Adolescent Literacies Within the Middle Years of Schooling: A Case Study of a Year 8 Homeroom

Abstract

This article argues that issues surrounding adolescent literacies problematize the relationship between the acquisition of core skills, the need to connect with a more expansive repertoire of literate practices, and a middle school reform initiative that encourages greater connectedness to the world of the adolescent. The terms public literacy and private literacy are used to offer an expanded notion of the concept of adolescent literacy. A case study representing one teacher and one student's construction of literacy in a year 8 homeroom is presented to determine whether attention was paid to an expanded notion of what it means to be literate as young adolescents. It is argued that the private literacies of adolescents need to be teased out and embedded within middle school reform.

A Tale of Two Middle Schools: The Differences in Structure and Instruction

“…We have regular conversations with the principals, spend countless hours in classrooms, and attend or present at numerous staff development sessions each year at these schools. One factor they all have in common is a commitment to continuous improvement and to engaging young adolescents in literacy at school and beyond (Faulkner, 2005). We have yet to meet a middle school educator who says he or she is satisfied with the status quo.…”

Reading in “Purgatory”: Tactical Literacies in a Remedial Reading Class

“…Apart from the sanctioned literacies they are asked to perform within schools, adolescents from minoritized communities, including those based along lines of race, class, gender, sexuality, language, and/or ability, are avid creators of their own literacies. Youth literacies, sometimes called adolescent literacies, are the varied literate practices of young people (Faulkner, 2005). Scholarship in this area has affirmed and interrogated the varied relationships between youth and their discourse‐rich environment (Luke & Elkins, 2000).…”

The Relationship of Culturally Responsive Instruction and the Reading Comprehension and Attitude of Struggling Urban Adolescent Readers

“…As students gravitate to urban fiction, they have been shown to develop strengths in their private or out-schoolliteracy skills (Faulkner, 2005;Morris, Hughes-Hassell, Agosto, & Cottman, 2006;Tatum, 2008). Contrary to the traditional forms of text that are utilized in the public school, urban text spurs the highest rates of engagement for adolescents (Worthy, et al, 1999).…”

“…Contributory factors leading to a decline in reading can be attributed to ability level; interest in material; disconnect between public or in-school literacy and private or out-of-school literacy (Faulkner, 2005;Hinchman, Alvermann, Boyd, Brozo, & Vacca, 2004) stimulation by other forms of media, such as television; and a general lack of motivation. Children whose experiences, history, and lifestyles are reflected in their learning are more engaged in the learning process and are more likely to come from homes where there is avid family literacy and parental involvement (Huang & Mason, 2008).…”

“…These students must be able to employ inferential skills and cognitive strategies to read and interpret text, as there is a constant need to access increasingly more difficult information for content areas through the process of reading (Rasinski, 2000), which is even more crucial as students progress through their school life. With these increasing reading demands, some adolescents exhibit greater reading deficiencies and over time, and reading proficiency decreases because there is (a) less emphasis on reading instruction at the secondary level (Moje, 2008); (b) an increasingly diverse student population, which creates a cultural mismatch between teachers and students (Coleman, 2000); (c) an increase in reading demands, coupled with increasingly challenging reading material (Biancarosa & Snow, 2004); and (d) a disconnect between public or in-school literacy and private or out-of-school literacy (Faulkner, 2005). As a result of this reading deficiency, struggling urban adolescent readers may need more comprehension intervention to help them succeed in reading.…”