Building on Students' Experiences and Knowledge of the World to Interpret Literary Texts

• In Event: Opportunities for Identity Work in the Face of Risk and Resilience Through Literature

Abstract

Purpose
We present middle and high school instantiations of the READI literature approach that show different ways of creating learning spaces for students to build on their cultural identities and world knowledge in learning to interpret literary texts.

Perspective
Students bring to the classroom a wealth of knowledge relevant to interpreting literature and meanings conveyed about the human experience (Lee, 2001; 2007; Moll, Veléz-Ibañéz, & Greenberg, 1989; Moore, Bean, Birdyshaw & Rycik, 1999). This presentation examines one middle and one high school teacher’s implementation of the READI literature approach in which the cultural data sets, gateway activities, and selection and sequences of literary works encouraged students to relate “school” literature to their own, their peers, and their families’ lived experiences. At both levels, instructional foci included interpretive problems (e.g., symbolism) and common themes (e.g., coming of age, power relationships).

Methods and Data Sources
Consistent with design-based research methods, designs and implementations were documented through lesson plans, field notes, classroom videos, written artifacts, and student work samples. Beginning and end-of-year essays and epistemology scales were administered to students. These essays, class discussions, and student work were examined for evidence of argument elements (claims, evidence, reasoning), symbolic interpretation, and thematic inferences. Ratings on epistemology scales (Yukhymenko et al., 2015) were analyzed with paired-sample t tests.

Findings
For the middle school enactment classroom discussions showed growth in identifying symbols in literary texts, interpreting their meanings and including evidence to support interpretations. Students’ made less progress and continued to struggle with reasoning and comparing and contrasting across-texts. Results of the essay analyses reflected a similar trend (Table 1). Students increased in beliefs that literature could have multiple meanings and was helpful in understanding themselves, others, and the world. Interview excerpts (Table 2) illustrate these changes in beliefs as well students’ perceptions of themselves in relation to literary interpretation.

Classroom data from the high school enactment provided evidence in the classroom discussions of changes in reasoning over time especially in students’ increased facility with and ownership of the interpretation process. Across the year, students relied less on the directives of the teacher and more on their own experiences with both texts and the world to guide their understandings. Analyses indicated greater engagement in interpretive processes, including providing reasoning about language in the text in relation to interpretive meaning and theme. Students increasingly argued for their views, guided by strategic teacher prompting, which sought elaboration on evidence and reasoning and juxtaposed differences in perspectives. Although smaller improvements were noted in the written pre/post essays than were observed in the classroom discussions, there was evidence in students’ in-class writing of increased attention to the language of the texts and to the power dynamics of the characters, which had been a thematic focus throughout the year.

Significance
These cases illustrate that valuing students’ unique cultural and experiential perspectives can turn classrooms into learning spaces that promote resilience, agency, and position students as knowledge producers. This is critical for success in modern society.

Authors

• Angela Fortune, The University of Illinois at Chicago

• Allison H. Hall, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Susan R. Goldman, University of Illinois at Chicago