Fall, 2006

Professor:        Joanne Larson

Time:               Tuesdays 4:45 – 7:25

Room:             Dewey 1-154

Office Hours:  By appointment

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 and out of schools.  Students will develop a conception 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 is required by all Master’s candidates seeking initial and professional certification and meets NYS literacy requirements. This course is also designed to develop the competencies required by the International Reading Association (IRA) Standards for Reading Specialist/Literacy Coach through assignments, class discussions, and course readings.  IRA standards are noted throughout the syllabus.

Course Requirements:

1. Critical Commentaries: Students will select a passage (or passages) from each of the assigned readings per class session that has challenged their point of view, told them something new, or had some other significance for them. A brief (one paragraph) discussion of why the passage/s was selected will give context to the selected text. Do not go beyond one page for this assignment. If it is your turn to lead discussion, bring your completed assignment on an overhead or bring enough paper copies for the entire class. All other students must bring their assignments on paper to be handed in each class session in addition to submitting them on WebCT. Students will complete a total of 10 critical commentaries worth a maximum of 4 points each (40% of the grade).

(IRA Standards 1.1-1.3; 2.1-2.3; 4.1-4.4; 5.1-5.2).

2. Research Project and Final Paper: This project introduces students to classroom research and is designed to promote an understanding of the important and complex relationship between theory, research, and authentic 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 from existing data provided by the course professor.  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.  (45% of grade)

(IRA Standards 1.1-1.3; 2.1-2.3; 4.1-4.4; 5.3-5.4).

3. Seminar Presentation: Students will present their research projects and analysis to the class.  (15% of grade)

(IRA Standards 1.1-1.3; 5.1-5.4).

NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED

Grading:

Critical Commentaries:                                    40 points

Research Project and Final Paper:                   45 points

Seminar Presentation                                       15 points

Required Texts:

Gee, J. (2004). Situated language and learning: A critique of traditional schooling. New York: Routledge.

Larson, J. & Marsh, J. (2005). Making literacy real: Theories and practices for learning and teaching.  Sage: London.

Rogoff, B. (2003). The Cultural Nature of Human Development.  New York: Oxford.

Additional readings can be accessed online through WebCT. 

Class Schedule:

(1) September 5

Overview of the course and introduction to literacy and education.

(2) September 12

Defining Literacy: Literacy as a Social Practice and New Literacy Studies

Readings:

Larson, J. & Marsh, J. (2005). Making literacy real: Theories and practices for learning and teaching, pp. 1-39, London: Sage.

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.

Gee, J. (2004). Situated language and learning: A critique of traditional schooling, pp. 1-38. New York: Routledge.

(IRA Standards 1.1-1.4; 4.3; 5.2)

            Recommended:

Street, B. (1995).  Social literacies: Critical approaches to literacy in development, ethnography, and education, pp. 1-47.  New York: Longman.

Barton, D. & Hamilton, M. (1998).  Local literacies: Reading and writing in one community. Chapter 1, pp. 3-22. London: Routledge.

(3) September 19

In class time for research projects

Introduction to sociocultural-historical theories of language/literacy learning

Readings:

Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development pp. 3-36. London: Oxford.

Larson, J. & Marsh, J. (2005). Making literacy real: Theories and practices for learning and teaching, pp. 100-125, London: Sage.

Rogoff, B., Bartlett, L., & Turkanis, C.G., (2001). Learning together: Children and adults in a school community, pp. 3-17. London: Oxford.

(IRA Standards 1.1-1.4; 2.1-2.3; 4.1-4.4; 5.1-5.3)

Recommended:

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.

Luke, A. (1994).  The social construction of literacy in the primary school.  Melbourne, Aus: Macmillan Education Australia.

(4) September 26

Language, Literacy, Culture, and Social Action

Readings:

Gee, J. (1996). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses. Second Edition, pp. 1-21. London: Routledge.

Larson, J. & Marsh, J. (2005). Making literacy real: Theories and practices for learning and teaching, pp. 40-67, London: Sage.

Lankshear, C. (1997). Critical social literacy: An approach using conventional texts across the curriculum, pp. 40-62. Philadelphia: Open University Press.

(IRA Standards: 1.1-1.4; 2.2; 4.1-4.4)

Recommended:

Ochs, E. (1988). Culture and language development: Language acquisition and language socialization in a Samoan village, pp. 1-39.  Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press.

(5) October 3

            NO CLASS SESSION

Participation Theory of Learning

Readings:

Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development, pp. 236-326. London: Oxford.

Rogoff, B. (April 1994).  Developing understanding of the idea of communities of learners.  Mind, Culture, and Activity, 1(4), 209-229.

(IRA Standards 1.1-1.4; 2.1-2.3; 4.1-4.4)

 (6) October 10

In class time for research projects

Everyday Literacies

Readings:

Gee, J. (2004). Situated language and learning: A critique of traditional schooling, pp. 39-75. New York: Routledge.

Street, B. (1995). The schooling of literacy, pp. 106-131. New York: Longman.

Heath, S.B. (1982).  What no bedtime story means: Narrative skills at home and school.  Language in Society, 11, 49-76.

(IRA Standards 1.1-1.4; 2.1-2.3; 4.1-4.4; 5.1-5.3)

(7) October 17

Language Practices in Classrooms

Readings:

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.

Gee, J. (2004). Situated language and learning: A critique of traditional schooling, pp. 77-89. New York: Routledge.

Lee, C. (2001). Is October Brown Chinese? A cultural modeling activity system for underachieving students. American Educational Research Journal, 38(1), 97-142.

(IRA Standards 1.1-1.4; 2.1-2.3; 5.1-5.3)

(8) October 24

Consequences of Reductionism on Literacy Learning

Readings:

Gee, J. (2004). Situated language and learning: A critique of traditional schooling, pp. 91-118. New York: Routledge.

Irvine, P.D. & Larson, J. (2001). Literacy packages in practice: Constructing academic disadvantage, pp. 45-70.  In J. Larson (Ed.). Literacy as snake oil: Beyond the quick fix. New York: Lang.

Moje, E. B., McIntosh Ciechanowski, K., Kramer, K., Ellis, L., Carrillo, R., & Collazo, T. (2004). Working toward third space in content area literacy: An examination of everyday funds of knowledge and discourse. Reading Research Quarterly, 39(1), 38-71.

Recommended:

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.

(IRA Standards 1.1-1.4; 2.1-2.3; 4.1-4.4)

(9) October 31

In class time for research projects

Digital Literacies Across Time and Space

Readings:

Larson, J. & Marsh, J. (2005). Making literacy real: Theories and practices for learning and teaching, pp. 68-99, London: Sage.

Lankshear, C. & Knobel, M. (2003). New literacies: Changing knowledge and classroom learning, pp. 3-49. Philadelphia: Open University Press.

Kress, G. (2003). Literacy in the New Media Age, pp. 1-15. New York: Routledge.

(IRA Standards 1.1-1.4; 2.1-2.3; 4.1-4.4)

(10) November 7

Language, Identity and Classroom Practices

Film presentation: A Life Outside

Readings:

Dyson, A.H. (1999). Coach Bombay's kids learn to write: Children's appropriation of media material for school literacy. Research in the Teaching of English, 33 (4), 367-402.

Gee, J.P., Allen, A.R., Clinton, K. (2001). Language, class, and identity: Teenagers fashioning themselves through language.  Linguistics and Education, 12, 175-94.

Larson, J. (2005). Breaching the classroom walls: Literacy learning across time and space in an elementary school in the United States. In B. Street (Ed.). Literacies across educational contexts: Mediating teaching and learning, pp. 84-101.  Philadelphia: Caslon Press.

(IRA Standards 1.1-1.4; 2.1-2.3; 4.1-4.4; 5.1-5.3)

(11) November 14

In class time for research projects

Literacy as commodity

Readings:

Larson, J. & Marsh, J. (2005). Making literacy real: Theories and practices for learning and teaching, pp. 127-157, London: Sage.

Gatto, L. (2001). Success guaranteed: I don’t buy it, pp. 71-88. In J. Larson (Ed.). Literacy as snake oil: Beyond the quick fix. New York: Lang

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.

(IRA Standards 1.1-1.4; 2.1-2.3; 4.1-4.4)

(12) November 21

African American and Emancipatory Literacies

Readings:

Gee, J. (1996). Social Linguistics and Literacies: Ideology in Discourses, Second Edition, pp. 22-45. London: Routledge.

Richardson, E. (2003). African American Literacies, pp. 1-30.  London: Routledge.

(IRA Standards 1.1-1.4; 2.1-2.3; 4.1-4.4; 5.1-5.3)

(13) November 28

Student Presentations of research projects

(IRA Standards 1.1-1.4; 5.1-5.4)

 (14) December 5

Student Presentations of research projects

FINAL PAPERS DUE