Creating Zones of Possibility for Struggling Readers: A Study of One Fourth Grader's Shifting Roles in Literature Discussions

Journal of Literacy Research, Winter 2004/2005 by Möller, Karla J

This is an inductive case study of a European-American fourth-grade girl who struggled with print-based aspects of literacy. The study highlights her multiple levels of competency as she participated over time in a heterogeneous literature discussion group that read and responded to three culturally diverse novels. Data include 27 audio-taped literature discussions, observational field notes, audio-taped interviews and presentations, and written artifacts. Grounded in social constructivist theory, this research documents one reader's non-linear movement from a literacy club outsider to shifting positions as a less-capable member in need of support, a capable peer operating solidly within her zone of proximal development, and a more capable peer working at her actual development level. She supported others' understandings by challenging group members to understand characters' situations, voicing non-stereotypic or antiracist thinking, and connecting self and others to the emotional power of prose. Questioning deficit models of reading and static labels for achievement, this study provides evidence of the contextual nature of displays of literacy competence. Implications focus on the conditions of the learning environment that supported an inclusion model of literature-based reading pedagogy.

What is a good reader? Is it a fast decoder, a person who reads widely, or one who knows what genres are? Is reading a set of skills and linear processes, metaphors that Smith (1988) problematized, or a set of social and cultural practices, as articulated by researchers such as Bloome and Katz (1997) and Street (1993)? Is a good reader one who tests well or one who is able to "evaluate the ethical and social implications of the images of life encountered through literature" (Rosenblatt, 1995, p. 251)? And if, as seems apparent, the term reading has multiple meanings, what does it mean for a child to struggle with reading? In what ways can children's struggles be conceptualized that take into account the complex nature of reading and the multifaceted talents of readers who enter into a contextualized literacy event?

Not all children are easily initiated into what Smith (1988) called the "literacy club"-a group of connected, competent readers who read for personally meaningful purposes. Often in teaching reading in elementary school and beyond, educators meet children whose struggles to create meaning with words on a page are outward and visible, shown through their puzzled looks and tense bodies. For other students, struggles are more readily seen in their interactions with classmates in groups-sometimes through aggressive put-downs or learned helplessness. For still others, the struggle remains internal and may take place under a façade of detachment or defiance. But these children are all struggling in different ways to make sense of their lives in the context of literacy education, struggling against continual reminders that they do not measure up.

Just as reading is a learned process (Hade, 1997; Millard, 1994), so too are our constructs of reading and reader (Johnston, 1997) and the beliefs we hold about literacy (Cairney & Langbein, 1989), created in a sociocultural milieu. These beliefs have consequences for children in schools, in both the curricular content to which they are exposed and their developing sense of themselves as readers. For example, the readers who struggle in ways described in the paragraph above may be labeled in ways that decrease their access to engaged readers and efficient decoders (Ailington, 1998). Rather than being included in heterogeneous in-class groups that offer multiple opportunities to both display and witness a range of competencies and to participate in higher-level, complex learning activities, they have a greater chance of being tracked into remedial classes or being isolated by their higher achieving peers (Alien, 2002).

In this article I focus on one member of a group of six as she interacted with classmates in their heterogeneous literature discussion group and with her teachers. Ashley was a child who could easily have been ostracized. She lived in poverty, struggled with school learning, and often nervously overcompensated with inappropriate laughter and hyper behaviors. Drawing on social constructivist thought, 1 show how she struggled with membership in the classroom literacy club, but also how she participated and received support as a peer-sometimes as one in need of support, other times as a capable group member, and in important instances as a more capable peer in discussions of literature that contained social justice themes. The following questions guided my work with Ashley: What possibilities did the inclusive learning environment and the pedagogy of heterogeneous literature discussion groups offer Ashley? What parts did her teachers, peers, and the texts chosen play in her learning? What parts did Ashley herself play? What elements of her learning were most empowering? I address these questions first by situating my work theoretically and reviewing research literature relevant to my analysis of Ashley's learning experiences. Then, I share data examples to detail Ashley's participation on various levels. I close with implications for educators as they help students to reposition themselves as multifaceted learners in a response-centered classroom reading program.