Critical Reflection on Schema and Transactional Reading Theories

Introduction

In this essay I will analyse and briefly describe two of the main reading theories and how they can be applied to the current Australian Curriculum English (P-3). I will also evaluate how my chosen theories support some approaches and strategies commonly used to teach reading from Prep to year 3. Finally I will discuss the appropriateness of these theories as practice in student’s early reading development.

Critical analysis of Schema Theory

The first of my chosen theories is Schema (Singular) or Schemata (Plural) theory and it is based around the knowledge that our brains store information in memory units called Schemata. These units are grouped into categories like roles, events, objects and are presumed to be arranged in a hierarchical manner. These Schema are essentially the reader’s background general knowledge. I think a good example of this in a text would be a story about a Poodle, this would fall under the Schema of dog. In the readers Schema of dog they will probably have general information about dogs (Their teeth, bark, fur, four legs, tails etc.) and then they could have information about the specifics of the poodle (smart, curly hair, small and fluffy tail). The reader could then take it further to the greater Schema of Animals, an example of this would be that dogs need water, food and they are mammals that reproduce. If the reader had a personal experience with dogs they could draw on their experience of them as a pet or as something they fear. (Palmer, 1981). In essence, comprehension for the reader takes place when the reader’s background knowledge is applied to the text to create an understanding (An, 2013).

Schema Theory Applied to the Australian Curriculum

In the Australian curriculum by the end of prep, students are expected to “predict and question strategies to make meaning from texts. They recall one or two events from texts with familiar topics. They understand that there are different types of texts and that these can have similar characteristics. They identify connections between texts and their personal experience“ (Australian Curriculum English, 2019). You can clearly see the application of Schema theory here as it relies on a reader’s ability to draw on their own Schemata of events and characters. The issues that could present its self here for students is that they may not have a lot of schema to draw on as they are still quit young and not as experienced as adults may be. After their first year in primary school they should also be able to make connections between their personal experiences and the characters they read about and the events in the texts. At the end of year 3 students are expected to be able to “discuss relevant prior knowledge and past experiences to make meaningful connections to the people, places, events, issues and ideas in the text “(Australian Curriculum English, 2019). Again this is another great example of Schema theory being applied in the Australian curriculum.

Evaluation of Chosen Strategies to Teach Reading in The Early Years

Some approaches and strategies that could be used when teaching reading in the early years through Schemata theory. Firstly, I think as a teacher you could focus on trying to grow students background knowledge. You could do this by teaching cultural differences and History, because we have so many different cultures and traditions in every classroom it is important to equip students with knowledge on different cultures so they can achieve great comprehension of all reading materials. As stated by Zhang, 2010 ‘Students can consequently form new schemata about different cultures and improve their reading comprehension’.

Another great reading strategy could be to use K-W-L charts to help students with their reading comprehension. These charts get the students to ask themselves ‘what I know’ being the students existing schemata, ‘what I want to know’ which is the point of reading and ‘what I have learned’ which is used to evaluate the students understanding. (Bailey, 2017)

My reflection on the appropriateness of Schema Theory for teaching reading in the early years

I think schema theory’s strength is in fostering reading comprehension, whenever we can pull on our personal experiences we can formulate a far greater understanding of what we are reading and it is therefore often stored in our memory for longer (Palmer, 1981) It allows new information to enter and become part of an existing schemata. The interaction between the old and new information can often lead to the creation of new schemata in itself.

I think the main issue that could present itself is the lack of student’s background knowledge/Schemata matching that of the author of the text. They are still fairly young from prep to year three and haven’t experienced a lot to draw on. The role of the teacher when using this theory is to focus on building students existing schemata by really explaining the texts that are being read. I think this will take a lot of repetition and practice but can be very beneficial in the long run for many students.

I feel schemata theory does have a place in the teaching of reading to students in today’s world, I find it to be an effective way of attaining the comprehension of the reader and really cementing the information into long term memory.

Critical analysis of Transactional Theory

The second theory I have decided to reflect on is Rosenblatt’s Transactional theory '...to see the reading act as an event involving a particular individual and a particular text, happening at a particular time, under particular circumstances, in a particular social and cultural setting, and as part of the ongoing life of the individual and the group' (Rosenblatt, 1985). This theory is based around two components, the Efferent and the Aesthetic. It suggests that the way we read a text is influenced by the experiences we have had, our knowledge and our perspective of the text. So in efferent reading of the text we are trying to obtain information like places, character names, character types and the setting of the story. The Aesthetic side is the connection of the reading on an emotional level, the feeling it gives us while reading the text (Stornaiuolo & Thomas, 2016) Essentially for every student each time they interact with the text it is a new experience as it all depends on their environment while reading, the emotions they might be feeling at the time and the experiences that they draw on. When using this theory, I think teachers need to try to encourage students to use both their aesthetic reading and Efferent reading, students need to read for information and connect with the text through emotions (Hodges, Feng, Kuo & McTigue, 2016). Traditionally it was expected that all students would read the same text and get the same meaning from it, and then they are expected to answer comprehension questions in the exact same way. Rosenblatt’s theory really challenges the traditional understanding of reading and comprehension. (Marhaeni, 2016)

Transactional Theory applied to the Australian curriculum

In the Australian curriculum you can easily see how this theory could be applied to the content from prep to year 3. In prep students are expected to be able to “talk about stories and authors, choosing favourites, discussing how students feel about what happens in stories” (ACRA, 2019) in order to do this student would be efferent reading as it helps them connect with their emotions, thus being able to talk about how the story made them feel while reading it. They will also have to be able to “Identify some features of culture related to characters and events in literary texts, for example dress, food and daily routines” (ACRA, 2019) Students would be able to do this with efferent reading as its whole purpose is to gather information from stories in order to make meaning. In this case the students would be looking for details like the characters, food, clothing etc. When students reach the end of year 3 they are expected “Discuss texts in which characters, events and settings are portrayed in different ways, and speculate on the authors’ reasons” (ACRA, 2019) as you can see the theory could be applied all the way through to year 3 and beyond.

Evaluation of chosen strategies to teach reading in the early years

When teaching reading with transactional theory Teachers have to be aware of the very unique experiences for each of their students while reading the same text. I think they should not try and lead students to the same conclusions, they should instead let the student draw their own unique perspective of the text itself. Having discussions after reading a text would be beneficial as student can draw on the perspectives of their peers, these discussions should encourage open speech and not become a debate on whose perspective is the correct one, as Rosenblatt said, 'The literary transaction in itself may become a self-liberating process, and the sharing of our responses may be an even greater means of overcoming our limitations of personality and experience.' (Rosenblatt, 1994). Teachers could implement the “Talk aloud” approach as a teaching method by encouraging students to open up about how the story made them feel drawing on the aesthetic reading process. Discussing what characters they liked, what clothes they may have been wearing, the activities that might have been taking place etc. this could apply to the efferent reading process. Teachers could read aloud to their class with emphasis on words and giving possible clues to their meaning. This could be expanded later on by getting other students involved and possibly getting them to read aloud in front of the class. They could also focus on their student’s background knowledge, maybe by talking about certain elements of the text before reading. Another great option could be to get the students to apply the “think aloud” approach. This allows them to open up about what they are thinking about while reading the text like ‘what is this story about’ and ‘How does it make me feel’ then encourage them to find answers in the text (Davis, 2011). Start by having a brainstorm session before about possible questions to ask while reading. (Marhaeni, 2016)

My reflection on the appropriateness of Schema Theory for teaching reading in the early years

In my opinion this theory definitely has its place in teaching reading in the earlier years, it really opens up discussion and teaches students that there are so many different perspectives out there in the world. It allows for a lot of thought and problem solving during the reading process and really gets students to draw on their emotions and experiences. I think an implication for teachers when applying this theory in class could be that the students might possibly want to quit reading the text if they sense that something sad or scary is about to happen. They could also feel uncomfortable sharing their perspective in case it isn’t quite right or anything like the perspective of their peers (Smith, 2017).

When reflecting on the differences between Schemata Theory and Transactional theory, I think the biggest stand out for me is that the transactional theory has two approaches when reading whereas Schemata only really draws on the reader’s background knowledge. When teaching I think I would personally prefer to apply the transactional theory as I feel it takes into consideration both the students background knowledge and the text itself. It opens up discussion and really allows students to problem solve while reading. My views may change once in the classroom but I truly feel Louise Rosenblatt had a great grasp on how to achieve comprehension of a text.