Dialogue with the Experts: Literacy and the Arts

LITERACY SPEAKER SERIES

As part of our research on literacy, we created a series of speakers in three areas that are relevant to Book-It’s work – Adult Learning, Literacy and the Arts, and Reading Comprehension. We were very fortunate to have experts in each of these areas dialogue with Book-It’s staff and board.

Some A-ha’s from Book-It:

"READING IS THINKING. It seems like a "no duh" concept now -- but I wish I had had this idea in mind a long time ago!” --Dave Quicksall, Board Member, Adapter, Actor, Teaching Artist

“I think it really clicked for me that everyone approaches reading differently but the one major connector is the arts. Whether you are visual or literary by nature, the arts is the way to put developmental skills to use.” --Samantha Cooper, Intern

ADULT LEARNING

SPEAKER: Bob Hughes, Seattle University, Associate Professor, Adult Education
TOPICS: Adult Literacy; Cultural Literacy; Gaps for adult learners and how Book-It can fill the gaps.

Bob earned his doctorate at Harvard University and joined the Adult Education program at Seattle University in fall 2007, bringing extensive higher education teaching and administrative experience. He coordinates the basic skills specialization within the Master’s degree. His expertise includes technology, family literacy, equity issues, and professional development for teachers.

LITERACY AND THE ARTS

SPEAKER: Janice Fournier, University of Washington, Research Scientist, Learning & Scholarly Technologies.
TOPICS: Arts and Literacy - how people learn in the arts; Assessment in the arts

Janice Fournier, PhD, is an educational psychologist and researcher with a special focus on human development and cognition in the arts. She has taught learning theory, assessment, and integration of the arts in the UW's teacher education program, and worked with numerous arts organizations as a consultant on program design and evaluation and faculty development.

READING COMPREHENSION

SPEAKER: Sheila Valencia, University of Washington, Professor in Curriculum & Instruction
TOPICS: Reading Comprehension; Youth and Engagement

Dr. Valencia's areas of teaching and research specializations include reading and writing instruction, literacy assessment, and professional development of teachers. She is the author of Literacy Portfolios in Action (1998) and contributing editor of Authentic Reading Assessment: Practices and Possibilities (1994). She also serves on several national and state advisory panels focused on large-scale and classroom-based reading assessment.

--Gail Sehlhorst, Book-It