We Can Help ‘Resistant Readers’

While some readers have learning barriers to overcome, others have set up barriers of their own. Called “reluctant readers,” they are, in fact, “resistant readers.” To help them, we must appreciate the reasons for their resistance.

Resistant readers filter what comes into their world by raising logical challenges to new information. These challenges based on acceptability, relevance and grounds reflect three stages of human development and arethus an integral part of all of us.

At the psychomotor stage, children become grounded by their experiences. As children start to learn to read--working with text, decoding and understanding syntax--those who have not been grounded in books at home wonder why their experience in school is so different. And those who are learning new sounds and different ways of forming plurals and tenses (especially if these sounds and forms are at variance with their home language) may struggle with text. People who have ridiculed ebonics and trashed bilingual approaches have failed to realize that honoring a child’s home language allows them to stand on solid ground as they transition into American English. By not honoring their lives, the majority culture provokes resistance in these early readers.

The relevance of what is being read becomes important around age 7. They are shifting from a world centered upon themselves to one that includes the “other,” but not without issuing the challenge, “So what has this got to do with me?” If the literature they read never addresses their world, they see society rejecting them with a “So what?” But relevance, like trust, is a two-way street; they, in turn, say “So what?” to society. At this point, they may reject not only reading but the whole notion of schooling.

At around age 12, acceptance becomes an issue. They seek meaning in their lives and are looking beyond the “what” to understand the “why.” In terms of reading, they are now grappling with subtext: Why do characters behave as they do? Why did the author write this? What does it all mean? They have moved to the level of conceptualization. Grasping the ideas in the stories, students explore the values that connect them to others. They determine what behavior is acceptable and what is not.

This is a perfect time to rescue resistant readers by providing them with novels and stories focused on issues important to a teenage audience. Ironically, most schools squander this opportunity by imposing upon all students a literary canon of adult literature. At this point, these children are likely to find school unacceptable. They also are likely to reject society at large, identifying instead with smaller societies based on neighborhood, class and race. Some will become more deeply involved with gangs; others will rage within their loneliness. But if we understand how human development and reading are connected, we can make decisions that will help resistant readers overcome that resistance.

We need to show respect for each child’s home language. We need stories that reflect the lives of our readers. And we need to deal with issues that are important to young people. As we do this, we can connect all children to the written word and thus connect them to one another and ourselves.