The Significance of NCTE Journals

Question: What are the effects of reading the articles in NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) journals?

Quote: “But what is less available through this perspective is the cumulative effect that NCTE journals have had on their readers over time—how the studies reviewed here made their way (or did not) into the thinking and practices of NCTE members, in their roles as researchers, teachers…and as writers. How did articles sink in? How did the scenes of our teaching and research adjust as a result of our encounters with journals? These are question in need of their own empirical investigation.” P. 213.

Comment: During my three years (1967-1970) as a doctoral student at Syracuse University, I proposed a dissertation topic that was rejected by my adviser. (In fairness to her, I failed to do  my homework. The questions in the preceding quote should have been part of my preparation before bringing the topic to her attention.) What would happen, was my question, if I showed teachers how to read journal articles efficiently, showed them how to find the interesting ideas quickly. I guess I was ahead of my time. Now that the NCTE is 100 years old, questions are being raised about the effects of reading their journals. It may be time to raise my question about the effects of efficient reading of journals again. RayS.

 Title: “Struggles for Perspective: A Commentary on ‘One Story of Many To Be Told’: Following Empirical Studies of College and Adult Writing Through 100 Years of NCTE Journals.” Deborah Brandt. Research in the Teaching of English (November 2011), 210-214.