This past week, I enjoyed learning about the different types of approaches to teaching-specifically, disciplinary literacy and content-area reading. The major takeaway for disciplinary literacy is that educators interested in subject-specific teaching should modify their teaching strategies and instead focus on the “how” and “what” components of their teaching. On the other hand, content-area is more dependent on teaching students “to read and study like good students.”When comparing the two teaching strategies, disciplinary literacy appears to be at the top when it comes to measuring the quality of education. In other words, as educators our goal should be more than just making our students the “good students,” instead we should be teaching them to make purposeful connections with different disciplines.
However, both disciplinary literacy and content-area teaching strategies come further down our path as teachers. Based on our Buehl 2017, it is crucial to begin our understanding by delving into ourselves and finding our reader profiles. When forming a reader profile, we should ask ourselves the “what” “where” “when” and “how” based on our personal reading experience. According to literacy theorist James Paul Gee, our reader profiles can be based on our identities. In that, identity shaped by nature, position, traits, and associations can be used to justify our reading preference. Similarly, our students will also have these reader profiles but they may be aware or unaware of them, therefore, as educators we can help them build their reader profiles.
To continue this discussion, I would be interested to learn more about your reader profile. Alternatively, share the “what” “where” “when” and “how” of your reading experience. You can use a chart or a paragraph to explain how your identity influences what you read. Below I have included mine as an example:
Identity | Reading |
I enjoy classical/instrumental music(trait) | I enjoy reading classical romance novels such as Anna Karenina. |
I completed my bachelors in science(position) | I like reading science articles, preferably ones I need to use when writing my own research paper. |
“Where/when” | I like to read before bed. |
The reading made me really rethink who I am as a reader, and the extent to which my reading is actually informed by my identities, and how my identities are shaped and reinforced through what I read.
ReplyDeleteI knit, and so I read patterns, magazines about knitting, articles about artists who use knitting in their practice, and books that involve knitting techniques.
I am a sociologist, so I try to stay informed about new research in areas that I am interested in (Black immigration, sexuality, caring work).
I am a Black Caribbean woman and so I read work (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, prose) that speaks to the histories of the Caribbean, and the ways that stories are told about the region by people from the region.
I am a feminist and so I tend to read work (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, prose) created by and about women of color, queer women, women who are involved in social change work.
I read everywhere and all the time; my job demands that I pay attention to research and debates about relevant issues.
After finishing the Buehl reading, I found myself working to connect my identities with my reading preference. I remember being drawn to X-Men anthologies as a child. I felt like a weird outsider, and here was a group of cool-looking outsiders saving the world. Before this, I hadn’t reflected on early reading as a way to reveal a “profile of how we think of ourselves and how we behave as readers.”
DeleteI think of myself as a confident reader, literary fiction is my bread and butter. I have a kindred spirit in Doug’s wife Wendy, I enjoy reading through technical texts and instruction booklets before putting something together. However, my reader success arrow would fall short in areas of math and science.
I’m not sure if I ever hated math outright, I wasn’t taught the proper way to read or connect with it. As a result, I purged the idea of math and science being a part of my identity. I currently work with students who really enjoy math, but when it comes to word problems and practice testing they freeze up and get down on themselves. Buehl mentions educators assisting students in mastering texts within their field and helping develop critical strategies and skills for reading text in EACH subject. I found this tidbit helpful and something I will take along in my practice.
^^^ Maxwell's post*
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned previously, this week's readings allowed me to think deeply about my identity and interests in relation to the readings I tend to gravitate towards. I was also left feeling disappointed in myself for not reading more books that pertain to my personal identity rather than "school" or "professional" identity. Some of the ways in which readings impact my endeavors include:
ReplyDeleteBecause I am an art education student, I read a lot of informational material surrounding teaching methods and ways in which to infuse social justice and art education.
Because I am primarily a photographer and painter, I read/look at books of photographers and painters that I would like to learn more about.
When: Most often during school
Although the texts I often read facilitate my professional and educational endeavors, as mentioned, this week’s readings and blog posts have allowed me to realize that I am simply not reading enough in relation to my identity. I hope to begin reading texts that facilitate other areas of my personal identity. For example, Natalie mentioned that due to her being a feminist, she often reads books in her free time that reflect those ideals. Similar to her example, because I am a feminist, more specifically, very passionate about reproductive rights, I would love to continue my readings into the history and impact of the attack on reproductive rights within the country. Although my love for reading has not dwindled, it feels as if my free time for it has. After reading everyone’s identities in relation to the readings they correspond with, it has served as an important reminder to make time for the readings that are necessary to your personal identity.
Hi Noor,
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about my identity as a reader, I would say that I am a historian, legal scholar, sports enthusiast, and environmental activist. From this list, I can associate certain reading materials with my listed identities. For instance, I love reading history books that focus on everyday people and their contributions to both American social change and economic growth. I love reading this kind of history, and it is something that I aspire to teach my students. Reading this kind of history is so empowering. I love seeing how groups of people from all different backgrounds come together to promote change or contribute to a major social or political event.
As a legal scholar, I love reading judicial opinions. They teach you so much about the law and how individual judges come to form conclusions based on the facts that were presented in the case. However, they also can be dramatic and display instances where Justices disagree with one another. Sometimes dissenting opinions are so ridiculous that they make you laugh because they are so nonsensical.
As a person who loves sports, I read the sports section of the New York Times. It helps me stay informed about my favorite Chicago teams (Go Bears and Cubs)! They also inform me about major trades and how that might affect my team in the upcoming season.
As an environmental activist, I read articles about environmental sustainability and how scientists are addressing the climate crisis. So far, not much change has occurred, but my childhood friend, who is a Ph.D. student in chemistry, has informed me that he and other scholars are researching how to convert carbon emissions from the air into fuel for motorized vehicles. So, I am hopeful, but still concerned especially since so many wildfires have destroyed homes and killed off so much wildlife.
Similar to you Noor, I love to read before bed, like Buehl discussed in the reading, reading before bed is a relaxing break from the day. I agree! When I have a very stressful day at work, reading takes me to another world or time. It helps me to decompress and shift my attention to other, in my opinion, more important topics than work.
^Brett Hyink
DeleteAs a reader I have to say I am rarely interested in reading for enjoyment or relaxation. If I am reading it is because I am doing historical research for my classes or am simply adding to my historical knowledge to have a more fleshed out idea of whatever historical time period I am reading about at the time. Similarly though to Maxwell's comment about the X-Men I was extremely invested into comic books and superhero's as a child. I found that fantastical things that they could do and say in comic books to be very inspiring and I think I envied the special powers that the characters had and wanted to replicate them in my own life.
DeleteWhen reading the Buehl chapter, I was really intrigued at the idea of everyone having their unique reader profiles and it got me thinking a lot about the things I choose to read on a daily basis. I'm happy that you are now giving us a space to write down the parts of our identities that dictate the things we enjoy to read.
ReplyDeleteSince I am a Teaching of History major, I enjoy and often have to read primary and secondary source documents. I also really love to read historical fiction novels.
As someone who really enjoys pop culture, I find myself constantly reading tweets or posts on Twitter or Instagram that keep me up to date on celebrity gossip and drama.
As someone who is a big fan of urbanism and trains, I love to read articles about improvements that cities across the country are making in order to make them less car dependent and more walkable.
As for the when/where I like to read, I will mostly be doing this reading in my bedroom late at night, but I also enjoy to read these things anytime and anywhere I have free time.