Hiding Out in Secondary Content Classrooms: Coping Strategies of Unsuccessful Readers.

Abstract

■ These are the words of Scott, an unsuccessful 11th-grade reader: Yeah, I'm always scared the teacher is going to call on me. I'll fool around. ..and she tells me to shut up... you can do that or act sick or something. Most of the time I just get the answer from Andrea. Scott, like countless other poor readers, has developed a complex repertoire of coping strategies designed to avoid reading or being held accountable for reading. Young adults who lack literacy skills are often painfully aware of their own inadequacies (Johnston, 1985); to avoid riducule by exposing their stupidity in the classroom, many resort to hiding out and bluffing behaviors. These behaviors fit into a cycle of failure that ensures the individual will have few if any opportunities to practice or expand upon the reading skills he/she does possess. With little practice, skills decline further, leading to more hiding out and more bluffing. This article describes my observations of a high school classroom and subsequent interviews of the poor readers in the class in an attempt to uncover their coping strategies. First, I discuss conflicting evidence from classroom observational research, depending upon whether it's from the teacher's or the student's perspective. I argue that teachers who focus on effective instruction from only their perspectives fail to appreciate the needs of unsuccessful readers and may inadvertently reinforce students' reading failure. I conclude with recommendations for improving teacher interactions with poor readers.

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