[Xmca-l] Re: A Question about Reading and Motivation

[Bill Kerr <billkerr@gmail.com>]

Helen,
Try Kevin  Wheldall, eg. Sept 2013 MultiLit moments, page 2, for a
relatively non controversial practitioner
http://www.multilit.com/wp-content/uploads/MM_SEPT13.pdf
(if you search on that site or follow him on twitter you will find longer
studies and ongoing commentary - part of my unfinished reading)




On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 9:53 AM, Helen Harper <helen.harper@bigpond.com>wrote:

> Bill,
> have we ever made anything work 'to scale' in education? I mean 'big
> picture' things, like teaching people to be literate, not 'small picture'
> things like teaching phonics. Specifically, has anyone ever, anywhere, made
> a big picture intervention work 'to scale' in educational settings where
> the target population is not already culturally predisposed to the
> discourses of schooling?
>
> Any studies anyone?
> If so, would like to read them.
>
> Helen
>
>
>
>
> On 10/09/2013, at 9:42 AM, Bill Kerr wrote:
>
> > I have some reading to do (and it will take time since I'm very busy on
> > something else at the moment). Thanks to those who have provided source
> > material. I have commenced some reading and am not satisfied so far but
> > don't propose to do nitpicking or "emotionally charged" responses as some
> > have here.
> >
> > Here is my brief opinion on what counts as evidence. Evocative personal
> or
> > individual stories / narratives and opinions do not count as strong
> > evidence IMO. A narrative no matter how well told or touching is only a
> > story about how one or a small group of individuals learnt to become good
> > readers, who progressed to love literature and use it expertly etc.
> >
> > Also a theoretical model that appeals strongly to widely recognised
> > progressive norms (freedom, autonomy, creativity etc.) does not in itself
> > count as evidence ... unless demonstrated to scale to help large groups
> of
> > disadvantaged progress to become literate citizens.
> >
> > What would count as convincing evidence for me is hard data about a large
> > group of disadvantaged youngsters (more than one inspirational teacher
> in a
> > single classroom) who have significant socio-economic barriers stacked
> > against them and a way was found for them to turn them from not literate
> to
> > literate, in this real, imperfect capitalist world.
> >
> > What I believe (perhaps wrongly) is that such evidence exists but that
> some
> > find it hard to look at because of ideological predispositions, that we
> all
> > have filters and blinkers and they operate in devious ways.
> >
> > I do not regard myself as an expert on reading instruction (and so I do
> > have a lot of work to do) but I do regard myself as an expert on
> > constructionism (Papert's and Minsky's version) used in the context of
> > teaching maths and programming in disadvantaged schools. From that
> context
> > I am setting a high bar, as any reformed smoker would.  ie. I have as an
> > expert constructionist made it work well for the disadvantaged in a
> single
> > classroom but failed totally in making it scale.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 5:21 AM, White, Phillip
> > <Phillip.White@ucdenver.edu>wrote:
> >
> >> Michael - first, many thanks for pointing out that the joy of reading is
> >> much much more than just reading for information.  i was sloppy in my
> >> singular use of the term "information", particularly in these days of
> high
> >> stakes testing where comprehending "informational texts" is so highly
> >> regarded.  i was using "information' in the sense of finding out about
> and
> >> exploring the world that one is really interested in  -  an yes, i'm
> >> working with a second grader who values reading as a way to learn
> >> everything about Justin Bieber.  she's enthralled by the notion of a
> >> penthouse, where he lives.
> >>
> >> and really, discovering story world of Virginia Woolf's in the early
> 60's
> >> saved my ass.
> >>
> >> phillip
> >>
> >>
> >> Phillip White, PhD
> >> Urban Community Teacher Education Program
> >> Site Coordinator
> >> Montview Elementary, Aurora, CO
> >> phillip.white@ucdenver.edu
> >> or
> >> pawhite@aps.k12.co.us
> >> ________________________________________
> >> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu [xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu]
> >> On Behalf Of MICHAEL W SMITH [mwsmith@temple.edu]
> >> Sent: Monday, September 09, 2013 11:04 AM
> >> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> >> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: A Question about Reading and Motivation
> >>
> >> My research with adolescents suggests that the joy of reading includes,
> but
> >> is not limited to the comprehension of information as the responses from
> >> one 8th grade girl illustrates.  She does indeed talk about the
> pleasure of
> >> learning information that she can put to use: “And then, using it? I
> guess
> >> I just have a lot of the stuff, just sort of in my brain and then when
> that
> >> kind of subject comes up, they’ll need the information I have. And
> then, I
> >> can usually just tell people, ‘Oh, I just read this book, and it turns
> out
> >> yadda-ya’ or sometimes I won’t even tell them I read the book. I’ll just
> >> say, ‘Did you know?’ or ‘Oh I heard about that.’"
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> She also talks about the pleasure of entering a story world, which
> seems to
> >> be something different than the way comprehension is traditionally
> >> understood:  “ I get bored with my life sometimes. Not like super bored,
> >> like midlife crisis bored, but just reality gets boring sometimes and
> its
> >> cool to think about other stuff. I’m reading *The Clan of the Cave
> Bear*,
> >> the second one, and it’s cool cuz it’s not everyday life, it’s
> something I
> >> haven’t experienced, but I’m sort of semi-experiencing it.”
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Because she semi-experiences what the characters do, she can use her
> >> reading to think about her life:  “Sometimes when, like, big stuff
> happens
> >> in my life, I’ll think about what my favorite character would have done,
> >> the ones I admire most. Also, sort of subconscious. I don’t stop and
> think
> >> about what someone would do, it’s just something that happens. Like, I
> bet
> >> so-and-so would be really brave about this, or, one of my favorite
> >> characters would have totally sped after this guy. And then sometimes I
> >> follow their example and sometimes I don’t. . . . They all have
> different
> >> approaches, different ways they approach things, and then I try to apply
> >> that to my life, to see which way works for me. Characters are just
> ways of
> >> thinking, really.”
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Sometimes the pleasure she describes seems to be a more detached
> >> intellectual pleasure:  “I like to think also about what the author
> could
> >> have written instead of what they did write, like different endings,
> like a
> >> dramatic part, I’ll stop and think about what could happen next, and
> then
> >> read and see what does happen. I just finished reading one, and it’s
> got a
> >> really cliffhanger ending, and I haven’t bought the next book yet, and
> I’m
> >> coming up with all these ideas about what happened next.”
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> And finally, she talks about the pleasure she gains from using her
> reading
> >> to deepen her relationship with others:  “When I take [the books] home,
> >> actually I start reading my book on the car ride back from the book
> store
> >> most of the time. My dad and I always go to Baja Fresh after the book
> >> store, because it’s right there and pretty good Mexican food. We have an
> >> inside joke, we say,  ‘Are we going to eat like people or are we going
> to
> >> read and eat at the same time,’ and I say, ‘Dad, shush I’m reading.’”
> >>
> >>
> >> The young people we talked to were remarkably articulate about the
> variety
> >> of ways they  took joy from reading.
> >>
> >> Michael
> >>
> >> --
> >> Michael W. Smith
> >> Professor and Chair
> >> Department of Teaching and Learning
> >> Temple University
> >> College of Education
> >> 351 Ritter Hall
> >> 1301 Cecil B. Moore Avenue
> >> Philadelphia, PA 19122
> >>
> >>
>
>
>