Professional Documents
Culture Documents
My Literacy and Education Philosophy
By: Madison Stump
I believe that in order for all students to have a love for literacy they need to have a passion and purpose
for understanding it. I know that student comprehension is tied to background knowledge and experiences.
It is my goal as a literacy teacher to build student background knowledge through digital experiences and
learning because I know that student comprehension is related to background knowledge. Students in our
district live in an area that is isolated from resources, business and amenities, creating gaps to fill in
experiences and background knowledge.
In my classroom I know that each student is different and comes into the room with a unique set of
experiences, passions and knowledge. Knowing that my students have these funds of knowledge it is my
goal to identify, celebrate, share and build upon this background. This view was influenced by reading
BambrickSantoyo, P. & Chiger, S. (2017), Lemov, D. (2017), and Neuman, S. B. Kaefer, T. & Pinkham, A.
(2014) which are articles on building student background knowledge.
I see literacy as a broad idea of understanding and making meaning. My students are living through a
process to find their own passion and purpose in life. Equipping my students with the foundational skills to
learn through reading, speaking, listening, writing and viewing is the ultimate goal. When students can
identify their own background knowledge and view it as a strength and foundation for further learning, they
can harness the power of building themselves up.
Over this program my thinking has changed in that I have come to a more defined and researched view of
my own beliefs. Before this program I believed that all students were individuals that had a right to access
education and as a teacher it was my job to make that learning accessible to each one of my students.
After being asked to confront and support these beliefs I have become more empowered and feel more
supported in encouraging and supporting other teaching professionals that the way by which they can
support their own individual students in making meaning through all domains of literacy is through
identifying and accessing students’ background knowledge and then building upon that knowledge. These
ideas were greatly supported by Serravallo’s two texts “Teaching Reading in a Small Group” and “The
Reading Strategies Book” which were selected texts from our studies in our program. With students’ new
expanded background they are then able to access new and more complex content and learning. And
furthermore those students are able to critically think about this new learning and confront their own beliefs
much like I was able to do through this journey of learning in my masters studies.
My next steps in the process to become a better literacy and language teacher is to build units that I can
use with my class and share with colleagues. These units will be based on the interests of my students and
will focus on comprehension and research strategies. I have already completed one unit on the rainforest
with my reading class and am excited to work more on this throughout the year.
Madison’s Next Steps Timeline
References
BambrickSantoyo, P. & Chiger, S. (2017). Until I write it down. Educational Leadership, 74 (5), 4650.
Lemov, D. (2017). How knowledge powers reading. Educational Leadership, 74(5), 1016.
Neuman, S. B. Kaefer, T. & Pinkham, A. (2014). Building background knowledge. The Reading Teacher,
68 (2), 145148.
Serravallo, J.. (2010). Teaching Reading in Small Group. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Serravallo, J.. (2015). The Reading Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled
Readers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.