Background
Yvonne Divans Hutchinson was born on April 5, 1943, in Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States. She is a daughter of Boyce Davis Vaughn and Emola Vaughn.
California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, California, United States
In 1965 Yvonne Divans Hutchinson received a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Long Beach.
University of Redlands, Redlands, California, United States
In 1978 Yvonne Divans Hutchinson obtained a Master of Arts degree from the University of Redlands.
Yvonne Divans Hutchinson was born on April 5, 1943, in Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States. She is a daughter of Boyce Davis Vaughn and Emola Vaughn.
In 1965 Yvonne Divans Hutchinson received a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Long Beach. In 1978 she obtained a Master of Arts degree from the University of Redlands.
From 1966 to 2009 Yvonne Divans Hutchinson was a teacher of English in the Los Angeles Unified School District. A National Writing Project teacher consultant since 1978, she has held various teacher leader roles over the years. She is part of a literacy cadre and coordinates teachers from across the disciplines who are interested in literacy development; she provides professional development and support as needed. A resource teacher in her district, she also serves as a curriculum coordinator, literacy coach, and co-chair of the English department.
Yvonne taught English at King/Drew Magnet School for Medicine and Science, which serves a largely minority population that is 72 percent African American and 22 percent Latino. As a teacher, Hutchinson's main concerns are that her students become good human beings, learn to appreciate the diversity in their classroom and the world, and become good readers and writers.
She has focused for many years on developing strategies to engage all her students in substantive discussions of literary texts and the issues those texts raise for their own lives. In this approach, she builds on the oral traditions of her students African-American and Latino cultures and seeks to support the development of their literacy skills through high standards, explicit expectations, and rigorous literature experiences.
Yvonne Divans Hutchinson's teaching, which combines the two big ideas of literacy and diversity, was equally influenced by Martin Luther King Jr.'s statement about the importance of the "content of their character" and Alice Walker's comment, "I imagine good teaching as a circle of earnest people sitting down to ask each other meaningful questions. I don't see it as a handing down of answers."
Hutchinson views leadership in the same way that she views teaching: not as handing down information but as creating a circle of people who come together to share and learn from one another. Her approach is always to model participation, build habits of mind, and support people in becoming apprentices to their own learning. She often shows her colleagues how she teaches: how she engages students in a variety of learning activities, how she encourages the development of their own voice, and how she places student work at the center of her teaching.
By demonstration rather than remonstration, she allows others to see that it is possible for all students to achieve, no matter what their social, economic, cultural, or educational circumstances. Through civil discourse, she engages teachers in conversations about their practice.
Yvonne Divans Hutchinson is a member of the National Council Teachers of English, United Teachers Los Angeles, California Association Teachers of English, African American Literature Book Club.
On June 2, 1968, Yvonne Divans married Earl Ofari Hutchinson. In June 1988 they divorced. They have two children: Sikivu, Fanon.