Zen, Reading, and a Culture of Practice - Part 2

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​In Norman Fischer’s world of Zen, an “entire culture of practice” includes the performance of rituals, the building of relationships, and the actions of study. In the world of elementary school classrooms, I believe the same elements can be and should be present.
 
Previously we discussed the classroom actions that produce specific reading and writing skills and categorized them into three broad categories: teaching techniques, classroom activities, and student-used strategies. When viewed in terms of “culture,” we see these techniques, activities, and strategies as a way of life, used weekly, daily, and hourly, year after year.
​But what of rituals and relationships?

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Rituals
For me, ritual encompasses tradition, rite, habit, and ceremony. Regularity is paired with beauty and mystery, helping to keep daily efforts from sliding into dull and dreary routines. In classrooms, incense and candles would boost engagement but I bet they’d also collide with allergic reactions, classroom fires, and parent protests. Not a good mix. So, what else could classroom rituals be?  

The ritual of sustained writing in special spaces, which could include:

• Predictable times to write, as well as enough time to write (at least 20 minutes uninterrupted) for students to get into the “flow.”
• A writing area where some students can hear soft, mood music and perhaps write in the glow of a lava lamp!
• Writing outside, surrounded by bird song and the whoosh of wind, in touch with air, earth, and sunlight. Clipboards become inexpensive, portable writing desks. Fallen logs, sidewalk curbs, and picnic tables are easy to find seats!
• A bell tone, short piece of music or incantation to start the writing time. Want to try out an incantation? Consider this, from #100 of Shakespeare’s Sonnets:

                           Return, forgetful Muse, and straight redeem 
                           In gentle numbers time so idly spent; 
                           Sing to the ear that doth thy lays esteem, 
                          And gives thy pen both skill and argument.

The ritual of sustained reading and reflection:

• Predictable times to read, as well as enough time to read (at least 20 minutes uninterrupted) for students to get into the “flow.”
• Reading books of choice, easily found in accessible bins and boxes (grouped by genre, author, and/or theme).
• An area that displays books curated by the teacher and/or other students. These special books change every two to three weeks.
• Reading in cozy places and special places that create a vibe. Read in comfy chairs, on carpet squares under draped sheets, in a darkened space with a flashlight, or outside under a big blue sky or canopy of dark green tree leaves.

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Relationships
Within communities, from temple to church to classroom and school, we find relationships - the last element of our “entire culture of practice.” To get you started, I offer these “building relationships” ideas. I know you’ll think of others!
 
Relationships between teachers and students, including:

• Greeting students as they come through the door.
• Morning meetings that address the roadblocks to reading, writing, and spelling and the ways those roadblocks can be dismantled and overcome.
• Teachers switching classrooms for a period. This would keep things fresh, let students see other ways of teaching, and strengthen the ties between all students and teachers.

Relationships between students (harnessing the social nature of children in service of education): 

• Reading with a partner or in trios
• Presenting poetry before the class in a poetry slam
• Presenting plays with other readers, some even written by students
• Reciting poetry written for two or more readers.
• Turning to and telling another student an interesting piece of information
• Turning to and discussing with another student an idea or opinion
• Engaging in a classroom literature circle
• Taking part in a book club – at lunch, at the end of the day
• Older students read in lower grade classrooms to younger readers.

Grandiose actions can foster relationships. Here I am thinking of things like taking trips to the library and reading in a continuing-care community. But smaller actions can connect children to larger communities, too. For example, if you stock your classroom with plenty of books that feature characters who look like the diverse readers in your classroom, you’ll be connecting your students to Black communities, rural communities, Native American communities, suburban communities, Asian communities (Hmong, Vietnamese, Indonesian), and so forth. These books come from a recent issue of NEA Today:

• Speculation by Nisi Shawl
• Man Made Monsters by Andrea Rogers
• Well, That Was Unexpected by Jesse Q. Sutanto

 
Conclusion
Over the course of two blogs, we’ve investigated literacy elements – from teaching techniques and classroom activities to rituals and relationships– that together, over months and years, form a “culture of practice.” What is this culture of practice leading to? What is its purpose?
 
In Norman Fischer’s world of Zen, a culture of practice ultimately leads to a shift in the practitioner's understanding of his life, a greater ability to love. and personal transformation. In a first or fifth grade classroom, the shift can be equally profound. Through the unceasing actions of dedicated, professional teachers, students grow to see themselves as human beings with agency and a strong sense of themselves as readers, writers, thinkers, and learners.