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

As you mentioned that your students were engaged in reading all day long, I thought of my own first grade class. My students also have their hands on some form of literature for the majority of the day; in hopes of building a strong background in literacy. I also believe that Daniel and Zonnie’s teachers made little effort to make connections with their individual backgrounds through literacy. This is a simple step that all teachers can do. There are great rewards that come along with being knowledgeable about each of our students’ backgrounds. I have thought about starting each school year with a student interest form. This would provide a baseline of information before the students are comfortable enough to share their interests with me.

Kara, you made a good point about the amount of time our students are immersed in literature throughout the school day. What a wonderful opportunity to incorporate the different cultures of our students so that they may feel inclusion in their school culture as well as in their home. With as much time as students spend at school each day, I want to make them feel more at home and less like a visitor. I know I will now make a more conscience effort to find literature and opportunities in social studies and writing to give them connections to between school and their home life.

I don't really feel that the low self-esteem of Daniel and Zonnie was the result of low academic performance. Instead, I feel that both students were capable of performing at or above the expectations of the demands of each class. In fact, I was impressed at how the article mentioned that Daniel completed a writing task and was waiting in anticipation for the teacher to read his aloud as an example. I envisioned his disappointment when the teacher never read it for whatever reason (maybe due to lack of time or perhaps a generalization that Daniel didn't complete the assigned task to his/her expectations because of past incidences). Instead, I think the low school performance was the result of their apathy for school, which was created by the teachers who didn't connect to their culture and appeal to their interests, along with the rejection by peers who felt they were more superior.

I do agree that if the teachers had done a better job at knowing their students, they would have discovered that both Daniel and Zonnie were actually very intelligent and expressive through different methods of literacy. As teachers, we need to realize that the interests of our students are often connected to their cultural backgrounds, and these in turn affect and often demonstrate their capabilities. If the teachers in the article would have been more aware of these issues and taken the time to go beyond classroom standards created by a white society, then they would have better modeled and created an environment of acceptance among Daniel and Zonnie's peers with the hopes of eliminating the rejection, prejudices, and discrimination for those who may appear different or less capable.

I think one of the most disturbing issues in this article was the fact that the teacher didn't connect Daniel's learning to his interests. He could still learn History, but he could have learned more meaningful history. If given the opportunity to express himslf and learn more about his history and share that learning with the class, maybe he would have been more engaged in his learning. Teachers are sometimes more of the learning hinderance than the actual student. It is our job to reach every studnet. That is more work on our part and many teachers are not willing to go to extra work, but we must if we want all of our students to be successful. I think many times on the part of the teacher it may be that we don't want to admit how little we actually know about our students and their cultures, but we must overcome that and allow our students to teach us from time to time.

Interesting points about the relationship between self-esteem and literacy, Kara. I'm wondering too about the role of race and culture in the experiences of Zonnie and Daniel -- did you feel like there was discrimination or pressure to conform to white culture in any of the ways in which Zonnie and Daniel were treated in school?