Their whole hearts: Formative reading in the young adult classroom

Students in a college literature class have been formed by conflicting approaches to literary pedagogy. The Common Core Standards deemphasize formative reading in favor of close reading, post-reading analysis of literary elements. A counter-movement, with its own network of publications and workshops, emphasizes formative reading, emotional engagement, and the cultivation of adult reading habits. More grounded in reader-response theory, this approach promotes the emotional engagement and autonomy of student readers, and often makes use of young adult literature. This counter-movement, however, depends upon unspoken pre-conditions that connect it to some ancient regimes of formative reading.