Child Prodigies Exploring the World: How Homeschooled Students Narrate their Literacy in the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives

Alicia A. McCartney
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Approximately 1.8 million students in the United States are homeschooled, according to 2012 data from the National Center for Education Statistics (Redford et al.). However, researchers have only begun to examine how these homeschooled students reflect on their own literacy development, especially once they have entered college. Using the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives (DALN), I gather and analyze eighteen literacy narratives of currently and formerly homeschooled students, exploring how these students reflect on their own developing literacies, especially as they contrast their experiences with those of their traditionally-schooled classmates. The results of this study reveal, first, that these homeschoolers participate in a wide variety of literacy practices that both respond to and redefine those of the “traditional” classroom. Second, many of the narratives tend to embrace the “child prodigy” literacy structure, as identified and defined by Kara Alexander (2011) and Stephanie Paterson (2001). Third, four narratives reveal problems that can occur in homeschooling: namely, a parent-educator’s perceived lack of authority, and, in two cases, a tendency to trap students in unhealthy family environments. Despite these exceptions, most narratives reveal their family network as a place of vibrant literary sponsorship; and a few students narrate the “pedagogic violence” that may occur when they transition from this warm family environment into traditional secondary schools (Worsham 121). Overall, I argue that as participants in a non-dominant mode of education, these homeschoolers feel the need either to justify or to repudiate their literacy acquisition process against the dominant group. More quantitative research is needed to understand whether these experiences represent trends across the homeschooling movement.
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探索世界的神童:在家上学的学生如何在读写叙事的数字档案中叙述他们的读写能力
根据2012年国家教育统计中心(Redford et al.)的数据,美国大约有180万学生在家接受教育。然而,研究人员才刚刚开始研究这些在家上学的学生是如何反思他们自己的读写能力发展的,尤其是在他们进入大学之后。使用读写叙事数字档案(DALN),我收集并分析了18个目前和以前在家上学的学生的读写叙事,探索这些学生如何反思自己的读写能力发展,特别是当他们将自己的经历与传统学校的同学进行对比时。这项研究的结果表明,首先,这些在家上学的孩子参与了各种各样的读写实践,这些实践既回应了“传统”课堂的读写实践,也重新定义了传统课堂的读写实践。其次,许多叙事倾向于接受“神童”的文化结构,正如卡拉·亚历山大(2011)和斯蒂芬妮·帕特森(2001)所识别和定义的那样。第三,四种叙述揭示了在家上学可能出现的问题:即,家长-教育者被认为缺乏权威,在两种情况下,倾向于将学生困在不健康的家庭环境中。尽管有这些例外,但大多数叙事都表明,他们的家庭网络是一个充满活力的文学赞助场所;少数学生叙述了他们从温暖的家庭环境过渡到传统的中学时可能发生的“教育暴力”(Worsham 121)。总的来说,我认为,作为一种非主导教育模式的参与者,这些在家上学的孩子觉得有必要证明或否认他们对主导群体的读写能力习得过程。需要更多的定量研究来了解这些经历是否代表了整个在家上学运动的趋势。
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