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

Reading about Jake and his experiences with literacy was fascinating. I was not surprised that Hicks’ relationship with Jake was not like the close relationship she developed with Laurie. My relationships with my female students are somewhat different from my relationships with my male students – I think we just relate in different ways. Jake sounds like so many of the little boys I have taught over the years, the ones whose mothers told me at the beginning of the year “He’s all boy!” They are typically very active, interested (if you find the right topic!), busy, good-natured children, but they can be difficult to keep “on task” with school literacies. It was clear that Jake had a good kindergarten experience. It sounded like he was in a classroom in which developmentally appropriate practices were encouraged. I am often concerned that, with the academics being pushed earlier and earlier by the state curriculum, our kindergarten classrooms are beginning to look more like little first grades – mine included! In Jake’s kindergarten and second grade classrooms, it seemed that he had the opportunity to learn naturally, and to build on his strengths – in our school’s multiple intelligences magnet, he would be known as “logic smart.” In that situation, he thrived, and saw himself as successful. It seems to me that the teacher in first grade should have built on those strengths; however, they seemed to try to fit him into the school mold rather than fitting the school literacy to Jake’s needs. In an ideal world all teachers would have the time and resources to build on the interests and intelligences of the students. In the real world, though, with full classrooms of children with diverse backgrounds and different needs, it is a daunting task to plan the instruction for each child based on his/her interests.

It was interesting to me that Jake had such a literate home, even though his father didn’t graduate from high school. I would have thought, with his father’s reading interests, that he would have encouraged Jake in his school endeavors; however, that did not seem to be the case. In fact, he didn’t seem to feel the need for Jake to work towards a college education – he seemed to take the attitude that he himself had done just fine without one, so why would Jake need one? Although his father did not seem to agree, Hicks states “Jake and students like him must gain access to school literacies if they are to succeed in school and in the workforce.” (p. 132) I agree with that statement for the most part, but I don’t think every student is cut out for a college career. I think that, for some students, learning a trade – carpentry, welding, etc. – might be the best idea. I do think that knowing how to read and how to express oneself on paper is an important skill, even for someone learning a trade, and I would think that Jake’s dad would encourage him in that endeavor.

As I finished reading these chapters, I thought that Deborah Hicks hit the nail on the head when she said “Teaching is in these ways a process of reading – of immersing oneself in the particulars of students’ lived realities and of creating new histories of practice with students.” (p. 153) However, as she went on to note, “Some understanding of the particulars of community life seems crucial. This is not so much a set of general theories about “what works” for working-class children. Rather, it is an effort to learn about this community, this neighborhood, this family.” (p. 154) After reading the articles and the book we have used for this course, I know that I need to plan to spend more time listening to students and their parents, both informally and formally, as I get to know my class for next year...a daunting task, as I mentioned earlier, but one that I feel is important if I am to be the teacher I want to be.

Marlee Wright