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My primary research interest is in understanding secondary
students’ responses to literature and the media, particularly multicultural
literature. I focus on how students’ cultural beliefs and attitudes, as well as
their participation in certain activities, influences their interpretations of
literary texts. Understanding how students apply their own beliefs and attitudes
to responding to literature and the media helps teachers assist students in
defining their beliefs and values. It may also assist teachers in fostering
students’ critical interpretation of literature and the media through writing or
discussion.
I am also interested in inquiry-based/critical
literacy approaches to teaching English, with a particular focus on
media literacy. In an inquiry-based approach, teachers organize
their curriculum and instruction around issues of concern to
students and then help students learn to investigate those issues
through observation and interviewing. This leads students to study
of media representations of issues, as well as critique of the value
assumptions inherent in those representations.
I’m also interested in the ways in which students
are acquiring a whole new set of digital literacies through the uses
of digital media and tools, particularly in terms of learning to
create hypermedia texts.
Selected publications
Beach, R., Anson, C, Breuch, L. A., & Swiss, T. (2008).
Engaging Students in Digital Writing. Norwood, MA: Christopher Gordon.
Website:
http://digitalwriting.pbwiki.com.
Beach, R., Thein, A., & Parks, D. (2007). High School Students' Competing Social Worlds: Negotiating Identities and Allegiances through Responding to Multicultural Literature. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum
Beach, R. (2006). Teachingmedialiteracy.com: A Resource Guide to Links and Activities. New York: Teachers College Press.
Website: http://teachingmedialiteracy.com
Beach, R., Appleman, D., Hynds, S., & Wilhelm, J. (2006).
Teaching Literature to Adolescents. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Website: Teaching Literature to Adolescents
http://www.teachingliterature.org
Beach, R., Green, J., Michael, M., & Shanahan,
T. (Eds.). (2005). Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Literacy
Research, 2nd ed. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Beach, R., & Friedrich, T. (2005). Response to
Writing. In C.A. MacArthur, S. Graham, & J. Fitzgerald. (Eds.). Handbook
of Writing Research. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Beach, R. (2004). Researching Response to
Literature and the Media. In A Goodwyn & A. Stables (Eds.).
Learning to Read Critically in Language and Literacy. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage, 2004.
Myers, J. & Beach, R. (2004). Constructing
critical literacy practices through technology tools and inquiry.
Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education 4 (3).
Available:
http://www.citejournal.org/vol4/iss3/languagearts/article1.cfm
Beach, R., & Myers, J. (2001).
Inquiry-based English instruction: Engaging students in life and
literature.
New York:
Teachers’ College Press.
Beach, R., & Myers, J. (2001). Hypermedia authoring as critical
literacy. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 44(6), 2001,
538-565
Beach, R. (2000). Reading and responding at the level of activity, Journal
of Literacy Research, 32(2), 237-252.
Featured research and outreach
Updated August 2008
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