Philosophy Statement

My course of study over the last year and half has been enlightening, to say the
least. Through my assigned scholarly readings and the literature Ive been exposed to, I
feel like I have been able to more clearly understand how I am a reader, which in turn
has allowed me to think about my students as readers. Through the combination of
considering what Ive read academically while simultaneously reading a multitude of
young adult literature and childrens books of many genres and text formats, a clearer
vision of who I want and need to be as a teacher has emerged.
The theorist and theory I feel has influenced me the most is Rosenblatts
transactional theory. Multicultural Literature (CIL 684) allowed me to become thoroughly
acquainted with many aspects of Rosenblatts theory, and I immediately made
connections to previous actions and thoughts about my career teaching reading to 4th
and 5th grade students. Though there are many different aspects of the transactional
theory, the large idea that Ive taken away is that readers engage in transactions with
texts. The process of reading is not, and cannot simply be, reading for the assumed
correct answer. A great many things influence the message that a reader interprets
from a text, including prior knowledge, affective mood, identity, quality literature, and
interest in the text (Rosenblatt, 1995).
Many of the supplemental theorists opinions Ive read have echoed the
components of Rosenblatts theory as listed above. Norman Holland described, in
depth, how a readers identity affects his or her interpretation of text (1975, p. 813). A
readers background sets him/her up for an expected message. This, to me, was ever

evident in the information I gleaned from initial and subsequent readings of other
theorists; being that Rosenblatts was the theory that I spent most time examining, hers
is the message I see construed in other places in so many other words. Similarly,
Richard C. Andersons take on schema theory illustrates the benefits (or hindrances) of
a students schema (2011). In a different vein, I gained from Stanley Fish that there is
importance in asking not what readers take away from the text, but what does what the
reader took away say about him or her as a reader (1980). In other words, analyzing not
the answer, but how the answer was conceived.
Ive spent many of the last 3 years wondering about the answers that students
provide on assessments, those answers that were wrong but had some merit, showed

a students misunderstanding. From the theories presented in the previous paragraph, I

finally feel that it is okay and even preferable for students to be able to make their own
meaning, to discuss their ideas with peers and receive validation or guidance. The
curriculum I am currently using with my students allows so many opportunities for
student discourse and meaning-making, and I am able to understand why that is such a
valuable component of students reading experiences. For students to hear that their
answer is different, but understood nonetheless crafts an environment where they feel
safe to learn, try, and sometimes fail. Acknowledging that there are many factors
influencing the way that students comprehend and interpret text will allow me to better
assist them in ways that I would not have been able in prior years of teaching.
In terms of best practices, Ive worked a length on maintaining an environment
that encourages risk taking and supports choices in both reading and writing. While

standards and administration dictate that certain types of writing must be taught, I have
begun incorporating writing for different purposes and audiences, including time allotted
to write about whatever might be on my students minds. Literature from CIL 607 Comprehensive Reading Instruction led me to consider the opportunities for writing
employed in my classroom (Bromley, 2015). Likewise, giving students ample time to
engage in self-selected texts, and to participate in class and peer-to-peer discussions
about self-selected and required readings have become commonplace practices in my
classroom after having read about the implications of motivating students to read
(Guthrie, 2015).
Moving forward in my teaching career, I hope to continue fostering an academic
environment in which my students feel they are heard and successful because there is
an understanding that not everyone thinks or learns the same. In no way do I feel as if
Ive learned everything there is to know about literacy in the classroom, but I certainly
feel more readily equipped with tools to make reading an effective and memorable
experience for my students.

References
Anderson, R. C. (2011). Role of the readers schema in comprehension, learning and
memory. In Cobb, J. B., & Kallus, M. K. (2011), Historical, theoretical, and
sociological foundations of reading in the United States. Boston: Pearson.
Bromley, K. (2015) Best practices in teaching writing. In Gambrell, L. B. (2015), Best
practices in literacy instruction. New York: Guilford Press.
Fish, S. E. (1980). Is there a text in this class?: The authority of interpretive
communities. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Guthrie, J. T. (2015). Best practices for motivating students to read. In Gambrell, L. B.
(2015), Best practices in literacy instruction. New York: Guilford Press.
Rosenblatt, L. M. (1938). Literature as exploration. New York: D. Appleton-Century.