Inquiry II Seminar

Educators of the week: Jose, Natalia, Kiran, Louise, Allison, Ilana, Ellis, Gabriel, Irene, Christina, Melanie, Clayton, Corinna, Ashlee, Blair, Natasha, Cristina, Rita, Sophie, Shannon, Annie, Dayonne, and Sarah.

The 2nd century CE Rabbi, Yehudah HaNasi, has been widely credited with making the following statement: “Much have I learned from my teachers, more from my colleagues, but most from my students.” It has been a great pleasure learning from and with all of you through the past three weeks. You have encouraged me to revisit old writings and to take up new ones, to re-examine some of the big questions of teaching and learning, and to interrogate my assumptions and the assumptions of others in the spirit of open inquiry, learning, and debate. Thank you for your wisdom, patience, humour, and creativity.

Last semester, even though it took place on Monday nights from 4:30 to 7:30, I looked forward (with remarkably reliable enthusiasm) to Carl Leggo’s class every week. As the semester progressed and the afternoons and evenings became darker and colder, “Teaching Writing” with Carl felt increasingly like a bright little oasis that 30 or so of us were able to retreat to once a week. I can’t help but feel that the most important things I learned in that class were not about writing, necessarily, but about how to be a fantastic mentor to students. For those of you that didn’t have the opportunity to enroll in that class, here’s Carl reading a poem at the University of Lethbridge…

The following components should be included in your presentation and written submission:

• Context (What led you to select this question? Why is it important for English language arts educators to consider?)
• Approach/Method (How did you approach your inquiry (e.g., review of scholarly literature, examination of teaching methodologies, examination of curriculum documents, etc.)?
• Findings (What are your findings? Synthesize key findings in your research. )
• Implications (What are the implications of your inquiry for teaching generally and for your teaching in particular? Do you intend to reflect on the effectiveness of any strategies you have identified in your practicum? If so, how will you do so?)
• Works Cited (A list of works cited in your presentation. Be sure to include any professional materials such as lesson plans.)
• Bibliography (To be included with your written materials only: your bibliography will serve as the reading log for EDUC 451B and may or may not be annotated. You should have consulted at least 8 articles. Be sure to include any professional and multimodal materials.)

Draft due: 17 January 2013
Final due: 27 January 2013

A couple of individuals in the class asked for some further information respecting grading after our session yesterday. You’ll find the Postman discussion about the origin of grading that we read in class in the comments sections on the proposals of individuals in Group 6 (Sophie, Cristina, and Blair). Postman doesn’t argue for or against grading — he merely notes that it is a curious practice and results in a particular perspective on teaching and learning.

Probably the most outspoken individual against grading is Alfie Kohn, an independent scholar and advocate for Progressive Education. Kohn has written many books and articles on the subject over the years. One article that synthesizes his position is here (Kohn, 1999). There are also many who critique Kohn’s perspective (e.g., Chance, 1993).

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References

Chance, P. (1993). Sticking up for rewards. Phi Delta Kappan, 787-790.

Kohn, A. (1999). From Degrading to De-Grading. High School Magazine. Available: http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/fdtd-g.htm

Margaret Atwood will speak at the Melville Centre for Dialogue, Kwantlan Richmond campus, on 16 Februrary, 4-8 pm. Tickets range from $25-125. More information is available here:

http://kpu.wildapricot.org/events
http://www.richmondreview.com/news/186078701.html

I spoke with a couple of groups yesterday about what are sometimes referred to as educational “commonplaces” (knowledge, child, society). The commonplaces as iterated above are referenced in some educational literature. For example, Holmes (1984) writes, “In terms of emphasis, the aims of education may be child-, society-, or knowledge-centered.” However, Holmes evidently deems this notion so ubiquitous that he fails to reference his source. Schwab is the key curriculum theorist who articulates the notion of commonplaces, alluding to the bodies of experience that play into the act of curriculum planning, including the following: subject matter, learner, milieu, teacher (503-504). He goes on to ponder what curriculum planning might look like when one centres activities more on one commonplace than another: “Imagine a child-centered planning which emphasizes above all else the present inclinations of students, the interests they bring with them or those which can be aroused by the shrewd placement of provocative objects and events in the educational space” (509). Just as easily, we might imagine a curriculum emphasizing other commonplaces.

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References

Holmes, B. (1984). Paradigm shifts in comparative education. Comparative Education Review, 28(4), 584-604.

Schwab, J. J. (1973). The practical 3: Translation into curriculum. The school review, 81(4), 501-522.

Hello Teachers,

Yesterday I met with Teresa and was given two lovely books as gifts, received with gratitude. It means a great deal to me that you have kept me in your thoughts while you are so busily preparing for the teaching adventures that await. These books will be my companions as I endeavor to appreciate the changes in my own little world and in the world at large. Books have that amazing capacity to function as a conversant. A good book does this: as you read its pages, it reads your mind, it sends out feelers into thoughts unformed and prods them into existence. It doesn’t put the thoughts there…the thoughts are always your own, but without good literature, those thoughts might remain dormant for an entire lifetime. Isn’t that what the theory of reader response was meant to enlighten us about? I wish also to thank you not only for the books, but for allowing me to share in your seminar II inquiries. Your groups have already gone much deeper into content-related explorations, and your questioning is sophisticated and purposeful. I feel honored to have spent time learning with you and from you. Thanks for all these wonderful gifts.

Thanks to Diane Loomer, former English teacher, alumnus of UBC, and longtime Vancouver choral conductor extraordinaire, for the gift of music.

Ahearne, S. (2013, January 8). Obituary: Diane Loomer had a gift for getting the best from her singers. The Globe and Mail.

Context               

In the English classroom, some works (and genres) of literature are treated as worthy of study simply for their own sake and for their socio-cultural importance, such as Romeo and Juliet, but very few short stories are considered so iconic.  Of the four genres mandatorily taught at the secondary level—short stories, novels, poetry, and drama (Shakespeare)—short stories are perhaps the most superficially accessible to students, and therein lies the danger of limiting the learning outcome to superficial understandings of individual texts.  This is unfortunate, as the structure of the genre has great potential for developing critical thinking, literacy and literary skills that are widely applicable both to other subjects and to real-life situations.

Research Question

For this reason, I believe it is valuable for the English teacher to consider which approaches (classroom and lesson structures) are most conducive to pushing past a superficial level of understanding and using the texts themselves as opportunities to learn and apply critical thinking and literacy skills.  For this independent inquiry project, I intend to explore the range of approaches to teaching short stories, both traditional and contemporary, that have been used to foster the development of specific skills, paying specific attention to which skills are favored by each particular approach.  As a secondary consideration, I would also like to explore how different approaches address the issue of having a wide range of skill, ability and interest across the student population, as well as how those approaches are able to make students’ internal thought processes accessible to the teacher.

Research Approach

The approach that I have taken for this inquiry project involves researching academic publications on the topic of pedagogical approaches to the short story, identifying at least three unique approaches to teaching the short story and the skills they aim to develop, and comparing these approaches to uncover how and why they lend themselves to fostering specific skills.  This information will then be experimented with during my long practicum with the goal of uncovering which techniques best address the needs of my classroom and are the most practical, given my own individual teaching style.

Expected Conclusions

I anticipate finding a range of approaches that focus on developing literary (reading and analysis) skills, as well as awareness of important social and historical considerations.  While these are valuable, I also hope to find some approaches that focus on the development of writing skills, language skills—specifically for EL learners—and information literacy.

Preliminary bibliography

Brier, D. J., & Lebbin, V. K. (2004). Teaching information literacy using the short story. Reference services review, 32(4), 383-387.

Duke, C. R. (1974). Teaching the Short Story. The English Journal, 63(6), 62-67.

Freeman, B. (1955). Teaching Short Stories. English Journal, 284-307.

Peltzie, B. E. (1966). Teaching Meaning Through Structure in the Short Story. English Journal, 703-719.

Potter, R., & Dale, J. (1948). A technique of teaching short-story writing. English Journal, 248-252.

Kallan, R. A. (2000). Teaching Journalistic Cogency with 55-Word Short Stories. Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, 55(3), 81-88.

Yan, K. (2006). An Approach To Teaching Short Stories. International Journal of Business and Management, 1.

Adhikari, B. Teaching short stories in the language classroom.  Journal of NELTA, 11(1).

Carrell, P. L. (1985). Facilitating ESL reading by teaching text structure.TESOL quarterly, 19(4), 727-752.

Neupane, M. (2010).  Teaching short stories with a difference.  Journal of NELTA, 12(1).

For this independent inquiry project, I hope to undertake a study of literary criticism focused on J.D Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye. During the upcoming practicum, I will be teaching The Catcher in the Rye to two grade eleven classes, so this inquiry will directly support the unit I plan to teach. This study is rooted in a belief that secondary school teachers should be well versed in a wide range of theories and ways in which the text has been critically examined throughout the work’s history.
Since its publication, The Catcher in the Rye has been popular with adolescent readers due to themes of teenage confusion, angst, alienation, and rebellion. While it is a bestseller, it has also been challenged and noted as one of the most controversial books in education, mainly due to its liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality. In this case, I think an exploration of literary criticism related to literature can be applied in a high school setting because it will help to unpack where the novel is situated within history and popular culture, as well as how it has been academically examined and taught. Further, having a greater understanding of how the novel has been interpreted will allow me to help students understand what it can mean to be literary critics themselves. By inquiring into how the novel has been analyzed, I will be able to think about the ways in which different theories can be presented in the classroom, and in turn, how these theories can help to engage students and encourage them to apart of this community of critics.

Works Consulted (or To Be Consulted)

Cui Wang, and Xiaofen Zhang. “Returning to Youth and Nature —The Catcher in the Rye in Ecocriticism.” Journal of Language Teaching and Research 1.3 (2010): 269-73.

Draffan, Robert A. Novel Approaches: Teaching “the Catcher in the Rye”. 24 Vol. 1973.

Glasser, William. Reclaiming Literature: A Teacher’s Dilemma. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 1994.

Lingdi Chen. “An Analysis of the Adolescent Problems in the Catcher in the Rye.” Asian Social Science 5.5 (2009).

Pinsker, Sanford, and Ann Pinsker. Understanding the Catcher in the Rye: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1999.

Privitera, Lisa. “Holden’s Irony in Salinger’s the Catcher in the RYE.” The Explicator 66.4 (2008): 203-6.

Salzberg, Joel. Critical Essays on Salinger’s the Catcher in the Rye. Boston, Mass: G.K. Hall, 1990.

Salzman, Jack. New Essays on the Catcher in the Rye. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Smith, Michael W. Understanding Reliable Narrators: Reading Between the Lines in the Literature Classroom. Champaign, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1991.

Steed, J. P. The Catcher in the Rye: New Essays. New York: Peter Lang, 2002.

Steinle, Pamela Hunt. In Cold Fear: The Catcher in the Rye Censorship Controversies and Postwar American Character. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2000.

Tolchin, Karen R. Part Blood, Part Ketchup: Coming of Age in American Literature and Film. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2007.

Verde, Tom. Twentieth-Century Writers. New York, NY: Facts On File, Inc1996.

Wilson, James R. Responses of College Freshmen to Three Novels. Champaign, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1966.