Reading Reflection #1: Comprehension Processes, Contexts, and Texts for Developing Strategic and Engaged Readers

Key Insights 

I fully subscribe to the theory presented by the NAEP Reading Framework (2015) that states that "reading is an active and complex process" that includes understanding written text, developing and interpreting meaning and using meaning as appropriate based on the format and type of text, the purpose and the situation. I however, felt that things were missing from this analysis. As a school librarian, I am often a witness to many students who view reading as "boring" and non-essential to their learning. Of course, the students are thinking of reading as the act of sitting with a print book and reading something that is assigned to them and perhaps not something that they would have chosen on their own. 

The followup readings in week two, filled in some important context for me in that the idea that reading and literacy include layers of complexities and we often view "readers" as those who are sitting quietly with a print book as the gold standard, made me pause.  This is exactly how my students speak about "readers". It made me wonder. In Fostering Comprehension of Complex Texts, I found myself nodding along with the author's points of encouraging thinking of reading in a much broader way - realizing that we "read" many ways to understand the world around us. 

Zaretta Hammond's research brings in the important aspect of equity that needs to be an umbrella with which we view all instructional practices. Hammond states, "to make progress in educational equity, we need leaders, teachers, and other stakeholders to understand the different aspects of equity and how, when put together, they create more equitable outcomes for children" (Collaborative Classroom). 

In keeping with Hammond’s ideas, Mahfouz’s article, Why Trouble SEL? The Need for Cultural Relevance in SEL, points out that while many teachers care deeply about their students, they often struggle to recognize cultural factors that impact social and emotional needs of their students and how this can impact learning and reading skills and comprehension. Because of this there are often inequities that exist that are not considered when a student learns differently than other students. Mahfouz goes on to say that in order to “confront these limitations we propose adopting an interdisciplinary lens to integrate culturally relevant and culturally sustaining pedagogy into SEL programs for marginalized and minoritized students” (2020). 

Connections

I have long wondered about why some people are drawn to the act of reading and why others do not. This curiosity leads me to utilize my role as a school librarian to collaborate with English teachers to motivate our students to discover the benefits of reading. Although I was aware of the trends of the NAEP Reading Report card in relation to reading and the score decline, I had not fully considered that the testing was performed in a digital context. We expect students to be complex readers when we have historically taught literacy through print mediums and do not often have direct instruction around digital reading. We often do not consider the complexities of diverse contexts and culture when we are quick to label students as “struggling readers”.  In my own work, I integrate Bibliotherapy as a way to give students space and grace to consider their own identities within the context of literacy. These conferences with students often give students the agency to discover what works best for them; whether format, genre, environment or literacy strategies to implement. 

If we are intentional in our practice of instruction of readers, we must consider the elements that contribute to learner agency. These 7 elements to learner agency: voice, choice, engagement, motivation, ownership, purpose, and self efficacy are the pathway to helping learners in an intentional way.  Allowing an individual continuum makes reading meaningful in individualized ways for each learner. 

Implications 

All of the readings in the course thus far, point me toward my practice and the important aspect of my role as a school librarian to collaborate with classroom teachers in a way that brings informed practice to the forefront with aspects of equity, cultural competency and learner agency while considering the complexities of literacies and the ways in which our students engage with them. There are many reasons that students are less engaged in reading and there are also ways that we can consider new knowledge and research to help students understand these complexities and use digital and other tools to increase their motivation, comprehension, and mind-set as readers. In doing so, educators can learn much about the experience of our students and how this may be different from our own experiences within literacy. 

The author of How We Read Now quotes Harvard professor Reuben Brower, and his method of “slow reading” where “slowing down is the process of reading to observe what is happening, in order to attend very closely to the words, their uses, and their meanings”. Brower was encouraging a focus on actual words. Brower also mentions a newer movement to slow read that encourages a slower pace in reading. In this same chapter, Birkerts is quoted as explaining that deep reading is, “the slow and meditative possession of a book. We don't just read the words, we dream our lives in their vicinity” (p10-11, Baron) The implications of this are fascinating, in that we often measure how fast our students are reading (or their fluency) and yet, do not utilize the ideas of a mindset with reading. Doing so might engage many students who feel overwhelmed with the idea that they are behind other students and therefore don’t identify as a “reader”.