Re-Awakening Reading Awareness
In the spring of 2004, fourteen faculty members took part in Re-Awakening Reading Awareness through Reading Apprenticeships, a professional development project funded by a mini-grant from the Community College of Philadelphia Foundation. The participants, all volunteers, were faculty teaching reading courses in the English Department or faculty in biology, allied health, or mathematics. The participants were paired and each, over a month, read two books: a book in one’s own discipline and a book from their partner’s discipline. For example, an English instructor would select an English book and read it. At the same time, a math instructor would be reading a math book which she had selected. After two weeks, the English instructor would read the math book, and the math teacher would read the English book. (List of the books selected and participants and copy of the project proposal).
While reading, each member of the pair was to share his/her reading experiences with the other. The exchanges might be via e-mail, written notes, or journals. The guidelines for these exchanges were rather broad, but it was hoped that each participant would be able to assume the role of the knowledgeable reader, familiar with the topic, and then that of the uninformed reader, the apprentice learning about a new topic. After reading the two books, the participants wrote answers to these questions:
- •What have you learned about reading in your discipline?
- •What have you learned about reading outside your discipline?
- •How will you use this information to help your students make meaning from the texts assigned in your class? (Donahue, 28)
These three questions were discussed in a group meeting, and the observations and recommendations generated there are worth considering in more detail.
Reading in one’s own discipline
The guidelines for the project did not define what constituted a “book in one’s discipline.” It was up to each participant to select the text, and usually the criteria used seemed to be obvious: the nursing instructor selected a book about nursing, while the mathematics instructors chose books about mathematics. However, this “match” was not always applied. One English instructor seemed willing to consider just about any book to be within the discipline of English, especially when English was defined as freshman composition. Since the purpose of freshman composition is to teach writing, then just about any book which supplied material to stimulate writing would be within the broad purview of the discipline of English.
The selection of a book “in” the discipline did not just depend on a fairly close correspondence between the subject matter of the book and the teaching expertise of the instructor. In addition to subject matter, the book “in the discipline” was sometimes labeled as such since the participant knew something significant about the work or the author. The person selecting the text might mention that the author had received a prize or the text was noted in the field. Or perhaps there might be an accidental acquaintance with the book through common links, such as college attended. One participant chose a book despite some esoteric vocabulary and difficult writing, and an indication that it was “in” her field was shown when she was willing to defend it despite its drawbacks.
There is also a negative dimension to “inness.” One participant recalled her university years and mentioned that what was represented in a course as universal was “in fact a very parochial and myopic view of our world.” This narrowness can limit a reader. A too close association with texts in a discipline might restrain, rather than liberate, a reader.
Reading outside one’s discipline
The comfort and familiarity with a book in one’s discipline are not found when reading “outside the discipline.” Then descriptors such as “uncomfortable” or “insecure” were used by the readers as apprentices. These feelings were at times linked to unknown and specialized vocabulary and a lack of background knowledge. One of the participants observed that when one is not acquainted with the discipline, then the reader is not really able to judge assumptions or inferences formed when reading. Where does fact end and opinion begin? Reading outside the discipline placed a burden on the reader, who had to learn new vocabulary and comprehend new concepts.
However, a refreshing and different attitude to reading as a novice was also expressed. Some participants pointed out that when reading new, unfamiliar material, the reader was free to skip around to find interesting passages. One participant spoke of the “insecurity of a learner, as well as the excitement of a discoverer.” Since one was reading in a new field, it was not necessary to justify the book selection.
This discovery reading might not be valued in the classroom, however. One English teacher said, “When you are not the expert, reading material outside of your discipline requires careful, systematic ‘study’ reading.” Study reading is different from discovery reading, and in academia, study reading is required.
How can we help students in the classroom make sense from texts?
By taking on the role of a novice when reading a text outside of one’s academic discipline, the participants assumed some of the roles of students, and, as students, it was not always apparent what sort of reading was required. A biology teacher pointed out that the student, or apprentice reader, had to adapt to different learning situations and appreciate various kinds of reading. An English teacher listed some of the demands of study reading: intense concentration, dedicated and extensive time commitments, a sophisticated vocabulary, and relevant background information. Novice readers were faced with a number of demands in order to comprehend what they were reading.
Students need to make meaning of the text, but would this meaning be derived independently or with assistance? This distinction is important to consider, since half the participants were “content” instructors, teaching courses such as biology, allied health, and mathematics. Many of these instructors do not have the time to teach reading skills in their classrooms. Nevertheless, the participants formulated strategies for use in their classes. Some of the participants recommended the inclusion of basic preparatory activities. Unfamiliar vocabulary could be taught, technical terms explained, and background information provided. Teachers have to teach study reading, and not just assume that it will be developed independently.
McLuhan’s The Medium Is the Massage sensitized one of the participants to different approaches to reading based on the medium used. While McLuhan wrote his book before the development of the World Wide Web, the differences between web browsing and book reading highlighted the need for different approaches to text, she pointed out. These differences in reading approaches made her more aware of her role as a teacher, and she resolved to “be much more cognizant of how I phrase my questions to tease out … what they read.”
Study reading might expand the options in the classroom. One of the mathematics teachers also mentioned the need to construct relevant questions, and others recommended other ways teachers could assist students to comprehend their texts. Participants recommended that students write summaries and explain what they have read through paraphrasing. The students need “to make meaning [from the text] for themselves.” Besides structured activities, students could also be asked to present what they discovered as they read.
Time and experience are constraints for students. A nursing instructor considered selecting what was to be read since not all the information in the book would be immediately used by students. An English teacher considered having students read the book first without any guide so that they could enjoy the story, but the unrelenting demands of the semester schedule might make a second reading with study questions unrealistic.
Through their assumption of the roles of novice readers and collaborative reflections on the process, the participants were able, in a relatively short time, to formulate useful and practical approaches to helping students make sense of their reading. Most of the participants indicated that the project was helpful. They were very likely to begin or add to required reading in class, and they stated that to some extent they were likely to change or modify their classroom instruction so that their students would be better equipped to understand this reading.
References
Donahue, D. (1992).Reading across the great divide: English and math teachers apprentice one another as readers and disciplinary insiders. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. 47(1) September 2003, 24-37.
The following books were chosen by the participants in the Reawakening Reading Awareness through Reading Apprenticeships project:
•Barefoot Heart: Stories of a Migrant Child. Elva Treviño Hart. Tempe, Arizona: Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe, 1999. 0-927534-81-9 (Anne Marie Keenan, English)
•Bread Givers. Anzia Yezierska. New York: Persea Books, 1925. 2003 0-889255-290-5 (Ellie Cunningham, English)
•Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science. Atul Gawande. New York: Picador, 2002. 0-312-42170-2 (Betsy Shiland, Health Information Technology)
•Critical Thinking in Nursing: A Cognitive Skills Workbook. Saundra K. Lipe & Sharon Beasley. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2004. 0-7817-4042-8 (Barbara McLaughlin, Nursing)
•Do unto Others. Kristin Lattany. New York: One World, Ballantine Books, 2000. 0-345-40708-3 (Gloria Ware, English)
•Essentials of Human Anatomy & Physiology, Sixth Edition. Elaine N. Marieb. San Francisco: Addison Wesley Longman, 2000. 0-8053-4940-5 (John D’Anjou, Biology)
•Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Characters. Matt Ridley. New York: Perennial, 1999. 0-06-019497-9 (Kerri Armstrong, Biology)
•Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction. Timothy Gowers. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. 0-19-385361-9 (David Santos, Mathematics)
•Riding the Bus with My Sister: A True Life Journey. Rachel Simon. New York: Plume Book, 2002. 0-452-28455-4 (Charito Aglaua, English)
•The Book of Nothing: Vacuums, Voids, and the Latest Ideas about the Origins of the Universe. John D. Barrow. New York: Vintage Books, 2000. 0-375-72609-8 (Dot French, Mathematics)
•The Medium Is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects. Marshall McLuhan & Quentin Fiore. Madera, CA: Gingko Press, 1967, 1996. 1-58423-070-3 (Barbara Spadaro, English)
•The Oxygen Man. Steve Yarbrough. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. 0-7432-0165-5 (Girija Nagaswami, English)
•The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. Anne Fadiman. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997. 0-374-52564-1 (Connie Love, Medical Assisting)
•Writing and Community Action: A Service-Learning Rhetoric with Readings. Thomas Deans. New York: Longman, 2003. 0-321-09480-8 (Rosemary McAndrew, Library)
©Copyright 2004. Contact author for permission
Maintained by Jay Howard,Sept 2004