Bridging the author and the scholar
Chapter 3 of Buehl's Developing Readers in Academic Disciplines focuses on the teacher's role as the bridge between the author's messaging and the students' understanding. Particularly with the first fundamental comprehension process mentioned in chapter 2: "Making connections to prior knowledge". This is often the first thing teachers have to scaffold in order to get anywhere with a disciplinary text. For me this was one of those "well... duh" moments but after meditating on it a little longer, I saw my own academic knowledge gaps interfere with comprehension from some of the activities in class.When we were trying to read Vygotsky's Internalization of Higher Psychological Functions, I struggled to make sense of what he was trying to get at. However, because I recognized enough to grasp at what he was getting at, I had a half-understanding. The same could NOT be said with some of the strategy presentations in class. Not because of the strategy or the presenter (You all did fantastic by the way) but because the depth of my knowledge of math stops short of basic geometry. If students don't have the necessary background knowledge, AKA Schema, reading a text might as well be in a different language.
At some point many here will, if they haven't already, have an ESL student in their classroom that adds another obstacle to background knowledge a student brings to class. While the obvious language barrier will add to it, what is sometimes overlooked is the cultural knowledge students need. As an example, while I was volunteering as an ESL aide a few years back, I had to help a student with reading a short modified script of Abbott and Costello's Who's on First skit. Despite being short, it was extremely difficult to facilitate meaning for a recent arrival student with virtually no Text-to-Self knowledge about baseball. She was aware of the existence of the sport, but had no frame of reference for what "first" could mean in this context or what a "bat" or "batter"was in this context.
Meanwhile, when the same student was reading Sanjay Patel's kid-friendly version of the story of Rama (Ramayana: Divine Loophole)She had a much easier time with this longer reading because 1.) She had the background knowledge of story elements (protagonist, antagonist, plot, etc.) but more importantly 2.) The teacher did not assume that everyone had the cultural knowledge required to understand the story like she did with baseball. She bridged their understanding by giving them more information about India and Hinduism upfront so that they can better understand and the context behind the story, and by extension the text itself.
I don't blame the teacher for not recognizing the fact that baseball isn't a universal game, but it's a good example of the importance of being mindful of possible gaps in students' academic/cultural knowledge. Things that might seem universal or common knowledge might not transcend cultural barriers. Sometimes things may not transfer from one district to another or even from one school to another in the same district. You don't have to answer this question, but if it helps you jump-start your reply, what sorts of schematic gaps can you already anticipate when it comes to reading in your discipline? It's impossible to predict everything, but as teachers we need to be able to anticipate these gaps.
Great post! It got me thinking about the common gaps in mathematical knowledge among students. Oftentimes, the connections between math topics are forgotten or assumed to be known by the teacher. In reality, students often find themselves questioning the purpose and meaning of the material. It's important to show students how topics in math evolve and build upon each other, especially in more advanced topics. Bridging this gap could be achieved through mathematical texts that explain these connections. While these resources are already being used in most math classes, Buehl explains in Chapter 3 of his text that math textbooks can be unhelpful, as students don't have the skills to use them to clear up confusion about the material.
ReplyDeleteBuehl explains that the root of this issue lies in the fact that students don't understand how computational mathematics applies to everyday life. We've all heard at least one student in class say, "When are we ever going to use this outside of math class?" So it's our job to bridge that gap and show them what skills they are learning through doing math and how this will help them outside of the classroom.
I agree! This made me think more deeply about how we’re all different people and will have different experiences. So having a teacher that understands that there will be some gaps in what we know versus what we don’t know would be amazing. So then it comes to for when it’s time for me to become a teacher, even though I’m at the position to teach. I should still strive for more learning and comprehension of the world around us. That way, the educator can be the bridge that helps connect students to what they are learning in class. How does knowing some math concepts and ideas benefit us in the real world. How learning about history is important for our understand of past and current events.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that teachers should be more mindful of gaps that may exist within the classroom. Perhaps making it more general or as you mentioned, giving context before the main lesson would make the connection more meaningful. In high school, I only had 1 math teacher. I took all of my courses with him so I was familiar with how he approached his lessons. He never assigned homework but when it came to challenging or heavy material, he would make us read parts of the textbook before class. He was aware that students may find it difficult to learn so he wanted everyone(ideally those who read it) to be on the same page. During class, he would also refer to it. What helped was giving people the option to have the physical book or the online version.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of each unit, he always tried to make a real-life connection to the math we had learned. For instance, we had to design an area and perimeter floor plan for our future apartment. When we learned about quadratics, we were “given a business” for a month and competed with each other to make the most money. These real-life applications helped us visualize the math and were more general, universal scenarios that allowed us to make connections.