Hicks described Jake’s differences between his experiences at home and at school. At home Jake was free to move around whenever he pleased, doing instead of talking were common, and learning through hands-on experiences. At school Jake’s experience was quite the opposite. It became increasingly further from his experiences as he got older. Hicks explained how Jake’s kindergarten experience was a success for him. This was because he was allowed to move around as he pleased. His teacher seemed to have a positive outlook on Jake “roaming”. She stated, “He’s always on task; it just might not be your task.” I believe that this point of view should be welcomed by more teachers. Many kindergarten teachers do an excellent job at allowing their students to freely move around. This is especially important because these children are as Hicks explained, constructing connections with school on their own terms. Each year a child moves into a new grade, they need to have the opportunity to do this. We should not assume that just because a student has reached fifth grade that they do not need time to adapt and form their own connections with this new grade level.
Sega video games were a favorite past time of Jake’s. I found it interesting that Gilbert and Gilbert relate these video games to masculine discourses, which align with “power and aggression, with victory and winning, and with superiority and strength” (72). I agree that many video games such as the ones Jake enjoyed playing are marketed towards boys. It makes me wonder exactly why these games are so appealing to boys. Is it proof that this traditional male discourse is still in full swing? I believe so. I also wonder in the battle of brains versus brawn which one most parents would prefer their son to have. I would be afraid to view those results!
Jake and his father enjoyed collecting race car miniatures. It is not surprising that Jake was able to “read” the details of each car to identify the driver. Most children are able to do this with environmental print at an early age. However, I could not help but wish that more of his father’s time and energy was spent on helping him learn his ABC’s or sight words instead of NASCAR drivers and car identification. Jake’s father was a high school dropout and had little value for formal education. Jake’s mother was expressed her concern that Jake needed to learn how to read better in order to prepare him for college. My heart broke when his father stated that Jake was going to take over the family business. Why would his father be so selfish and make this decision so early for Jake? It is one thing to wish that your son would take over the family business but it is quite another to plan your child’s future and terminate the possibility of higher education. Of course Jake was happy with that idea because he disliked school so much.
To me, Jake’s outlook on school was a direct result of having difficulty developing a hybrid between his family social, and school discourses. Jake needed more freedom and connections to become successful in school. Were his teachers meeting his needs? I do not think so. I also do not think that they were doing this on purpose. When Jake’s teacher took his miniature race car away from him, she had no idea how much that tiny car meant to him. This situation makes me realize just how important it is to get to know our students and their discourses. Hicks made a statement that helped me come to a grim reality, “poor and working-class children don’t just reject our discourses; they reject us – the others whose gaze envelops them in a destructive value context.” This reminds me of just how important it is to develop relationships with my students. I know that I would not want to listen to or be critiqued by someone that I had no connection with, why should my students?
Stacy Durham
Comments (4)
Stacy,
You made some great comments about developing relationships with our students. They need to know that you value them as an individual and that they have something important to contribute to the class. This year several of my boys seemed interested in the military with family members serving overseas and one student reading nonfiction books about soldiers from our school library. We decided to become penpals with one of our teacher's fiancee serving in Afghanistan. This was some of the best writing I received from my boys all year. When they are connected with the school discourse, they engagement is stronger and the results are meaningful. It's important to know year to year what your current group of students are interested in to help them shift with greater ease between their home and school discourse.
I also felt Jake's father, unknowingly, was encouraging Jake to devalue school because of his own literacy histories. He seemed to be interested in creating a "mini-me" rather than encouraging Jake to value an education to improve his opportunities in the future.
Posted by Michelle Carlson | June 28, 2011 7:46 PM
Posted on June 28, 2011 19:46
Jake was truly a product of his environment, wasn’t he? I don’t think that his Dad was purposely limiting his future – I’ll bet that he was trying to be supportive of his son and the strengths that he knew Jake had. I would bet that his dad had school experiences, himself, that were not positive, and he didn’t want his son to feel like he was a failure because of his difficulties in school. I think, too, that his teachers did not realize they were actually not meeting his needs...they were just doing what the district/state tell us to do. I think we all walk a fine line between expecting students to meet school requirements for academics and behavior and allowing the students’ interests and learning styles to guide instruction. But you’re right, we really need to work at those relationships because those relationships are crucial to helping our children learn.
Posted by Marlee Wright | June 28, 2011 9:48 PM
Posted on June 28, 2011 21:48
Stacy,
You make an important point about the teacher taking Jake's car away. She did not know the power of that action and how it would effect Jake. Ironically, she may well have been hoping that by taking the car away that she would be able to engage him!
I felt that Jake had little 'freedom' at home and school. His dad had set his path and so had the school in how they would educate him. Whilst he flourished at home with literacy, there was little flexibility in gender roles and a career for the future. I think Jake would have benefitted from choice and freedom to choose his own path, despite the best intentions of his dad.
Posted by Karen Massey-Cerda | June 29, 2011 1:17 PM
Posted on June 29, 2011 13:17
Of course as a graduate student, I value higher education. In the community I was raised in, it was not a question of whether I would go to college, just which college I would choose.I have a different perspective, however, on Jake's father and their relationship. I agree that Jake should be given a choice in what he will do in the future. He should not be forced into the family business, but I also think it is not our place to force him into college. To me, accepting this non-college future as a possibility is part of accepting Jake's home life and that acceptance is part of what Jake needs to feel valued at school. I'm not saying Jake shouldn't go to college (if it were up to me he would), but I am saying that we, as teachers, need to accept all future possibilities for our students.
Posted by Andrea Schlobohm | June 30, 2011 3:20 PM
Posted on June 30, 2011 15:20