Wilhelm Chapter 6

Chapter Six
Expanding Concepts of Reading, Response, and Literature

Wilhelm says that time is one of the most important things to give for a successful literary response, and I can understand this fully. So many times in high school and today I have struggled with time and feel that I was unable to ingest all of the useful information and gain from the experience. I like how Wilhelm actually did research alongside his experiments with students, doing so he has successful gained awareness for himself, students, and future teachers.



I think that my role as a teacher is not one to ‘shove information throats,’ but to inspire and find methods that will. I do think that the teaching of the classics is very important; however why teach it in such a traditional and banal way? Wilhelms journal entry is very encouraging as well. What Wilhelm purposes are very encouraging and fun activities to make sure everyone is participating and engaged with what is being taught. The issues that he mentions on pages 148-149 are thought provoking. I like the idea of creating your own critical literacy through research. I feel that that is what I am doing with these education courses, and I will continue to do so in my future as an educator. I definitely have a better understanding of reader response and how it can be used as a successful tool in the classroom.