In Learning Module One, we were instructed to review a literary journal and discuss it. I chose to review the Journal of Literary Research. I found this journal to be unusually student-focused and I appreciated that the journal seemed to genuinely discuss, analyze and reflect on why students do the things that they do and the effect that the individual students can bring to his or her own learnging and to the learning environment of his or her classroom.
In particular, one article I read discussed the fact that student's discussion on the comprehension of a text is undoubtedly influenced by his reading level and reading identify. Too often, as teachers, we expect that if we give students an assignment, such as discuss what you took away from this particular book, we expect, and even require, that the conversation look and be as in-depth, as we think to be appropriate. This article exposed the irrationality of that thinking. If a student's reading identity is one way, we should respect in regards to the discussions and not attempt to change that by requiring them to fit the molds of typical reading comprehension conversations.
I had never heard of this particular journal prior to LM1 but I have subscribed and I intend to follow this article because I see true value in professional research that is written with genuine concern for the students that are being examined.
I had never thought about this issue until reading your blog. As educators, we have very different ideas of how something should be written and the structure of the text. We have these expectations from all of the students yet we don't take the time to think about that specific child and how he/she may perceive things. We understand that children bring different ideas and backgrounds to the classroom yet we tend to forget how their diversity may affect their learning outcomes.
ReplyDeleteThat seems to be the struggle in almost every area of education. We say we are "child focused" but often the individual traits are the last identified and understood.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the article when it discussed students and their comprehension conversations. It is unrealistic for us to expect them to have discussions outside of their reading identity. I also liked how it discussed what students can bring into the classroom. This reminds me of students' funds of knowledge.
ReplyDeleteThis is so true. I can remember being asked to do the same task in school and receiving a low grade even though I felt I did my best. In remembering this feeling and reading your comments about the article, I will always take my student's identity and background into consideration when assessing an assignment.
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