Pathways on My Journey
Life is a journey with many paths along the way
On my journey to become
I took the teacher path
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Along this pathway I desired to be better
I was always asking questions
Why do some students learn to read so easily and others struggle?
How can I spend my time more effectively?
Why do I have to give this assessment?
What is important about this “program”?
What is the best way to encourage reading and writing?
When competing voices make demands -
Whose voice is more important – the state, the principal, the team, the parent?
What am I going to teach first, next, today, tomorrow, next week, next unit?
What can I learn from this assessment that will help this student move forward?
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While on this path I discovered much about teaching and learning
There are many different philosophies out there about what is best
Some think phonics instruction is best
Some think using authentic literature is best
Some think a certain “program” is best
Some promote basal reading, or balanced literacy, or whole language
Professional development is inconsistent and spotty with very little follow-through -
Greatly dependent on the school and the district leadership
Assessment is often the “end” instead of a means to an end
Some are unclear and disagree on what “the end” is
There are many different philosophies about how kids learn-
What they need to learn -
And the best ways to help them learn
I mostly learned that there is not a best way – just lots of different ways
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I decided that I wanted to learn more
Maybe that would help me answer some of my questions and help me discover new ways
So I set forth on a new path on my journey
The path to a PhD
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Now I ask new questions
Which theory of reading do I agree with: top-down, bottom-up, transactional, or something else?
Where do I fit in the spectrum of reading researchers?
With Freire and Shannon on the critical literacy end?
With P. David Pearson in the “radical middle”?
Or with Marilyn Adams at the individual cognitive skills end?
Or am I somewhere else on the spectrum completely?
What is my epistemology? How do I think learning happens?
How much does the affective domain influence learning?
How does adolescent literacy differ from early literacy?
How does language acquisition relate to literacy?
What are the sociocultural aspects of literacy?
What do anthropology and linguistics have to do with literacy research?
How do ideologies affect literacy policy and implementation?
What is critical discourse analysis?
How can it be used in literacy research?
Who are stakeholders and what do they do?
Why does research not affect literacy policy and implementation?
Can I help change that?
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These are the things I’ve discovered so far on my doctoral pathway
You’re never too old to learn
There’s so much out there that I don’t know
Every path of learning I take leads me to disciplines I didn’t know existed
I have an underlying ideology that affects how I see the world
I need to be more conscious of that ideology
Literacy research is a multi-disciplinary field
It can be analyzed from multiple perspectives
I need to learn to think like a researcher instead of like a teacher
I need to learn more about statistics
I am a complex adaptive person
Reading and writing are “complex human experiences taking place in complex human relationships”
The P in PhD stands for philosophy
Some research is more “rigorous” than other research
Peer-reviewed research is best
Some think scientifically-based evidence is the only evidence
There are lots of different methodologies for research, each with their own validity and application
Historical perspective and context is important to know
Sometimes I need to look at the macro level
Sometimes I need to look at the micro level
Reading is cognitive, linguistic, sociocultural, and developmental
I am unfinished
I am a life-long learner and can learn something from everyone, including students
As far as questions go,
There is no answer – just progress towards more questions
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Life is a journey with many paths along the way
On my journey to become
I took the learner path
