Assumptions and Me

There is certainly something exciting in the air when we think about how the landscape of children’s literature could and is changing. The international school I work at in Tokyo is an International Baccalaureate school where we elementary teachers teach through the Primary Years Program (PYP). It is an excellent program that sides with many of the good points Nodelman and Reimer (2003) present us with in chapter 5 of The Pleasures of Children’s Literature. For example, Nodelman and Reimer (2003) question the assumption that books written for five year olds should not be read by students younger or older than that age (Pg. 86). With the PYP program as our guide, we use an age continuum when it comes to all curricular outcomes, which allows students to progress at their own true rate. For example, students aged 5 to 7 could be reading this prescribed book for the 5 year old mentioned above, but there is leeway with the age. In the program it would also be considered great if a 3 year old wants to read the very same book. I find great joy with educators like Nodelman and Reimer’s (2003) who ask us to probe our assumptions about what we think children shouldn’t read (Pg. 86-87).

When I really think about it, literature has a truly important role in the life of a child. We as adults need to think about our role and supporting our children the best we can. As Nodelman and Reimer (2003) point out, the assumptions we adults carry about what children can and can’t read has a negative effect of depriving children access to books (Pg. 101). This is something we as adults need to take seriously, and there are certainly signs that it has been taken seriously in the educational community. The idea of literature circles allows children “access” to books that they would otherwise be shielded from. For example, at my school, if our unit of inquiry is about sharing the planet, I lay out 4 book choices weekly for my students to individually choose which one to take home. These books are connected to sharing the planet, but are at a variety of reading levels and topics within the theme of sharing the planet. This allows students to have their voice in what they want to read as opposed to me the teacher giving them what I think they should read due to their reading level or group. These sorts of things like “literature circles” and “book clubs” allow for a student’s interest to take the driver seat when one is picking and working through literature. Over the past couple of years as I have worked in the PYP program and its philosophy, this is something I have seen as very important and the argument that Nodelman and Reimer (2003) have made with regards to asking us adults to not control the “book selection” process has helped to reinforce my beliefs (Pg. 101).

Of course, the texts that my students pick from are within their proximal zones of development and the activities we do in literature circles scaffold students to a greater understanding of the literature. Nodelman and Reimer (2003) make the point that if we properly scaffold and treat children as capable of understanding what adults understand, then children truly are capable of gathering a deep understanding and making wise choices (Pg. 99). One of things we do at Canadian International School (CIS) to promote a deep understanding is to first start with students questions. When we meet in literature circles students in my grade one class are asked to each find one or two questions they have about the story and to put a sticky tab on that page. Then together as a group we take turns listening and trying to give possible answers to each of our questions. And as Nodelman and Reimer (2003) suggest in chapter 1, I don’t pretend to know the answer if I don’t know it (Pg. 12). I do some research after class for our next literature circle time, and even there are times when I can’t give the students a definitive answer. This simple activity of asking and pursuing questions truly does lead to a deeper understanding for students who engage themselves by asking meaningful questions.

At CIS we also try to further student interest when we meet in class with fellow students who picked the same book. In Chapter 1 Nodelman and Reimer (2003) ask some new questions about basic assumptions when we think about children and literature (Pg. 2). One of those points begs the question of whether students should be allowed to discuss what gives them immediate pleasure. My answer to that is yes! Through literature circles we are encouraged to do such things. For example, when we get into literature circles in my grade 1 class I give my students each a sticky note and instruct them to go back into the story on their own and to pick one or two things in the story they found very interesting. I instruct them it can be a picture, a sentence, anything they find exciting. After doing so, we meet and discuss what each child found interesting and the engagement of the students with the text and with each other is often very amazing. When one picks out a text where proper scaffolding can take place to help one get a deeper meaning combined with the important ingredient of one’s own true interest in the book, then the joy of literature is alive and well.

When I reflect back to my childhood, I remember literature being taught in a different manner for me while I was at school. I remember being taught to learn how to read and to be able to answer comprehension questions correctly. I remember answering questions in language arts workbooks, something my current school doesn’t even possess! But I suppose in these workbooks we answered questions dealing with the universal truth and the great ideas, two old assumptions about literature (Nodelman & Reimer, 2003, Pg. 2). I know that I was not exposed to learning other languages or literature in other languages. This is quite unfortunate as I have lived abroad where other languages are primary for nearly a quarter of my life. I don’t remember specific picture books from my childhood but I do remember being interested and reading The Hardy Boys series on my own when I was in upper elementary. The Hardy Boys series was probably deemed good literary texts worth studying by my parents, something Nodelman and Reimer (2003) describe as an old assumption (Pg. 1). Being taught the basics at school must have been done in a fun enough manner, as I do have fond memories of wanting to go to the library with my father and pick out books that intrigued me. I suppose the assumptions that my literature background were built upon relied heavily on the teaching of phonics, comprehension and other reading basics at school. But since my teachers were caring individuals, these sorts of tasks were enjoyable to me. While at home, I was freer to explore things of interest to me when exploring literature.

As I reflect on how I approached the three picture books we explored this week, I did go into the stories looking for the old assumption of what are the great ideas of the stories. As I look back at my childhood experiences with literature, I can see now that since I was taught to do so when I was young to do so when I am older only seems natural. It is what I do and have been doing for years and years. Another key goal was to understand the texts properly, something that Nodelman and Reimer (2003) point out as an old assumption (Pg. 3). I must admit I am afraid to look at my classmates comments only to find that they perceive the books completely different from how I perceive them. I was having a read over Megumi’s comments on the unintended messages in Amazing Grace and what we perceive as unintended messages are completely different. Being raised in a traditional school environment where one tries not to “stick out” from their peers, I immediately began to question my thoughts on the unintended messages in Amazing Grace. I can see that I have been scarred by the idea that I need to have a correct interpretation. After this week and this experience, I have a better appreciation for allowing for and promoting students to give their individual responses and understandings, something Nodelman and Reimer (2003) see as a new question we should be broaching as educators (Pg. 3).

In conclusion, there are good programs like the Primary Years Program that promote choices for children in the area of literature. There are also good teaching techniques that are more prevalent in today’s classrooms, like literature circles and book clubs, to give choices to students while still allowing for proper scaffolding to take place. Reflecting on my childhood and seeing how literature was taught, I can see that I still carry some ingrained “rules” that include: understanding literature “properly”, finding the main ideas first and foremost and also a desire to read “good” literature where there are universal truths.