts Curriculum Specialist in Portland, Oregon. She is a member of the Rethinking Schools editorial board. She received the Fred Heschinger Award for use of research in teaching and writing from National Writing Project in 1998 and the U.S. West Outstanding Teacher of Western United States for “Reaching Beyond Classroom Walls”.

Learn more about the Oregon Writing Project.

Current Research

Linda's current research is focused on building academic confidence and competence with struggling readers and writers. She is also continuing her research the issues of teaching and social justice.

Publications/Current Research/Courses

“Teacher Quality: Teachers Teaching Teachers,” Rethinking Schools, Winter 2005-2006. Vol. 20. No. 2.

Christensen, Linda, and Stan Karp. (2003) Rethinking School Reform. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools.

Reading, Writing, and Rising Up: Teaching About Social Justice and the Power of the Written Word. (2000) Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools.

"Critical Literacy: Reading, Writing, and Outrage." Making Justice Our Project. (1999) Urbana: NCTE Press.

"Writing the Word and the World." Teaching for Social Justice. (1998) New York: New Press & Teachers College Press.

Academic Credentials

M.A. 1981 University of Portland
B.A. 1973 Humboldt State University

Linda 2007

"I attempt to keep my vision--and hope--alive by participating in critical teaching groups. These groups help me think more carefully about social justice issues inside as well as outside of the classroom, from literacy practices to top-down curricular policies. Our sometimes-heated discussions about articles, books, and curriculum hone my ability to evaluate my work. I carry these voices--and the solidarity of these teachers--like a Greek chorus in my mind. They remind me to question and sometimes to defy those in authority when I’m told to participate in practices that harm children. They nettle me when I fall into easy patterns and point out when I deliver glib answers to difficult problems."