Patrick Slattery is a professor of Curriculum Development and Philosophy of Education at Texas A&M University. He holds a joint appointment in the Departments of Teaching, Learning, & Culture and Educational Administration & Human Resource Development. He is a former president of the Arts-Based Educational Research Association, an…

Michael Swan and Catherine Walter (see EJ1142765) take issue with the current emphasis in the teaching of listening and reading on higher-order skills-and-strategies training. They argue that L2 learners typically already possess the relevant skills and strategies necessary for listening and reading in L2, and, by implication, can and do deploy…

This paper is both a response to the four reviewers in a special symposium on my book Adam Smith's Pluralism and a substantive discussion of philosophy of education. In it, I introduce what I call "the educative critique," a mode of analysis similar to Marxist, feminist, or postcolonial critiques, but focusing on the educative role of a…

This personal reflection looks at the benefits of using performance pedagogy in the Shakespeare classroom, both in terms of a general understanding of the period and a student's personal connection to the text. Though the essay acknowledges our profession's ongoing dialogue in this area, it mostly seeks to look at how a student may change once she…

Implementation of Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts across most of the United States has yielded the rapid creation of new, interconnected literacy assessments, curriculum guidelines, instructional materials, teacher preparation programs, teacher evaluation systems, and professional development. This essay explores two…

In a recent article published in this journal, Shanahan, Shanahan, and Misischia investigated the differences in how chemists, historians, and mathematicians read text specific to their disciplines. Unlike the chemists and historians, the pair of mathematicians in this study did not consider sources when reading and evaluating their text. In this…

Reflecting on 45 years of teaching and research, Lee Galda argues that practice based on transactional theory is essential for the effective teaching of literature.

This essay questions the digital humanities' dependence on interpretation and critique as strategies for reading and responding to texts. Instead, the essay proposes suggestion as a digital rhetorical practice, one that does not replace hermeneutics, but instead offers alternative ways to respond to texts. The essay uses the Occupy movement as an…

The recently released Common Core State Standards increase classroom emphasis on informational texts in high school and recommend a three-part measurement for text complexity when selecting texts for classroom use. In this commentary I argue that fictional narratives can not only meet these stated criteria for complex texts and result in critical…

Graesser, McNamara, and Kulikowich (2011) describe the value of the Coh-Metrix system for providing multilevel analyses of textual difficulty. This comment article discusses the broader usefulness of Coh-Metrix for text researchers in providing information about multiple variables in textual features. Coh-Metrix may encourage researchers to…

The article argues that even though deconstruction has indications for action in religious education, the action should be subordinated to the notion of deconstruction as event. Three strategies can be used in the curriculum of religious education inspired by deconstruction. The first strategy is to emphasize the spirit of religion as different…

Herner Saeverot begins this article with an example: how Soren Kierkegaard used deceit as a means to educate. In one of his biographical texts, it turns out that Kierkegaard's objective was to deceive his readers into a totalized and universal truth. According to Saeverot, Kierkegaard's approach shows that he was a "demystifier," someone who wants…

Over the past few decades, reading assessment has been pushed to the forefront of the national discussion about education. The most recent reauthorizations of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1994, 2001) made assessment a priority as administrators and teachers are attempting to meet increasing accountability standards, but measuring…

Intertextuality is a vital component of college reading and writing. In order to write a paper that requires the synthesizing of readings, students must recognize the intertextual connections among all their sources. Instruction that fosters intertextual awareness in basic writers can help them overcome their tendency to compartmentalize what they…

In this article, the author shares her experience during the final semester of Year 11 Theatre Studies when she performed a monologue about Hermione from "The Winter's Tale". This experience was extremely significant to her because it nearly made her lose faith in one of the most important parts of her life, drama. She believes this…