During the next semester, a select group of interested English reading and science, math, and allied health faculty are invited to take part in the Re-Awakening Reading Awareness through Reading Apprenticeships project. This professional development activity, supported by a Community College of Philadelphia Foundation Mini-grant, is intended to make instructors more sensitive to the demands of the reading tasks embedded in their disciplines and enable them to develop and improve their instructional techniques.
The need for this type of cross-discipline professional teamwork was illustrated by Grubb (1999) in his study of teaching in community colleges, Honored but Invisible. Grubb noted that usually community college instructors were not trained as teachers but were hired for their subject matter expertise. As a consequence, “many faculty find it difficult to answer questions about their teaching; they have neither the time nor the reasons to discuss teaching, and they lack colleagues with whom to do it.” (25) Some instructors cited colleagues as powerful influences on their teaching, but the culture of the community college, with its segmented schedules and large number of part-time faculty, produces a professional context which is characterized as “individual, isolated, and lonely.” (Grubb, 49)
The lack of training, isolation, and focus on discipline might seem to be insurmountable obstacles to improving reading instruction, but recently Donahue (2003) has developed a model of professional development, a sort of reading apprenticeship, which actually builds on some of these alleged drawbacks to rekindle sense of newness about the teaching of reading.
Reading apprenticeship is a professional development process which will take instructors outside of their disciplines and incorporate them into a dialogue with other instructors. Up to twenty participants would be divided into groups: one group of ten reading instructors (English teachers who regularly teach English 083, 089, 099, 100, or 108) and another group of ten math, science (biology, chemistry, and physics), and allied health and technology teachers. The participants will be paired so that an English teacher is linked with a math/science teacher. Each participant will choose a text from his or her field which he or she has not read, but would recommend.
The apprenticeship consists of three distinct phases. During the first two weeks, participants will read a book and keep a reflective journal, posting at least three entries a week, reflecting on what they read, and also why and how they read it. Since at this time they are reading a book in their disciplines, the participants are functioning as master readers, or the trainers of apprentices.
After two weeks, the participants switch books and read outside of their disciplines; the English teachers will read a science/math/tech book and the other teachers will read an English book. Using the journal kept by the partner, each reader will have a guide for reading and may also contact the partner who recommended the book. Participants will continue to keep a journal, this time reflecting on what, how, and why they are reading a book outside of their discipline. During this phase of the activity, the readers are apprentices.
The last phase of the activity again lasts two weeks. During this time, each set of partners works together to consider three questions:
The apprenticeship will culminate with a group meeting on Study Day 2004 to share answers to these questions.
It is anticipated that the participants will increase their awareness of the difficulties, challenges, and rewards associated with reading in and outside their disciplines and will also be able to adjust their instruction to help students improve their reading comprehension. By answering the last question: “How will you use this information to help your students make meaning from the texts assigned in your class?” teachers will show that they have a plan to implement their recommendations. In addition to improving instruction, this activity should also foster cross-discipline communication since the instructors should have common interests and insights to foster further dialogue.
Faculty interested in participating in Re-Awakening Reading Awareness through Reading Apprenticeships are asked to contact Jay Howard in the Learning Lab. Please give your name and a brief statement indicating how this project will assist you or why you would like to participate.
References
©Copyright 2004. Contact author for permission
Maintained by Jay Howard,Jan 2004