Teaching reading comprehension is one of the most difficult tasks teachers are faced with in their day and one of the reasons for that is the varied background knowledge of their students. What experiences readers bring to the text directly impacts the ease with which they will read that text. If I've had a lot of experience with flying, for example, then reading a text that includes words such as jet way, runway, taxi, altitude and flight attendant will be easier for me. I have a context in which to place those words and can better understand the author's message. For someone who has never flown or been around planes, the understanding may not come as easily. Words will have to be looked up in a dictionary perhaps, and in some cases, like the words taxi or runway, the reader will have to have a deep enough understanding about vocabulary to know those words have multiple meanings. Consider what you read, versus what someone in a different profession reads. If I were asked to read a book on chemical engineering it would take a lot more time and mental capacity for me to understand the text than if you give me a book on educational practice. Both would contain material that is new to me, but one would be easier to file than the other.
This process relies a learning theory called Schema Theory. Every time you learn something, your brain attempts to file that learning in a place where it can be retrieved. If you have an existing file for the information it is much easier to place learning than if you have to create a brand new file. In addition, new learning may easily be connected to old learning even if it isn't filed in the exact same place. For example, say I worked in a garage and had extensive knowledge about repairing engines. One day someone comes in with a foreign model I've not worked on before. I may be able to retrieve some basics from my brain about repairs, but there are nuances to the model that make it different. I would have to create a new file (or schemata) for the differences, but it is closely connected to what I already know, so the cognitive demands are still relatively minimal.
As teachers, we are tasked with helping students build connections between schemata (or files) and to create new ones. Since we cannot feasibly create enough life experiences to accomplish this, we rely on text. We read about the far off places that we cannot visit, or the animals we can't bring to school or the science experiment that we can't conduct. Whether or not the text that we choose is difficult for students to understand is related to their existing schema. Some texts are more easily understood by some students than others.
This background knowledge piece is at the root of those differences. It is not all of it, but it is a portion. In years past, this piece has not been acknowledged in our written standards. The bar was set and all students were expected to meet it, regardless of the knowledge they bring to the table. Our new standards however, are taking this into account by re-defining text complexity. How complicated a text is, depends on a variety of things, but one of those things included is background knowledge. It is intangible and virtually impossible to measure, but it is now getting the recognition it deserves. The background has moved to the front.
Teachers will continue to be asked to create experiences and read texts that will build and connect schemata, but the tools they now have to accomplish this task have greatly increased. One of my primary job responsibilities is to help teachers make the transition from PASS (our state standards) to Common Core. This transition is not being done just in Oklahoma but in over forty states around the nation. There are some significant changes and I, as a literacy specialist, am thrilled to see the direction that we are going. For those that got into education to help students build schemata and integrate learning, these standards will guide you in that direction. It will be hard work, but the end result will be what we as educators got into this profession to do. We're bringing the background to the front and marching forward empowered by our passion to teach.
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