Post 4: Who is in charge.
For the optimal experience please listen to the following song while reading the blog: End Boss
In this
chapter the authors make another thinly veiled attempt to provide a bipartisan approach
to reading. The behaviorist (who thinks that syntax, phonics, and the minutia
of words matters most) is pitted against the psychoanalytical approach to
reading. The authors ask this simple question at the beginning, “Who is in
charge?” Is it the author who wrote the words and put them in a particular
pattern and with particular vocabulary and syntax. Or is it the reader who is
in charge. The reader, that takes the words and creates meaning within themselves
based on previous information and experiences.
If you have
been following this blog, or if you have been reading this book then you know that the author is steering
(ironically) the reader into thinking that the reader is more powerful. They
use fancy terms like: reader prediction, schema, Social Constructivist, and
others to try and make the point that the author provides a framework in which
the reader should take all the ideas experiences and previous knowledge that
they have and to create meaning from it. In the conclusion the authors point
out that students should use what they read to become active participants in
the synthesis of information. That they should create meaning from the ideas
presented before them. To critically analyze what is being said and most importantly
how they feel about it. If they agree of if they don’t agree.
As a reader
I feel that this is absolutely true. When I am interested in a book or in a
topic I am much more likely to delve deep into the book and the meaning. My discussions
are much more lively and I feel more strongly about how I feel and, especially,
how I feel that way. The book does make concessions that people need to know the
basis rules of the language. For instance, in the English langue they need to
know the structure of a sentence, how the parts of speech fit together and how
to sound out words and combine them to create meaning. They just feel that to
focus only on what they words are and how they put together is not as important
as the interpretation. During my
Undergraduate studies in English I took a poetry-writing course, and I was
always amazed at the meaning that others were able to find in something I had
said. Mostly I liked it because they always made me sound so smart and
thoughtful. But it did teach me a few things, principle among them, was that
the meaning of the author takes a back seat to the meaning that the reader
assigns to it.
When asked
the question by the authors, “who is in charge?” I agree whole-heartedly that
it is the reader who is in charge. From opening the book and deciding to read
the book that puts them in charge, if you take my previous experiences with
similar texts it changes how I see things. If I had not already formed an
opinion about the two main methods of teaching writing I may not be so apt to
agree with this book. We are the sum of our parts and the whole of us is
greater than the parts themselves. Reading is no different.
This was a great summary. It made me wonder why we read and make interpretations the way we do. No one has a real answer, perhaps. So I just imagined what would a world be like if we read the words in a text exactly as written. (There are Biblical directions where this can go ... but that is a bumpy road..). An equivalent would be how some people use GPS in their car. Even though the road is getting smaller, bumpier, and barely a road, if the GPS says go straight, well it must be right.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the history of life has realized, that the organisms before may have gotten it right to be where they are, adding a bit of interpretation for the place where we are now can keep us safer. That is, making the information relevant to us. That in the past was called survival, today it becomes an artistic expression. That is fantastic progress for people!!
So taking charge is taping into our paleo-history and making things happy, hopefully!!
This was a great summary. It made me wonder why we read and make interpretations the way we do. No one has a real answer, perhaps. So I just imagined what would a world be like if we read the words in a text exactly as written. (There are Biblical directions where this can go ... but that is a bumpy road..). An equivalent would be how some people use GPS in their car. Even though the road is getting smaller, bumpier, and barely a road, if the GPS says go straight, well it must be right.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the history of life has realized, that the organisms before may have gotten it right to be where they are, adding a bit of interpretation for the place where we are now can keep us safer. That is, making the information relevant to us. That in the past was called survival, today it becomes an artistic expression. That is fantastic progress for people!!
So taking charge is taping into our paleo-history and making things happy, hopefully!!
Sorry I can't listen to music at work. I'm sure it would have just distracted me anyway because I get distracted easily. I have a question and I was wondering how you would feel if you were not in charge of the reading. I only ask this because I can sometimes feel this way when I read. I mean it's not always easy for me and I think about students with disabilities who may never feel like they are in charge.
ReplyDeleteDear Steven, I think every individuals gets distracted differently. For example students with ADHD tend to learn better in noisy places such as coffee shops, or when they listen to a music. Regarding to your question, I think it is always good to motivate students to do something or to read something. Students can get engaged if we as a teacher show them how fun the reading material is.
ReplyDelete