Recently, transactional reader response theory has been criticized for providing an inadequate theoretical guide for the study of multicultural literature. Some scholars argue that Rosenblatt assumes the reader and her response to literature are ideologically innocent and the continuum of aesthetic and efferent stance does not encompass critical…

Reconsiders the nature of literature as a school subject. Discusses the notion that school literature is different from reading literature outside school. Discusses three anomalies: the text and the textbook; educators' idolatry of "naive readers" whose heads are to be stuffed; and the roles of the reader and writer in school programs.…

Provides an update on the progress being made at the National Research Center on Literature Teaching and Learning. Discusses research-in-progress with teachers struggling to adapt their instruction to a response-based approach to reading literature. Presents a framework of optional strategies for teachers. (RS)

Discusses in depth the kinds of trust within classroom communities that make reader-response groups work (trust between teachers and students, trust among students, and students having trust in themselves). (SR)

Outlines what reader response might look like in the classroom. Presents four basic assumptions of reader response theory. Discusses ways reader response approaches to literature help students grow both in the depth and breadth of their responses to literature, and as strategic readers. (SR)

Claims that literacy and literature become interrelated in classrooms where there are many opportunities to engage in the narrative mode of thought. Discusses how the potential of literacy/literature experiences is enriched when students draw from the narrative reservoirs of the community and school. (JD)

Presents an interview with distinguished educator Louise Rosenblatt. Discusses teaching methods, reading processes, application of theory to practice, literature-based curriculum, and what she is working on now. (SR)