Organic Language Revisited: Sylvia Ashton Warner after 50 Years

Kathy R. Fox
foxk@uncw.edu
University of North Carolina, Wilmington

Just as Ashton-Warner's work with Maori children in a British curriculum challenged her to meet literacy needs through recognizing their organic vocabulary, this project looks at two current classrooms and how the teachers are meeting students' minority and majority language needs. The research demonstrates a link between a child’s inner or “organic” vocabulary and a differentiated curriculum approach to language instruction. Daily work with this method of personal or “key” words is found to enhance the child's sense of self as a literate person while at the same time informing the teacher of the child's inner life. This is particularly relevant in classrooms where more than one home language is spoken, and the home language of the teacher may differ from that of the child.

Daily work with written and spoken organic vocabulary enhances personal writing and sense of self as a literate being. Sylvia Ashton-Warner’s work with children whose home language did not match that of the programmed texts in their classrooms is as relevant for today’s teachers as it was at the initial publication of Teacher in 1963. This presentation demonstrates a link between Ashton-Warner’s work with children’s own organic vocabulary to a truly differentiated curriculum approach for today.

Participant teachers were interviewed regarding their rationale and methodology in using Keywords. Student samples were analyzed for trends in responses along cognitive development, economic, linguistic and cultural lines of diversity. Initial findings show that children's organic language is reflective of their home lives, just as Ashton-Warner recognized in her work. Teachers gain insight into students' lives with the keyword methodology.

Session uses film clips, artifacts and teacher testimonials from Kindergarten, 2nd, and 5th grade classrooms to show how Ashton-Warner’s methods can be adapted for today’s linguistically diverse classrooms. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in a dialogic writing activity with excerpt of Ashton-Warner’s work, bringing it up to date for their own students.

References:
Ashton-Warner, S. (1963). Teacher. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Clemens, S. (1996). Pay Attention to the Children: Lessons for Teachers and Parents from Sylvia Ashton -Warner. Rattle OK Publications.

Mamchur, C. (1983). Heartbeat. Educational Leadership.

Robertson, J. (2006). Provocations: Sylvia Ashton-Warner and Excitability in Education. Peter Lang Publishing.

Thompson, N. (2000). Sylvia Ashton-Warner: Reclaiming personal meaning in      literacy teaching. The English Journal, 89,3. 90-96.

Veatch, J. (1996). From the vantage of retirement. The Reading Teacher, 49,7. 510-516.