Read and Revisit: Using Texts to Complicate Problem-Posing and Problem-Solving
Finally, the fourth and last stage involving CPVs is the “read and revisit” level, where students respond to a CPV and then are asked to read a text or texts in which key themes relate directly to the problem or situation that is being considered. After reading and deconstructing the text(s), students are asked to revisit their earlier responses (written or performed) and decide whether or not they <a href=”http://www.topmbtshose.com”>MBT Shoes Best Prices</a> want to change them as a result of having read the text(s). This last stage should take place during the final weeks of the school year, when students are adept with the CPVs and situated performances.
A second way that I have paired texts with CPVs is more of a short-term exercise in which students respond to a CPV in class (either in writing or as a situated performance), read a text at home that night for homework, and then respond to the CPV again during the next class. After reading the text, the students were asked to respond to the CPV again and then partner with classmates to discuss what changes (if any) they had made to their responses and why.
One of the greatest assets of this pedagogical strategy is that it allows the teacher to see the progression of students’ thoughts over time. Also, it allows the students’ needs and problem-posing to help shape the curriculum. The teacher is able to better identify student needs and attempt to address them in class.
One of the greatest aspects of CPVs as a pedagogical tool in the English classroom is the sheer versatility with which they can be used. In addition to the variations that I have already described, CPVs can be utilized as part of prereading, during-reading, and post-reading activities. One example of a CPV that was developed by a high school English teacher, Nicole Gorvetzian, in one of my graduate courses in secondary literacy education was used with her tenth-grade students as a prereading motivation for the novel Night by Elie Wiesel. The English teacher wanted her students to consider why so many young Germans during World War II chose to join the Hitler Youth and problem-pose and spark dialogue about the possible appeal of this group. The CPV she used follows:
You are a freshman and are approached by some of the brightest, most popular, well-liked kids in your school about joining a special school club. They are wearing club shirts and claim to be interested in promoting school spirit and excellence. The organization is very picky about whom they ask to join, and most people feel it is an honor to be asked. The club members only hang out with others in the <a href=”http://www.fashionmbt4sale.com/mbt-kaya-c-34.html”>MBT Kaya</a> club and can be rude and nasty to those that are not members. They ask you to join, but do not ask any of your friends. You know that if you join this club, you will be part of a powerful, popular group, but you will not be able to spend time with any of your old friends anymore. What would you do?
This CPV compelled students to consider issues that are of paramount importance to adolescents, including popularity, school spirit, alienation, discrimination, and social capital, to name a few. It acted as a perfect segue into conversations about Hitler Youth because it enabled students to see the situation from multiple perspectives and consider points of view that they might not have otherwise taken into account. This CPV afforded students a lens through which to imagine Hitler Youth as teenagers, like themselves, who just wanted to belong to a powerful club.
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