Noll’s qualitative case study discussed an obvious and necessary truth for us as teachers: know your students and build your curriculum on this knowledge. Being aware of the surrounding community in which you teach and the cultural dynamics of your students is crucial if they are to feel valued as individuals.
Noll’s article made this necessary truth all the more vital at the middle and high school level when adolescents of all backgrounds are searching for a sense of identity. However, the study was conducted in 1998. I would like to think that we have taken much greater strides in the types of literacies we offer our students and the value we place upon their cultural background in order for them to express their thoughts, culture and emotions.
It was surprising to read the parents reactions to Noll’s ‘literacy club’. The association they had with the term literacy as a “euphemism for illiteracy” made me think about our Spanish partners in print ‘literacy’ nights that we offer at our school. Are we sending that message, despite us implementing a program with the intentions of simply helping children to read and develop literacy experiences?
The study challenged me to think about my current literacy practices. I work in a school with an extremely diverse population. For many of the students in my classroom, irrespective of their cultural background, I know that specialty areas such as music, art and drama are often cited as a favorite part of the elementary school day. For some of our challenging students, it is what keeps them connected to their learning. The arts provide multiple opportunities for literacy expression and a means to make sense of the world. As Noll explains, “the ways in which the adolescents “read the word and the world” in a variety of contexts”.
Food, books, literature and the use of discussion and media are predominantly the means by which I try to meaningfully integrate students’ cultural backgrounds. Our reading program offers many diverse texts from multiple countries that my students enjoy discussing and can empathize with. The Hmong and Hispanic students in my room have enjoyed bringing in traditional clothing centered around festivals, discussed foods and stories from their own culture along with sharing their language with others. Many of my students have discussed the reasons why their parents chose to leave their native countries and they often discuss the role bilingualism plays in their lives.
I also offer multiple literacies in my room including poetry, technology, art and reading and genre writing. My students are engaged writers in their daily journals in our writer’s workshop. They often have free choice to write about their own experiences and often do write about Hmong and Hispanic family celebrations.However, these activities are not always purely from a cultural base. I need to bridge the gap further by planning more cultural based topic choices. For example, students often create their own poetry however, the models are often chosen by me and the content is not centered primarily on cultural background and experiences. I offer students experiences in multiple genres so why not multiple cultural topics? I realize that I am a work in progress and need to do as Noll suggested, “to adopt a wider lens” for deeper understanding of my students views of the world.
Zonnie certainly appeared to have more of these types of opportunities than Daniel who “seemed to lack a sense of belonging”. (Noll). Her teacher took the time to plan a poetry unit with discussion about racism and prejudice. However, it was evident that there was a great deal of wasted opportunity and potential for both of these students. They clearly loved literary expression, which shone through in their writing artifacts and career hopes. As Noll notes, meaningful literacy opportunities that link home and school “ Can serve to make visible their cultural knowledge and perspectives” and reveal the literacy strengths of students.
Karen Massey-Cerda
Comments (7)
Karen, I think we all are a work-in-progress, especially when understanding the cultural lens that our students use to view the world. We need to improve the link between home and school, and as teachers, we should be the first to take that step. I appreciate you using your own classroom activities as examples of your work-in-progress. I too need to incorporate more of these types of activities allowing my students to self-select genres of expression and topics that truly relate to them and their interests, especially when I'm hearing many of my students prefer the specialty areas of art, drama, physical activity, music, and computers too. All too often, I forget about these areas as helping to develop and express literacy. There's an appeal to these content areas from our students so we need to be proactive and take notice that this is often the result of their interests and preferred methods of expression. By doing this, we can truly develop a student-centered curriculum. After all, are they not the reason we teach?
Posted by Melissa Riley | June 9, 2011 10:07 PM
Posted on June 9, 2011 22:07
I think it's great that you are trying to integrate the backgrounds of your students. I agree that one of the best ways to integrate different cultures is by using multicutural texts. Writer's Workshop is a great way for students to express themselves through various writing genres. One idea that came to mind and forgive me if you have already did this, but I thought a good way for them to express themselves would be through Bio-Poem of themselves. It would be a great way for them to address some of their cultural issues. By allowing your students to share their culture in your classroom is a great way for everyone (teachers & students) to understand those students. I'm sure they are very proud to share with their peers and teachers.
Posted by Karin Scott | June 9, 2011 10:42 PM
Posted on June 9, 2011 22:42
I thought you made an interesting point when you discussed the fact that this study was conducted in 1998. This fact also made me believe (and hope) that educators have improved upon bridging this large gap between cultures. Many schools now have a wide variety of text that relates to students of various backgrounds. Several art and music classes do an excellent job at incorporating other cultures into their lessons. These classes also provide a different teaching style for students. Educators’ knowledge on how to better serve students of different cultures is growing. The most knowledge teachers can acquire will come from listening and learning about each student as an individual.
Posted by Stacy Durham | June 9, 2011 11:23 PM
Posted on June 9, 2011 23:23
Hey Karen,
Teacher's have become more aware of cultural differences and are beginning to come around in the type of literature they have in the classroom. My concern is as yours I think that we are oftentimes confined to NCSCS and the tests from the state. since minorities are as they are the test are geared towards white. Bet our scores would reflect success on behalf of our minority children if the tests would change.
Posted by candace kee | June 10, 2011 11:21 AM
Posted on June 10, 2011 11:21
Karen,
I had never really thought about how our Hispanic parents view Partners in Print. I guess I have always assumed that they felt as though it were a program designed to help them improve their literacy skills, a resource made available to them by the school. I have heard positive comments from the teachers, but I am not sure that I have heard positive comments from the parents. I wonder if any of them see it as an attempt by the teachers to correct thier children's supposed deficiencies? I wonder what Mrs. Alfaro would have to say about it? I truly hope that we are not sending a negative message to parents without even realizing it!
Posted by Leslie Rothenberger | June 10, 2011 6:08 PM
Posted on June 10, 2011 18:08
Karen,
I haven't seen Partners in Print in a while. If this is the same progam I looked at about 10 years ago, I wondered how effective it would be. Thanks for the insights to this.
Posted by Karen Gold | June 11, 2011 10:44 PM
Posted on June 11, 2011 22:44
Karen,
I'm so glad that you glommmed onto the phrase "make visible" at the end of your post. I think that so much of what is done in schools can "make visible" the things that are most important to students -- if the teacher is paying attention, that is. From your description, it sounds as if you are *always* paying attention and making all kinds of ways of knowing "visible" in your classroom. Excellent!
Posted by Dr. Jackson | June 15, 2011 9:27 AM
Posted on June 15, 2011 09:27