Hi Dave,

I'd like to thank you (& everybody else on the list!) for such an
interesting discussion; for your very thought-provoking comments &
responses. Over the week, I've picked up quite a bit of information
about new technologies & strategies for reading development. But even
more important, I think I've been challenged to re-think my attitude;
how I think about reading.

For me, it kind of comes down to a "border pedagogy" issue. (Border
pedagogy is a current interest of mine, but for those who are
unfamiliar: the concept was developed by educator Henry Giroux [see
http://www.henryagiroux.com/index.html if you want more info] & it
refers loosely to the idea that communities of practice, such as the
Occupational Therapist vocation that Denis Anson described in an earlier
post, have borders/restrictions & it is the work of teachers to help
learners cross those borders.) 

The way I am pondering it is this: I'll bet that most of us on this list
are members of a 'well-educated' community of practice &, as such, we
have pre-conceived ideas about what reading is & is not.  We acquired
access to this community, partly through cultural privileges & partly
through hard work, because we were such expert readers (as defined by
the community). We can all talk about texts, decoding, comprehension,
'reading levels' etc. But what gives _us_ the right to define what
reading is or is not? And even if we can define it: what gives us the
right to insist that reading (as defined) has such a primacy role in
learning?

So now I am thinking: It's not really the ability to read that's so
important; it's the ability to access information, evaluate it, &
transform it into knowledge. That process has, in our culture, been tied
tightly to reading ability. But new technologies introduce other ways to
access information without the steps of decoding etc. And I am being
challenged to re-think my privileged position as an 'expert reader',
with all that that has entitled me to in the past.

How does that affect my role as a 'border crosser', someone who helps
learners get where they're going? I guess/hope that it cuts my arrogance
a bit. Instead of saying to my adult student: "hmm... To get into your
program of choice you need to improve your reading & I can help you with
that. Let's check your reading level", I might be saying (or at least
thinking): "hmm... To get into your program of choice, you need access
to information & I can probably help you with that. Can you tell me
about the things that help you learn best & the things that get in your
way?" There are a lot of different paths up that mountain.

Anyway, sorry for the long post but thanks for the transformative
discussion.

Gina

Gina Bennett
Education / Technology Centre (ETC)
College of the Rockies
Cranbrook, BC V1C 4L5