Pat Shannon
Dr. Patrick Shannon
Penn State University, USA
Closer Readings of the Common Core
“A Closer Reading of The Common Core:
Reading Wide Awake”
April 14, 2013
7:00 p.m. EST/USA
Student Host: Natasha Thornton
Formerly a preschool and primary grade teacher, Dr. Patrick Shannon has worked at Penn State since 1990 as a faculty member within the Curriculum and Instruction Department, and has taught, worked with teachers, and conducted research across North America. His research addresses four questions: What is literacy? Who is considered literate? What is read and written? and How is literacy taught? These four questions are further delineated on Dr. Shannon’s website, http://www.personal.psu.edu/pxs15/PShannon/PShannon/Home.html. These four questions are situated within the concept of democracy with claims of equity and equality among citizens. He is the author, co-author, or editor of sixteen books, with his most recent titles Closer Readings of the Common Core (2013), Reading Wide Awake, and Reading Against Democracy. Currently, he is a professor 
of Education and the coordinator of the Reading Specialist certification program and the integrated undergraduate/graduate program for Special Education/Curriculum and Instruction. Dr. Shannon teaches reading methods courses for undergraduate majors within an Arts and Literacy Block, masters level classes within the Reading Specialist program, and philosophical foundations of educational research for doctoral students. As part of his personal interests, Dr. Shannon plays in a band called The Beaver with my friends from high school in Fairport, New York.
In his web seminar, Dr. Shannon will examine reading as agency–why reading critically is essential to civic engagement and a healthy democracy. In particular, Dr. Shannon addresses the Common Core Standards and argue for a more wide-awake reading of documents associated with national curriculum mandates. Dr. Shannon’s book, Closer Readings of the Common Core will be published in 2013 and published by Heinemann. He also has written, Reading Wide Awake: Politics, Pedagogies, and Possibilities, published by Teachers College Press.
A partial list of Patrick Shannon’s publications:
Books
Shannon, P. (in press). Reading poverty in America. New York: Routledge.
Shannon, P. (ed.). (2013). Closer readings of the common core: English language arts. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Shannon, P. (2011). Reading wide awake: Politics, pedagogies, and possibilities. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Shannon, P. (2007). Reading against democracy: The broken promises of reading instruction. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Shannon, P. & Edmondson, J. (eds.). (2005). Reading education policy: A Reader. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Goodman, K. Shannon, P., Goodman, Y & Rappoport, R. (2004). Saving our schools 
from No Child Left Behind. San Francisco, CA: RJR Books.
Kohn, A. & Shannon, P. (Eds.). (2002). Education, Inc.: Turning learning into a business. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Shannon, P. (2001). iSHOP You Shop: Raising questions about reading commodities. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Shannon, P. (1998). Reading poverty. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Murphy, S., Shannon, P., Johnston, P., & Hansen, J. (1998). Fragile evidence: A critique of reading assessment. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.
Giroux, H. & Shannon, P. (eds.). (1997). Education and cultural studies: Toward a performative practice. New York: Routledge.
Shannon, P. (1995). Text, lies, & videotape: stories about life, literacy, & learning. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Shannon, P. & Goodman, K. (eds.) (1994). Basal readers: A second look. New York, NY: Richard C. Owens.
Shannon, P. (Ed.). (1992). Becoming political: Readings and writings on the politics of literacy education. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Shannon, P. (1990). A struggle to continue: Progressive reading instruction in America. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Shannon, P. (1989). Broken promises: Reading instruction in 20th Century America. South Hadley, MA: Bergin & Garvey.
Goodman, K., Shannon, P., Freeman, Y., & Murphy, S. (1988). Report Card on Basal Readers. Katonah, NY: Richard C. Owens.
Partial list of published articles
Shannon, P. (in press). Frames, representation, and language matter in school reform. Reading Research Quarterly.
Shannon, P. & Goodman, K. (2011). Making sense of changes in reading education. Journal of Reading Education.
Shannon, P. (2011). Reading as transformative practice. English in Texas.
Eppley, K. & Shannon, P. (2011). Struggling with rural identities in teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education.
Shannon, P., & Tappan, C. (2011). Identification and Assessment of Children with Developmental Disabilities in Child Welfare. Social Work, 56(4), 297-305. doi:10.1093/sw/56.4.297
Eppley, K., Shannon, P., & Gilbert, L. K. (2011). “Did You Like Living in a Trailer? Why or Why Not?”: Discourse and the third space in a rural pen pal exchange. Teaching and teacher education: An International Journal Of Research And Studies, 27(2), 289-297.
Shannon, P. (2009). We can work it out: Challenge, debate and acceptance. Bookbird: A Journal of International Children’s Literature.
Shannon, P., & Anderson, P. (2008). Developmental Screening in Community Health Care Centers and Pediatric Practices: An Evaluation of the Baby Steps Program. Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities,46(4), 281-289.
Shannon, P. (2005). Wondering about NCLB. Journal of Language and Literacy Education [On-line], 1 (1), 20-31. Available: http://www.coe.uga.edu/jolle/2005_1/wondering.pdf
Shannon, P., Edmondson, J., & International Reading Association, N. E. (2005). Reading Education Policy: A Collection of Articles from the International Reading Association. International Reading Association.
Shannon, P. (2004). The Practice of Democracy and Dewey’s Challenge. Language Arts, 82(1), 16.
Shannon, P. (2004). Barriers to family-centered services for infants and toddlers with developmental delays. Social Work, 49(2), 301.
Shannon, P. (2003). Hog farms in Pennsylvania. Reading Teacher, 56(7), 688-90.
Shannon, P., & Edmondson, J. (2003). A rejoinder to Opuda and Arnold. Journal Of Research In Rural Education, 18(1), 42-44.
Edmondson, J., & Shannon, P. (2003). Reading first initiative in rural Pennsylvania schools. Journal Of Research In Rural Education, 18(1), 31-34.
Shannon, P. (2002). Philadelphia freedom. Reading Teacher, 56(1), 48-50.
Shannon, P. (2002). Critical literacy in everyday life. Language Arts, 79(5), 415-24.
Edmondson, J., & Shannon, P. (2002). The will of the people. Reading Teacher, 55(5), 452-54.
Kohn, A., & Shannon, P. (2002). Education, Inc.: Turning Learning into a Business. Revised Edition.
Shannon, P. (2001). We can work it out. Reading Teacher, 55(1), 72-73.
Shannon, P. (2001). What’s a fellow to do? Family literacy at this time in this place. Reading Online,4(9).
Shannon, P. (2001). My mind is going through them changes. Reading Teacher, 54(6), 586-88.
Shannon, P. (2001). Becoming political, too: New readings and writings on the politics of literacy education.
