Matthew Ulyesses Blankenship, M.Ed.

University of South Florida

THE ROLE OF STUDENTS:

HOW SECONDARY LITERACY TEACHERS VIEW INDEPENDENT

READING

Personal connection: Reading teacher for five years focused on struggling adolescent reading.

Previous research: The National Reading Panel derailed research on independent reading for many years because of its exclusion based on research methodology expectations.

Current Practice: As an administrator, students reject reading because of the increased focus on standardized testing.

IMPETUS FOR RESEARCH

Survey Secondary Teachers about Independent Reading What do they know? Where did they learn the

construct of independent reading? How do they implement

independent reading (if they do)? What considerations do they have

when implementing independent reading?

What results do they find in the classroom from independent reading?

OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

Situated Learning / Constructivist view (Lave, 1991; Lave, 1998; and Wenger, 1998) Learning occurs through interaction with others and the

environment. Teachers and students build a community of practice where

learning occurs between and among members of the community

Learning is social and discussion should be encouraged.

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE

Independent reading is the self or scaff old selection of reading materials both in and out of the classroom that students read on their own(Morgan & Wagner, 2013)

Independent reading is declining in the secondary classroom (Lapp & Fisher, 2009)

Students desire more time and choice of materials within the classroom for independent reading (Ivey & Broaddus, 2000; Zipper, Sisson & Said, 2002; Trudel, 2002; Kasten & Wilfong, 2005).

Students call for a social aspect tied to independent reading similar to book clubs (Ivey & Broaddus, 2000; Zipper, Sisson & Said, 2002; Trudel, 2002; Kasten & Wilfong, 2005).

RELEVANT LITERATURE

Phenomenological Approach as teachers implement (or do not implement) the shared phenomenon of independent reading (Creswell, 2013).

Guiding Question: “In what ways do high school reading and English teachers incorporate (or not incorporate) independent reading in the classroom?”

Each teacher was interviewed based on his or her experiences in the classroom.

Semi structured interview questions were created by the primary investigator and refi ned through a pilot study and mentor support.

RESEARCH METHODS

How do you define education? How do you define reading? In what ways can a secondary teacher teach literacy

or reading skills?How did you learn about independent reading

strategies? In what ways do you incorporate independent reading

strategies in your classroom? What eff ects from independent reading do you see in

the classroom?What influences your decision to incorporate

independent reading into the classroom?

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Seven teachers with a teaching span between eight and 36 years.

All were certifi ed to teach by the state agency in either English or Reading (endorsed).

Three of the seven had degrees in education .

Four of the seven had degrees in English or English Education.

Six of the seven taught English or Reading courses more than fi ve years.

PARTICIPANTS

Following Glaser’s (1965) constant comparative approach of repeated readings.

Steps: Interview Transcribe Each transcript read individually looking for emergent

themes. Transcripts than read across looking for emergent themes. Data entered into word analysis program (www.wordle.net)

to create word count and word cloud to substantiate themes.

Similar and binary codes were created and each transcript was read a final time coding for these ideas.

DATA ANALYSIS

Five Diff erent Themes Emerged Act of Education Difference between reading and

literacy: it is about understanding Defining independent reading –

student choice Location of independent reading Effects of independent reading

RESULTS

Teachers diff ered on their view of education including how active students are during the process. “Education is the procurement of knowledge, gathering

knowledge to better yourself.” “Education is the process … to learn the necessary skills” “Students serve as deposits during education.”

ACT OF EDUCATION

Participants’ understanding of reading and literacy focused on developing understanding versus fluency. “Reading is decoding words written on a page.” “Literacy to me means you understand what you are

reading and can apply it to your everyday life and explain it to others.”

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN READING AND LITERACY

The hallmark of our participants’ understanding of independent reading focused on student choice. “Students reading on their own from

a text they choose.” “Read from our class library or bring

personal reading to class.”

DEFINING INDEPENDENT READING

Teachers disagreed on the idea of where independent reading occurs. “In my class, independent reading…” “at their own pace inside or outside of school, that is

independent reading.”

LOCATION OF INDEPENDENT READING

Teachers focused on “catching” students faking reading. “Students try to fool me into

thinking they are reading when they are not.”

“Students still refuse to read and will fake it by holding up a book without actually reading.”

“The time is wasted and students are not focused.”

EFFECTS OF INDEPENDENT READING

Teachers Administrators Policy Makers

Build knowledge of independent reading.

Support independent reading in the

classroom.

Support independent reading through the guiding documents,

allowing for the strategy.

Collaborate with others to improve

independent reading implementation.

Provide monetary resources to teachers to bolster classroom

libraries.

Develop models for individual growth

instead of focusing on standardized testing.

IMPLICATIONS

Independent reading is an important strategy for secondary educators.

Continued research is necessary (and growing strong) to study independent reading.

The strategy needs additional support for implementation to make it successful.

CONCLUSION

Matthew Ulyesses BlankenshipUniversity of South Florida, Tampa

mublanke@usf.edu

Presentation available for review on Slide Share.

Slideshow Link:

http://www.slideshare.net/mublanke/eera-presentation-independent-

reading

Username: MUBLANKE

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