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New Jersey English Journal

Call for Submissions (2024 Issue)

New Jersey English Journal, a peer-reviewed publication of New Jersey Council of Teachers of English, invites you to share submissions on the theme, “Cultivating Joyful Teaching and Learning in ELA." This year, we ask writers to consider ways to promote and sustain joy for both students and teachers in the ELA classroom. For students, what approaches can help them find joy in learning language and literature? For teachers, how can we cultivate joyful learning communities in our classrooms, departments, and schools?

We seek research and practitioner-oriented pieces (~1000–2000+ words), personal essays (~700–1000+ words), and original poetry related to this issue’s theme and geared towards an audience of P–12 and postsecondary English Language Arts educators. We welcome single and co-authored submissions from both veteran and early-career teachers, and we especially invite new writers, pre-service teachers, and graduate students to develop submissions. Writers are encouraged to access past issues at https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/nj-english-journal/ to review successful submissions.

We invite you to respond to the theme “Cultivating Joyful Teaching and Learning in ELA” by considering such questions as:

  • How can we help our students find joy in learning language and literature? How can we cultivate (or reclaim) it for ourselves as teachers?
  • What are the new or tried-and-true ways we can cultivate joyful teaching and learning in our classrooms? What makes teaching and learning ELA joyful in the 21st century?
  • What are the unexpected moments or sources of joy in our ELA classrooms? How can we build on them for ourselves and our students?
  • How can schools, school leaders, and educators collaborate to create joyful learning communities? How can we push back against practices or policies that disrupt joyful teaching and learning?

Submissions will be accepted until Wednesday, December 27, 2023, via https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/nj-english-journal/. All submissions will be reviewed through a double-blind process by multiple peer reviewers. Submissions should not have been previously published or under review elsewhere. Manuscripts should follow MLA guidelines for citations. All writing should appear in Times New Roman 12 pt. font, and authors’ names and identifying information must be removed from all submissions. Send any queries to .