Using Autobiographies and Literacy
Narratives of Minority Writers
To teach Basic or Remedial Writers
Behind Bars in the Jails and in the Community
Colleges
The Autobiography of Malcolm X,
Malcolm wrote in his autobiography:
• I have often reflected upon the new vistas
that reading opened to me. I knew right
there in prison reading had changed
forever the course of my life. As I see it
today the ability to read awoke inside me
some long dormant craving to be mentally
alive. (Haley, 1965, 179)
Using Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of Minority
Writers to teach Basic or Remedial Writers…
• I previously worked as a middle school, high
school, and adult school teacher.
• I currently work with young people in juvenile hall
and with inmates in jail and in prison as a
volunteer in the criminal justice system.
• I have seen first hand how the lack of literacy
skills negatively affects young people and adults.
Using Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of Minority
Writers to teach Basic or Remedial Writers…
• The purpose of this study is to examine
how autobiographical writings combined
with Integrated Reading and Writing
programs can improve reading and writing
skills of adult learners and remedial
college students.
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of Minority
Writers to teach Basic or Remedial Writers…
• Some of these concepts can be used with
middle school, high school, adult learners,
community college students, and adult
learners in jails.
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• In this research study, I will investigate
and analyze academic articles and studies
including adult education programs,
reading, writing, and Integrated Reading
and Writing programs (to be called IRW
from now on).
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• This research points out that many students with basic
academic needs in the area of literacy and writing are
minority and foreign language students from inner city
schools who are not academically prepared to compete on an
equal basis.
• This study introduces the concept of autobiographical
readings and writing into the writing classroom.
• It has produced positive results in the IRW college
classroom and also with adult learners.
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• I also delved into programs that enabled,
engaged, and impacted those who came into
contact with the criminal justice system to be
successful through the use of autobiographical
writings.
• Through this study IRW instructors and others
who are not familiar with using autobiographical
writings are given the tools to use
autobiographical writings and IRW in their
classroom.
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• One of the first questions proposed by Padak and
Bardine (2004) was “What motivates people to
read?”
• The next question was, “How can we get them to
write?” Padak and Bardine conducted a study
involving adult learners engaged as readers and
writers while attending an adult basic education
(ABE) class.
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• Padak and Bardine’s study involving adult learners
engaged the adult learners as readers and
writers.
•
The adult learners wrote about familiar topics
and experiences.
• They used journals to write down their thoughts
and reflections.
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• The studies we are about to discuss address the
questions proposed by Padak and Bardine (2004)
“What motivates people to read?”
• The next question was, “How can we get them to
write?”
• The first study was conducted by Hamann,
Schultz, Smith and White (1991). A second study
along these same lines was conducted by Spires,
Williams, Jackson and Huffman (1998).
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• Both of groups of researchers
investigated autobiographical reading and
writing and how it enhanced students’
engagement and understanding of
literature.
• They also argued that if students have not
had previous positive experiences in their
writing it is unlikely that their writing will
improve.
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
Both sets of researchers pointed out that
as students engage with their reading they
become emotionally and psychologically
engaged through their writings.
According to Spires et al., “instructional
approaches” were shaped by Bartholomae
and Petrosky (1986).
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• Spires et al. believed that “first year college
students must discover and define who they are
within an academic context.”
• They believed that to reach first year college
students “that self-knowledge and reflection are
essential to growth and development.”
• The authors believed that the students develop a
“sense of self through autobiographical readings
and writings,” (Spires et al., 297- 298).
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• Through reading autobiographies, this
connected students to the act of reading
and writing.
• The students participated in prewriting
activities connecting the students with the
“literary text” prior to reading the text.
• This was accomplished by writing before
actually reading the text.
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• Hamann, Schultz, Smith, and White, (1991) argued that if
readers are going to make connections with the “literary
texts” they must see the connection between “their lives
and the literature.”
• This study by Harman et al (1991) convinced researchers
that writing about the students’ relevant autobiographical
experiences prior to reading the text is a powerful way to
engage students before reading the text and within the
text.
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• In a separate case study White (1995) discusses how
autobiographical writing helps students engage with the
text by “bringing life to literature.
• White’s objective is to have his students connect the
narratives to their own lives.
• White quotes Nystrand (1991) who suggests that teachers
“who want to promote depth of understanding [should] take
care to help students see relations between the
narrative…and their own individual experiences” (Nystrand,
1991, 153).
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• White argues, in order for a student to be
successful in reading the student must be
prepared before he or she reads the text.
• He strongly suggests preparation prior to
reading. White refers to a classic study by
Bartlett (1932) who suggests that the
“reader’s prior knowledge (read schema)
and expectations” have an influence in
what they “comprehend and remember.”
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• White points out that in Bransford
and Johnson’s (1972) study they
demonstrate that “reader’s memories
and understanding are guided by the
perspectives that they bring to the
texts,” (White, 1995, 174).
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• White argues these classic studies
suggest that if students have
“autobiographical experiences in
mind,” they will be able to relate to
the text prior to reading the text;
they will likely remember the details
that pertain or are similar to their
own lives.
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• The point in this study is that
“Writing before Reading Prompt”
prior to reading the text will have a
definite positive effect on the
student’s memory recall and
engagement by writing the prompt
prior to reading their text.
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• White points out that just writing a
response that makes a personal
connection with the text after
reading does not reap the same
benefits as prior to reading the text.
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• Another study along the lines of
autobiographical writings was
conducted by Chamblee (1998) who
demonstrated how to engage and
bring to life reading and writing for
“at-risk college students.”
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• Chamblee designed the course so
that the students are the experts on
the subject they are going to write
about, their life. (to be continued)
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
• I conclude for the moment, with another quote from a
famous minority writer in his autobiography that touches on
the subject of literacy, reading and writing…
• Jimmy Santiago Baca (1992)takes us from his humble
beginnings of being unable to read while being incarcerated
in a New Mexico County Jail to the point where the written
word begins to fascinate him.
• “Days later, with a stub of a pencil I whittled sharp with
my teeth, I propped a Red Chief notebook on my knees and
wrote my first words. From that moment, a hunger for
poetry possessed me” (Baca, 1992, 6).
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
Works Cited
Baca, J.S. (1992). Working in the Dark: Reflections of a Poet of the
Barrio. Santa Fe, NM: Red Crane Books
Bartholomae, D., & Petrosky, A. (1986). Facts Artifacts and Counterfacts: Theory
and Method For a Reading and Writing Course: Portsmouth, NH Boynton /
Cook Publishers
Bartlett, F. C. (1932). Remembering: A Study in experimental and social psychology.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chamblee, C.M. (1998). Bringing Life to Reading and Writing for at-Risk College Students
Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Vol. 41, No 7 Apr., 1998, 532-537
Haley, A. (1965). The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Grove Press
Hamann, L.S., Schultz, L., Smith, M.W., & White, B., (1991).The Power of
Autobiographical Writing before Reading Journal of Reading, Vol. 35, No. 1
(Sept. 1991) 24-28
Autobiographies and Literacy Narratives of
Minority Writers to teach Basic or Remedial
Writers…
Works Cited (continued)
Nystrand, M. (1991). Making it hard: Curriculum and Instruction as factors in difficulty
of literature. In A Purves (Ed.), The idea of difficulty in literature. Albany: SUNY
at Albany Press, 141-156.
Padak, N. D., & Bardine, B. A. (2004). Engaging Readers and Writers in Adult Education Contexts Journal
of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Vol. 48, No. 2 (Oct., 2004) 126-137
Spires, H.A., Williams, J.B., Jackson, A., & Huffman, L.E. (1998). Leveling the Academic Playing Field
through Autobiographical Reading and Writing Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Vol. 42,
No. 4 (Dec., 1998) 296-304
White, B.F. (1995). Effects of Autobiographical Writing before Reading on Students’ Responses to Short
Stories The Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 88. No. 3 (Jan – Feb., 1995) 173-184