Comments/Reflections on Kittle's

Book Love

 

 

Kittle states that she believes 'in the rigor of independent reading.'  Because of my own experience with learning and literacy, I concur.  Most of my learning throughout elementary school, junior high, and high school has come from my own independent inquiry and much exploratory reading.  Hence, I appreciate Kittle's desire to instill the love of reading in students, and am eager to implement some of her strategies to accomplish that goal.

 

Furthermore, I am pleased that Kittle welcomes those who hold idiosyncracies provided that they are 'purposeful' (xv).  However, I have a problem with Kittle's ambiguous assertion concerning 'the increased complexity of literacy of this age.'  What precisely is the 'age' to which Kittle refers--the last 500, 100, or 50 years?  Does she mean that it is only the complexity of the 'literacy of this age' that has increased, or does Kittle assert that 'this age' is the most complex literacy-wise?  Also, what does Kittle mean by 'complex'?  Is today's literacy really more complex than that experienced by the Greeks and Romans?  I think not.

 

That being stated, I respect Kittle's fervor and devotion in inspiring students to love books and the reading of them.  In addition, I find it commendable that she aims to discover which subjects disinterested readers like, and then attempts to find books that they can be open to reading.  Her passion is borne out through her allusion to St. Pauls' first epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 13, in that she discusses her faith in students' desire to read, hope in their finding something to read passionately about, and love (charity)--namely, that the student will learn to love books.  Since she has appealed to the New Testament, I have looked up the text to see what nuances (if any) the Greek may provide and to see if her allusion is appropriate. 

 

The Greek word for 'love' in 1 Cor. 13 is 'agape.'  This is one of the most difficult words to translate into English because Greek contains four (4) words for 'love,' whereas English has only one (1).  These Greek words are not interchangeable, but convey nuances that require some periphrasis in English to bring out some idea of what they mean.  For example, 'philia' is the Greek for 'love toward a friend, friendship love;' 'eros' means 'romantic/sexual love,' from which the English word 'erotic' derives; 'storge' is the love for family; 'agape' is the unconditional love that is the act of the will, not that of feeling or emotion.  In this context, I think that Kittle wants students to cultivate a friendship with books.  Friendship does not result from an 'act of the will,' but rather the coming together of kindred spirits.  That is the reason why she want students to read books that they might enjoy, because there lies a kindred spirit therein.  Although her purpose and strategy is noble and useful, showing a level of creativity of textual hermeneutic often displayed by English majors/scholars, nevertheless her reference to the text here counts as poor exegesis since the term 'agape' doesn't appear to be relevant to her use of the word 'love' in this case.

 

I find her analogy of learning and advanced reading compared to exercise and 'curling' to be accurate.  I agree that students must begin with what they can do in order to advance slowly and gradually towards skills requiring greater stamina and complexity. (Of course, 'slowly' is a relative term, with some students progressing more 'slowly' than others.) Reading--i.e., reading well--is a demanding enterprise that requires perseverance and discipline, just as exercise and Olympic sports do.  Encouraging students to read material on subjects that they enjoy and giving them the reading strategies to improve their reading are important elements in inciting 'book love.'

 

Finally, I find uselful Kittle's steps to determine reading difficulty.  I like the fact that the onus is on the students to determine the difficulty of their own reading.  After all, it is they who experience the frustration accompanied with the reading of difficult texts.  I am particularly impressed with step five (Reflect on Your Reading in a Short Essay).  Rather than writing a quiz given by the teacher, the students generate their own answers and insights from the text.

 

William J. Broz

 

I am flabbergasted to learn that, although To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most assigned books to read in high schools, it is also one of the most unread books.  Who would not want to read this book?  Even I, as an illiterate and uneducated Appalachian boy, read the book during my sophmore year in high school and read the book with interest and pleasure.  Also, every book and short story that I was assigned by teachers to read, I read.  This I did, not because I was always interested in the story or the book assigned (because often I wasn't), but rather because I felt a moral obligation to read--period.  Furthermore, this feeling of compulsion to read did not rest as a defining characteristic of my culture (for, it didn't), but stemmed from an epiphany wherein I realized on my own the importance of reading to my essence as a human being and to my sense of individual identity.

 

Even more shocking than the notion that students do not read assigned texts is that future teachers in college programs of education often do not read texts assigned to them.  It makes me wonder:  If the teachers aren't reading, how can we expect students to?  I like Broz's suggestion that students who can read but don't should not be given passing grades.

 

Broz gives a suggestion that aligns itself well with Kittle's philosophy:  'Invite students to read a book that they can read and that they might want to read.'  The challenge is to balance this kind of reading with the reading of the classics.  Another philosophy of Broz's that I like is his principle of grading easier at the beginning of the semester.  I believe that this could alleviate the fear of a number of students and give them the confidence to read more and write more about what they read.

 

Just one last note about Broz's article:  a great outline that teachers can use to increase student reading and decrease student not-reading.

 

Going With the Flow (Smith and Wilhelm)

 

Although I haven't read Csikszentmihalyi's book Flow, I sense its utility in achieving individual growth and perhaps even self-actualization.  The four main principles are far-reaching:

• A sense of control and competence
• A challenge that requires ann appropriate level of skill
• Clear goals and feedback
• A focus on the immediate experience (28, 30)

I was not surprised to learn that those exhibiting confidence and competence in an activity are unlikely to venture into 'uncharted waters,' so to speak.  When you're talented in a field of endeavor, why would you abandon time spent on that activity or improving that skill in order to develop a new interest?  This falls in line with the 'control and competence' principle.

 

Appropriate level of skill:  simply put--a task too easy creates boredom; one too difficult, frustration.  The challenge, then, is to get students to read books that are east at first, then let them begin to explore on their own book of ever-increasing complexity.

 

Clear goals and feedback:  simply put--setting levels of achievement and receiving feedback on the progress make are necessary for reaching flow.  The goals, of course, should be achievable, and the feedback timely and efficacious.

 

A focus on the immediate experience:  simply put--by focusing intently on a particular activity, one loses awareness of any other activity save the one in which he is engaged.

 

One important, notable point that Smith and Wilhelm make is that social interaction is key to gaining boy's interest in taking on and participating in new activities.  There are a large number of books that I would never have read had a friend or acquaintance not recommended them to me.

 

I am trying to remember whether I, too, hated routine when I was a teenager.  Thinking back on it, yes, I certainly did.  I felt the need to experience new--but doable--activities, often with friends and siblings.

 

I love this question for our students:  'What is the quality of experience I want them [the students] to have today?' (50).  I plant to write this question at the top of each of my lesson plans while I am writing and planning for my students' learning experience.

 



Questions And Comments/Reflections Concerning Beers

1. Beers:  What challenges have you faced when encountering students with dyslexia or dysgraphia, and what strategies do you incorporate to help them achieve their goals as readers/writers?

Comment:  I dare say that a number of teachers may not realize that the challenges that they face with some of their most problematic student cases could be due to dyslexia.  I am under the impression that teachers today have become increasingly aware of the problem, but this does not insure that a number of children will not 'fall through the cracks,' so to speak.  Contrary to popular conceptions (which are, indeed, misconceptions), dyslexia is not a problem with one's vision.  Those with the disorder do not see the alphabet backwards or scrambled.  It is not a matter of seeing; it is a matter of processing.  In addition, not all processing difficulties are a result of dyslexia.  I can see the challenge for teachers, especially inexperienced ones.  When faced with a student who has problems decoding, the teacher must determine 1) whether the student is having difficulty seeing the printed/written text, 2) whether that student is exhibiting decoding problems that have nothing to due with sight, and 3) what might be the source of the problem, dyslexia or something else.

2.  Beers often underscores the relationship between the difficulties in decoding and reading problems among students.  Facility in decoding often corresponds with the degree of one's phonological awareness.  In the past decade, or so, there has been a movement back towards phonics as a means to remedy this problem.  What is Beers position on the 'back-to-phonics' movement?

Comment:  I find it more convincing for some one else to tell my story and, therefore, try to shun the telling of personal anecdotes.  In this case (and for what it's worth), however, I would like to give a brief account of my own experience with reading and writing as a defense of the traditional method of reading instruction called 'phonics.'  I cannot possibly conceive of learning to read without knowing the alphabet, what sounds the individual letters make, and sounding out the words.  Phonics gave me the means not only to read English, but also to learn foreign languages.  It would have been a most frustrating ordeal for me to have attempted to comprehend Mario Pei's description of the sounds of Russian, German, French, Italian, Esperanto, and a number of other languages without the solid foundation that learning by phonics supplied.

Now, I realize that sounding out words does not make a good reader, nor is it the panacea to all reading problems.  However, phonics has made me a good linguist and philologist, and philology drew me into reading, and vice versa.

3.  Beers:  How can I motivate the child that can read better than I?

Comments:  Although I am certain to encounter a child who is a more gifted reader than I, that does not mean that I cannot--nor should not--always improve my own reading.  I have discovered a number of effective approaches to make my reading easier and more pleasurable.  Consider the following:

    1) I try to read books that stretch my mental faculties a bit, but not to the point that I become frustrated because the material is too difficult.

    2) I have studied (and continue to study) Latin.  The study of this ancient, beautiful, and often challenging language has improved my vocabulary, understanding of grammar, and facility with writing.

    3) I have read (and am currently rereading) How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles van Doren.  This book my not speak to everyone, but it has had a lasting impression on me.

The study of Latin, the reading of great books, and the perusal of volumes on how to read and improve one's vocabulary have aided in shaping my success (and intermittent failures) as a reader.  I cannot guarantee that this path will work for everyone, for I realize that each person is unique and different approaches are often needed for different people.  This is the challenge that teachers face (among many), namely to find what works best for each student.