AboutHow is Genre Practice different from other literacy instruction approaches? How can I learn more about the Genre Practice approach or become involved?
What is Genre Practice?Genre Practice is a progressive approach to literacy instruction that builds upon what have become conventional reading and writing workshop routines (e.g., Atwell, 1987; Calkins, 1986; Graves, 1983), but reconstitutes them around the understanding that literacy competencies—like reading and writing—result from participation in social practices. Workshop routines are the pivotal social practices full of potential learning opportunities for students. In Genre Practice, these routines are maximized as means to help students develop their intentions, agency and responsibility as learners. Learning standards assume a significant place within the Genre Practice approach, which takes for granted that children must acquire knowledge their society deems necessary. The Genre Practice routines incorporate references to formal learning standards in systems of planning and assessment. But standards serve as a point on the horizon to guide teaching and learning as opposed to a strict set of instructions to be followed. Genre Practice recognizes the truth that people, especially children, succeed best in doing the things they are personally inclined to do, and Genre Practice provides a system of planning and assessment in which formal instruction follows the lead of the children. So in addition to attending to the knowledge-based objectives of the literacy curriculum, Genre Practice simultaneously attends to the social-emotional and moral dimensions of literacy learning that are expressed through the child’s sense of agency, responsibility and self-determination which are supported through specifically designed classroom practices and routines. References: Atwell, N. (1987). In the middle. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Calkins, L. (1986). The art of teaching writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Graves, D. (1983). Writing: Teachers & children at work. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
How is Genre Practice different from other literacy instruction approaches? Genre Practice is distinguished from other literacy instruction approaches by its working definition of literacy where it is understood as both a social and a cognitive condition: individuals agree as a community to principles of reading, identify the texts deemed significant and appropriate for reading, and establish acceptable means of interpretation (Olson, 1994; Olson & Torrance, 2009). So a great deal of focus within teaching and learning interactions have to do with roles, responsibilities and commitments to the relationships children have to classmates, teachers, and the subjects of their studies. Literacy instruction based on this definition has significant implications for practice: Because the social practices that support literacy are critically significant to learning outcomes, classroom practices and routines themselves are significant aspects of the curriculum—on a par with the type of conventional curriculum typically associated with classical transmission pedagogy where content that is presented in a sequenced order through formal didactic lessons and then practiced. The Genre Practice curriculum exploits these practices and the social interactions for their learning potential. Genre Practice does not dismiss the learning objectives of traditional curriculum, but achieves them by also establishing classroom cultures that support student engagement, responsibility, independence, agency and competence—all of which result in learning. Genre Practice is an approach that provides a way to resolve the traditional-progressive education polemic that has beleaguered educational debates for over a century (Olson, 2003). References: Olson, D. (2003). Psychological theory and educational reform: How school remakes mind and society. New York: Cambridge University Press. Olson, D. R. & Torrance, N. (2009). The Cambridge handbook of literacy. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Why the term Genre Practice?The name, Genre Practice, is inspired by two ideas. Genre comes derives from genre theory. A genre is a certain type of text (or spoken utterance) that accomplishes a certain purpose using a specific range of conventions (Bakhtin, 1986). Genre forms have an active social function that changes and evolves through use as new conventions are appropriated, adapting to social realities. Texts of a particular form, for example, are representative of related activities that typify recurrent situations (Miller, 1984). They spring from the exigencies of life circumstances, and their shape and content reflect those circumstances. They are, “types of rhetorical actions that people perform in their everyday interactions with their worlds” (Devitt, 2004, p. 2) and “typical ways of engaging rhetorically with recurring situations” (Freedman & Medway, 1994, p. 2). The grocery list, the text message, the journal entry, the friendly letter, the academic essay all permit their authors to do things with texts within a system of conventions in order to accomplish the intended purpose. Genre theory stresses the relationship of a text’s social purpose and its language structure; and genre instruction guides students to critically analyze the diverse social purposes that contribute to patterns of regularity in language forms (Cope & Kalantzis, 1993). We acquire genres, as Bakhtin points out, in much the same way we acquire language—in the context of use or practice. So the need for children to have authentic opportunities to use a broad range of spoken and written generic forms across an equally broad range of social practice contexts is a primary aim of Genre Practice. The term practice honors the idea that most significant achievements in any form of activity result from sustained and engaged practice. The routine, predictable daily placeholder of reading and writing workshops provide a space for each child to develop a relationship to reading and writing that is characterized by disciplined engagement. Genre Practice recognizes that specific literacy capacities result from the child’s participation in related school practices, the nature of which are a critical concern for pedagogy. The term practice also honors the idea that literacy is not solely a cognitive skill, but also a social practice, a perspective termed the Literacy Thesis (Vygotsky; 1962, 1978; Goody & Watt, 1968; Havelock, 1982, 1991; Ong, 1976; McLuhan, 1962; Olson, 1994; Olson & Torrance, 2009). The Literacy Thesis view forces a shift from a strict and narrow concern with the discrete bodies of knowledge, skill and understandings traditionally associated with literacy approached prescriptively, an orientation referred to as the Literacy Myth, to a concern for the ways in which children engage as participants in activities in which literacy develops. As participants in school communities, children are engaged in relationships with others (teachers and classmates) characterized by responsibilities, obligations and commitments that influence development (Olson, 2003). Genre Practice assumes that the moral dimensions of learning—such as what the child takes responsibility for doing or learning or makes commitments to trying, for example—are as important to the curriculum as the range of cognitive competencies traditionally considered to be the primary focus of curriculum. So Genre Practice opens up the curriculum beyond a concern with basic competencies to encompass a concern for the social order of the classroom and the child’s role within it.
Bakhtin, M. M. (1986). Speech genres and other late essays. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. Cope, B. & Kalantzis, M. (1993). The powers of literacy: A genre approach to teaching writing. Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh University Press. Devitt, A. J. (2004). Writing genres. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press. Freedman, A. & Medway, P. (Eds.). (1994). Learning and teaching genre. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Goody, J., & Watt, I. (1968). The consequences of literacy. In J. Goody (Ed.), Literacy in traditional societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Havelock, E. (1982). The literate revolution in Greece and its cultural consequences. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Havelock, E. (1991). The oral-literate equation: A formula for the modern mind. In D. R. Olson & N. Torrance (Eds.), Literacy and orality (pp. 11-27). Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press. Herrington, A. & Moran, C. (2005). Genre across the curriculum. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press. Johns, A. (2002). Genre in the classroom: Multiple perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Kress (1993). “Genre as social process.” Cope, B. & Kalantzis, M. (1993). The powers of literacy: A genre approach to teaching writing. Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh University Press. McLuhan, M. (1962). The Gutenberg galaxy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Miller, C. R. (May 1984). “Genre as social action.” Quarterly journal of speech, v70, p. 151-167. Olson, D. R. (1994). The world on paper: The conceptual and cognitive implications of writing and reading. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press. Olson, D. R. (2003). Psychological theory and educational reform: How school remakes mind and society. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press. Ong, W. (1976). The presence of the word. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman (Eds.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
How can I learn more about the Genre Practice approach or become involved?Genrepractice.org was developed to be a source of interactive learning in order to support teachers and other advocates of progressive school reform to implement the Genre Practice approach. You’re invited to register as a member of the Genrepractice.org community. As a member, you can participate in the dialog, ask questions and comment on our posts. But whether you decide to join or not, the Genrepractice.org site will supply a constant source of information and insight through its content including:
Presentations: Members of a growing community of Genre Practitioners will be presenting their work at conferences and meetings. News of these events will be posted on the front page of the Genrepractice.org website. Guidebook: Cynthia McCallister has written a Genre Practice Guidebook which is in preparation for publication in 2010. Notice of the availability of the Guidebook will be posted on this site. Comments: Feel free to contact us at comments@genrepractice.org with suggestions or contributions which might help to improve the content you see on this website.
What is Genrepractice.org?Genrepractice.org members believe that education can be a force for democracy and social equity, but realize that too many taken-for-granted education practices disempower and subordinate individual children or groups of children, often reinforcing social inequities rather than reducing them. Reaching toward the ideals of progressive democratic education, Genrepractice.org members are enacting fundamental changes in the curriculum within their classrooms and schools based the recocnceptualization of conventional reading and writing education practices around Genre Practice principles. We recognize that antiquated ways of traditional schooling embodied in these practices no longer adequately meet the needs of today’s youth, and often derail the realization of ideals that are fundamental to the viability of democratic society. But we realize these ways have deep roots in our culture and social institutions and acknowledge that the difficult work of broad social change, such as uprooting firmly rooted traditions of schooling, requires the strength of collaborative community involvement and mutual support. The mission of Genrepractice.org is to help energize the literacy curriculum reform movement through a grass-roots network of dialog and mutual support. Genrepractice.org is a participatory forum for educators and others committed to the tenets of Genre Practice. Genrepractice.org provides resources and support to help educators and parents guarantee that children are provided with curriculum experiences that help them not only pass tests, but grow and flourish as individuals and valued members of a society beyond the walls of the school.
Who is Cynthia McCallister?Cynthia McCallister, the creator of the Genre Practice approach, founded GenrePractice.org to serve as a community of educators and education advocates who are committed not only to the principles and practices of the Genre Practice approach, but to the broader cause of curriculum reform in support of personally meaningful school experiences that foster student engagement and competence.
|
EVENTSAMERICAN EDUCATION RESEARCH ASSOCIATION Unison Reading: Engaging, Effective, Heterogeneous Small-Group Reading Instruction, K-8 INTERNATIONAL READING ASSOCIATION Genre Practice: A 'Principled' Pedagogy for Adolescent Literacy Genre Practice: A Pedagogy fo Student Responsibility for Literacy Learning Unison Reading: Engaging, Effective Small-group Reading Instruction, K-8 Genre Practice: A Pedagogy for Literacy that Supports Avoidant and Low Achieving Students Research Poster Session by Cynthia McCallister, Kim Greene & Kerry Decker NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH Supporting English Language Learners with Genre Practice Engaging Reluctant Learners through Genre Practice: Literacy Instruction that Supports Engagement and Achievement Genre Practice: A Model for Accountability for Literacy Learning Radical Freedom and Genre Practice: How Children Still Learn What's Expected When They're in Control of Reading Workshop Feelings, Emotions, and Genre Practice: Restoring Joyfulness into Standards-Based Literacy Education
59th NATIONAL READING CONFERENCE Acquiring English Literacy through "Genre Practice": Accounts of K-8 English Language Learners
RECOMMENDED READING
"The Cambridge Handbook of Literacy, by David R. Olson and Nancy Torrance, is a comprehensive and descriptive survey of literacy across a full range of social and psychological functions. The authors' treatment of the topic of literacy extends far beyond the narrow concerns of learning to reading and write, offering a constellation of insights that hold promise to guide the reconceptualization of literacy instruction." Cynthia McCallister, Ed.D. FRIENDS OF GENRE PRACTICE Jenny Brown, has a great web site devoted to childrens' books. It's called Amy Simone Piller is a poet, teacher and blogger.
|
