Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Birchak, Chris
• Bell, Keri
• Dickson, Rachel
• Robertson, Vida
• Van Horn, Leigh

Titel

Big Read: Collaborations Between a University and a Community

Ist Teil von

• Journal of family strengths, 2015-12, Vol.15 (2)

Ort / Verlag

Houston: Children at Risk

Erscheinungsjahr

2015

Quelle

Sociological Abstracts

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• University and community partners write about their collaborations around the reading of Ernest Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying. When an urban university received a National Endowment of the Arts Big Read Grant, they immediately began making connections to existing key initiatives within the university and in the surrounding community. As the partners collaborated within and among the university and community programs and events created for the Big Read they made multiple discoveries regarding the importance of planning together, analyzing the intended audience for each program and event, including multiple ways to access the text, and considering the ways that readers can personalize the issues, synthesize what they have learned and apply it in discussion or action. Key Take Away Points We urge readers to seek others who are interested in learning and working across sites and centering collaborative power in expanding ideas about literacy. When we listen to one another, when we identify and develop a theme that is authentic and meaningful to us, and when we include multiple recursive opportunities for participants to experience all aspects of literacy, we experience synergy and success! What We learned Ensure the planning process involves the designated partners, remaining flexible as the project evolves Reflect on previous experiences, successful and unsuccessful, to prepare for programmatic challenges Analyze intended audiences to select the most effective strategies for connecting them with the text and fostering expanded literacy among Houston residents Personalize the issues Identify and/or construct resources with your audience in mind Include multiple ways to access the text or texts Consider ways that readers can synthesize what they have learned and apply it in discussion or action