A Response Based Approach to Reading Literature

This article builds on previous articles in which teachers are encouraged to use discussion as part of a more open-ended approach to teaching which incorporates the voice of the students more than traditional views of teaching. This article focuses on using this method for teaching literature. I think I would prefer this method greatly as a student. When I was in school I always found that I enjoyed reading outside of class much more than reading inside of class, because rather than exploring a book it felt like I was trying to figure out how to arrive at the conclusion the teacher wanted me to. I really like the idea of a horizon of possibilities, which sounds much more exciting than searching through the book to answer the questions about the reading that the teacher had assigned to us from the beginning.

I also think using this method as a teacher will be more interesting because each person brings their own backgrounds and ways of thinking to a piece of art, and getting all the students adding their own approach to the material as part of the conversation could lead to me and other students seeing it in ways we might not have on our own. It will also be another opportunity to learn more about the ways in which each students is unique, and this will also help me to be a better teacher to them by responding to them as individuals instead of just more students. I am also interested in this approach because of the emphasis on helping students to "experience" the reading instead of just reading it and trying to remember it. This will no doubt make lessons more interesting for me as the teacher and for the students, and more importantly this will also help the students to learn about what we are reading. The information will matter more to them and stick with them much more.