[Q2] on "'The Wooden Shack Place' The Logic of an Unconventional Reading"
To me this piece moreso than the others we've read so far really illustrates how literacy is so much more than just the mere ability to read. Literacy does have political, sociocultural connotations where one system of meaning is right (or righter) than the others. Being “off the mark” means that one's interpretation of the text is not the “correct” interpretation, that one's process of meaning-making is incorrect. This mark is set by Western sociocultural norms and enforced in our public education system, as standardized scores and exam marks are all assessed based on this system of meaning and given worth and value that determines the degree of success one will have in the field of academia. It is clear that by the end of the article, the authors seem to advocate for “unconventional readings” and further exploration of them. Most traditional educators would more likely than not cast unconventional readings aside and dismiss them as wrong. The authors here have noticed and acknowledged the logic, rationale, and value of unconventional readings for those with background knowledge, mental associations, and meaning systems that differ from the western norm.
[Q3] on "Inviting reluctant adolescent readers into the literacy club: Some comprehension strategies to tutor individuals or small groups of reluctant readers."
Ambe lists a number of labels educators use to categorize students who experience reading difficulties (i.e. “unsuccessful,” “passive,” “disengaged,” “disenchanted,” “helpless,” “resistant,” “alienated,” “low-achieving”; Ambe 632). While this labeling may occur with the best of intentions, it actually is detrimental to the relationship between students and teachers. This type of categorization is presumably done to help educators “sort” students in order to give them instruction that is more tailored to those who have particular educational needs—this is an admirable objective met with varying degrees of success. That being said, the problem with labeling is that many of these labels place the “blame” of illiteracy and reading difficulties on the students themselves-- labels like “helpless,” “resistant,” and “unsuccessful” are rife with a particular connotation that implies that students are unwilling or unable to learn. Ambe points out that many students who struggle with reading have “special learning needs,” are “English-language [or] standard American English learners, and older students who are disenchanted with learning” (Ambe 633). Beyond just that, a number of students' difficulties with reading (and with traditional schooling in general) are the product of problems outside of the educational context-- problems at home, with friends, or in a number of other areas of a learner's life can severely impact a learner's educational trajectory in a way that may not be easily fixed with tutorial sessions. Labels like the ones Ambe mentions in a way perpetuates the cycles of illiteracy-- while some teachers may devote extra attention to the pupils who experience difficulty, those who are categorized as “helpless” or “low-achieving” will most likely be given material that corresponds with the instructors' lower expectations of the learners and dismissed as being unable or unwilling to be as successful as students without labels.
While I personally am not wholly against labeling (with the exception of labels that cast blame on the struggling reader), I feel like a possible alternative would be for instructors to instruct the entire class as they normally would and to have struggling readers be given supplementary materials or additional help outside of class so that they have the same opportunities to thrive. If this proves to be unsuccessful, the problem may be that the students are in a grade that is above their educational progress and may need to be demoted to a lower grade that is still moderately challenging but moves at a pace that is more reasonable and appropriate for the learners' reading level.
[Q4] on "Inviting reluctant adolescent readers into the literacy club: Some comprehension strategies to tutor individuals or small groups of reluctant readers."
If I were Jamie's tutor having read this article, I would engage and instruct Jamie in very much the same way (though prior to this reading I probably would not have been as creative). I think that teaching Jamie using less conventional educational tools (i.e. trade books and brainstorming) seems both very innovative and fairly effective. If I had been his tutor earlier in my life, I probably would have used books with illustrations in them as well, but I would not have thought to go through with brainstorming to create mental associations prior to reading. Prior to this course I never had really thought of literacy as requiring personal meaning. Reading comes so easily to me that I guess I usually take it for granted. What's most interesting to me about this piece is that not only do the tools teach vocabulary and reading comprehension, it addresses the underlying sources of reading difficulties (e.g. lack of motivation).
