This is all excellent! I love learning about why you teach literary theory. I’ve used lots of different frameworks for analyzing historical documents, but I’ve never attempted literary theory. I’m going to give it a shot next year! I think I’ll start with your NPT framework you discuss in your earlier post.
Awesome! They go together like PB & J. I’d be curious to hear how you adapt it for your learners. I could easily see it being scaffolded with different language—power lens, relationship lens, motivation lens, etc. I’ve always found it a bit ironic that people assume teaching theory would lead to more difficulty, but when done well, it’s made their analytical work so much easier. It’s just a matter of disentangling theory from the opaque way it’s often framed and taught in higher ed.
I’m actually working on some articles, and eventually a book, on some of this work, so please keep me posted on your experiences!
Will do! I plan to do some research this summer. Do you have any suggestions of texts I could read that would help me adapt literary theory for my fifth-graders?
I completely agree with this! Theory gives students so many possible questions to ask about any text they encounter, whether they’re in the classroom or out of it. I love that you’re doing this and sharing about it here!
Thanks, Sarah! Well said. It really is about giving them access to asking more/better/deeper questions. I didn’t have the space to address it here, but it’s also been interesting to see how the teachers in my methods classes and professional learning workshops are hungry for deeper engagement with both theory and literature. The fact there’s a proliferation of YouTube channels, TikTok creators, and Substacks (like yours!) really does undermine all the doom and gloom about the death of the English major—very real funding crises notwithstanding. Excited to share a paper I’m working on discussing those intersections soon!
This is all excellent! I love learning about why you teach literary theory. I’ve used lots of different frameworks for analyzing historical documents, but I’ve never attempted literary theory. I’m going to give it a shot next year! I think I’ll start with your NPT framework you discuss in your earlier post.
Awesome! They go together like PB & J. I’d be curious to hear how you adapt it for your learners. I could easily see it being scaffolded with different language—power lens, relationship lens, motivation lens, etc. I’ve always found it a bit ironic that people assume teaching theory would lead to more difficulty, but when done well, it’s made their analytical work so much easier. It’s just a matter of disentangling theory from the opaque way it’s often framed and taught in higher ed.
I’m actually working on some articles, and eventually a book, on some of this work, so please keep me posted on your experiences!
Will do! I plan to do some research this summer. Do you have any suggestions of texts I could read that would help me adapt literary theory for my fifth-graders?
I actually have the perfect article for you! I’ll DM the link.
Oooh! Would you mind passing it along to me as well. This is a light bulb moment for me. Thank you for your thoughts!
Of course! Here’s the article.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264671656_Reading_From_Different_Interpretive_Stances_In_Search_of_a_Critical_Perspective?enrichId=rgreq-0660f0e1f1c6e7c228547b138870b4f7-XXX&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzI2NDY3MTY1NjtBUzo3NzA1MTYwNjMzNzUzNjBAMTU2MDcxNjc1MzYyMQ%3D%3D&el=1_x_3&_esc=publicationCoverPdf
I completely agree with this! Theory gives students so many possible questions to ask about any text they encounter, whether they’re in the classroom or out of it. I love that you’re doing this and sharing about it here!
Thanks, Sarah! Well said. It really is about giving them access to asking more/better/deeper questions. I didn’t have the space to address it here, but it’s also been interesting to see how the teachers in my methods classes and professional learning workshops are hungry for deeper engagement with both theory and literature. The fact there’s a proliferation of YouTube channels, TikTok creators, and Substacks (like yours!) really does undermine all the doom and gloom about the death of the English major—very real funding crises notwithstanding. Excited to share a paper I’m working on discussing those intersections soon!