Learning to read the numbers: A critical orientation toward statistics

Whitin, P., & Whitin, D. J. (2008). Learning to read the numbers: A critical orientation toward statistics. Language Arts, 85(6), 432-441.

The Whitins show how even very young children can be taught to "interrogate" texts that contain embedded data. Two case studies are presented, one with fifth graders who polled peers n their "least favorite chores," and one with kindergartners who graphed their favorite kinds of apples. In both cases, the children made rather stunning observations and noticed the ways that data may be shaped to privilege some voices and agendas and silence others.Table 1 is an extremely helpful guide to the processes used with the children. In it, seven "Dimensions of the Process" are given, defined, and "questions to consider" at each step are provided. Looking at these seven dimensions underlines the many ways that data may be shaped. It's a lesson that can be learned at all ages, from kindergarten to graduate school, as the Whitins make clear here. As we really start to think about "new" literacies and mutimodal texts, this article adds some useful ideas to try.

A Dozen Discussion Prompts:

Directions: Post a comment on any of the twelve prompts below. Please tell us the question number you are commenting on in the first sentence of your post. If you post three or more comments and would like a participation certificate, send an e-mail to klofflin@gmail.com and you will be e-mailed a certificate.

1. Compare and contrast the approach the Whitins used with fifth graders versus their approach with kindergarteners. What are common threads across grade levels in their approach? How does their approach with fifth graders differ from their approach with kindergarteners?

2. Look up your state’s standards or grade level expectations used for accountability and testing. Here is a link to the ones for Missouri: http://www.dese.mo.gov/divimprove/curriculum/GLE/
Attempt to fit the Whitins’ learning activities with both fifth graders and kindergarteners within those grade-level expectations. What standards are met for language arts (called Communication Arts in Missouri) and for math at each grade level?

3. Look up Bloom’s Taxonomy and attempt to place the kinds of tasks the Whitins describe within the levels of that model. Here is one good link:
http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/teaching-guides/pedagogical/blooms-taxonomy/

4. Look up the Depth of Knowledge model and attempt to place the kind of task the Whitins describe within the classifications of that model. Here is one good link:
http://www.pdesas.org/main/fileview/Instruction_Depth_of_Knowledge.pdf

5. The Whitins list four different roles a reader can take: code breaker, meaning maker, text user, and text critic. The roles form a sort of continuum. What kinds of instruction foster each kind of role? What types of instruction are most common in the elementary school classrooms you are familiar with?

6. What do you think it means to “interrogate” a text?
What kinds of texts are most in need of “interrogation” by readers?
What is risky about “interrogating” texts and teaching students to do so?
What risks do we run by NOT “interrogating” texts or teaching students to do so?

7. Look at a text intended for young children (maybe a story from a published reading program, or a content area textbook, or even a picture book) and attempt to “interrogate” it.
Ask yourself: Whose voice(s) do we not hear in the story? What do you think they would say? What voices or viewpoints are privileged in the text? What agenda or agendas might the author and/or illustrator have had when creating the text?
Describe how you think such a discussion might go with a group of children at the elementary level. Tailor your answer to fit the level where the book would likely be used.

8. Look at Table 1 on page 435. Find a text in a popular publication (newspaper or magazine) that includes a graph of some sort incorporating numerical data. Use Table 1 to “interrogate” that text. Which of the “Dimensions of the Process” did you find most challenging to apply to your text?

9. “We live in an age that is inundated by data.” The Whitins make this statement early in the article. They also state that this is both a “boon and a bane”. What are a few ways the knowledge explosion is a boon? What are a few ways it is a bane? Think of some specific examples of both cases, preferably from your own experience. What are the implications for teachers of this plethora of easily-available knowledge?

10. Whitin and Whitin write about “innumerate” individuals in a way similar to the way we hear about “illiterate” individuals. What do you think it means to be “innumerate”? What is a necessary level of numeracy for an elementary age student? a high school graduate? an adult citizen and worker? a professional person? Address any or all of these numeracy levels.

11. The Whitins describe how both gun-control supporters and the NRA have framed survey questions in biased ways (e.g., “Do you favor cracking down on illegal gun sales?” vs. “Would you favor or oppose a law giving police the power to decide who may or may not own a firearm?” In each case, what are the specific words that tip the question toward a certain bias? If you know of other examples of such biased questions that you have actually encountered in surveys, please share those with us.

12. What kinds of entities might prefer that we NOT teach a critical orientation to texts in our schools? What do these kinds of entities stand to gain by a limited numeracy in the majority of the people in a society? How might these kinds of entities influence public policy to prevent the teaching of a critical orientation?