Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research (Summer 2011)

While reading both chapters what struck me most was the idea of “code-switching”. It was a phrase I had not heard before, but I see now that it represents what should be a part of our students’ lives. Both Delpit and Dowdy refer to code-switching in some way. In Delpit’s chapter we read about her daughter seamlessly switching between her peers’ African American dialect and the dialect of Standard English. In Dowdy’s chapter, she explains how she was able to eventually speak in both “the Queen’s English” and her native Trinidadian, but only after she had begun to express herself through acting. I appreciate that through code-switching, people can maintain their culture and home language while expressing themselves acceptably in the business and academic world. I think the Obama video showcased a prime example of code-switching when he spoke to the waiter in the restaurant in Chicago. As the president, Obama has the ability to speak eloquently to the American people, but it’s good to see that he has not lost what may have been the local culture in which he was brought up. I feel that this should be a goal for us as educators, to encourage students to become successful in the professional world while not dismissing where they came from.

While reading these chapters I was reminded of the first school I taught at. At this school, the Hispanic population was about 90% and the remainder of the population was mostly African-American. We were lucky enough to have Title I funds to provide ESL support to both students and parents. A lot of time and effort was put into helping these families adjust to the American culture and schools and learn English. However, we were often disheartened at the minimal participation of both parents and students when programs were offered. After reading these chapters, I’ve begun to realize that perhaps we didn’t get much participation because we did not put much effort towards celebrating the cultures from which these students and families came. I know there were other factors (transportation, child care, work) that also did not allow significant family participation, but the families may also have felt inadequate and disrespected because instead of inviting them to share their language and culture in the school, we were simply thrusting our language and culture onto them. Of course the students that came to school every day attended ESL classes and learned the English language, but academic success was low. In the future, I will remember Delpit’s comments that we should integrate our students’ home lives and interests into the curriculum in order to better engage them. I think integrating their personal interests and cultures into the curriculum would have made a large difference for students and families. If we could teach these students in a way that would celebrate their individual histories and cultures, they may have had an easier time learning the English language. As Delpit said, “The less stress and the more fun connected to the process, the more easily it is accomplished.” Just like Delpit planned a unit around a moisturizer brand, we could have planned a unit around soccer (a very popular interest for most of our students).

In terms of Dowdy’s statement about “having the freedom to go back and forth from the home language to the public language without feeling a sense of inferiority,” I believe our country has a long road to travel. With a rising immigrant population and so many corresponding languages, we teachers have our work cut out for us helping these students to learn Standard English. I agree with Delpit that by working with these students’ backgrounds and home languages, we will be able to teach these students without making them feel inferior about where they came from. As educators, we want all students to feel that they are an accepted and appreciated part of our schools.

Andrea Schlobohm