‘Walk with Light’
The title of this website is borrowed from an anecdote by Judith Burdan, in her article, “‘Walk with Light’: Guiding students through the Conventions of Literary Analysis” (English Journal, March 2004).
In the article, Judith Burdan tells a story about teaching a unit on ‘Found Poetry,’ when a high school student came to her office to chat.
The student asked, “Why did you become an English teacher?” After describing a passion for education, language, and literature, the student appeared to be inspired and asked her to follow him, to see his favourite poem.
She agreed to this, and her student led her outside the school building and down the street to a street corner where a traffic sign read, “Walk with Light.”
We took a moment to study the sign, and then we looked at each other with big grins on our faces, allied in our enjoyment of the play of language. He had given me the perfect way to convey the experience of poetry.
Judith Burdan
Burdan’s anecdote illuminates a few dimensions of my own philosophy of teaching literature and an awareness that we as readers are co-creators of meaning when we interact with a text.
I believe that play is integral and the spirit of play is often where we find intrinsic motivation. Don’t take my word for it. I hope to post more about the research supporting pedagogy that includes ‘play’ in future posts.