I really enjoyed this article because I find Native American culture so fascinating. Daniel and Zonnie’s stories were heart wrenching, especially when they both talk of the discrimination they faced, and I think I finally caught on to the point of qualitative research. When you get pulled into a story like these, you can’t help but become interested in what becomes of them and how their stories can help others.
Daniel’s story was the one that pulled me in the most. Out of the two students, he seemed to be the most involved in his native culture, and that really showed through in his actions. I really related to his love for music. While I don’t play an instrument, I am attached to music. It is always around me and influences me in a way that other things cannot. Daniel surely taught me that music is a type of literacy, and I’d never thought of this concept. Of course it is! Daniel’s statement about this subject was powerful: “Singing the songs…was like telling a story about something” & “Every note is like a letter or a word. And when you talk…[the music] is just like a phrase…like a sentence or something” (page 214). As I think back on this, I can see that I actually have used music as literacy in my own classroom. Every semester, no matter what I’m teaching, music makes its way into my lessons. I find songs that are similar to poems we read; I play music that has similes and metaphors when I’m teaching those particular literary elements. But had I actually thought of music as literacy? Not really. The same goes with dance. I am not and never will be a dancer, but I know that there are certain types of dance, if not all, that tell a story. This is also literacy in its own right, and perhaps an even more powerful type than we realize. I really loved how Noll included cultural aspects of these children’s lives to prove that, while in the eyes of quantitative research, their race may not be the most successful, quantitatively, they actually are.
I actually got kind of incensed when I read Daniel’s thoughts on the school’s Civics curriculum. We can apply this to any school in the country. What would happen if whites were the minority, and say…Hispanics became the majority. Would we still teach Euro-American history? And if Hispanic history was taught instead, would we find it unfair that white students were forced to learn about it? It comes back to the somewhat egotistical view that many whites have, which has been discussed in this class before. Because whites are the majority, we feel that any minority should have our culture forced upon them. As Daniel stated, “What are politics anyway?...Politics, all that stuff, doesn’t really go with the Indian ways.”
Christy Rivers
Comments (6)
Christy,
Music is an important part of my life too. I began playing piano when I was six and have thoroughly enjoyed the benefit of being able to communicate through playing. No one agrues with the notion of "reading music." Music is a language that communicates powerfully. That is why I go back to the piano again and again to communicate my joy, express my sorrow, or relieve my stress. I return to the piano when I need to express my deepest feelings, even if there is no one to listen.
I cannot help but think when we allow students to communicate in the ways in which they are most literate, we may truly give them voice.
Posted by Lisa Rasey | February 28, 2009 10:59 AM
Posted on February 28, 2009 10:59
I love the idea of music as its own kind of literacy too. I love music because sometimes it can help us identify with how we’re feeling when we aren’t quite sure how to say it ourselves. Books always did that for me but I think it’s important that we realize that other mediums can do that for our students.
I’m glad you brought up the piece about history as well because it is something that bothers me when I look at our curriculum. So much of it is focused around the experience of European Americans in the US from the colonization of American all the way to the present. When other cultural groups are mentioned it isn’t always to recognize their achievements but to carefully explain how the choices the US made were right even if they infringed upon another group. I’ve always had a difficult time with Columbus Day for those reasons and in college my eyes were opened wide to what events occurred when Columbus landed in the New World those many years ago. I think we now, more then ever, have to become more aware of how we teach history and work to develop a curriculum that contains multiple perspectives.
Posted by Amie Snow | February 28, 2009 1:05 PM
Posted on February 28, 2009 13:05
Christy-
Tremendous thoughts! I had never thought of music as connected to literacy! That is exciting truth! I am so connected to music as well. It is just like when I read a book, I am pulled into a song, strong emotions or connections are ellicited, I had just not connected the two before. I have spent some time this week thinking about Daniel and Zonnie. I wonder what they are doing now. So many years after this research has been done, are they raising their own families now? Are they continuing on their Native American traditions? Is Zonnie still creating poetry? Has she passed that on to her children, or shared it in a public forum? I would love to read a follow up piece on these two--maybe a longitudinal study.
Posted by stefoni shaw | March 1, 2009 7:12 PM
Posted on March 1, 2009 19:12
I read your critique after I read a critique from another classmate regarding the targeted audience of the paper possibly being lawmakers. I maybe wrong, but I felt that she was saying this paper would be more beneficial to lawmakers because teachers should try to make the curriculum relevant to all students naturally. I think these two critiques are making two completely different points, but both addressing politics. In your last paragraph, you included a statement from Donnie: "“What are politics anyway?...Politics, all that stuff, doesn’t really go with the Indian ways.”
I am trying to connect these points because I think it is important to make the curriculum relevant to our students, and yes that idea can be represented in the classrooms. But, those who write the laws should listen as well because as Donnie said, "it doesn't go with Indian ways".
Posted by Elizabeth Griffin | March 2, 2009 5:45 PM
Posted on March 2, 2009 17:45
Christy,
You make an excellent point about whites forcing their beliefs on the minority. However, I am saddened that Daniel does not understand the value of politics, or how it could help or harm his people, which it has done in the past. Also there are many opportunities for American politics to be compared with Indian politics. While they are quite different, it would be an excellent reading strategy to use. One that might even peak his interest a little bit more.
Posted by Sarah Feinman | March 2, 2009 6:47 PM
Posted on March 2, 2009 18:47
Christy,
This a brilliant post. I don't have much to add to your colleagues' comments except to say that you made me remember that I could read music before I could read words; I could play a little tune on the piano by looking at the notes on the page. I had forgotten about this first act of literacy in my childhood!
Posted by Alecia Jackson | March 17, 2009 1:22 PM
Posted on March 17, 2009 13:22