<p> In this qualitative study, I sought to open a space where previously marginalized fifth and sixth graders - those identified for remedial reading classes - could become agents of their own reading. Rather than using mandated or scripted reading programs, I co-created an apprentice program with my intermediate students by which they became teachers of reading to first graders. My teacher-researcher stance allowed me to explore agentic acts among the students involved and identify classroom conditions which supported school-productive literacy. </p><p> The Apprentice-Teaching Project drew on sociocultural perspectives of literacy, apprenticeship theory, and a view of agency which connects students' agentic actions with the various identities they enacted. Data, including field notes, audio and video recordings, and student work, were analyzed using a combination of thematic and narrative methods. </p><p> In their roles as apprentice-teachers, participants learned new Discourses and remade their identities from school-identified "struggling" readers to Readers and Teachers, thereby joining the "literacy club." In general they exerted school-productive agency when confronted with difficult reading tasks, rather than remaining marginalized from school literacy communities. </p><p> I argue that students marginalized by the teaching practices fostered by recent educational policy initiatives are best served by knowledgeable, professional teachers who are free to create <i>responsive curricula </i> in light of needs observed among students. I further argue that the educational community needs to examine the ways we have approached the teaching of metacognitive reading strategies. The apprentice-teachers did not take up these strategies as tools to deepen their understanding; instead, they perceived the strategies as "tasks" to be done after reading. Furthermore, to foster <i>engaged reading</i>, this study demonstrated the efficacy of a curriculum that provides students with <i>voice</i> and <i> choice</i> in selecting texts and <i>socially-interactive environments </i> in which to construct meanings around those texts.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3669386 |
| Date | 29 January 2015 |
| Creators | Mullin, Margaret Boling |
| Publisher | Indiana University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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