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Investing
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Project
#45 October
1999 (1) Karla Jessen Williamson, doctoral candidate, University of Aberdeen, Scotland was collecting data in Greenland and was not able to participate.
Introduction This study explored how a collaborative network of teacher-researchers who are active holders of knowledge, as well as agents of reality, culturally negotiated literacy practices in one urban intercultural school. Inquiry is a special way of talking about one3Ds work. When teacher-researchers bring Awhy and how@ questions from their classrooms to share with colleagues, they probe ways to help each other make investigations more focussed while simultaneously expanding the perspective of others. In this study of teacher3Ds experiential knowledge, teachers themselves queried what classroom change meant for them, from their own perspectives. They connected their lives and professional teaching practices to the group3Ds work with personal teaching stories, and most often, they returned to their classrooms with new thoughts about their students and work. In addition, they built personal meanings about negotiating changes in their literacy practices. Research question What does it mean to be a teacher doing action research in an intercultural school setting? Purpose and objectives of the Study The purpose of this study was to invite teachers to be action-researchers by bringing their literacy practice-based experiences and research questions within these practices to a collaborative intercultural school network. Teachers will be encouraged to develop a critical perspective of teaching as research which could create, modify, and evaluate culturally responsive literacy engagements that are deemed appropriate for particular learners in their intercultural classrooms. Since literacy and language learning are processes of socialization, children use literacy to communicate a variety of meanings in different contexts when they interact as both individuals and members of social communities. From this perspective, literacy is a tool for social interaction and signals particular identities or memberships in groups. Literacy is inseparable from a socialcultural context for across contexts, including the home and community, learners are socialized through literacy as they learn language, learn through language, and learn about language in their own culture. This framing of literacy as socialcultural practice highlights the interconnectedness between language, culture, and learning. Upon entering urban intercultural schools, students find there is often a discrepancy between what the school curriculum and pedagogy accepts as legitimate knowledge and the life experiences of their family, culture and community (Heath, 1983). When these worlds fail to recognize, respect, and celebrate each other, literacy learners encounter conflict as their own reality is often devalued. Teachers in intercultural community schools are recognizing that when students from diverse backgrounds participate in literacy activities, they are being socialized into the literacy practices of a different culture, the culture of school. Furthermore, they are cognizant that the culture of the school tends to be primarily a reflection of the dominant culture which may foster approaches that threaten cultural identity or violate cultural values (Au, 1993). Socialcultural difference can make teaching more challenging, for each learner brings multiple frames of reference with which to construct knowledge by virtue of their ethnicity, race, class, gender, and cultural identities. In this way, the potential for knowledge construction depends on whether schools react to students3D attempts to employ these diverse frameworks for meaning-making as a problem or as a possibility. The idea of social and cultural context becomes important when it comes to the literacy instruction of students of diverse backgrounds (Akinnaso, 1981). There is a pressing need for schools to understand and adjust to presenting ideas, knowledge and skills in a way that is meaningful and affirming to the cultural identities of Aboriginal, Métis, and minority students. In the proposed project we will build on a network formed in a previous Foundation studies (Ward, Wason-Ellam, et al. 1995; Ward, Wason-Ellam, Williamson, et al.1997), we will use an action research model so that practicing teachers can raise issues and exchange practices in negotiating literacy for students of diverse backgrounds. Action Research Action Research is a cyclic problem-solving methodology, frequently applied to issues in professional and educational settings. Although not a requirement, collaboration is often characteristic of action research projects. As University-teachers and teacher-researchers, we recognize that teaching is a profession that continually changes. Teachers work hard to nurture changes in their student3Ds literacy practices and in the process, they are constantly making changes in their curriculum and their selves. There is a growing need to involve teachers in research projects as an effective way to bridge the gap between theory and practice and contribute to knowledge about classroom practice. But, what is often missing from the research is the voices of teachers, the questions they ask, and the interpretative frames teachers use to understand and improve their own classroom practices (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1990). Because teachers are close to students on a daily basis, their own inquiry from their unique perspectives can make an important contribution to knowledge about teacher and learning and alter the hierarchical relations within the research process. Teacher research or action research in which teachers generate their own questions is one way to democratize inquiry. These questions, which often critically challenge theoretical claims in the literature, come directly out of the teachers' own experience in the classroom. Some perceive that the teacher action research has developed in reaction to academic research endeavours they view as exclusive and elitist. Rather than assuming a passive role, simply providing access to students and helping to facilitate data collection, teachers participating in action research become equal partners in determining the focus and parameters of a study and the methods to be used. Therefore, action research is "deliberate, personally owned and conducted, solution-oriented" inquiry to a present problem (Boomer, 1989, p. 8). A related but stronger rationale for teacher research is that of emancipating teachers. As Miller (1990) has put it, teachers come to see themselves as "challengers and creators rather than just transmitters and receivers of others' construction of knowledge." Participatory action research is described by McTaggart (1994) as "a series of commitments to observe and problematize through practice the principles for conducting social inquiry" (p. 315). Key ingredients include undertakings by individual researchers (both academics and teachers) to improve their own work, to collaborate with others in the project and to collaborate with other colleagues in their institutions to "create the possibility of more broadly informing the common project" (p.318). Action research has the potential to affect classroom practice after the conclusion of the study (McTaggart, Henry, & Johnson, 1997). Methodology In our teacher-researcher network, we used collaborative conversations as a reflective stance so that all participants can share knowledge about intercultural classroom practices (Ward & Wason-Ellam, 1995; Ward, Wason-Ellam, & Williamson, 1997). Gadamer (1984) states that conversations are a process of understanding others. Thus, it is characteristic of every true conversation that each opens him/herself to others, truly accepts their point of view as worthy of consideration and gets inside others to such an extent that he/she understands not a particular individual, but also what he/she says. Teachers3D individual research in their intercultural classrooms provided a basis for some of the monthly discussions about teaching practices that involved varied ways of knowing, experiencing, thinking, and behaving. Participants As teachers and researchers we are interested in the literacy practices of children from Aboriginal, Métis, and minority groups who live their lives between the worlds of home and community and the world of school ( Ward, 1996, 1994, 1993; Wason-Ellam, 1996, 1995a, 1995b, 1993, 1992). The study included the following participants in the collaborative network: Two University of Saskatchewan teachers who are experienced in naturalistic research in multi-ethnic classroom settings. These researchers teach reading and language arts courses, ethnographic research methodology and cross-cultural methods. Fourteen teacher-researchers from the Saskatoon Board of Education and one intern teaching within one urban intercultural setting, Confederation Park Community School, engaged in their own action-research questions about socialcultural literacy practices to close the gap Abetween what they teach and the real world.@ Data collection and analysis During the network meetings, the teacher-researchers, and university-teachers were co-enquirers (Maynard & Furlong, 1995) exploring beliefs and practices. Perceptions were shared through conversation which offered a way to transcend status differences that usually separate teachers and researchers. When participants are using conversations, theory is forced to share the floor with practitioners3D knowledge and all are encouraged to address the values that are implicit in their work. The conversations were audio-taped recorded, transcribed, and shared with the participants. The discussion helped participants to understand what was happening in their classrooms so that they could begin to refine their teaching and intercultural strategies. Innovative aspects of the project Naturalistic inquiry of intercultural practices has been rarely conducted in Canadian schools. This project involved both Aboriginal, Métis, and non-Aboriginal researchers, mirroring the cultural mix of educators within Saskatchewan. The use of conversation as a methodology to reflect on instructional practice was particularly appropriate as it helped teacher-researchers and University teachers to uncover and share their own @implicit theories@ about teaching and learning. Secondly, conversations, a largely untapped source of information about teaching, provided an opportunity for members of the collaborative network to communicate about their work to others. Relevance of the project findings to teaching and learning The findings had a direct impact on those teachers involved in the project. The published findings will be of great interest to others in urban intercultural settings who may be interested in learning from the reflective practice of others. Bringing teachers3D perspectives and knowledge into the canon of educational literature may confer special status on being a professional practitioner. Dissemination to teachers to affect actual teaching practice At the end of the project a monograph of intercultural teaching practices will be published for a teacher and pre-service teaching audience. Such a monograph could be a reference for teachers contemplating work in intercultural environments. It will also be useful for teacher training institutions since an increasing number of teachers will be employed in intercultural settings that include learners of First Nations, Métis and minority ancestry. It is validating for teachers to see their ideas in print, knowing that others will also see them. Writing about classroom practices lends legitimacy to both teacher as writer and teacher as practitioner. The network could also present its findings at in service days for the Saskatchewan Teaching Community. Permission During September 1999, permission procedures were carried out. Since two researchers are employed by the University of Saskatchewan, the requirements of the University of Saskatchewan Advisory Committee on Ethics in Behavioral Sciences Research needed to be met. These researchers already have been granted approval by the University Advisory Committees on Ethics in Behavioral Science Research, #97-144, A. Ward and L. Wason-Ellam (G. Scrivens, University of Hertfordshire, UK) An Exploration of Literacy Beliefs and Practices in Two Multicultural Schools in Canada and Britain the projected research is addendum to this proposal. Official permission to proceed was also granted from the Saskatoon Public Board of Education. Procedures The university researchers, Linda Wason-Ellam and Angela Ward, had met briefly with the staff at Confederation Park Community School at a staff meeting in June 1998. At that time we explained the project, and asked for volunteers who would participate over the following school year. Fourteen teachers, or about 50% of the staff, expressed interested in joining the project. We asked them to be thinking about areas of interest, issues and questions in preparation for engaging in action research in the following fall. Our first official meeting took place on October 8, a scheduled inservice day for the school. This was at the suggestion of Ron Bodin, principal of the school, who was supportive of the project throughout. Since there was such a high number of staff involved, we soon realized that it would be impossible to release all 14 participants from teaching at one time, so we decided to work with smaller interest groups of teachers. On October 8, we used a Talking Circle to encourage all teachers (and two interns) to describe their action research questions and interests. Fortunately, the topics suggested fell quite neatly into three interest groups which explored:
From that point the groups met separately to generate questions, reflect on practice, and to share ideas and strategies. The Multicultural Literature group proceeded somewhat differently, as they visited a book display, the Frances Morrison Library, school book service displays, and a local bookstore in order to explore children3Ds literature from a community-building, multicultural perspective. In addition to the teachers in the group, two international graduate students from the College of Education attended many of the sessions. Guofang Li (doctoral candidate) and Yixin Lu (M. Ed. student) were both interested in cross-cultural literacy learning. Later they were joined by Dan Yi, (M. Ed student) who had just arrived in Canada and was interested in teacher networks as professional practice. One or both of the two university researchers were also present at the interest group meetings. A number of the small group discussions were recorded and transcribed, and both university researchers kept field notes. In November 1998, members of the collaborative network participated in the Learning from Practice conference, where they described the initial phases of the project. During the fall term, several members of the collaborative network initiated literature circles in the school at the Grade 5 level; the circles were led by our teachers, graduate students and university researchers. The network welcomed 1999 with a gathering of all participants as a celebration of work achieved and an opportunity to plan for the second term of collaboration. In all there were 18 meetings, including large and small group sessions. In retrospect, this was an overly ambitious undertaking, especially for the university researchers. However, the small group interactions did enable teachers to engage in thoughtful and prolonged discussion about the issues that emerged from their practice in school and community contexts. The experiences of each group are described separately below, using the Action Research structure of:
Report on the Activities of the Three Research Groups Writing in the Middle Years The process approach to writing began in schools as a response to studies of writers at work. For example, the research of Emig (1971) employed a think-aloud strategy to encourage Grade 12 students to make explicit the strategies they employed when writing. Graves (1983) and Calkins (1986) were instrumental in taking information about the composing processes of writers and transforming approaches to teaching writing. Within a classroom using the writing workshop approach, students will be encouraged to prewrite, draft, revise, edit and publish their work. On any given day, students will be engaged in different stages of the process, giving the classroom a busy Aworkshop@ appearance. The Saskatchewan Language Arts Curriculum Guide for Middle Years (Saskatchewan Learning, 1997) supports a process approach to writing. The Middle Years Curriculum suggests that writing and thinking are closely intertwined: AThinking is the foundation of writing and, because thinking is central to learning, students who are able to make their thought processes concrete through writing enhance their learning capabilities@ (p. 131). Meaning is central in this view of the writing process. The teachers in our project struggled with the incongruities they sometimes perceived between the vision of Saskatchewan Learning and their own students3D experiences and the constraints of school. These tensions are echoed in Dyson and Freedman3Ds recognition that Ateachers often negotiate between their desires to teach writing as a purposeful process and to teach the varied >skills3D conceived of as integral to that process, skills differentially controlled by their students@ (1991, p. 754). Issues and questions Teachers3D concerns evolved during the course of the study. During the first meetings, teachers expressed concerns about the surface aspects of writing and issues around class organization. Later on, there was more focus on how to support students in organizing their writing and in writing across the curriculum. Surface aspects of writing Teachers were worried about control of sentence structure and punctuation. In particular, teachers were concerned that their middle years students did not produce complete sentences in their own compositions and in response to written questions. Students were also described as having difficulties with punctuation, especially capitalization, periods, quotation marks and commas and using the conventional forms for writing dialogue. Practicalities of organizing Awriting workshop@ Not all teachers had fully implemented the writing workshop approach in their classrooms. Some teachers were still leading students through the same writing activity in whole group formats. During the study, even those teachers who espoused process teaching commented that their students needed more explicit structure and guidance than usually offered in writing workshops. Many teachers stated that their students had difficulties in working together in small groups, which made some aspects of writing workshop difficult. For example, pre-writing and peer editing were not successful in small groups. Writing in different genres One teacher noted that his students had difficulty in developing story lines for narrative writing: AMany are finding it difficult to actually develop one story rather than just isolated incidents that don3Dt necessarily connect or maybe are actually three stories.@ (Brett) Most teachers in the project noted that students had problems carrying out research projects, especially in restating the main ideas of text in their own words. Several had stories about their students3D falling into plagiarized accounts because text information was incomprehensible to them. Students who experience problems with school life There were several network meetings where teachers spent a great deal of time discussing how students3D behavioural and social problems interfered with classroom learning, including, of course their writing. Classroom strategies The ideas shared during the project meetings addressed both broad issues and more specific classroom problems. Despite some frustrations with students3D writing difficulties, teachers had many successes from their writing classrooms to share with each other. There were several over-arching strategies which seemed particularly powerful with students in this multicultural school. Strategies to Ascaffold@ students into the writing process ! All teachers had used modelling to support students in learning to use the writing process. • Writing about real-world experiences was also a powerful strategy for a number of teachers. Students were able to write about visits to the Mendel Art Gallery, their experiences in watching live theatre (a musical staged by a local high school) and short field trips. • Talk was important in implementing the writing process across all classrooms and in all genres. Much of the talk that teachers perceived as supportive of writing happened in partner work. These strategies served to scaffold students into writing at all stages of the writing process. Modelling enabled students to understand teachers3D expectations and the stages of producing a piece in a particular written genre. The use of real-world experiences meant that students did not have to delve into uncomfortable aspects of their private lives to find writing topics. Trips and photographs were used primarily at the prewriting stages of the Writing Workshop. Talk was vital throughout Writing Workshop, enabling students to support each other, verbally rehearse their ideas, seek for clarification and experiment with language. Specific strategies and activities Literature activities
AWe did it as a large group, then we did it in three smaller groups, and then we did it in partners, and then we finally got them doing it on their own@ (Alanna). As a form of publication, Ruth Elliott set up a web page so students could type in their work for others to read and the teacher took photographic illustrations with a digital camera: AThe kids are really, really excited about the fact that their work is going to be on the Internet. But, wow, it3Ds been a really long process. I3Dm tired of it, but I don3Dt think the kids are.@ Another teacher encouraged students to write haiku based on brainstormed words that described volcanoes. This was part of an integrated science/language arts theme. Non-fiction writing
As Bonnie commented, ASo it3Ds quite labour intensive, but it beats the plagiarized stuff@.
Astudied the different writings that go in a newspaper, and all the contexts in the newspaper. Now they have to do an illustration that3Ds on a big story board. They name the newspaper according to the novel, and they do a feature story, an editorial, an advertisement, and a Dear Expert column. The feature story is basically a summary, like a Siskel and Ebert kind of thing, telling about whether they liked it or not. The editorial is the personal response to the story. And they just display it on a Bristol board, which is a way to get other kids interested in the different books that are in the library@ (Bev). Editing and revising Many teachers considered that this was an extremely demanding exercise, and suggested that many of their students experienced difficulty and frustration with revision. Teachers experimented with using rubrics, editing in a different colour pen, and had some success in structuring writing conferences with partners. Reflections on the network3Ds explorations of teaching writing It was clear to the university researchers that tensions described in the research literature between writing workshop approaches and the realities of life in classrooms (Sudol & Sudol, 1995) were mirrored in the dilemmas experienced by the teachers in this study. According to Sudol and Sudol, it is important not to mislead teachers into believing that writing workshop represents Athe method@ which will work infallibly in every classroom. The teachers in this study were engaged in making their own adaptations to a student group whose prior experiences with schooled literacy had often not been positive. Through their conversations with each other, these teachers were building an understanding of the relationship between frequent opportunities to read and hear good literature and the chance to grow as writers. There was still a confidence and knowledge gap, however, even in this committed group, between teachers who fully understood how to scaffold students3D learning of the characteristics of different literary genres, and how to guide them through prewriting, drafting, revision, editing and publication. The decision about how much structure and direct teaching to provide has to be made on an individual level: AWe need to find out how much structure and then to move back so we3Dre not making them totally dependent. It needs to be more guided and structured than most of us have been led to believe@ (Bonnie). A closely related issue is one which occurred frequently in our discussions. While members of the group agreed that writing workshop in their school required more structure than originally described by Graves (1983), there was an understanding that insistence on step-by-step progress in writing would not only subvert the intent of the process approach to writing, but would also lead to dilemmas around independence and control. Teachers stated that they wanted their students to be independent learners, but expressed doubt that students were able to follow directions or collaborate with others. Problems with group work were raised every time the group met. Even the most experienced and ardent supporter of literary community-building in her classroom noted tiredly one day, AI may have to give up on group work for a while, my patience is going a bit@. Students needed constant support in order to be able to work together without conflict, which was obviously wearing on teachers. There were other constraints on students3D writing development. It became obvious that in order to be successful in writing in the content areas of science and social studies, students needed background knowledge of geography and ecology. Since many students came from homes where books and information in these areas were not readily available, they did not have access to the knowledge assumed by schools. In addition, many parents had not been educated in Canada, and were not aware that the school expected them to provide support in finding information for social studies and science fair projects. Another constraint on students3D success in writing in a variety of genres was acknowledged by teachers, who recognized that they had probably not provided enough opportunities to practice the discourse required for research reports. The lack of opportunity was related to teachers3D sense of a fragmented schedule, where other events frequently intruded on the extended time necessary for sustained inquiry. For those students with limited access to non-fiction books at home there was a special need for more inviting, well-illustrated, factual books in the library. All teachers emphasized the potential power of the literature they introduced to students. As part of a different study, a teacher intern and one university researcher had introduced literature that spoke to the hearts of children coming together from many cultures to build a community of care in the classroom. Teachers spoke eloquently to the effect of literature on their students, and their own emotions as they read to students from favourite novels. Some noted how particular books spoke to their students: AOne of my students had a life quite similar to the girl in the story and lived out there during that time, and he could connect to all those different places in Vancouver and he3Dd tell us stories about all of those places@ (Brett). There were a number of less salient issues, such as speculation on the influence of popular culture, particularly television and video games, on students3D ability to fully develop a sense of connected plot and to attend carefully to less visually stimulating activities. Assessment was mentioned as an issue, but not fully developed in conversation. There was the sense that productive activity, such as writing workshop or science activities, was put aside when it came to report card time. At the last network meeting, when teachers were asked if they had seen evidence of growth in their students3D writing were able to reflect on the year and see that small gains had been made. Several described more confidence in their student writers: AI gave them an assignment to write letters to a character, and there were two things. Not one student came and asked me how much do I have to write or >is this enough3D. I thought it might be all questions, and it wasn3Dt. They chose different characters, all of them.@ Students were perceived to be more competent at elaborating answers to questions and establishing mood through their descriptive writing. Editing and revising were still seen as problematic by all teachers. A few students had made progress, but in general these attempts were perfunctory: AThey can do some revisions, but that3Ds it.@ Someone commented that AThey3Dre beginning to understand what it means to talk about their writing.@ As can been seen from the last comments, there was a change in teacher focus from surface structures to the socio-cognitive issues of writing. Many discussions focussed on the cognitive demands of different writing genres, and on how teachers might make these more explicit for students. There were no final solutions, but the shift of orientation from mechanics to meaning was accompanied by a concurrent shift from frustration at the students3D lack of specific skills to shared problem solving. Primary Reading Group The primary teachers in the reading network shared a mutual belief that reading was a meaning-based constructivist approach that was based primarily on student experiences-- on what readers already know. For them, reading is not simply the identification and pronunciation of words; it also a process in which children construct their own meanings. They know that young readers actually construct their own text parallel to the text being read and, in the creation of this text, incorporate their own experiential knowledge, beliefs, and values. In so doing, readers are encouraged to ask questions and to seek their own answers while also being entrusted to choose what they want to read. This makes learning personal and social. When this cross-cultural group of teachers pause to reflect on what they are doing and when they make changes in the ways they teach, they often discover that reading pedagogy is continually challenged. Continually, there is an increased emphasis on providing an inclusive reading curriculum for all children. Although individual teachers had differing inquiries, they were inextricably tied by a concern for thoughtfully reflecting on their own pedagogical practices so that they could meet the needs of their classrooms of diversity. AWhat are effective ways I teach reading when I have such a wide range of readers? queried Brenda who learned that this is a universal question that is continually being posed by teachers everywhere. Teachers posing their own inquiries Brenda, a first year teacher, thought that having scheduled network meetings to talk about her teaching practices with colleagues was enabling as she moved into the role of teacher as researcher. For her, the day-to-day teaching was isolating. A It was my year to be in grade three, doing my job@, was the way she described her experience. She hadn3Dt realized that once you become a classroom teacher, there would be little opportunity to talk to other teachers about successes and challenges. It seemed to her that every spare moment was taken over by classroom demands. The other teachers agreed as they juggled the multiple roles of a primary teacher-facilitator, mentor, social worker, counselor, critical friend, and compassionate AAuntie@ in the traditional Aboriginal sense. Brenda3Ds caring for her children permeated her everyday thoughts. AOften, I lie awake thinking about the students. I don3Dt just think about the academics, but I wonder if they are safe.@ Sharon, an experienced teacher, was in her first year as a Grade One Teacher. Although she had considerable success as a Kindergarten teacher, she found the structure very different in the Primary Day. Confronted with the social, economic, and emotional issues that are associated with children from a community school, she felt that she was continually struggling to maximize valuable instructional time without interruptions. Repeatedly, throughout the network meetings, she stated: AI want to be able to do what I am trained to doCTEACH.@ Sharon and the others felt that helping readers focus on meaning is a challenge especially when so many of the children come from homes where English may not be a first language or books are not a part of the family life. Like Sharon, Lynn was a kindergarten teacher but several years ago made the transition to teach grade two-three. She empathized with Sharon whose task now involved moving young children from listening and enjoying stories or Atalking like a book@ to becoming independent, fluent, strategic readers. Lynn has been working for several years developing a repertoire of strategies for integrating reading with other literacy activities such as science and social studies. Through Lynn3Ds endeavors, she has come to see that authentic teaching begins with her self and her relationship with the students. She has connected classroom teaching with questions that examine the meaning of life and justices, that revolve around caring for each other and the environment. With similar experiences to the others, Jan, too, had transferred to Grade Two from teaching French and was trying to achieve a balance between the academicsBhelping children to learn and the emotionsChelping children to feel successful. Continually, Jan was querying her instructional practices as she strove to help young readers develop a self-extending reading system, one that fuels its own learning and enables the reader to continue to learn through the act of reading. Ultimately, she views that her goal is to guide young readers to be independent and fluent using Ain-head or metacognitive@ strategies. Building a literacy environment As all four teachers embraced an ethics of care in building a learning environment for their children; they kept forefront this relational-self as an overarching principle. Threaded through the network3Ds discussions were certain underpinning principles that define a caring and compassionate community school teacher:
The teachers were firmly grounded in the belief that they be fully prepared to work with and use in positive ways, the many aspects of diversity present in their classrooms. Each teacher found ways to teach reading as an interdisciplinary approach using literature, anthologies, and language experience tapping a wide range of available resources. Reading instruction Wrestling with the solution-orientated questions such as: How much time do I spend on reading instruction? What are some ways I can help young readers internalize strategic reading? Where can I find books so that every child can read successfully? The reading network queried ways to provide reading instruction that fit the individual needs of their diverse classrooms. Discussions focused on the following major instructional issues. How can children:
Some questions were answered In our on-going discussions during the school year, the language experience approach best describes what teachers were using in their community classrooms. Knowing that young children need to have the time and space to explore language in order to clarify its uses and gain facility in its production and reception, each teacher developed an eclectic reading program rather than getting locked into using Aa single approach that fits all,@ as a panacea for every child. Central to each program was the notion that children who experience language and its intricacies take giant steps on the road to becoming literate. The main feature is that by using a language experience approach, each teacher embraces the natural language of children and use their background experiences as the basis for learning to read whether it is through chants, repetitive stories, stories, informational text (i.e. books about bugs), and individual and group writing as chart stories. When stories are co-composed as a group where children are presented with the possibility of writing about their world in the way they see it and describe their experiences as they live them, they become more involved in their own learning. By recounting their experiences, memories, ideas, and reflections, the text becomes children3Ds reading material. Because the content is familiar and the text is their language, children, including culturally diverse learners, can usually read the chart stories more easily. When children collaboratively compose, dictate words, and then reread together, they start to make connections between reading and writing. Teachers shared some of the authentic language experience activities which invited children to share and discuss experiences; listening to and telling stories; dictating words, sentences, and group stories; and writing independently. In addition, language experiences also revolved around visual expression, movement, singing, and rhythmic activities which are valuable means for expression. Word identification: positioning our beliefs Like others grappling with how can we help children with word identification, we came to some understandings. Acceptance of any program reduces the likelihood that needed modification will be made. Failure to address the needs of non-mainstream children is not due to a conscious thinking but to an established tradition of ignoring differences among learners. Naturally, this way of thinking promotes an ethnocentric definition of literacy based on strategies designed for mainstream children as the model for all learners. We agreed that reading is an orchestrated process and that when readers combine meaning cues--syntactic and semantic-- with phonic cues, they have developed a powerful tool for word identification. Phonics instruction is a part of a reading programCbut it is not the reading program. Rather than focus on a single strategy without regards to all three cueing strategies, the teachers are using various kinds of contextual activities such as Morning Message or Masking in which target words are deleted or masked from the text. Activities such as these help readers become aware that reading is constructing meaning from using all cues, including phonics. An additional bonus is that close activities such as morning message help children internalize spelling patterns as they develop knowledge of the way language works. Lynn holds that the daily experiences with Morning Message create a spelling awareness that gives writers clues to making the transition to more conventional spellings. As children participate in the large group clozing activities they make Aeducated guesses@ about troublesome sound patterns. Later, they replicate the process that they saw modeled when putting their thoughts and feelings into words down onto paper. The reading of real books is advocated where children read for enjoyment. Sharon believes that it is through these occasions that readers realize that text selections can be read and understood without identifying every word. We share Sharon3Ds excitement when in mid-winter many of her beginning readers made a real Abreak-through@ when they realized that AI can read now!@ Both Sharon and Brenda read daily to their children and there are opportunities for chanting, choral reading, partner readings, and a Atake a book@ home reading. Even Brenda and Lynn find that their older children love listening to stories. As Brenda states, Aevery time I begin to read the children are wide-eyed with anticipation.@ Charlotte3Ds Web and Fantastic Mr. Fox are perennial favorites as children make the transition from picture storybooks to the longer chapter stories. But, it is when children read real books for themselves that they understand why they are learning to read and what reading really is. What do we do with children who have not internalized reading as a meaning making? was a question generated within the group. We thought about how young readers must begin to use what they know themselves about learning and applying that knowledge to reading. This knowing about knowing how to know is what is called metacognition (Palinscar, & Ransom, 1988). In Jan3Ds class children self-questioned when encountering difficult words. One of the strategies in Jan3Ds repertoire is a Athink-aloud@, thinking about one3Ds thinking while reading. Children asked themselves Awhat makes sense?@ as they puzzled out a new word. In this way, children became self-responsible for their own learning as they monitor their own understanding. When they are self-initiators, they know about knowing: how to know, when to know, and the reasons for knowing. Thus, learning becomes tactical as children were aware of and try to control their efforts to use particular learning strategies. In our conversations, many reading activities were shared: READING ACTIVITIES
Other questions were generated As classroom teachers, we knew that we had the ability as well as the responsibility to facilitate and help strengthen the relationships of young learners with their families and communities. The strength of this relationship affects a student3Ds positive self-identity and esteem. Although this community school is committed to programs that invite community input and strive to reflect family values, many parents, including those who are ethnically and linguistically diverse, are intimidated by the large institutional structure of the school and schooling. Many of these parents would prefer to relate to their child3Ds own teacher. The classroom teacher sees the children daily, plans teaching addressing their individual needs, and follows their day-to-day progress. Children are part of that teacher3Ds life, thoughts, and often preoccupations. If we accept the notion that the parent is the child3Ds first teacher, then it follows that the teacher is the second. When the values, teachings, and family literacy practices of the home and school are quite different, conflicts can arise. For some children, their educational possibilities are hindered when these two teachers are seen to be in contradiction, that is when the child feels that one teacher does not value the other. Thus, it becomes the classroom teacher3Ds responsibility to reach out to facilitate a partnership with the child3Ds family and community beyond just sending letters home or extending invitations to parent conferences. In our conversations we discussed ways of building bridges, perhaps through ABack to school nights@ with parents to begin relationship of mutual respect and a sharing of knowledge. The action-research cycle continues. As our reading group project culminated in the late Spring, we made plans to meet together in the Fall and begin exploring a new question about parents as learning partners. Holistic teaching It was affirming to the primary teachers to realize that they were producing a holistic reading curriculum which uses real, authentic books. They strongly believed that real books puts young learners in control of what they read. But holistic practices also give rise to new roles for teachers and learners and a new view of how teaching and learning are related. Holistic teaching revalues the classroom as a learning community where teachers and pupils learn together. As they grow as teachers they are seeing various teaching practices change. Wisely, they continually exploring new ideas, assuming that just as they want their learners to grow and stretch, they too must grow and stretch. Being open to new practices that benefit all young readers, even as one retains sound practices that work, is a more favorable way to ensure a continual expansion of teaching strategies. Multicultural Books Group As teachers engaged in reflections and inquiry, the multicultural books group generated questions about the inclusion of multiculturalism in our classrooms. We wanted to better understand what we do within the context of our own teaching. We knew that in the school3Ds multicultural community bound together by diverse groups who maintain their own cultural traditions and experiences, books help students to celebrate their distinct differences and understand their common humanity. Culturally diverse books tell the stories of people through authentic portrayal and rich detail such as Aboriginal, Cambodian, Somalian, Bosnian, Hutterite, or cross-cultural stories of people from other nations of the world. Individually, we knew that these stories are told through picture storybooks, realistic and historical fiction, nonfiction, folklore and poetry but we wanted to know more. As a group we had a multitude of queries about why we used multicultural literature in our classrooms. We were especially interested in discussing questions such as: What is the intrinsic value of culturally diverse books? Why should multicultural books be integral to our literature-based reading programs? What criteria can we use in selecting quality books? In addition, we wanted to know, Who are some of the authors and illustrators that teachers like ourselves should be familiar with? Why share culturally conscious literature? In our discussions, we sensed that there were fundamental social and educational reasons why multicultural literature should be woven into the fabric of children's home and school experiences. As one teacher reflected : Abefore you never really got to know other cultures very well but with so many diverse students we now need to expand our understandings of whom they are.@ Throughout the time we spent together, we generated five key reasons for including literature. We came to the following beliefs:
Like Rudine Sims Bishop, (1990) we thought of multicultural children3Ds literature as Amirrors@ and Awindows@. To us, it meant that children should be able to see themselves represented culturally and linguistically in what they read, but that they should also be invited to experience other groups and ways of living through their reading material. Through the sharing of books with titles such as Something Beautiful (Wyeth, 1998), Just Like New (Reczuch, 1996), My Father3Ds Boat (Garland, 1998), or Whitewash (Shange, 1997), we came to reaffirm the notion that multicultural literature helps readers to understand, appreciate, and celebrate the traditions and experiences that make each culture special in its own way. Teachers shared anecdotes from their classrooms about when children read books that depicted cultural differences, they not only viewed the world from another's perspective, but they also learned more about themselves as well as others. AIn my grade one class, I think I3Dd probably choose more cultural books that have to do with families because that is what we learn in grade one, the family from differing perspectives. So you3Dre looking at all different types of families who are similar and different and that3Ds where I would begin.@ AEach of the books I read to them in my classroom is an attempt to convey a strong sense of respect for family and community, which is a start.@ In teaching from an awareness of cultural and community perspectives, the group discussed how the cultural knowledge that children being to the classroom is affirmed through class discussion and a variety of responding activities. All children are given opportunities to interact, to share knowledge, and to extend their appreciation and understanding of other cultures and experiences. Learning is contextualized not only by using culturally diverse books, but also by engaging students in social reading, by sharing experiences, and by providing many opportunities for children to construct their own knowledge. Comments included:
Stories help to widen the boundaries of life3Ds curriculum to include the ordinary experiences of the diverse selves. They also represent ways of taking action to create spacious landscapes where the Adifferent@ have audible voices and visible faces. We moved away from confining the use of literature to the Aholidays and celebrations approach@ or the reliance on cultural folk tales for a commitment to multicultural education requires much more. As Boutte and McCormick (1992) remind us AAn authentic multicultural approach is based on appreciation of differences in others (p. 141)@ as opposed to the pseudo-multicultural nature of isolated cultural activities prompted by a holiday or culturally centred attention focussed only on one ethnic minority in a class. To change from pseudo-multicultral education to authentic multicultural education, Boutee and McCormick say that teachers must begin by becoming thoughtful and critical in their avoidance of stereotypic attitudes that have no place in the classroom or society.@ When multicultural Abook lists@ are saturated with folktales or holiday themes, the voices of the contemporary parallel culture are often shadowed. The mere inclusion in literature of characters of varied races and ethnicities is not sufficient because the vision of multicultural education is to transform society so that it is more just and equitable. The transformation will depend upon an understanding of experiences of parallel cultures, people of color who tell stories of the heart about the culture and the communities from which they come. It occurred to us that, without those voices, it is easy to lose sight of the goals of multicultural education which presents parallels between and among cultures. The stories we chose to read and share with each other were stories that could open channels into the children3Ds consciousness and pathways out of the everyday ways of being and attending to the world. The wide range of culturally conscious themes in historical, realistic, and informational children3Ds books provide a depth of understanding, often through characters who are the children3Ds age like Emily and Josie, children from different cultures who build a friendship, in The Missing Sun (Eyvindson, 1993) or Soo who courageously makes a midnight escape to South Korea in My Freedom Trip (Park & Park, 1998). Children identify with characters who experience Areal@ problems and either work to change an imperfect society or become victims of its injustice. These books are different from Amelting pot stories@ centred on integration and assimilation or human interest stories in that they aim to open children3Ds minds and hearts so that they learn to understand and value both themselves and others, perspectives, and experiences different from their own. Often the breathtaking illustrations and the evocative words were inspiring. Frequently, we were touched inwardly for books held the power to speak to us in ways we had not considered. One teacher felt that Dave Bouchard3Ds ( 1998) The Elders are Watching held thoughtful messages and stunning illustrations about the devastation of the ecological world. Brenda highly recommended that book to others to share with their children. Others felt that the fragility of the Earth3Ds ecosystems described in a harmony of voices from Anthology for the Earth (Allen, 1998) could stir children to new understanding of environmental issues. In reading and discussing more than 100 book selections rich with possibilities, we came to understand that using a multicultural approach to teaching is critical pedagogy. In book sharing, children don3Dt just receive knowledge from listening to the teacher; children are introduced to multiple perspectives and are encouraged to compare, critique, analyze, and use their own experiences to create a new reality. In this way, literature3Ds powerful messages moves them to take actions that will change situations of injustice. As children think more critically, they begin to make the connection between what is learned and what could be changed as they construct their version of the truth. Once children understand the harmful effects of inequitiesBsuch as racism, discrimination, bullying, stereotyping, or colonizationBthey develop a critical consciousness that can lead to social action. Social action takes many forms such as learning to be respectful, to share with or to acknowledge all others. To teach using this approach leads to democracy in the classroom and the school and beyond to the neighboring community. This echoes Nieto3Ds (1992) definition of multicultural education: Because it (multicultural education) uses critical pedagogy as its underlying philosophy and focuses on knowledge, reflection and action (praxis) as the basic principles for social change, multiculturalism furthers the democratic principles of social justice (p.208). Multicultural literature heightens understanding, respect, and affirmation of differences because it acknowledges that it is all right to be who you are. The concept is significant for all children because they learn to see and better understand themselves. As children travel to different Acultural sites@ through literature, they learn that they are the Adifferent ones,@ as viewed through the eyes of the characters. In this way, multicultural literature provides a medium for understanding these connections. Learning is contextualized not only by using culturally diverse materials, but also by engaging students in social reading, by sharing experiences, and by providing many opportunities for children to construct their own knowledge. AYou can use almost any book really to deal with cultural issues if you could awake to that. But I do know that there is power when children see places and people that they have an affinity... where they3Dll recognize themselves especially, when they3Dre not usually seeing themselves in literature. I think it3Ds actually quite important for little children to have those moments.@ Criteria for selecting multicultural literature We noted that the standards for selecting quality literature in general apply to culturally diverse books as well. In our conversations together and on our visits to libraries, book displays, and McNally Robinson Book Store, we shared how we might select quality multicultural literature based on these considerations:
Developing cultural consciousness and awareness that one has a view of the world that is not shared and differs profoundly from that held by many others is a beginning step to living in a democratic society. As teachers, we believe that literature has the potential of building minds that are sensitive to the social realities of the world in which children live. In our book sharing, we have seen how young readers can use stories to further their understanding of the meaning of life and in a search for the best way to live their lives. We have come to realize that if stories are well chosen and well told, the stories children hear and the reading which they go on to do for themselves can help them toward an appreciation of their own worth, the worth of others, and about the kind of behaviour which best reflects these values. The books we chose to share were many new titles found in the books displays while in the library and at McNally Robinson Book Store, we encountered and reread some of our old favorites. To help others appreciate the variety and range of titles, Ruth Elliott and Linda Wason-Ellam prepared an annotated bibliography which highlights the reasons for compiling 123 of our favorite books into a book list. Reflections on our sharing together This research project has been filled with crossroads, place where teachers met, bringing their pasts, their differences, their visions, their distinctive disciplines to share. What they brought has been woven into stories of teaching experiences next to stories of personal experience. Our teaching stories helped us construct our selves, who used to be one way and are now another. Our words lived assembled in stories. Stories helped to make sense of, evaluate, and integrate the tensions inherent in our experiences. Teaching stories gave us hope. We needed our stories to envision a transformed future for ourselves and our students so that it will be richer or better than the past. References
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