Freedom to Read: What is it?

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—Barbara Robbins—

MIDDLE SCHOOL READING AND LANGUAGE ARTS TEACHER

Barbara has taught for 25 years. She spent 12 years in DeKalb County, Georgia, teaching seventh-grade science,math, and reading, as well as gifted kindergarten throughseventh grade. She also has spent 13 years in RockdaleCounty teaching sixth- and seventh-grade science.Currently, she is teaching academically gifted seventh-and eighth-grade reading and language arts. Barbara felt that the seminar was the most relaxingand enjoyable class she had taken during her specialist program. She enjoyed the book club feel of the discussions,and the seminar prompted her to challenge the way her own students were expected to read. She said she hopes to bring some of the characteristics of her own enjoymentof the seminar into her classroom teaching. Barbara’s favorite reading from the Readers as Teachers and Teachers as Readers seminar was C

RAZYIN

A

LABAMA

by Mark Childress (1993). She still laughs whenshe thinks of some sections of the book, although other parts make her sorrowful. That book has really stayedwith her.

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CHAPTER 13

Freedom to Read:What Is It?

Barbara Robbins

G

iving students the freedom to read. On one hand, the idea sounds almost too ridiculous to consider. Of course, we aseducators strive to give our students freedom to read. Wesupport numerous activities to promote an appreciation of reading.We provide blocks of class time to take our students to the media center. We read aloud to them in class and provide time during theschool day for silent reading. Schools sponsor book fairs sostudents can select and purchase quality and age-appropriateliterature at reduced prices. Not only do students eagerly wait to goto the book fair during a class period, but most book fairs are alsoopen at least one evening to allow parents to get in on thespending, too. We encourage our students to read and allow themto pick which titles they buy.On the other hand, the act of teaching children reading, or anyother content area for that matter, currently allows for very littlefreedom of choice. A curriculum committee decides which topicswill be studied in each grade. The work of the committee is thenapproved first by the superintendent or his or her representativesand finally by the state board of education. It is interesting that mostboard members are not educators. After approval of the curriculumhas been given, we teachers fall into lock step and try to teach theobjectives that have been mandated. Then, we monitor the readinglives of our students by having them maintain reading logs thatmust be validated by us and by their parents. In language arts, wegive instruction on the various genres and require that our studentsread those genres. All this is done in an effort to instill a lifelong loveof reading in our students. However, do we sometimes do more

harm to our students than good? In some cases, too much structuremay squelch an already developed love of reading. One componentof reading instruction that educators often overlook is giving ourstudents the freedom to read as they choose—the same freedomwe, as adults, enjoy. Why can’t we extend the same freedom to themthat has been extended to us in the Readers as Teachers seminar?Perhaps the only requirements that should be placed on studentsare that (a) they

must

read something, (b) the reading must bedone on a regular basis, and (c) some type of reading reflectionmust be written. Students should be encouraged to read magazines,newspapers, anthologies, plays, poetry, manuals, and textbooks inaddition to novels. Too often, in an effort to teach reading fluency,educators inadvertently give the impression that novels are sacredtexts and that any other reading material is not worthy of the timespent reading it. We must teach our students that virtually allreading has value and that there is joy to be found by reading.Educators also must teach them that reading takes place for a variety of reasons. Don’t we read for a variety of purposes? Some of these purposes include to be informed, to be entertained, toappreciate the writer’s craft, and to inspire ourselves as writers.Sadly, as teachers, we often become mired in school culture,which often does away with our students’ reading freedom.Examples of school culture include studying the life of JohnnyAppleseed in the fall, the story of the Pilgrimsand the Native Americans prior to Thanksgiving,and African American authors in Februaryduring Black History Month. Forcing students toread a variety of genres has often been part of this school culture. Too often, we have forcedstudents to read genres in which they haveabsolutely no interest. It is my contention that if we want to build a community of willing childand adult readers, we must grant the gift of reading freedom at anearly age, not during adulthood.I never entertained the idea of granting reading autonomy tomy students until I was in the seminar. Even after the rationalebehind our seminar and the requirements were explained, part of me was left wondering what the trick was and waiting for the real

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Robbins

One component of reading instruction that educators oftenoverlook is giving our students the freedom to read as theychoose.

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