Social Dimension

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In my last post, I shared an article by Ed Week that highlighted the nonacademic skills needed for college and career success. The article brought me back to the framework for Reading Apprenticeship, an approach to adolescent literacy. The framework is posted to the right.

When I was first introduced to the Reading Apprenticeship framework my initial thought was the social and personal dimensions were just like cotton candy…. looks good, tastes good, but not much substance.

I have come to realize how very wrong I was. In fact, the personal and social dimensions are the very strength of the model.

Look to the framework and ask yourself … Where do secondary teachers live?

Where do students live?

Most educators would say secondary teachers are focused on knowledge-building, while most say students value the social dimension over the others.

It just is not realistic to think we will inspire deep content knowledge without valuing individual students and their need for social interaction. Conversely if we leverage student needs, we can create stimulating and challenging classrooms which honor the learning as well as the learner.

The framework showcases how ideas such as perseverance, teamwork, & dependability – key skills that are indicators of college and career success, are emphasized in conjunction with content knowledge.

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