Richard Beach
Professor
Ph.D., University of Illinois
Literacy education
359 Peik Hall
612-625-3893
rbeach@umn.edu
Office hours:
Spring 2009: Tues., 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Thurs., 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Preferred method of contact: e-mail
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
