Many worlds collide when you interact with texts (texts used as a loose catch-all word for any kind of communication - movies, music, art) to gain meaning.
There is The World of the Writer - what experiences and contexts the writer draws upon to create meaning, for a certain purpose. Then there is The World of the Text - the authenticity of the piece; it's ability to stand-alone and be genuine. And of course, The World of the Reader - what prior knowledge, experiences and purposes the reader brings into the fray.
These worlds jiggle and jostle together; combining and flowing into each other, creating meaning for the reader.
It's our job as teachers to help scaffold the understanding of deep meaning by drawing attention to these different worlds. What is the author trying to convince us of? What knowledge claims is the author making? What is my own prior knowledge of this? What bias and assumptions do I bring to the reading? Why am I reading this? Am I learning anything? Is this changing me? How?
Every text has the potential to be a rich battleground of these competing worlds - one in which you can activate knowledge skills such as critiquing, creating, customising, interrogating, elaborating, remixing, and challenging what is put in front of you. Investigating the different layers of a text contributes to an understanding that the world is complex, and the more we can draw attention to that and analyse those complexities, the more students can unravel them and understand how to live more critically, fully, and actively in this world.
Ask students to share what they are thinking - they are being bombarded with texts day in and out seeking to manipulate their understandings. Advertising is a particularly pernicious one, but what meaning are kids absorbing from the 6:00 o'clock news? Cartoons? Pop songs on the radio? Magazine covers?
It's imperative we help students become active, critical users of the world around them, not simply consumers. Examining the different worlds of context which are mushed together when interacting with a text can contribute towards a deeper, more active, critical understanding of the world in which we live.
There is The World of the Writer - what experiences and contexts the writer draws upon to create meaning, for a certain purpose. Then there is The World of the Text - the authenticity of the piece; it's ability to stand-alone and be genuine. And of course, The World of the Reader - what prior knowledge, experiences and purposes the reader brings into the fray.
These worlds jiggle and jostle together; combining and flowing into each other, creating meaning for the reader.
It's our job as teachers to help scaffold the understanding of deep meaning by drawing attention to these different worlds. What is the author trying to convince us of? What knowledge claims is the author making? What is my own prior knowledge of this? What bias and assumptions do I bring to the reading? Why am I reading this? Am I learning anything? Is this changing me? How?
Every text has the potential to be a rich battleground of these competing worlds - one in which you can activate knowledge skills such as critiquing, creating, customising, interrogating, elaborating, remixing, and challenging what is put in front of you. Investigating the different layers of a text contributes to an understanding that the world is complex, and the more we can draw attention to that and analyse those complexities, the more students can unravel them and understand how to live more critically, fully, and actively in this world.
Ask students to share what they are thinking - they are being bombarded with texts day in and out seeking to manipulate their understandings. Advertising is a particularly pernicious one, but what meaning are kids absorbing from the 6:00 o'clock news? Cartoons? Pop songs on the radio? Magazine covers?
It's imperative we help students become active, critical users of the world around them, not simply consumers. Examining the different worlds of context which are mushed together when interacting with a text can contribute towards a deeper, more active, critical understanding of the world in which we live.
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