7.1 Schemata

When and Where Did I Find It: I found this term as I was reading Chapter 30 in the Handbook of Reading Research for class this week. 

Full citation Pressley, M. (2000).  What Should Comprehension Instruction Be the Instruction Of? (2000).  In M.L.Kamil, P.B. Mosenthal, P. D. Pearson, & R.Barr, (Eds.) Handbook of Reading Research (vol.3, pp. 545-586)).  Mahwah, NJ:  Lawrence Erlbaum Associate

What it Means:  According to dictionary.com, schemata (the plural form of "schema") is "an underlying organizational pattern or structure; conceptual framework."  Pressley (2000) states that "schemta helps people understand events easily.  Activated schema causes reasonable inferences to be made about details of the event" (p.549).  He goes on to elaborate and state that "schematic processing is top-down in that activation of the higher order idea occurs first and affects thinking about the details of the situation" ( p. 549).
Schemata. (n. pl.) In dictionary.com.  Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/schemata


Level of Familiarity:  As a graduate student studying Literacy education, I have encountered this concept numerous times.  We have learned that schematic processing affects comprehension from early in life and that such knowledge permits students to draw inferences from text.  


Do I Want to Know this Word Well & Why?  Yes, of course I want to know this term well as I think it is a valuable word.  I think its so important to activate our student's background knowledge and draw from their schemata and past experiences as we teach content.  When we help students make these connections before, during, and after they read, we are teaching them critical comprehension strategies that the best readers use unconsciously. 


Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well... if so Who and Why?  Yes, Definately! I think all teachers should have a solid grasp of this term.  We need to explicitly teach students strategies that  proficient readers use when trying to make sense of text in hopes deepen understanding and create independent readers.