Engagement with Books

When I read about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut, I can only think that American society has found one more way to destroy itself. —Isaac Asimov

We believe that libraries continue to be critical to the well-being of schools as well as communities. The variety of resources provided by libraries contributes positively to both student engagement and achievement. High-quality school libraries and librarians consistently lead to high achievement for students, especially those from families struggling economically (Krashen 2012; Krashen, Lee, and McQuillan 2012; Downey 2012).

For this reason, it is important for school librarians to provide ways for students to engage in literacy opportunities through the library. To illustrate this concept, we connect engagement with the ever elusive flow, which we then connect to our understanding of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).

WHAT IS ENGAGEMENT?

Engagement is the Holy Grail, the mother lode, the flickering flame which we all chase daily as we seek to draw students into our love of literacy and learning. Engagement is a complex mix of actions that happens simultaneously. It is essential to remember, however, that it is not always the same for each person. How many times have each of us attained engagement, only to have it mysteriously slip away at other times? In spite of this, we still persist in our actions. Our love of engaged readers and learners is what keeps us in libraries and schools.

One way to consider the meaning of engagement is to look at the school mission statement for one school, the Innovations International Charter School of Nevada (IICSN). It states, “relevance, responsibility, and relationships.” Relevance relates to what is being taught, making it relevant and of interest to students (Vygotsky 1997; Wink and Putney 2002). Responsibility refers to being responsible for students’ learning by interconnecting topics to insure common interest (Vygotsky 1997). At the same time, choice and building community is encouraged so students can become responsible for their learning, for themselves, and for each other. Relationship refers to connecting the ideas presented in class to each other, adding new related facts and “unfold learning from a new perspective” (Vygotsky 1997, 88). In addition, we work to build relationships with and among students in classrooms and through multi-aged Global Curriculum that promotes apprenticeship learning. Incorporating these 3Rs leads to engagement, both in class and schoolwide.

Ferlazzo has written extensively of engagement in various forms. He reminds us in his blog posted to Edublogs on May 7, 2012 that it is more than simple reading strategies for comprehension and extrinsic rewards. Student readers become more engaged when they have the ability to visualize and connect with what they are reading. Critical thinking skills are developed when students are motivated to support and express opinions on what they read. In turn, such engagement then fosters comprehension and other necessary reading skills.

Engagement is when we and/or the students in a library are blissfully lost in learning. Being actively engaged with a good book is its own intrinsic reward. No stars, stickers, or stats are needed. Intrinsic motivation and critically reflective thought can evolve from engagement with a good book and take us right into flow. See the learning plan in this issue for more ideas for engaging learners through the school library.

WHAT IS FLOW?

Being in a state of flow is almost as much fun as trying to pronounce the name of the person who coined the word: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. (You can go to YouTube and hear the famed Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi talk about flow: http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.html).

We are in the flow when we are totally oblivious to anything else around us. It is what we, as librarians and teachers, strive for every day. Flow is being physically, mentally, and emotionally immersed in a task; it’s that “effortless, spontaneous feeling when you enter into an ecstatic state” (Csikszentmihalyi 2004). With mastery of a specific task or skill comes moments when students engage in activities that create flow. Teachers and other school professionals can experience flow as well. Just as engagement can lead us to a state of flow, the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is ripe with potential for creating and sustaining engagement (Aguilar 2012).

WHAT IS THE ZPD?

Students can experience flow when their tasks have clear, attainable objectives. To determine what is attainable, teachers and other school professionals must be aware of students’ knowledge and capabilities. It is desired that students work in their ZPD, in which they have the ability to master skills when provided with just enough appropriate assistance, or scaffolding (Aguilar 2012). We should add that the assistance should tug at students cognitively to keep them progressing through their ZPD. As we like to relate, Vygotsky’s concept of the ZPD teaches us that after receiving instructional support from a more experienced other, learners take in or internalize that information and will be more able to perform independently in the next similar problem-solving situation (Wink and Putney 2002). The concept of the ZPD then “takes into account individual differences, and focuses on the communicative nature of learning in which the participants come to an understanding of the operations they are performing” (Wink and Putney 2002, 86). Expanding the ZPD is a collaborative effort in which knowledge is constructed together, and then individually used to develop personal solutions and influence future actions (Wink and Putney 2002).

SCHOOL LIBRARIES PROVIDE STUDENT SUPPORT

Sometimes students are not engaged, cannot find the flow, and are reluctant to be pulled into the ZPD because they have not had the same opportunities and experiences to learn; they have not had the same access to books as some of their classmates. The playing field is not level. Their own social cultural context weighs too heavily on their shoulders. Libraries have the potential to lift that load, while simultaneously offering literacy for all. When good books are available, and students can choose what they want to read, they read. Harry Potter, Twilight, and Hunger Games continue to demonstrate this (Krashen 2004, 2012).

Minkel demonstrates this concept with students of poverty with The 1000 Books Project, which demonstrates that when kids in Arkansas suddenly have access to books, they read, they achieve, and thrive (2012). Shin and Krashen demonstrated this with students in the central valley of California with their summer reading program (2007). Brian Williams of NBC News shares the same information with images and graphics on a national scale (2012).

What we know from these studies is that what libraries provide is access. Why is access important? A recent case study provided by Daw shows why (2011). Struggling readers were paired with a peer tutor and a laptop on which the researcher had recorded a reading of various stories. The kids had access to the stories on the laptop so they could listen as they followed along in their books. They could practice reading aloud as well, recording their own version of the story and revising until they were satisfied with their version.

On the second day of the second week, one of the readers decided to take home the book she had been practicing. Another reader overheard and also asked to take home a book. All seven of the readers began selecting typically challenging books to share at home or read in class from the library located in the research study classroom. Tutors began taking books home overnight as well. Five of seven readers switched roles and served as a more capable other to their tutor because they knew more about the particular content of the story. The laptops got them engaged, but what truly hooked them was being able to take the books home, to read them with their families, and to show that they could be successful readers. Daw’s research provides the data, which demonstrate what librarians and teachers understand: The trick is to keep books moving from reader to reader (2011).

Libraries offer the opportunity for all students to experience the joy of being lost in a book. School libraries, public libraries, and even home libraries level the economic playing field and solve the “book gap” problem by providing the crucial ingredient: access to books.

CONCLUSION

In this article, we examined what it means to have students become engaged with texts. It is this concept that is the cornerstone of high-quality teaching, which we assert must be afforded to every student in schools today. Whether we maintain that engagement with tangible or virtual books is not as important as whether we make the texts available and use them in a way that ensures engagement that leads to student achievement.

As we focus on libraries today, we must also think about the libraries of yesterday and tomorrow. We are guided by the Online Universities blog posting, April 24, 2012, “10 Changes to Expect from the Libraries of the Future.” Change is certain, and the age of technology does not mean we have less, it means more—more paths to literacy and more options for sharing our love of literacy with children. As we move from yesterday to today and then tomorrow, we are still going to hold and love books, and, in addition, we’ll be reading in many new ways that still requires guiding students to engagement.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

No one writes in isolation; it is always a community effort of generating and capturing our thoughts. We wish to thank Allison, who became our Chicago style guide-on-the-side.