Who Ported Reading On A Regular Basis, Was Seen By Alice

By Author: Tracy carter
Total Articles: 101

Alice used an interesting metaphor, both in this quotation, and in other interviews, to describe the social landscape at the school, using a notion of concentric circles. While discussing each of the 10 students in this study, she located where they might be on a social "map," in relation to the "center" of the circle, where she placed students who seemed to have a large amount of social influence. She described the social scene for these adolescents as having two sets of concentric circles, one for the boys and one for the girls. In relation to reading, a clear Breitling Replica pattern emerged. John was not at the very center of the boys' circle—that was reserved for two other boys (not interviewed). However, John was seen as being very close to the center. He was well liked. Interestingly, the two boys who were at the center of the circle, both African American as well resisted reading even more than John, according to Alice. In contrast, Orlando, another African American male participant in this study, one who reported reading frequently, was seen by Alice as being further out from the center than all but perhaps one or two other boys. Cameron, another participant in this study, and who also reported reading on a regular basis, was seen by Alice as being almost as far out in the social circle as Orlando.

Regarding the girls in the middle school, a similar picture was drawn. The center of the circle, according to Alice, was an African American girl who did in fact enjoy reading sometimes, but inconsistently, and received services from the special educator in the areas of math and literacy. In contrast, the girl who seemed to read the most in the school (and was voluntarily mentioned in several student interviews as an example of someone who reads often) was Caucasian and described by Alice as being on the outside of the social circle.

Randy, the other teacher interviewed for this study, was asked to reflect on Alice's interpretation of the social situation at Jefferson, and her metaphor of concentric circles. He agreed with Alice and used the same Breitling Replica Watches metaphor to describe students in their social relations and academic engagement. Many of the students also made statements that fit well with Alice's metaphor, although they were not asked specifically about Alice's metaphor and did not bring it up as such. Students mentioned names of students who "read more" or "read less" than them, showing keen awareness of peers. These names matched the statements of Alice.