RES 5530: Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research (Spring 2009)

That's right! For most of my life I have viewed reading as a means to an end. I did not realize how much I viewed reading that way until I began this program. Since my dad was a minister and my mom was a teacher, it seems they were always reading. However, even as a child I noticed my parents did not seem to read for pleasure--or maybe I did not realize what they were reading WAS pleasurable for them.

My mom obviously realized the value of reading to my brother and me. Reading was a part of every day, and I so loved to hear my mother read. But I did not particularly enjoy reading for myself. I wonder now if my feelings toward reading might have been different if I had not been "caught" in the middle of the pendulum swinging from the "Dick and Jane" era to the phonics frenzy. I was a very good decoder but grew tired of the boring stories in my basal reader. By fourth grade, I lost interest in reading until I met The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe! I will never forget Mrs. Kirkpatrick reading this book aloud each day after lunch. And I thank her for making me want to read again.

I read quite a bit on my own during fourth and fifth grades, but I remember reading for pleasure coming to a screeching halt with the start of middle school. There was so much to do there was no time to read! I read only to complete assignments. And that is the way my reading life went through high school and college. I remember thinking how good it would be to have some time to read again after college but then the reality of being a first-year teacher struck. And, so just like my parents, I have found myself reading mostly for professional development, not for pleasure.

When I taught fifth grade for several years in Davidson County, I really enjoyed engaging my students with literature. I remembered how much fun I had reading when I was that age. Although I knew it in theory, I also realized how critical reading was to learning in all disciplines. My interest in helping struggling readers was born.

I left the classroom to have children, and my little break turned into a much longer hiatus than I had planned. Although I am not currently teaching, I cannot wait to return to the classroom. I am not the same "Mrs. Rasey" that I was. As I my daughters and I have taken many adventures together, page by page, I no longer read as a means to an end. Reading IS the end!

As I consider our class topics, I look forward to learning even more about how I view literacy.

Lisa Rasey