Summer, 2002
Professor Joanne Larson
Time: Monday and Wednesday: 4:50 p.m. - 8:20 p.m.
May 20 – July 1 (Session A)
Room: Dewey 1-305
Office Hours: Mondays, 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Phone: 275-0900
E-mail: joanne.larson@rochester.edu

Course Objective:

The purpose of this course is to assist students in the construction of a comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding and examining the nature of literacy learning in schools. Students will develop a definition of literacy as a social practice and build an understanding of the social context of literacy learning as the negotiation of the multiple linguistic and cultural realities of contemporary society. This course serves as a required pre-requisite for Theory and Practice in the Teaching and Learning of Literacy in Elementary School (EDU 427) and is required by all students seeking initial teaching certification and students in the Master’s in Reading and Literacies program. Students seeking professional certification and doctoral students are welcomed.

Course Requirements:

1. Analytic/Reflective Comments: Students will select a passage (or passages) from the readings that has challenged their point of view, told them something new, or had some other significance for them and bring this passage on an overhead for class discussion if you are required to lead discussion that class session (or bring enough paper copies for the entire class). All other students must bring their selections on paper to be handed in. These questions may critique the readings or reflect a student’s need for clarification. (25% of the grade).

2. Research Project and Final Paper: This project introduces students to classroom research and is designed to promote an understanding of the important relationship between theory, research, and effective practice. Students will be required to conduct a research project that focuses on describing the nature of literacy learning in classrooms. Students will analyze videotapes of the language arts periods from existing data provided by Professor Larson. The research paper will include the following: a focused research question; a theoretical framework in which the research question is embedded; a description of the classroom and focal activity; a discussion of the findings; discussion/implications of the analysis and questions for future study. Because this is a group paper, each group must include a statement indicating the work distribution. This statement should include a signed agreement that all group members contributed their fair share of the work. Doctoral students’ papers will be outlined in conference with Professor Larson. (50% of grade)

3. Seminar Presentation: Students will present their research projects and analysis to the class. (25% of grade)NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED

Required Texts:
Larson, J. (2002). Literacy as Snake Oil: Beyond the Quick Fix. New York: Lang.
Nystrand, M. (1997). Opening dialogue: Understanding the dynamics of language and learning in the English classroom. New York: Teachers College Press.
Street, B. (1995). Social literacies: Critical approaches to literacy in development, ethnography, and education. New York: Longman.Recommended:
Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context. New York: Oxford University Press.Additional readings can be accessed online through online reserve.

Rush Rhees Multimedia Center G122: 273-5009
Summer Hours:
M, Th, F - 9 AM - 5 PM
T, W - 9 AM – 7:00 PM

Class Schedule:

May 20
Overview of the course and introduction to literacy and education.

May 22
What is literacy?
Readings:
Street, Introduction: pp. 1-10; Chapters 1 & 2: pp. 13-47.
deCastell, S. & Luke, A. (1983). Defining literacy in North American schools: Social and historical conditions and consequences. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 15, pp. 373-389.

May 27: NO CLASS MEETING

Literacy as a Social Practice

Readings:
Street, Chapter 5: The schooling of literacy, pp. 106-131.
Luke, A. (1994). The social construction of literacy in the primary school. Melbourne, Aus: Macmillan Education Australia.
Heath, S.B. (1982). What no bedtime story means: Narrative skills at home and school. Language in Society, 11, 49-76.

May 29
CLASS WILL MEET IN MULTIMEDIA CENTER AT RUSH RHEES
Introduction to sociocultural theories of language/literacy learning
Readings:
Scribner, S. & Cole, M. (1988). Unpackaging literacy. In E. Kintgen, B. Kroll, & M. Rose (Eds.), Perspectives on literacy, pp. 57-70. Carbondale: Southern Illinois Press.
Cole, M. (1985). The zone of proximal development: Where culture and cognition create each other. In J.V. Wertsch (Ed.) Culture, communication, and cognition: Vygotskian perspectives, pp. 146-161.

June 3
Participation Theory of Learning
Readings:
Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context. New York: Oxford University Press. Part I: pp. 3-61.
Rogoff, B., Bartlett, L., & Turkanis, C. (2001). Lessons about Learning as a Community. In B. Rogoff, C. Turkanis, & L. Bartlett (Eds.). Learning Together: Children and adults in a school community. Oxford, UK: Oxford.
Ochs, E. (1988). To know a language, pp. 1-39. Culture and language development: Language acquisition and language socialization in a Samoan village. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Recommended Reading:
Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context. New York: Oxford University Press. Part II: pp. 65-134.

June 5
CLASS WILL MEET AT MULTIMEDIA CENTER IN RUSH RHEES
Participation Theory of Learning
Readings:
Rogoff, B. (1995). Observing sociocultural activity on three planes: Participatory appropriation, guided participation, and apprenticeship. In J.V. Wertsch, P. del Rio, & A. Alvarez (Eds.), Sociocultural studies of mind, pp. 139-163. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Rogoff, B. (April 1994). Developing understanding of the idea of communities of learners. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 1(4), 209-229.

June 10
Language Practices in Classrooms
Readings:
Gutierrez, K., Larson, J., Kreuter, B. (1995). Cultural tensions in the scripted classroom: The value of the subjugated perspective. Urban Education, 29(4), 410-442.
Gutierrez, K., Rymes, B., & Larson, J. (1995). Script, counterscript, and underlife in the classroom: James Brown versus Brown v. Board of Education. Harvard Educational Review, 65(3), 445-471.

June 12
CLASS WILL MEET IN MULTIMEDIA CENTER IN RUSH RHEES
Consequences of Recitation on Literacy Learning
Readings:
Nystrand, Chapter 1: pp. 1-29.
Gutierrez, K. & Larson, J. (1994). Language borders: Recitation as hegemonic discourse. International Journal of Education Reform, 3(1), 22-36.

June 17
Language and Literacy Research in Classrooms
Readings:
Nystrand, Chapters 2-4: pp. 30-108.
Irvine, P.D. & Larson, J. (2001). Literacy packages in practice: Constructing academic disadvantage. In J. Larson (Ed.). Literacy as snake oil: Beyond the quick fix. New York: Lang.
Gatto, J. (2001). Success guaranteed: I don’t buy it. In J. Larson (Ed.). Literacy as snake oil: Beyond the quick fix. New York: Lang
Recommended:
Larson, J. & Irvine, P.D. (1999). "We call him Dr. King": Reciprocal distancing in urban classrooms. Language Arts, 76(5), 393-400.

June 19
CLASS WILL MEET IN MULTIMEDIA CENTER AT RUSH RHEES
Interaction and Literacy Learning
Readings:
Larson, J. (1999). Analyzing participation frameworks in kindergarten writing activity: The role of overhearer in learning to write. Written Communication, 16(2), 225-257.
Larson, J. & Maier, M. (2000). Co-authoring classroom texts: Shifting participant roles in writing activity. Research in the Teaching of English, 34, 468-498.

June 24
Literacy, Technology, and Commercialization
Readings:
Lankshear, C. & Snyder, I. (2000). With Green, B. Understanding the changing world of literacy, technology, and learning. Teachers and technoliteracy: Managing literacy, technology, and learning in schools, pp. 23-47. St. Leonards, Aus: Allen & Unwin.
Shannon, P. (1992). Commercial reading materials, a technological ideology, and the deskilling of teachers. In P. Shannon (Ed.). Becoming political: Readings and writings in the politics of literacy education, pp. 182-207. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Gee, J. (2001). Reading, language abilities, and semiotic resources: Beyond limited perspectives on reading. In J. Larson (Ed.). Literacy as snake oil: Beyond the quick fix. New York: Lang.

June 26
Student Presentations of research projects

July 1
Student Presentations of research projects
FINAL PAPERS DUE