Literacy Vs Autonomy

Reading is fundamental to function in today’s society and thus proves integral in the realm of academia. While this notion rings true, educators grapple with challenges of fostering reading among students, as there are many classrooms filled with children who can read, but choose otherwise. Although many educators feel it is important to stay with traditional works from the literary canon, some students have difficulty relating to these texts and therefore cannot engage in meaningful and purposeful reading (Toscano, 2). Because the engagement of readers is key to the reading process, it is essential that educators find ways to increase engagement and foster literacy. In order to remedy this plight and thus produce proficient and passionate readers, educators must allow students to engage in self-selected reading. In doing so, students gain a sense of autonomy, are able to select literature relevant to their interests, and can select literature that will help them in reading traditional works from the literary canon. In addition to intrinsic motivation,
Despite claims of diluting the curriculum, undermining the teacher, and reducing students’ cognitive ability, self-selected reading proves beneficial as it gives students a sense of autonomy, allows them to select relevant literature, and provides a smooth transition into reading literary classics (Guthrie & Klauda, 68). Educators must remember that reading is more than a cognitive process of decoding words, reading fluently, or comprehending the text. Rather reading is becoming deeply involved, captivated, absorbed and immersed in a given text (Blair & Johnson, 182). Certainly, no benefit can come from unengaged reading and in order for students to become skillful, passionate, and life-long lovers of reading they must be fully engaged. Self-selection makes this