A Response-Based Approach To Reading Literature

I loved this article for many reasons, but the biggest being that it reminded me of how critical reading is to the learning process. It is so important that students are able to arrive at their own conclusions and engage in the type of reasoning that reading a book can incite. It truly is a way to help students explore their thoughts and the way they understand a particular topic or theme. I also think this can help students learn how to appreciate others ideas and thoughts, even though they may differ from their own.

I appreciated how Langer has studied classrooms over a course of time, analyzing how it changes. Langer describes implementing reason-based instruction as a slow process, having teachers reflect on their strategies in the class, and their student involvement to build a stronger base. I can only imagine that by initiating response-based instruction that your class will become more comfortable sharing their experience with a text, dissecting it, and sharing it with their peers if you carefully establish the method in your class as Langer describes it.

I also really appreciate how Langer reminds us that we shouldn’t always be “information-givers” but that as teachers we need to be active listeners, and a guide for information. We want students to come to their own conclusions, and that can only happen if we lead rather than give.  That also included encouraging students to keep considering their wonderings into deeper thoughts in order for them to come to an absolute. Essentially we want to ask direct and meaningful questions, and push students to question and explore their own thoughts while keeping everything in motion. This is absolutely something I want to incorporate into my own classroom someday. The ability to reason supports individualism and the ability to seek truth, and every student should acquire this ability.