Discursive leveling is a method by which a reader reads a book with secondary sources, to gain additional context and schema (Bothelo & Rudman 2009). Understanding the historical, political, socioeconomic background of a text is vital to develop context of a text. The secondary source allows the reader to gain background knowledge, so schema can be accessed, resulting in additional understanding of the story. The importance of the story or text becomes obvious.
What judgment would you make about using this recommended practice in a classroom today? Why?
This recommended practice, in a classroom, I think, would become overwhelming to teachers and students alike, especially if utilized frequently. Many classroom teachers are required to complete a certain amount of lessons and with specific guidelines during a school year. A teacher who would like to read a book to elementary students, set in the late United States during the 1800’s, may need to teach secondary lessons on slavery and the U.S. Civil War, which are full units that can take a significant amount of time, even in a social …show more content…
As the student moves into high school and college, hopefully, the higher level thinking and background knowledge is already in place so that discursive leveling can be more natural. Classical education, utilized in some homeschools and private schools, provides that at young ages, students are exposed to material which later becomes the foundation for higher level thinking. First graders reading student versions of Egyptian myths allows for those same students to understand the myths in high school and college because they have developed the background knowledge to understand it through repeated exposure. At a young age, the goal is exposure not
What judgment would you make about using this recommended practice in a classroom today? Why?
This recommended practice, in a classroom, I think, would become overwhelming to teachers and students alike, especially if utilized frequently. Many classroom teachers are required to complete a certain amount of lessons and with specific guidelines during a school year. A teacher who would like to read a book to elementary students, set in the late United States during the 1800’s, may need to teach secondary lessons on slavery and the U.S. Civil War, which are full units that can take a significant amount of time, even in a social …show more content…
As the student moves into high school and college, hopefully, the higher level thinking and background knowledge is already in place so that discursive leveling can be more natural. Classical education, utilized in some homeschools and private schools, provides that at young ages, students are exposed to material which later becomes the foundation for higher level thinking. First graders reading student versions of Egyptian myths allows for those same students to understand the myths in high school and college because they have developed the background knowledge to understand it through repeated exposure. At a young age, the goal is exposure not