Philosophy of Teaching Reading - The Tutor Report
Philosophy of Teaching Reading
RED 6351
Fall 2012
Kelly Josephson
Florida Atlantic University
To make meaningful use of material read, one must make connections. The top-down theory and the transactional theory of teaching reading connect what you already know to what you need to learn creating generalizations to worldly connections while incorporating specific skills lessons. I will describe two main theories of teaching reading I think are beneficial to teaching students with mild disabilities such as processing deficits and language impairments. I will describe two theories: top-down processing and transactional theory. With the transactional perspective, the student plays a central role in making meaning, by drawing upon prior knowledge and life experience to foster connections from a text. The transactional model relies on reading to construct meaning from what has been read by making meaningful connections to their life and not solely from the words on the page. The cognitive view or constructivist theory, or top-down processing, stimulates the student’s background knowledge in addition to what appeared on the printed page. Top down processing connects what a person knows to what they are reading, fostering comprehension. Therefore, in order for a student to make meaningful use of material read, the top down processing and transactional approaches are the wisest to use in a classroom with struggling readers.
Everyone has a different perspective on what reading is and how to teach reading to students. My personal definition of reading is conceptualized on the printed word. A person who can decipher the code to make meaningful units that are understood beyond the page, can apply the printed word to their knowledge or can add upon that knowledge from the construction of the words presented in a logical format. "We can roughly define what we mean by the art of reading as follows: the process whereby a mind, with nothing to operate on but the symbols of the readable matter, and with no help from outside, elevates itself by the power of its own operations. The mind passes from understanding less to understanding more. The skilled operations that cause this to happen are the various acts that constitute the art of reading." (Adler & Doren, 1972) "The more we read, the more we are able to read. . . . Every time a reader meets a new word, something new is likely to be learned about the identification and meaning of words. Every time a new text is read, something new is likely to be learned about reading different kinds of text. Learning to read is not a process of building up a repertoire of specific skills, which make all kinds of reading possible. Instead, experience increases the ability to read different kinds of text." (Smith, 2004).
The Oxford dictionary defines reading as.... look at and comprehend the meaning of (written or printed matter) by interpreting the characters or symbols of which it is composed. 2. discover (information) by reading it in a written or printed source:3. understand or interpret the nature or significance of: 4. inspect and record the figure indicated on (a measuring instrument): 5.chiefly British study (an academic subject) at a university: 6. (of a computer) copy, transfer, or interpret (data): 7. present (a bill or other measure) before a legislative assembly: 8. hear and understand the words of (someone speaking on a radio transmitter):Origin: Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German 'advise, guess'. Early senses included 'advise' and 'interpret (a riddle or dream).
Seminal theorists that have influenced my philosophy of teaching reading are Brian Camborne and Jean Piaget. First, I would like to discuss Brian Cambourne. He is a constructivist. A constructivist believes that a learner is able to comprehend and understand a concept by doing it or experiencing it firsthand by building on their prior knowledge. Cambourne believes teachers must make meaningful relationships with their students to develop a trust among each other. Having expectations that are positive and believing in the student's ability to help them achieve will increase the students desire to learn. He feels the learners need to be immersed in content area learning. Teachers need to provide modeling and demonstrations of what is expected of learners. He feels clear expectations shape behavior. Learners need to be responsible. The learner must make decisions of what, how, and when they are going to participate in reading. The learners must use the new information repeatedly and practice the concepts in realistic ways to make it meaningful to them. Learners must approximate their learning and also make mistakes because mistakes also guide in helping us learn. A teacher must provide feedback in a timely fashion that is non-threatening to the learner.
Another seminal theorist who influenced my personal perspective on how to teach struggling reader is Jean Piaget. Jean Piaget was a constructivist theorist who became interested in the actual thought process. He coined the term genetic epistemology, which means studying how a person develops knowledge. Jean Piaget took notice of how infants took to their surrounding environments and how a child gains knowledge through their environmental conditions which creates a schema for the child. Piaget also studied how a child may make connections using their schema to assimilate new objects into their existing realm of knowledge expanding that schema. When a child experiences something that does not fit into their original schema or knowledge base and this new information is added and adapted, this he called an accommodation. Piaget referred to this term adaptation which we now call learning. Piaget's theory is the foundation for the transactional theory because both theories pose the idea that a child's cultural background or prior experiences are fundamental to the reading process.
Piaget developed the idea of stages of cognitive development. The first stage is referred to as the Sensorimotor Stage. Within this cognitive stage a child between the ages of infancy to age two would use their senses and motor abilities to understand the world. The next stage is the Preoperational Stage from age two to seven. The child learns to understand symbols and creative play, remembers to associate with past and present events. The child is quite egocentric during this stage and usually only can view things from their viewpoint. During this stage children focus on one center or central idea. The next stage is the Concrete Operations stage. During this stage the child is seven to eleven years old. The child is able to form logical operations and manipulate symbols to make more meaningful connections. Students are still using concrete situations to perform logical operations. The child learns classification and seriation. Seriation means to put things into logical order or a category. The final stage is Formal Operations which occurs around age twelve. This is when a child begins to make the switch to adult like thinking patterns, using logical operations and using them in the abstract rather than a concrete manner. We call this type of logic hypothetical thinking. Piaget believed in discovery learning. Discovery learning encompasses a child learning the sound symbol correspondence through reading his or her own stories that can be transcribed by the teacher. A teacher would use the language experience approach such as if he or she took the students on a field trip and returned to the classroom then wrote about their experience. The teacher would transcribe the events retold by the students and the students gain sound symbol correspondence by discovery learning. The students would then reread the meaningful text and the teacher would then explicitly point out the direct sound symbol correlations. Jean Piaget's discovery learning supports my rationale for the idea that before a student will construct meaningful use of material read the student must make meaningful connections.
Current theorists and literacy experts who also follow a constructivist theory are Frank Smith and Lucy Calkins. Frank Smith was also a constructivist. He felt children needed to learn by experience, combine it with their prior knowledge, and link it to newly learned information. This would result in an increase in their reading ability. He felt that comprehension was not a simple understanding of a new concept, but a change in perspective of what was already understood. And now this new understanding is molded and changed by the new information gleaned from reading. Frank Smith compares a student in school to a scientist in a laboratory. He feels that a child must make a knowledge discovery by using it, manipulating it, and applying it; just as a scientist in a laboratory would analyze his findings and re-shape is research base on ever changing results and assumptions.
Smith relates memory to cognitive structure. Memory is the way we perceive the world around us shaping our cognitive structures. Students make predictions and confirmations while reading when they apply their cognitive structure to interpret new experiences.
The Top down theory encompasses all of the preceding theories of instruction. It is based on using meaning to make and foster new connections while reading. Theories that stress top- down processing, hold that readers form hypotheses about words they encounter and take in only just enough visual information to test their hypotheses (e.g., Goodman 1967, Smith 1971). In the words of Goodman, reading is a “psycholinguistic guessing game.”
Lucy McCormick Calkins is a literary expert in whole language. She is a founding director of Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. She was one of the original theorists to design the "workshop" approach to teaching reading and writing. She developed this approach with a naturalistic viewpoint that becomes a process with rational series of choices and steps that a writer must make. Lucy Calkins feels children must be given a chance to express their voice in their writing. She is a constructivist believing children should create their own text using information they are exposed to in their own lives.
She is an advocate for small group instruction and peer groups. Her philosophy encourages teachers to conference individually with students to aid in personalizing their instruction. She fosters creativity in students by having them draw upon their life experiences. She encourages teachers to teach their students to carry a writing journal and capture their learned moments on paper. The writer’s notebook is to be used as a prescriptive tool. Lucy Calkins wants reading to be viewed as a "social activity" (Feinberg, 2005). She feels students need to make meaningful connections to books by identifying text to text, text to self, and text to world connections. Then they need to share their experiences with classmates.
Each day begins with a mini-lesson for explicit skits reading strategy. Students sit for ten minute mini lessons then go read independently. As the students read independently she may have the students focus on a specific skill. The teacher conferences with individual students or with a small group. The teacher also conducts a teacher-share by giving examples of student work or sharing ideas. Then the students go into partnership shares. Later in the year the students will read the same book and have reading clubs, where four kids will get together and read in sync and have group discussions about what they are reading. Lucy Calkin's workshop approach and philosophy aligns with all of the preceding information because she believes children need to learn to read by reading and rereading. The majority of a child's time spent during the reading block should be spent on independent reading.
My current instructional theory and literacy pedagogy stems from the use of whole language integrated with the transactional teaching methodology for teaching struggling readers. Motivation is the key to success with a struggling reader. Therefore if a teacher is able to foster meaningful reading, she will tap into a child's interest. Whole language and the transactional theory of teaching reading is exactly the methodology needed to aid reading comprehension and will help children from diverse backgrounds.
Whole language is based on the Top-down theory of teaching reading. This set of beliefs includes that language is interrelated encompassing reading, writing, speaking and listening. All these components should be purposeful and genuine. In a classroom where whole language is utilized one would see small groups of children reading independently or conversing about a given text, or students reading authentic text independently while jotting down notes about what they have read. A teacher would be conferencing with either individual students or small groups of students, teaching mini lessons of specific fix -up reading comprehension strategies. The approach teaches language as an authentic use in three ways: students learn language, to use language to learn, and they learn about language (National Council of Teachers of English, 2008). It's a theory that no matter your ethnicity or diverse cognitive ability, all learners can take control of their learning abilities.
Parents play an important role in facilitating language. The belief is that by social control of learning, and by collaboration and communication, students can make meaning of print through discussions and connecting to language in both written or oral forms. The genre is the context of the text and the language shapes the interpretation. While students read and discuss with their peers they make generalizations, form hypotheses, resulting in authentic language usage. These approximations are how teachers are able to observe and assess the student’s understanding of language usage. The classroom is a risk taking place where students then take ownership of their language use. The teachers are able to assess the students by observing children reading, reading their writing, and over time monitoring their progress.
Whole language fosters a risk-free, print-rich environment where children develop the skill of interacting with one another, solving interpersonal conflicts and problems, supporting each other in learning, and taking responsibility for their own learning and behavior. The term whole language refers to students reading the whole text and not individual skill lessons. The students read a whole text and make connections before, during and after reading. Instead of the skills being taught in isolation they are taught in the context of reading, writing, and learning, For example phonics isn't explicitly instructed. Phonics is taught by reading and rereading, and through writing the sounds they hear in words. However I must note that this is where I do not agree with whole language, I feel explicit phonics instruction for children with phonemic awareness deficits is a must. This is where my philosophy of reading diverges from these view points.
The transactional theory is similar to the whole language approach however it also contains unique characteristics. Therefore, a blended model of both theories supports my definition of reading.
The main teaching approach in using the transactional theory invites students to make responses to literature they read. The students need to know that their particular interpretations of a reading are important and are good starting points to writing and discussions. Students need to take the time to reflect on what they have read and how they feel about their interpretations before listening to others feeling and interpretations of the same material read. We as teachers should help facilitate the student’s interpretation. Teachers should look for areas where the student can communicate their thoughts and different viewpoints. Next teachers should open the topic up for the students to discuss and interpret. The students should be encouraged to discuss the text, how the text relates to them as individuals, and others. Students should seek more information and be open to the interpretation of other views, not be argumentative but supportive of other view points. Students need to look for more information for its own sake not just as proof that their view or perspective was correct. Finally the students should also make text to text connections. While comparing and contrasting what they have learned to what they knew or what to know. This will also facilitate a class discussion on what the students want to read next in class. This theory is one that has the reader reflect on what they have read and interpret what the words in the text mean to them. Transactional theory is the transmission of knowledge the reader has gained from the text and how to relate the understanding and synthesizing of the words to themselves. This type of interpretation of the text read can be for either an informational or pleasure seeking reason. The inferred point of tackling a text in this view point is for reading to be used immediately for feelings or to be stored for knowledge at a later point. Basically all texts are read for two main reasons: informational or aesthetic pleasure seeking as per Rosenblatt, 1978. The transactional theory, as Rosenblatt explains, are just words on a piece of paper that have meaning only when read actively whereas a reader can form a mental picture in his or her head. The printed words must invoke a feeling, emotion, or make the reader make a judgment from what they have read. The emphasis is on the "transaction " that takes place by the readers interpretations based on background knowledge, experiences, feelings, memories and other text.
Rosenblatt has two stances on how people interpret text they read. The stances are called efferent and aesthetic. Efferent reading is when a person reads to find out the steps in a process like a mechanic reading a manual to fix a certain part of a car. Also an efferent reading stance is more for informational purposes. Hence reading to find or discover information. An aesthetic stance is where a person reads for seeking pleasure. The reader is looking for more of an intellectual experience to take from the reading. If people like to read mystery or scary tales this would be considered aesthetic reading.
Students are encouraged to make reflections of what they have read by holding reflection discussions about text in groups. The students are expected to detect parts of language, draw inferences of what they read about genres, authors, and texts. Learn to form critical judgments from what they have read but mostly to apply what they have learned from reading to themselves or the world around them. " The literary transaction in itself may become a self-liberating process, and the sharing of our responses may be an even greater means of overcoming our limitations of personality and experience" (Rosenblatt, 1984).
Whole language and the transactional theory of teaching reading use the same form of curricular materials and assessment practices. These theories are based on the student's interests and needs. Hence, the reason why the classroom library is the focal point of the classroom. The materials used are authentic texts of a variety of genres. Classroom text sets include collections of books and other texts: poems, artwork, songs, web pages, brochures, instructions, and pop culture artifacts( Flint, 2008). The authentic literature texts that are used range in text complexity, languages, and subjects. The teacher’s curricular materials must be interesting texts which are highly motivational to read; they may be store bought or student generated. Song charts, hymns books, and teaching aids such as charts and easels. When a teacher teaches from whole language or transactional based theory students' interests are the primary drive. With high interest materials the motivation is high because the students already have vested interest in the given topic. Student diversity is also supported when determining what type of authentic texts to use because the teachers find the materials based on student desires. Students in America come from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, hence this cultural diversity intertwines with their interest spurring their motivation to want to read and succeed.
My theoretical perspective is based on the lack of schooling I received as a child. I was one of those struggling readers who was reluctant to try to read an entire book. The printed words made no connections to any thing I knew or understood.
I attended grade school in Long Island New York. I was one of those students who was always in the main office or getting a phone call home because I couldn't sit still in my seat, follow multi-step directions, or get along with other students. I was often referred to as, " Kelly beats to her own drum and does what she wants when she wants too!" Teachers referred to me as defiant by nature. I never knew why I was constantly getting reprimanded. I tried to do what the other students did but I was clearly different and didn't understand what was going on around me. At a young age I learned it was easier to just copy the kids work next to you. I fell very far behind and as long as I kept quiet I stopped getting sent out of the classroom. I never had homework or projects to do. I don't even think there was a book inside my book bag! I truly don't remember much about learning to read except it was something I dreaded and didn't comprehend.
In grade three I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder which so impeded my ability to read and write that I was far below grade level. The school district did more tests but my mother disagreed and had an outside psychological done which stated yes, I had ADHD and also an auditory processing deficit with an average intelligence quotient. I was placed into inclusion based classrooms with minimal support. Mostly I remember being seated in the very back of the classroom without being able to see the board or instructions. I wore glasses as well and was never asked where they were and how come I didn't use them.
When I reached middle school I attended regular classes that were remedial in nature but never had any structure. Basically if I chose to show up that day I was given a C. I recall one event like it was yesterday. I was in seventh period English class, one of which I never knew what was going on and the teacher did Round Robin reading. This day for some reason I got mixed up on where I was supposed to read aloud. When the teacher reached me I just said, " I pass!" This obviously was not an option. However my classmates thought it was funny so I got a laugh out of everyone and was reprimanded. Hence I was totally mortified and got up and walked right out the school. Events such as this, when I actually did try to understand, turned me into the class clown. Therefore I chose to spend most of the time going to the local mall or down town, or just stay out back of the school and play handball all day. School became just a means of a social networking. All my friends were also labeled as Learning Disabled. When my mother caught wind of what was happening, how far behind I was, and that I truly couldn't read past a third grade level, that’s when my life changed dramatically. All the sudden I didn't have to watch for truancy officers it was "Roey" my mother that I feared!
My mother was a hairdresser and started to do my new ESE Middle School's resource room teacher's hair. She was truly an advocate for me. She took me into her class and started from ground up teaching me explicit phonics and remedial skills. But the work was too hard and I already felt to dumb and defeated. Therefore, each day was the same routine, off to school check in for attendance, give the security guard a smoke, and off campus to the days adventure, praying my mother had a full book of clients and couldn't come searching for me!
One day in high school I came home to my parents who stated they were tired of the school system and tired of not having any more work in New York. That day changed my education for the best we moved to Florida! My parents went to the school district and got all my paperwork and couldn't believe how far below grade level I was and how I never attended school. When they investigated Florida schools they were impressed by the ESE programs that were offered. I was able to have a resource room teacher and full support in each regular class I took. I had accommodations of extra time, remedial reading, and even some electives. My guidance counselor and I had hit it off right away too. I was in eleventh grade when I began to learn what truly being a student meant. All I had to do was show up for classes and pay attention and ask questions and the teachers in Florida actually listened and helped me. I was never made to feel embarrassed by reading aloud material that was too difficult or put on the spot or called dumb in front of other students. Still I graduated with D's and my mother used to say just give it your best- D is Diploma. I was lucky they didn't require a passing FCAT score or I may have wound up with a certificate of attendance. It wasn't until I graduated high school and decided to move out of my parent’s house that I learned I was smart enough to read well. My mother, being a hairdresser, always met new people. She happened to meet Dr. Olivera, a woman who taught me how to learn and that I was smart. I was reluctant at first but gave into my parent’s demands of working with her a few times a week. I was a waitress and had no sight of a career path. Dr. Olivera tested me. I was seventeen years old and read on a seventh grade reading level, at this point in my life I never had read one chapter book front to back. She taught me decoding tricks and chunking words and how to read around words and use context clues. She taught me enough strategies to convince me I would and could tackle community college. She lead me into learning by helping me learn how to read and write. I made it through community college with straight A's and decided I wanted to teach students with disabilities and show kids what their abilities are if they just choose to try. As I teach my students phonics principles and studying tricks I learn more myself. One has to fully understand a concept before you teach it so I always look at teaching as learning too! I don't ever recall learning about narrative or expository texts and different genres of texts. All these terms were new to me as an adult ESE teacher. This is why I chose to get my master’s degree in reading: to learn more about reading and how to help myself and my students.
In summary for a child to construct meaning from the printed word it has to be meaningful and have a purpose which is relevant to the child's schemata. Brian Cambourne and Jean Piaget were early seminal theorists who founded the guiding principles of instruction which fosters connections. Frank Smith and Lucy Calkins are current theorists who have developed approaches to support the early seminal theorists. The whole language and transactional models of teaching a struggling student to read are the most effective ways to convey the love of literature to children because it taps into their interests fostering motivation to want to learn to read better and discover a wealth of information. My philosophy of teaching reading to reluctant struggling readers will enhance their knowledge of how to construct meaning and generalize it to world events.
References
Flint , A. S. (2008). Literate lives teaching reading & writing in elementary classrooms. Massachusetts: John Wiley & Sons
Cossett, R. Engaging Adolescent Learners: A Guide for Content Area Teachers. Available from
Smith, F.(2004). Understanding Reading: A Psycholinguistic Analysis of Reading and Learning. Lawrence Erlbaum, 2004.
LeGard. (2004). Piaget versus Vygotsky. Retrieved from
Whitmore, K. F., & Goodman, K. S. (1996). Practicing what we teach: The principles that guide us. In Whitmore, K.F., & Goodman, K.S. (eds.), Whole language voices in teacher education. York, ME: Stenhouse
Goodman, Y.M. 1985. "Kidwatching: Observing Children in the Classroom." In Observing the Language Learner (pp. 9-18). A. Jaggar and M. T. Smith- Burke,ed. Newark, DE an dUrbana, IL: Co-published by international Reading Association and National Council of Teachers of English.
Halliday, M.A.K. undated. "Three Aspects of Children's Language Development: Learning Language, Learning Through Language, Learning About Language." In Language Research: Impact on Educational Settings. G.S. Pinnell and M. Matlin Haussler, eds. Unpublished manuscript.
Smith, F. 1988. Joining the Literacy Club. Portsmouth, NH. Heinnemann.
Vygotsky, L.S. 1978. Mind and Society. Cambridge", "MA: Harvard University Press
Whitmore, K. F., and C.G. Crowell. 1994. Inventing a Classroom: Life in a Bilingual, Whole Language Learning Community. York, ME: Stenhouse
Boerce, G. (1996 & 2006). Jean Piaget 1896-1980. Retrieved from
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