Reading Why School?

Using Why School? to build community

and critical dialogue skills across a

community college FYW program and

the wider community

Kathryn Weller April 16, 2014

AL992

Introduction

• MSU FYW journal entries – indicated the need for increased interaction

between students in first-year writing

• Inspired by A Search Past Silence• Mike Rose’s Why School? (WS?) – Program-wide read– Critical dialogues– Community building

Outline• Literature review/Theoretical frameworks

• Why School? overview and rationale

• Context of study

• Implementations

Literature Review/Theoretical Frameworks

• Critical dialogue• Social context• Whole-school read• Adult learning• Funds of knowledge• Freire

Critical Dialogue

• Sites of Possibility: Ed. Jennings et al. (2010)• Language tools and skills developed during

critical dialogues:– Hypothetical, metaphorical, intertextuality,

problematizing, creating new realities, sense of agency, multiple perspectives

“Learning to Read, Learning Community: Considerations of the Social Contexts for Literacy Instruction”

• Rasinski and Nathenson-Mejia, Sally (1987)• “Schools need to help children learn to

become responsible and caring citizens” (260)

• “Children [students] saw each other as people to collaborate with and be concerned about” (264).

• “I-It” or “I-Thou” orientation

Whole-school read:Jewett, Wilson, and Vanderburg (2011)

• Deliberate choice of text– Relevant to students

• Text is “not enough”– Teachers need to be intentional about critical

dialogue

• Sharing learning– Building community

Adult Learning: Ames, 1992; Cleary, 2012; Sullivan, 2011

• Relevant and meaningful writing (and reading) tasks

• “Belonging” can increase motivation and self-efficacy beliefs

• Creativity and interest can also increase motivation in learners

Funds of Knowledge: Moll and Gonzalez (1992)

Adult literacy process as cultural action for freedom: Freire (1970)

Why School?

• Policies– NCLB/RttP; standards and testing; remediation

• Trends– MOOCs

• Issues– Poverty; veteran education

Why Why School??

• Variety of topics could be relevant for large number of students

• Personal and humanizing stories

• Accessible language and examples

Context

• Elgin Community College; Elgin, IL• 18,000 students: 69% attend school part-time• 50% of students over age 23

• ECC offers university transfer programs as well as career/technical program

• Many programs require/offer ENG-101 (English Composition 1)

Implementation/Pedagogies

• Integration into FYW curriculum– Engaging topics that are meaningful and relevant to

students in writing tasks

• Journal dialogues among students (within and across sections of ENG-101)– Cisero and others, journaling pedagogy and uses– Critical dialogues, learning communities, I-Thou

orientation

• Events designed for sharing and community building – Bringing together FYW students, faculty, families,

students from all programs, college community

Conclusion

• So what?

• A way for the work students do in first-year writing courses to go beyond the classroom walls

• Could this be a step toward addressing issues like those I saw in my students’ journal entries?