I recently gave a class of preservice teachers a copy of the article “Fostering Academic and Social Growth in A Primary Literacy Workshop Classroom: ‘Restorying’ Students With Negative Reputations” from Elementary School Journal after one of them shared—as an aside in a larger story about an elementary classroom—that one student experiencing difficulty with literacy learning was routinely sent out of class for bad behavior.  Scanning the room, I noticed no one seemed bothered by this information and, in fact, it appeared most considered this to be normal practice.

Behavioral issues—from nonparticipation to total class disruption—are commonly and historically viewed as individual problems solved by fixing the child (or the child’s family). Emotional and interpersonal difficulties are viewed as barriers to academic growth, both for the child in question and for classmates who, hypothetically, can learn in peace once the “problem child” is dealt with.

In this study, Worthy and colleagues (2012) offer a different perspective. In short, they argue that negative identities are socially constructed and should be approached as social problems (see related approaches in Cassetta & Sawyer, 2013). They spent a year in the second-grade classroom of Mae, who, like most teachers, had students who started the school year with negative reputations. In Mae’s classroom, though, these students’ identities made positive shifts. The researchers point out that in many contexts, the negative identities haunting students would be more deeply solidified, or even worsened.

How did Mae make such a difference?  The researchers explained that she socialized marginalized children into the community through literate practices. Two particular children and the growth they and their classmates experienced are included in the study. I will briefly describe one of those cases.

When Lydia began second grade, she had a reputation for being resistant to writing and for being antisocial but with an active fantasy life. Specifically, she had an affinity for fairies. Some adults in school wondered if Lydia had Asperger syndrome. When she resisted interaction for the first several months, Mae did not insist that she participate, but she was not ignoring her either. Mindful that Lydia needed to become socialized and to be a writer, she first worked to gain Lydia’s trust. Eventually, she was able to seize opportunities to capitalize on Lydia’s interests and expertise in class conversations, thus helping her change her status with peers. For instance, when a classmate mentioned that his book included fairies, Lydia piped up with a comment that made it clear she believed in fairies. This might have put her at risk for judgment and further isolation, but Mae interjected that her story was exactly the kind of thing she could write, and then she asked the class if they thought that other authors use the strategy of telling their story to a friend before writing it down. 

Mae repositioned Lydia as a valuable class member—and an author—with important things to say and, consequently, changed the way Lydia and her peers viewed and interacted with each other (and perhaps others in the future), A steady stream of episodes like this one contributed to what Worthy and her colleagues called the “restorying” of Lydia. As a side note, by the end of the year, Lydia was observed reading to the class a piece she wrote and answering questions about it. Also, the possibility of Asperger syndrome was no longer discussed.

When the researchers asked Mae for implications for teaching that make this kind of growth possible, she named two practices. First, literacy workshops allow for student choice and teacher–student interaction. Second, shared book experiences through teacher read-alouds offer a space for students to voice ideas, build meaning together, and appreciate each others’ perspectives.

Gay Ivey, PhD, is the Tashia F. Morgridge Chair in Reading at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a member of the International Literacy Association Literacy Research Panel and vice president-elect of the Literacy Research Association.

The ILA Literacy Research Panel uses this blog to connect educators around the world with research relevant to policy and practice. Reader response is welcomed via e-mail.