Opening Minds

"Introducing a spelling test to a student by saying, 'Let's see how many words you know,' is different from saying, 'Let's see how many words you know already.

Peter H. Johnston (Ph.D. University of Illinois) is Professor of Education and Chair of the Reading Department at State University of New York at Albany. His position as an advocate for teachers and children developed from his early career teaching primary school in his native New Zealand. He is a recipient of the Albert J. Harris Award for his contribution to the understanding of reading disability and was chair of the IRA/NCTE Joint Task Force on Assessment. His many publications include Knowing Literacy: Constructive Literacy Assessment (Stenhouse 1997) and Running Records: A Self-Tutoring Guide (Stenhouse 2000). Peter's continuing interest is in literacy assessment as it relates to democratic society.

Chapter 1: Choosing Words, Choosing Worlds; Chapter 2: Learning Worlds: People, Performing, and Learning; Chapter 3: Changing Learning Narratives; Chapter 4: "Good Job!" Feedback, Praise, and Other Responses; Chapter 5: Any Other Ways to Think About That? Inquiry, Dialogue, Uncertainty, and Difference; Chapter 6: Social Imagination; Chapter 7: Moral Agency: Moral Development and Civic Engagement; Chapter 8: Thinking Together, Working Together; Chapter 9: Choice Worlds