Handbook of Reading Research: Volume III
An Introduction to the Summary Series in Reading Online
From time to time, a resource appears that sheds so much light on the state of the field that people date their own work from the appearance of that resource. Such has been the case with the Handbook of Reading Research. Volumes I and II appeared in 1984 and 1991, respectively; the third volume appeared this spring. All three have been edited by the team of Michael L. Kamil, Peter B. Mosenthal, P. David Pearson, and Rebecca Barr, with the lead editorship shifting for each volume. Thus, continuity across the three volumes of the handbook has been assured.
Volume III of the handbook, published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, has 1,010 pages and sells for a stunning US$85.00 in paperback (yes, paperback!), though members of the International Reading Association can buy it through IRA at a substantial discount. Interestingly, the editors and authors of the handbook have foregone their normal royalties and honoraria on the book, which are being contributed instead to the National Reading Conference fund on literacy research.
I purchased my copy of Volume III in May 2000 at the International Reading Association convention, shortly after the book had been released. I was anxious to get it home to examine, and I was not disappointed. While paging through the handbook, it occurred to me that such a wonderful reference should be made more widely available, particularly to international readers, who sometimes must wait for long periods for books to arrive by mail, and to the many others for whom such an expensive book is out of reach.
At about the same time, Bridget Dalton and I were busy planning for our first issue of Reading Online, and we conceived the idea of publishing a series of articles summarizing the chapters of the handbook. We were fortunate to obtain permission from the authors, publisher, and editors to publish executive summaries of selected chapters and, beginning in this issue, we are pleased to be able to offer these to our readers.
Why do we think this resource is so important? Let's take a look at the handbook.
The preface begins with a quote from Victor Hugo's Les Miserables: “Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. Which of the two has the grander view?” This quote is a wonderful metaphor for the entire volume, chapters of which explore both macro (telescope) and micro (microscope) views of reading and literacy.
In a uniquely American introduction, the editors explore the writings of Frederick Jackson Turner, Daniel Boorstin, and Alexis de Tocqueville, each of whom discusses the frontiers or verges of life in the United States. The editors then extrapolate the notion of verges to reading research. For example, Boorstin (1989) states, “America [has always been] a land of verges -- all sorts of verges, between kinds of landscape or seascape, between stages of civilization, between ways of thought and ways of life.” In planning Volume III, the handbook editors were cognizant of maintaining continuity and preserving the traditions of the past, while exploring “the verges of reading research” (p. x) that have taken place since the writing of Volume II in 1989. The “common collective” of reading researchers has been expanded and given voice. Today's complexities and contradictions may not always remain so -- in fact, they may present the research agenda for the next decade.
The editors tell us that research from 1989 to 1995 has been included in this volume, with two themes emerging:
Under theme 1, we find that volumes I and II of the handbook presented reading in terms primarily of one social science: psychology. Today a new verge presents itself: a variety of social science disciplines from psychology, anthropology, sociology, multicultural studies, critical literary theory, and political science. The editors say, “Within the past decade, many researchers have come to view reading as but one part of the classroom communication continuum that involves complex meaning exchanges between students and teachers operating from different social and political stances” (p. xi).
Another verge in the past decade has been the broadening of the definition of literacy to include reading, writing, speaking, and listening. A third verge is that between the quantitative and qualitative research paradigms, resulting in advances in qualitative methodology. A fourth major verge has been the technological and media explosion of the past decade.
In terms of theme 2, the third volume explores the verges among agenda setters in reading research. Who sets the agenda and how is this agenda set? Who are the “acknowledged” authorities? How has the role of the teacher changed? What about the advent of performance standards? How have they affected reading research agendas? As the editors note, “verges have multiplied exponentially in the past 10 years” (p. xiii).
The editors end their introduction by noting,
In sum, our task as reading researchers remains one of continuing to create new frontiers of thought, keeping the borders of verges open for all who are willing and imaginative enough to undertake the exploration. And in the process of creating confusion, we will have ever present the opportunity to discern what James Glick (1988) called the “broader underlying pattern of our shared chaos.” (p. xiv)
The handbook is divided into five major sections:
Over the next year, Reading Online will be publishing summaries of selected chapters from The Handbook of Reading Research: Volume III. The series begins with a summary from Part II, Methods of Literacy Research. James Paul Gee's article “Discourse and Sociocultural Studies in Reading” is based on his chapter 14 in the handbook. We invite readers to discuss the ideas presented in this series in Online Communities this month.
Go to the list of available summaries in the series
References
Barr, R., Pearson, P.D., Mosenthal, P.B., & Kamil, M.L. (Eds.). (1991). Handbook of reading research: Volume II. White Plains, NY: Longman.
Boorstin, D.J. (1989). Hidden history: Exploring our secret past. New York: Vintage.
Glick, J. (1988). Chaos: Making a new science. New York: Penguin.
Kamil, M.L., Mosenthal, P.B., Pearson, P.D., & Barr, R. (Eds.). (2000). Handbook of reading research: Volume III. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Pearson, P.D., Barr, R., Kamil, M.L., & Mosenthal, P.B. (Eds.). (1984). Handbook of reading research: Volume I. White Plains, NY: Longman.
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Citation: Grisham, D.L. (2000, September). Handbook of Reading Research: Volume III -- An introduction to the summary series in Reading Online. Reading Online, 4(3). Available: http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=/articles/handbook/index.html
Reading Online, www.readingonline.org
Posted September 2000; updated October 2000, November 2000
© 2000 International Reading Association, Inc. ISSN 1096-1232