Reading Group Research Articles

Safety first: the hidden curriculum of whiteness in race-conscious professional learning

ABSTRACT Applying the analytic lens of critical whiteness, we examine the relationship between facilitation structures and the quality of racial dialogue in educator professional development. We draw on data from a five-session virtual ‘antiracist reading group’ in a rapidly diversifying U.S. district, convened and facilitated by a White district leader. Observed discussions tended towards the superficial and did little to challenge participants’ existing worldviews. We argue that the leader’s facilitation decisions characterised a ‘hidden curriculum’ of safety and comfort that inhibited participants’ development. These moves were further shaped by and reified persistent manifestations of whiteness. We offer implications for the facilitation of antiracist professional learning, equity leadership, broader policies related to equity, and future research.

An integrative conceptual framework for analysing professional learning processes in reading groups for teachers (RGfTs)

ABSTRACT It has been proposed that reading groups for teachers (RGfTs), sometimes called teacher book clubs or professional book study programmes, can be a low-cost yet effective approach to teacher professional development. Yet research on this approach has been relatively fragmented, particularly in its conceptual and theoretical underpinnings, thereby limiting future progress in the field. This conceptual paper addresses this gap by critically appraising and synthesising the theoretical foundations and empirical findings of this nascent field. Adding to our synthesis, we then propose four theoretical resources which we argue are integral to teacher learning, resulting in an integrative conceptual framework that allows researchers to ‘zoom in or out’ on two salient principles and four learning processes that pertain to RGfTs.

Utopian Method

We analyze reader responses to Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book to suggest the novel offers a platform from which to imagine new, often utopian, thresholds of aging and intergenerational relationships. We suggest the way literature encourages utopian thinking is two-fold, allowing readers to reflect on the current state of the world around them and encouraging them to reimagine new possibilities. The aim of the reading groups was to use the novel to reflect on current age norms – socially, culturally, and politically – and reimagine new social futures relating to intergenerational relationships. In this paper, we discuss the findings from using The Summer Book as a platform to discuss attitudes to aging, time, intergenerational relationships, and age expectations. Participants opened up a number of avenues to reimagine age expectations, categories, and relationships, whilst also relating the fiction to their own experiences, which then often translated into discussions of how age-based stereotypes and intergenerational relationships need to be radically rethought. There were three main themes that we identified from these discussions: 1) countering age-expectations on the intergenerational island, 2) creating counter-narratives through the character of the Grandmother, 3) using the novel’s relational behaviors and practices to imagine better futures for intergenerational relationships.

Introduction: the cultural deliberation of Europe

ABSTRACT This special issue started years ago as part of a collective reading group on the public sphere with colleagues at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. A significant portion of our initial time was dedicated to understanding Jurgen Habermas’ (1989 [1962]) foundational contributions, which established the basis for a wide-ranging and complex field of study. This field spans social and political theory, media and communication studies, sociology, and philosophy. Since then, scholars from diverse disciplines have responded to and critiqued Habermas’ concept, contributing to the development and refinement of its analytical potential by challenging the implicit normativity of Habermas’ initial notion. These critical reactions have further enriched the theoretical landscape by expanding its scope and applications. One point on which Habermas’ initial work was opened significantly related to the exclusionary nature of the historical practice described by Habermas by exposing the historical situatedness and specificity of his concept of the public sphere.

‘It’s my only hour of quiet’: the women’s online book club on ‘domestic noir’ during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT Drawing on recent fieldwork from my doctoral research conducted with women readers over 3 months in the form of ‘domestic noir’ book clubs, this paper focuses on one of the women’s reading groups that was organized at the beginning of 2020. This study aims to understand women’s interaction, interpretation and experience with the crime subgenre read during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this book club, the domestic space became the focal point of the discussion on ‘domestic noir’ but also the participants’ experience of the pandemic. Domestic noir’s thematic portrayal of the dangerous and claustrophobic Gothic home, domestic violence as well as stereotyped femininity were highlighted during the discussions and functioned as a catalyst for exchanges of personal experiences of loneliness, gendered fears and burnout for the participants. The book club created community and solidarity with each other’s experiences, which raised their political consciousness through discussions. This article explores the ways in which participants read, discuss, construct and resist meaning making of domestic noir books. I argue that reading and discussing the domestic noir within these circumstances allowed participants to reflect on and relate to gendered experiences of the home, heightened gender inequalities and the fragility of women’s rights and positions.

Igniting A Spark: Fostering Dialectical Thinking With Plato’s Meno

Abstract: In this article, I present a three-stage teaching strategy for orienting first-time readers of the Platonic dialogues using the Meno as a case study. The approach assists students lacking a philosophical background to advance from personal reflection to developing more advanced analytical and interpretive skills. The first stage of the method invites students to contemplate their life goals in preparation for a structured class debate between relativistic and absolutist notions of success. The second stage employs in-class philosophical reading groups, where students engage with small passages from the Meno to develop their analytical skills in a supportive learning environment. The final stage consists of a two-part writing assignment in which students produce a line-by-line philosophical analysis of their passage along with an essay reconciling the antithetical arguments presented in their selection. By employing this multifaceted approach, students cultivate critical, analytical, and dialectical thinking in order to navigate the complexities of Plato's enigmatic dialogues.

Reading Groups as a Health-Promoting Intervention in Upper Secondary Schools: A Qualitative Study.

To explore public health nurses' (PHN) perceptions and experiences of supporting siblings of children with complex care needs (CCNs) by using reading groups as a health promotion intervention in upper secondary schools. An action research approach using a qualitative design. Interviews with 10 PHNs. Thematic analysis. The analysis resulted in the overarching theme "A much needed health promotion intervention in upper secondary schools," presented in terms of the following three themes: (1) supporting siblings is important, but resources and established procedures are lacking. (2) Reading groups using fiction have potential as a health-promoting intervention in upper secondary schools. (3) A realistic collaborative approach is necessary for reading groups to be implemented. PHNs have no established procedures to support siblings of children with CCNs in upper secondary schools. Reading groups can enable PHNs to reach out and support these siblings. Providing the intervention can be a way of reaching all pupils and thus creating an understanding of the plight of siblings who have a brother or sister with CCNs.

Community Empowerment Through PPK Ormawa To Strengthen Interest In Reading Rural Communities

Community service is a key activity of student organizations (Ormawa) to foster social awareness, empathy, and solidarity through science, technology, arts, and culture. The Student Organization Capacity Strengthening Program (PPK Ormawa), funded by the Directorate General of Higher Education, Research, and Technology, aims to enhance Ormawa's quality and develop students' soft skills and competencies. In 2023, HIMA PGSD/HIMMI of Alma Ata University received a grant to implement PPK Ormawa in Kalurahan Muntuk-Dlingo, Bantul Regency, focusing on boosting reading interest in rural communities. The activities included learning guidance to strengthen literacy and numeracy, utilizing the Service-Learning (S-L) method. Over four months, the program created a reading-friendly environment, formed regular reading groups, and developed STEAM-based learning modules. Post-test results showed significant improvement, with mastery levels increasing from 35% to 96% and the class average score rising from 64.28 to 89.96. PPK Ormawa successfully enhanced participants' literacy and numeracy understanding and built a lifelong learning environment. Future recommendations include updating literacy content, providing continuous training, conducting literacy campaigns, collaborating with educational institutions and local communities, and regular evaluations.

Evaluation of AI-enhanced non-mydriatic fundus photography for diabetic retinopathy screening

ObjectiveTo assess the feasibility of using non-mydriatic fundus photography in conjunction with an artificial intelligence (AI) reading platform for large-scale screening of diabetic retinopathy (DR). MethodsIn this study, we selected 120 patients with diabetes hospitalized in our institution from December 2019 to April 2021. Retinal imaging of 240 eyes was obtained using non-mydriatic fundus photography. The fundus images of these patients were divided into two groups based on different interpretation methods. In Experiment Group 1, the images were analyzed and graded for DR diagnosis using an AI reading platform. In Experiment Group 2, the images were analyzed and graded for DR diagnosis by an associate chief physician in ophthalmology, specializing in fundus diseases. Concurrently, all patients underwent the gold standard for DR diagnosis and grading—fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA)—with the outcomes serving as the Control Group. The diagnostic value of the two methods was assessed by comparing the results of Experiment Groups 1 and 2 with those of the Control Group. ResultsKeeping the control group (FFA results) as the gold standard, no significant differences were observed between the two experimental groups regarding diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, false positive rate, false negative rate, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, Youden's index, Kappa value, and diagnostic accuracy (X2 = 0.371, P > 0.05). ConclusionCompared with the manual reading group, the AI reading group revealed no significant differences across all diagnostic indicators, exhibiting high sensitivity and specificity, as well as a relatively high positive predictive value. Additionally, it demonstrated a high level of diagnostic consistency with the gold standard. This technology holds potential for suitability in large-scale screening of DR.

Application of artificial intelligence in lung cancer screening: A real-world study in a Chinese physical examination population.

With the rapid increase of chest computed tomography (CT) images, the workload faced by radiologists has increased dramatically. It is undeniable that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) image-assisted diagnosis system in clinical treatment is a major trend in medical development. Therefore, in order to explore the value and diagnostic accuracy of the current AI system in clinical application, we aim to compare the detection and differentiation of benign and malignant pulmonary nodules between AI system and physicians, so as to provide a theoretical basis for clinical application. Our study encompassed a cohort of 23 336 patients who underwent chest low-dose spiral CT screening for lung cancer at the Health Management Center of West China Hospital. We conducted a comparative analysis between AI-assisted reading and manual interpretation, focusing on the detection and differentiation of benign and malignant pulmonary nodules. The AI-assisted reading exhibited a significantly higher screening positive rate and probability of diagnosing malignant pulmonary nodules compared with manual interpretation (p < 0.001). Moreover, AI scanning demonstrated a markedly superior detection rate of malignant pulmonary nodules compared with manual scanning (97.2% vs. 86.4%, p < 0.001). Additionally, the lung cancer detection rate was substantially higher in the AI reading group compared with the manual reading group (98.9% vs. 90.3%, p < 0.001). Our findings underscore the superior screening positive rate and lung cancer detection rate achieved through AI-assisted reading compared with manual interpretation. Thus, AI exhibits considerable potential as an adjunctive tool in lung cancer screening within clinical practice settings.

Automatic Morphological Processing in Middle School Students with and without Word Reading Difficulties

Morphological processing is the use of morphological structure during word reading. This study investigated whether middle school students applied morphological structure automatically when reading words. In addition, this study asked whether students with word reading difficulties (WRD) applied morphological structure in a way that differed from proficient word readers. Participants were seventh- and eighth-grade students (n = 80). Students were divided into two reading ability groups: proficient word readers (n = 55) and students with word reading difficulties (n = 25). Four computer-administered experimental tasks measured automaticity in reading morphologically complex words and morphologically simple words. A backward masking measure assessed whether students were applying morphological structure automatically to support task accuracy. Students were significantly more accurate in masked performance with morphologically complex words than with morphologically simple words on an oral word reading task. Students with WRD benefitted more from morphological structure on this task than proficient readers did. Findings suggest that proficient word readers and students with WRD automatically apply morphological structure when reading words aloud. In addition, middle school students with WRD may rely more on morphological structure than their proficient peers. However, there may be differences in morphological processing based on the nature of word reading tasks.

Optimizing Medical English Teaching through Intercultural Competence: A Quantitative Analysis in Chinese Vocational Institutions

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of integrating cross-cultural competence into medical English teaching on improving the English learning outcomes of medical students in Chinese vocational colleges. Using quantitative research methods, a 16-week cross-cultural integration medical English teaching experiment was designed and implemented with 108 medical students in a vocational college. The 108 students were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group was taught with cross-cultural content, while the control group was taught with traditional teaching methods. Before and after the study, students in both groups were tested on English listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, pragmatic skills, and intercultural competence. Through statistical analyses such as independent samples t-test, repeated measures ANOVA and structural equation modeling, the results of the study showed that: (1) the experimental group made significantly better progress than the control group in English listening, speaking, reading, writing, pragmatics, and cross-cultural competence; (2) cross-cultural competence partially mediated the improvement of the overall English proficiency; (3) cross-cultural competence had a significant impact on the experimental group's pragmatics and oral communication; and (4) cross-cultural competence had a significant impact on the experimental group's oral communication and pragmatics. s pragmatics and oral communication skills significantly. This study provides an evidence-based cross-cultural integration teaching model for medical English teaching, which can help Chinese vocational colleges and universities to cultivate medical talents with cross-cultural literacy to better meet the needs of international medical cooperation and communication.

Unlocking the benefits of montessori-based reading activities in nursing home: A multiple baseline study on groups of individuals with severe dementia.

Group activities are commonly offered to residents of nursing homes, and increasingly with a person-centred care approach. The aim of this study is to compare the impacts of a Montessori-based reading activity with a more traditional reading activity. A multiple baseline design was used, with 3 groups of 5 older adults with moderate to severe dementia. All sessions were videorecorded and analysed by independent judges, blinded to our hypotheses and conditions. Impacts of the type of activity (storytelling or Montessori-based reading) on verbal interactions, engagement level, affect and behavioural aspects were estimated with both visual analyses and statistical analyses using the between-case standardised mean differences method. Significant differences were found in favour of the Montessori-based activities with regard to the number of verbal interactions, constructive and passive engagement and positive affect expressed, with moderate to large effect size (from 0.46 to 1.66). The Montessori-based reading group activity really seems to be preferable to a more traditional storytelling activity, with multiple benefits for residents. Depending on the preserved abilities and interests of the participants, it can also be aimed at people with severe dementia.

Theorizing Outside the Lines: A Self-Study of Collaborative Learning in a Critical Posthuman Reading Group

ABSTRACT Neoliberal conditions in academia often preclude space for ongoing processes of collective reflection and growth, particularly for women faculty. In this qualitative self-study, three women faculty members examine working outside the lines of neoliberal institutions and theoretical traditions to nurture onto-epistemological development through a reading group that has now spanned two years. Drawing on critical feminist posthuman lenses, we inquired into the ways in which we worked and talked through challenging philosophical and theoretical texts in community and connected to our everyday experience as researchers/instructors in ongoing conversations. Specifically, we asked: What opportunities were presented through this different approach to reading and thinking together? What connections to practice and scholarship were created? How did these inform our ways of knowing and being? Our analysis of reflections and meeting notes demonstrates the ways our work ‘outside the lines’ allowed us to do academia differently, in big and small ways – helping us disrupt the isolation and competition of the academy by developing an immanent and relational orientation, working to decenter our (white) selves, and folding our complexifying understandings into research and teaching praxis. Ultimately, we recognize our ‘working outside the lines’ as a form of productive resistance to the devastating effects of neoliberal capitalism, a form of affirmative ethics of care connecting into a larger movement of creating a more relational, supportive academia.

Touching Visions

Throughout the enforced stasis of lockdowns and without studio access, I began thinking about the process of “epistemological gathering”, a term outlined by artist Nanna Debois Buhl, asking myself how it may be possible to use the air to make a series of works with a lightness of touch entitled ‘Touching Visions: Speculative Imaginaries’. In parallel, and along a line of singularity expected of a rhizomatic practice, this body of work partially evolved as a written response to a question posed by the Venti journal “How to Feel the Air”, since published online. The progressive evolution of some of these ideas is presented in this reflective paper. Amongst the recent chaos within moments of stillness, stepping outside into the air presented an opportunity to reflect upon an ecology of practice that overlaps elements of drawing, printing, and moving images through a process of exploring materials. Throughout this extraordinary time, whilst caring for family, I observed more closely the details of what I saw more expansively through joining a variety of online seminars across a range of subjects including a discussion on democracy and a reading group focussed on the politics of care.

Spelling development of children with and without reading difficulties throughout elementary grades: evidence from the Greek orthography.

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the development of spelling in a large sample (N = 503, boys: N = 219) of Greek-speaking children with (N = 41) and without (N = 462) reading difficulties. Children were initially tested in Grades 2-4 and then at five consecutive measurement points over a 3-year period, focusing on how initial reading ability, grade, and gender may moderate the rate of spelling growth. Individual growth curve modeling revealed continuous growth of spelling performance in the total sample, although the growth rate decreased over time for children first tested in Grades 3-4. Spelling growth rate was also significantly slower among children with reading difficulties between Grades 2-4 and 3-5. The two reading groups displayed similar growth rates between Grades 4 and 6. Spelling growth rates did not vary significantly with gender. Overall, our study highlights the persistence of spelling difficulties even after 6years of systematic teaching in children with reading difficulties. The severe and persistent spelling deficits of Greek-speaking children with reading difficulties may be attributed to the rich morphological system of the Greek language, the intermediate Greek orthographic transparency (in the direction of writing), and their limited experience with print.

A carnival learning party: crossing cultural borders through coding literacy

This experience report aims to describe the conceptual and logistical features of Coding Carnival, a Brazilian-American collaboration on teaching computer programming as literacy. It is a descriptive study, with a qualitative inquiry into the Eisner methodology approach (2017). In the fall of 2019, through a sponsorship from the Brazilian government, Corrêa came to study concepts of coding literacy with Vee, an English professor at the University of Pittsburgh. They elected to design a reading group focused on teaching coding in K12[1] contexts. Readings included Brazilian and American scholars of literacy and coding, alongside hands-on activities. The culmination of the reading group was a "Coding Carnival," two public all-ages events with a theme of Brazilian carnival to demonstrate hands-on coding activities and to help families learn coding literacy together. The power and identity relationships inherent to literacy, as well as its symbolic and technological features, connected "coding literacy" with Brazilian literacy theory--in particular, the potential of individual transformation and emancipation described by P. Freire (1981). D’Ambrosio's "ethnomathematics" helped us to see how cultural, physical, and social conditions shape the mathematical thinking embedded in coding practices (D’Ambrosio, 2002). The coding literacy theory, presented by Vee (2017), in conversation with Bers’ ideas of teaching coding as a second language, helped us to bridge the gap between teaching in the humanities and understanding technical concepts in programming through a carnival learning party.[2] [1] K–12 is an abbreviation of kindergarten (K) for 5– 6-year-olds through twelfth grade (12) for 17–18-year-olds, corresponding to the first and last grades, respectively, of free basic education in the USA. [2] This study was approved by the University of Pittsburgh Institutional Review Board under the number STUDY19100176.

The challenge of incorporating new methods: The case of group guided reading in South Africa

Background: South Africa is a country with a reading crisis: 81% of Grade 4 learners are unable to read for meaning in Grade 4. Teaching methods and practices have been identified as a primary cause; there is an over-reliance on choral methods, very little focus on meaning, weak feedback and assessment, and little interaction with books.Aim: This article reports on the kinds of knowledge required to teach Group Guided Reading (GGR) and the extent to which teachers enacted this knowledge in their practice, using Shulman’s (1987) knowledge categories.Setting: The research was carried out in three no-fee, township primary schools where isiXhosa was the language of learning and teaching (LoLT), in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.Methods: The research took the form of a case study of three teachers, who were given support, including coaching, to implement GGR. Data were generated through classroom observation and stimulated recall interviews using videos; the data were analysed using Shulman’s knowledge categories (1986, 1987).Results: Teachers demonstrated sufficient pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) to put GGR into practice. However, no assessment was observed, and two of the teachers chose not to put the learners into reading ability groups, both of which are core elements of GGR.Conclusion: New methods of teaching do not always take account of local circumstances.Contribution: Group Guided Reading was developed in countries where classes are small, and classrooms are spacious and well-equipped.

Competitive Words: Identity Counts in Large Amounts

This essay argues that central assumptions underlying identity politics in literary writing&amp;mdash;inclusion, visibility, diversity&amp;mdash;are progressive in character. Yet in conditions of social precarity, literary writing and especially literary discussions that derive progressive potential from identity claims involuntarily and inevitably act under the aegis of neoliberal progressivism (as critiqued by Nancy Fraser and many others). Caution about identity politics (rather than its outright rejection) is a necessary minimum in response to the corruption inherent in the systemic placement of literature. When literary discussions, and this does not just mean scholarly research but also literary critique, book presentations and discussions in different reading groups and book clubs, fall short of this critical minimum, they risk missing that common and universal feature of the general intellect upon which revolutionary ideas of emancipation and solidarity once rested. Following Ulrich Brand and Markus Wissen's study of the imperial mode of living, this essay examines the phenomenon of what I call 'literary identity politics'&amp;mdash;namely the implementation of identity politics in and through literary writing&amp;mdash;in terms of the interval between literature's efforts to right the wrongs of exclusion and its simultaneous entanglement in the system of global injustice.

To Read Loewald – Together: An Afterward to Papers Considering Temporality

This Afterward to a suite of papers studying and interpreting the work of Hans Loewald (Atsmon, Goldstein, Milch-Reich, Ofer, and Young, all this issue) takes the opportunity to reflect on why Loewald is currently in the air. It considers not only why Loewald, but why Loewald now, and, specifically, why Loewald especially in times of trouble? The meaning of an international Loewald Reading Group cohering during the time of Covid lockdown is emphasized, and the poignancy of the group originating as a way of continuing Lew Aron’s teaching of Loewald, which was tragically cut short, is acknowledged and honored. Finally, the way that Loewald’s writing challenges the reader to unpack a concentration of ideas (on the one hand) while relaxing and inviting them to dream freely and without judgment (on the other) is seen as a living out of the very theoretical precepts he evolved.