Today I have three articles that I've shared recently that I thought warranted further discussion. In the first, UK author Savita Kalhan shares a situation that she recently observed in a secondary school in which kids are limited to reading a pre-selected set of books on school supplied kindles. In the second article, for Psychology Today, authors Paula J. Schwanenflugel and Nancy Flanagan Knapp share an article inspired by their new book on the psychology of reading. They focus on the problems with limited students to read within narrowly defined reading levels. In both of these articles, seemingly well-intentioned schools are taking away students' love of reading by restricting choice. In the third article, Paul G. Moss outlines some issues with overloading students with homework, including the creation of negative attitudes. Such negative attitudes, of course, threaten the joy of learning.
Sad piece by @savitakalhan about a secondary school that is sucking pleasure from kids' #reading by limiting choice http://ow.ly/H6w2309BCZT
Savita Kalhan: "But I have noticed something very worrying, and I hope it is not a trend that is being repeated in other schools.
The use of eReaders, in some schools, has taken the place of paperback books almost completely. I know of one very large secondary school where every Year 7 and 8 pupil is given a kindle preloaded with books. Older years are given a nook. They are used for lessons as well as for reading for pleasure, apparently...
The kids are NOT allowed to read anything else other than one of the books on the school kindles. If they are caught reading a paperback book, they are given a detention!"
Me: I found the situation documented by Savita Kalhan simply horrifying.Talk about taking away the joy of reading. It's bad enough to expect kids to read from a pre-installed set of titles. But to punish them for selecting their own outside choices. Words fail me. Savita theorizes that this policy is due to the need for the school to be able to measure and document what kids are reading (to justify the expense of the devices). What I know is that if my daughter's school had a policy like this I would speak up, very loudly.
Yes! Why you should use passion + curiosity, not #ReadingLevels to help kids find good things to read @PsychToday https://t.co/6XJ2RxB2x2
Paula J. Schwanenflugel, Ph.D., and Nancy Flanagan Knapp, Ph.D.: "Most school reading incentive programs require students to read texts within a restricted range of their measured reading skill levels, either within the Lexile range just mentioned, or, if using another rating system, within five months of their measured reading levels... Many schools now even restrict the books students can check out from the school library to those at such “appropriate” levels...
Myth #1: Each text has a discrete, accurately measurable reading level...
Myth #2: Each reader has a discrete, accurately measurable level of reading skill...
Myth #3: Readers should (almost always) read texts very near their reading level...
Passion, curiosity, and knowledge are at least as important as reading levels in helping children find good things to read. "
Me: There is a lot of detail in this article (excerpted from a new book), so please do go and read the full piece. There's quite a bit on the benefits to kids of reading above and below their suggested reading level. To me, forcing kids to read within some narrow range is clearly a way to take away the joy of reading.
I let my daughter, who is in first grade, read anything she finds lying around the house that catches her eye. (We have a LOT of books lying around the house). When something is too difficult for her, she'll plug away for a bit, and then get bored and find something else. I did teach her the five finger rule, and she finds that useful in identifying the books that she's not ready for yet. As for books that are too easy for her, I want her to enjoy those for as long as she likes. We just pulled a bunch of easy readers to donate to a book swap at her school. She was happy to jettison some of them, but some she kept because she loves the characters (Amelia Bedelia, Elephant and Piggy, Dodsworth, and, yes, Sponge Bob).
If more schools could focus on what makes kids LOVE reading, the world would be a better, and more literate, place in the long run.
Overloading #homework reduces performance, stresses students + creates a negative atmosphere in classroom @EDmerger https://t.co/T0KMglJMHc
Paul G. Moss: "Despite a new surge in notification tools, homework assignment still remains a lawless enterprise, with even the best of willed teachers being reduced to mavericks, having to set work for their students with no idea of how much work they have already been set by other teachers. The teacher cannot tell if they may be overloading them, and this results in a range of issues...
Students spend a long day at school, and the amount of energy it takes to then have to work at home and carry on the effort should not be underestimated. Students who are overworked face the very real possibility of burning out, either physically, mentally, or probably both...
Another issue that stems from overloading students is the creation of a negative attitude towards homework. Understandably, getting students to buy into the policy is impossible when the overarching perception is that the process is unfair, inequitable, and exhausting. "
Me: This article was written with middle and high school students in mind, responding to the situation where different teachers are assigning homework, and the overall homework load is too strenuous. [This was the situation in Greg Pincus's The Homework Strike.] I worry about this issue in my daughter's future. But the problems of excessive homework (reduced performance levels, etc.) certainly show themselves in elementary school, too.
My biggest concern in this is the last point from Moss that I quoted above. Overloading creates a negative attitude towards homework. And, I would argue, towards school and learning in general.
As with reading, if more schools had a focus on (or just paid more of attention to) fostering the joy of learning, students would be much better served.
© 2017 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. This post may contain affiliate links.
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