Anne Haas DysonEminent ScholarTracey RodenRDG 692, Spring 2013

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Anne Haas DysonProfessor

Curriculum & Instruction

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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Educational BackgroundPh.D., Education, University of Texas,

Austin, 1981M.Ed., Education, University of Texas,

Austin, 1976B.S., Elementary Education

(concentration: English), University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1972

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Professional Appointments Professor, Curriculum & Instruction, University of Illinois at Urbana-

Champaign, 2006-present Professor, Department. of Teacher Education, Michigan State

University, 2002-2006 Professor, Division of Language, Literacy, & Culture, University of

California, Berkeley, 1991-2002 Associate Professor, Division of Language, Literacy, & Culture,

University of California, Berkeley, 1987-1991 Assistant Professor, Division of Language, Literacy, & Culture,

University of California, Berkeley, 1985-1987 Graduate Faculty, Graduate School, University of Georgia, 1984-

1985 Assistant Professor, Department of Language Education, University

of Georgia, 1981-1985

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Awards & HonorsFellow of the American Educational Research Association,

American Educational Research Association, 2012- presentVera Nofftz Early Childhood Education Fellow, Given for

"preeminence in the field of early childhood education", College of Education, 2011- present

John R. Hayes Award for Excellence in Writing Research, Award given for best article in Written Communication during the preceding year (2008), Written Communication, 2009

Janet Emig Award, given by the Conference on English Education of the National Council of Teachers of English, National Council of Teachers of English, 2006 & 2002

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Awards & HonorsSelection as Mary Lou Fulton Distinguished Lecturer,

Selection by Mary Lou Fulton Endowment Advisory Committee of the College of Education, Arizona State University, 2006

Purves Award, National Council of Teachers of English, 1999Distinguished Teaching Award, University of California-

Berkeley, 1998David H. Russell Award for Distinguished Research in the

Teaching of English, National Council of Teachers of English, 1994

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Statement of Teaching Philosophy“As a teacher and a researcher, I think

intellectual, political, and moral issues of teaching and learning are best understood—and grappled with—when they are embodied in everyday human experiences of teachers and students, in and out of school; conversely, I think teachers immersed in the very human context of classroom life (which is not neat, not orderly, and not predictable) must also see the larger issues implicit in their daily decisions.”

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Statement of Teaching Philosophy“Finally, my identities as a teacher of the

young and not-so-young merge in the kind of engagement I require of my students. Having struggled to help a 6-year-old realize that fish starts with F, not God or water, I do not equate lecturing with teaching. There is nothing lonelier than standing in front of a class when I’m not sure they are, intellectually, with me—and nothing is more satisfying than when we are all making progress together. Then teaching is its own reward.”

http://teaching.berkeley.edu/dta-recipient/ann-haas-dyson

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Major Research Focusrelated to the social and cultural processes of schooling and literacy Immerses herself in ethnographic research that

examines children’s writing, in particular story making

Most of her projects include her study of primary grade children in urban schools with culturally diverse populations over the course of a year or more

Studies the influences of popular culture on young children’s literacy development

Studies the development and use of written language in contemporary childhoods and cross-culturally

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Current Researchfocuses on the intersection of:

+Institutional expectations of proper “child-prepared-for” written language +What is considered basic & appropriate+Children’s expectations for each others’ use of written language

+How society arrange “childhoods”+How children act as agents & construct their own childhoods+Ideologies of language & of appropriate childhoods+Translation into the classroom

Lite

racy

Childhood

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Ethnographic Studies Ethnographic approach to research allowed her to explore

children’s language and literacy development as it occurs naturally in sociocultural contexts

Devoted days and weeks of observation in a new classroom before deciding what would be the data for her study

Stressed the importance of building trust and a rapport between herself, as a researcher, and the classroom members

Wanted to observe how young children construct their understandings of symbolic communication, including learning to write

Sought classroom teachers whose instruction allowed children the freedom to construct their own understandings of literacy in an accepting environment

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The Brothers and Sisters

Learn to WritePopular Literacies in

Childhood and School Cultures

2003

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Writing Superheroes

Contemporary Childhood, Popular Culture, and Classroom Literacy

1997

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Social Worlds of Children

Learning to Write

in an Urban Primary School

1993

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Multiple Worlds of Child WritersFriends Learning to Write

1989

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Contributions to the Study of Literacy

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Children bring relevant resources to school literacy.Children come to school with several well-

established ways of conveying meaning.They use pretend play, draw, use gestures, and

talk as nonacademic “textual” toys.Children stretch & reorganize this material in

order to enter “official school literacy”.Many state-adopted reading programs are

designed on the assumption that “all” children bring nothing to to school…usually referring to the diverse child.

“Serious error to assume that any child brings nothing to new experiences.”

18 Talk is an integral part of

the early writing process.Peer interaction can be as effective as teacher

instruction.Through talk writing becomes relevant to life…

talk gives the printed graphic meaning.Speech links spoken words to written ones.Talk supports writing & writing supports talk.Talk is a “social consequence” of writing.The “basics” of spontaneous talk is critical in

children’s early literacy development

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Media informs children’s play & their early writing efforts.Young children make extensive use of media in

their storytelling and play.Children form understandings of typical voice

types or genres from media.Media displays models of text structures &

elements.Media gives children potential characters, plots

& themes.Because of media’s role in children’s textual

growth, educators should officially acknowledge it and open up their literacy curriculum.

20“Children learn the way we

all learn: through engagement, and through construction. They have to make sense of the world, and that’s what play or any other symbolic activity does for children.”

Anne Haas Dyson

21“Follow the child’s interests in

people, objects, places, and activities, and talk with them. It’s social interaction that creates a link between the child and an ongoing activity. Help them learn how to articulate themselves and participate in the world.”

Anne Haas Dyson

22“All tests tell us is how many

letters and how many sounds children know. I think there should be this grand societal conversation about what’s intellectually motivating and exciting for our children.”

Anne Haas Dysonhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090212125137.htm

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Major Works Dyson, A. H. (2003). The brothers and sisters learn to

write: Popular literacies in childhood and school cultures. New York: Teachers College Press.

Dyson, A. H. (1997). Writing superheroes: Contemporary childhood, popular culture, and classroom literacy. New York: Teachers College Press.

Dyson, A. H. (1993). Social words of children learning to write in an urban primary school. New York: Teachers College Press.

Dyson, A. H. (1989). Multiple worlds of child writers: Friends learning to write. New York: Teachers College Press.

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Sample of PublicationsDyson, A. H. (1987). The value of "time off

task": Young children's spontaneous talk and deliberate text. Harvard Educational Review, 57(4), 396-396.

Dyson, A. H. (1995). The courage to write: Child meaning making in a contested world. Language Arts, 72(5), 324-324.

Anne, H. D. (1998). Folk process and media creatures: Reflections on popular culture for literacy educators. The Reading Teacher,51(5), 392-402.

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Sample of PublicationsAnne, H. D. (2000). On reframing children's words:

The perils, promises, and pleasures of writing children. Research in the Teaching of English, 34(3), 352-352.

Anne, H. D. (2001). Donkey kong in little bear country: A first grader's composing development in the media spotlight. The Elementary School Journal, 101(4), 417-433.

Anne, H. D. (2003). "Welcome to the jam": Popular culture, school literacy, and the making of childhoods1. Harvard Educational Review, 73(3), 328-361.

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Sample of PublicationsAnne, H. D., & Linda, D. L. (2003). Popular

literacies and the "all" children: Rethinking literacy development for contemporary childhoods. Language Arts, 81(2), 100-109.

Anne, H. D. (2006). On saying it right (write): "fix-its" in the foundations of learning to write. Research in the Teaching of English,41(1), 8-17,19-42.

Anne, H. D. (2008). Staying in the (curricular) lines. Written Communication, 25(1), 119.