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

The discourses one involves himself in is not entirely due to the language used but the functions of that language in social relationships. We perform in dialogue in order to communicate with others – to establish our identity among others. Therefore, it becomes apparent why gender, race, and class affects one’s ability to grow and attain literacy education within a middle-class educational system, especially when we are first nurtured in these discourses by our living and actions at home with family that embodies us with love and empowerment. Though we are made to be individuals, we begin to define ourselves in relation to those around us and our personal commitments. No wonder children struggle when they first enter the school community. It’s because they are leaving an intimate relationship at home to be mixed within a limiting environment where already developed identities are conflicted with the expectations of school. School even alters the social setting one is allowed to partake in. Such became evident with Jake as he longed for environment that gave him choice and freedom to explore his interests. It’s ironic how Jake’s dad, a high school dropout, knew the reason for Jake’s conflictions and dislocation within school. He suggested that school needed to create an engaging environment that tapped into the interests of students in order to make a connection to literacy learning within the educational setting. I can’t help but think that his dad’s opinion and voice ring true because of the experiences and dislocations he felt with in the school setting. There is a need for schools to make changes in the way they deliver instruction, especially if we want them to experience a sense of belonging and security like the one felt at home.

For me, glimmers of hope began to shed upon Jake’s struggles as he found interest in writing and some of the second grade reading. This was only the result of the opportunity for Jake to write about anything he wanted. Through this, connections between school and home were beginning as he wrote about Nascar, trips, and his dad. As the structure and dynamics of the classroom changed and moved from less freedom of choice and exploratory methods, Jake’s conflictions and opposing feelings became more evident, especially as he acted out. The structure in school was new and unfamiliar, and he wanted to go with something that was more safe and familiar, which was his mode of learning and interacting at home in hands-on roles.

The role of gender in Jake’s view of school became obvious with the influences and expectations of his parents. Despite his mother’s voice promoting reading in order to achieve college, he ultimately listened to the voice of his father who felt he should take over the family business instead. These views show how voices shape an individual’s identity. Though two voices gave Jake two different identities, he decided to embrace the one from the person he admired the most – his dad. Perhaps, Jake saw himself becoming his dad as he grew older, especially with his father affirming that Jake was just like he was in school and also declaring that school wasn’t meeting his needs in the means best fit for his son. At home, sitting and talking and reading was associated with the female’s roles; therefore, when he was expected to do this at school, he felt conflict as it went against his identity of the male role of doing.

The story of Jake suggests that education needs to step up and do a better job at meeting the needs of each student. We have to make connections from home to school. Though kindergarten most closely resembled the hands-on exploratory learner completed at home, a transition needs to be made to carefully intertwine home within school in the upper grades. The goal shouldn’t be to establish differences and set perimeters that make home and school separate. Instead, educators must find a way to infuse home within education so students will be more open and successful within the classroom. Thus confirming the need for teachers to know who their students are beyond school, and a great way to accustom ourselves with their interests in order to tie it into their learning is to deliver simple interest surveys. By doing this, we aren’t forcing them to distract themselves because they are frustrated with the mode of instruction, which is similar to the episode of Jake playing with a car on his desk during instruction. He was doing so because his interest in Nascar gave him an outlet to avoid dealing with something unfamiliar and opposite to the identity he had incurred at home. Our role as a teacher needs to focus on building the relationship between our working-class students, or any student for that matter, in order reach and effectively educate them. Wondering the “what if’s” in Jake’s situation, what if Jake’s teacher would have been male? Would there been a difference in how he reacted towards the teacher and the tasks delivered by the male teacher? Would the modes of instruction shifted more towards the needs of Jake’s? These questions leave me suggesting that Jake would have most definitely embraced the school community differently, possibly being more accepting of it as his idea of the male gender role shifted to include teaching and the skills it required. One of the shortfalls of primary education is the lack of male teachers. Because we know gender roles affect how a person perceives things, offering a male influence within the classroom would change how our students view school and how they are taught as they are taught from the discourses presented by a male teacher.

Melissa Riley