Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Many Paths to Literacy: Finding Space for Students Resources in an Urban Classroom Through Action Research.

Many Paths to Literacy: Finding Space for Students Resources in an Urban Classroom Through Action Research.

Kruger, Mollie Welsh

Paperback

General Education

Currently unavailable to order

ISBN10: 1243542942
ISBN13: 9781243542946
Publisher: Proquest Umi Dissertation Pub
Pages: 296
Weight: 1.17
Height: 0.62 Width: 7.44 Depth: 9.69
Language: English
Children and families have a wealth of knowledge too often untapped in schools, especially schools that are under-resourced. The purpose of this action research study was (a) to examine closely the multiple resources that students bring into the formal school setting, particularly in literacy curriculum, and (b) to explore the hybrid spaces that were opened and/or created in an urban classroom to recognize and utilize students' multiple resources. Grounded in socio-cultural perspectives and understandings of literacy as a social practice, this study set out to recognize the wealth of students' resources, confronting dominant, deficit attitudes. Data collection for this qualitative study was conducted by a classroom teacher during regular school hours over a ten-month school year, occurring in two phases. The first phase was conducted from September to December and included observing students and their resources, building a caring and conducive classroom environment, and selecting focal students. In the second phase, action was taken to open and/or create hybrid spaces utilizing students' multiple resources during literacy learning, such as read alouds and writers' workshop. Artifacts were collected for documentation. Another facet of the study was family member participation in collaborative meetings, as well as individual conversations around their child's resources with the teacher-researcher. Students' resources were recorded in case studies, which were organized in sections by social resources, identities, and community resources. The findings of the case studies suggested that students have some similar patterns in their resources but that each child had her/his own distinct resources that she/he drew upon in the classroom. Family member conversations contributed to identifying and understanding students' resources throughout the course of the study. Hybrid spaces in the classroom developed from students' resources. The findings regarding space suggested that some spaces were student-created, while others were teacher-created; some were planned, whereas others were unplanned. The spaces took numerous forms and were complex, often contributing to the social relations and the academic learning in the classroom community. In sum, utilizing students' resources to open and/or create hybrid spaces welcomed children into the classroom and built stronger connections between students' homes and school literacies.

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