Robin,+11,+HALR+ch.+7,+Engaged+Academic+Literacy

Robin 11, Ch. 7, Engaged Academic Literacy

The focus on affective and identity issues is the topic that riveted my attention in this chapter. With a special education teaching background, I am accustomed more to reluctant and resistant readers than any other kind. I have also had opportunities of being in a variety of classrooms and observed a variety of teaching methodology – some that encouraged the dispositions that develop resilient literacy identities, and some that reinforce the passive stance of prescribed procedures.

The two discussions I most enjoyed were on pages 100 & 101 concerning Developing Dispositions for Engagement in Academic Tasks. The objective is to reach the student; without the student buy-in, nothing will change. Student attitudes and ideas of themselves is what we need to influence and the authors do a nice job of describing the directions those attitudes need to pivoted towards. Incidentally, it is my belief that it is the relationship of respect that is nurtured by the teacher to the student that will create the foundation for the student to reciprocate an attitude of respect for the teacher, and a faith in the teacher’s wanting what is best for them, that will allow the student to be influenced into altering their self-perceptions and academic dispositions.

Fixed negative identity is a powerful barrier as is the self-consciousness and sensitivity to negative peer group perceptions; likewise establishing and enforcing classroom climates of scholarly integrity and positive peer interactions/response activities can be an effective method of supporting all students. The characteristics of curiosity, tolerance for ambiguity, and the expectation one should construct understanding rather than passively carrying out prescribed procedures, are features not always encouraged as they ought to be in classrooms and I think this is why so often young people are not cognizant of their potential to construct understanding – when habits of independent thinking are not a naturalized condition, students become ritualized learners across the grades, through the years, and sometimes reach graduation without taking control and agency for their own learning.

Confidence in their ability and in the value of persistence is under-rated by students, they give up quickly and easily especially under conditions of prescriptive ritualized learning. An approach of intervening with a code-breaking strategy to analyze unfamiliar text, would embed the notion they are in control, that successful readers persist to understand and connect concepts for their own learning; not to please another, or to respond to one question for the moment.

I also really liked, and wish it had been longer, the section on page 105 that discusses Developing Resilient Literacy Identities. The authors speak further of transforming the identities of non-readers that are often created through negative school experiences – into capable readers. Adolescence is a time of self-exploration as they suggest, and the classroom is a great context for them to envision who they are or may become, and through extension to reengage as readers. Lave and Wenger, 1991, describe the process of identity formation as a negotiation of “participative experiences” and social interpretations of experiences, and through this negotiation, construct their identities. When teachers provide consistent support for students to try new ways of acting, thinking, and interacting, there are significant shifts in academic identity of the course of a year. This practice speaks exactly to my earlier assertion of classroom practice that supports trust and exploration; I am pleasantly surprised positive results can undo earlier damage in such a relatively short time.