“Slow Down, You Move Too Fast”: Literature Circles as Reflective Practice

Abstract

Becoming an effective literacy learner requires a bit of slowing down and appreciating the reflective nature of reading and writing. Literature circles support this instructional direction because they provide opportunities for immersing students in discussions that encourage their personal responses. When students feel their personal responses are nurtured and respected, they develop confidence to grow beyond status-quo thinking and to engage in critical perspectives on meaning making. These reflective practices from personal to critical are important ingredients for effective literacy learning.

Promoting Pre-Service Teachers’ Reading Attitudes through Literature Circles: A Mixed Methods Design

“…Due to its structure including peer interaction, it is possible to understand these benefits from the perspective of Vygotsky's (1978) socio-cultural theory. It is emphasized that in literature circles, participants can express, in their speech, the emotional responses that contribute to their reading comprehension (King, 2002), opportunities are provided to enable them to participate in discussions that encourage their personal reactions, and their feeling of trust is developed (Sanacore, 2013). Literature circles offer students the opportunity to exchange what they have learned and enables them to share the reading through discussions.…”

Communicating Elevated Academic Expectations: Positioning Students as Thinkers with Ideas to Share

“…Although there is wealth of research championing literature circles, scholars have identified limitations, particularly the tendency to be overly prescriptive (Daniels, 2006), the ways student interactions may be based on perceptions of ability (Allen et al, 2003), the potential for student discussions to reinforce stereotypes (Alvermann, 1995), and in how students may fail to take up critical perspectives when discussing texts (Thein et al, 2011). These critiques highlight the significance of teacher pedagogy upon the structure and facilitation of literature circles (Sanacore, 2013).…”

The Teaching of Children's Literature: A Case Study of Primary Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge

“…Research by Sanacore (2013) asserted that personal reflection and meaning-making could be made through the use of literature. Hsieh and Matoush (2012) Texts that represent the cultural backgrounds of readers have also been found to be of value in assisting readers to be able to see themselves in the literature, prompting them to both develop a positive sense of self, learn about themselves, and build intercultural understanding (Barrera & Garza de Cortes, 1997;Jiménez, 1997a, b;Jiménez, Moll, Rodriguez-Brown & Barrera, 1999;Mallan, Henderson, Cross, & Allan, 2014;Martens, Martens, Doyle, Loomis, Fuhrman, Furnari, & Stout, 2015;Nieto, 1997).…”

“…For readers in particular, multicultural literature has been found to provide readers with possibilities for self-expression and meaning-making (Locke & Cleary, 2011;Morgan, 2012;Sanacore, 2013), and to validate their own culture and experience (Schacter, 2012;Wood & Jocius, 2013). Multicultural literature and the window these texts can provide into unfamiliarity for the teacher and reader, especially for the marginalised, has been confirmed in much research to provide opportunities for cultural validation (see Aukerman, 2012;Locke & Cleary, 2011;Mctigue, Thornton, & Wiese, 2013;Morgan, 2012;Mosley & Rogers, 2011;Norton, 2011;Oslick, 2013;Prior, Willson, & Martinez 2012;Reid, 2012;Sanacore, 2013;Sawch, 2011;Thomas, 2008).…”