RES 5530: Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research (Spring 2009)

I have to say, before starting this class, I was a little apprehensive of the online format. I had an awful experience with an online class at another university (which will go unnamed!) and was nervous that this would be similar. I guess you could say I was scarred from the experience. In actuality, this class has been one of the most informative and helpful ones I've ever taken. In my opinion, reflection is the most crucial ability for any teacher to have. It doesn't help your or your students if you can't look back on what you've done, assess its worth, and then tweak that to make it better. Especially in our ever-changing culture and society, reflection is a step that many take for granted, but I believe it is the most important. This class has assisted that most-important reflection.

With all of that said, this class has really allowed me to reflect on my practice specifically as it relates to race, class, and gender. As stated before, I grew up in a fairly diverse area and went to high school with a very diverse population of students. I have been somewhat culture shocked in my teaching career though. After teaching in rural Eastern Tennessee, where I was shocked everyday at the amount of discrimination and racist thoughts, I moved to the somewhat more open-minded area of Ashe County. I am still shocked quite often though at the closed-minded beliefs of some of these students, especially those related to Hispanics, Blacks, and homosexuals. This has made me want to up the ante of the amount of diverse material I bring into the classroom. These students may never have the opportunity to read novels authored by Black, Asian, or Hispanic authors. And maybe, just maybe, if they were to read a book by or about a minority, they might just change their views.

So, with my huge emphasis on reflection, it may come as no surprise that the quote I chose was the Michel Foucault one: "There are times in life when the question of knowing if one can think differently than one thinks, and perceive differently than one sees, is absolutely necessary if one is to go on looking and reflecting at all." One of our jobs as teachers is to push the limits of thinking for our students. It is especially important for our high schoolers to start thinking differently. Otherwise, they will have a very unwelcome shock once they move out into the real world or college. In order to do this, the teacher must also push their thinking constantly. What I loved most about this class is how it always made me question myself; I was constantly evaluating my teaching decisions and reflecting on how it impacts my students.This has, hopefully, benefited my students as well. The Skin We Speak was definitely my favorite of the two books, although Reading Lives grew on me. TSWS really challenged my thinking, especially in thinking about how minorities deal with the discrimination that comes with their race. To be quite honest, I hadn't given much thought to the fact that perhaps their literacy was affected by their race. But given language and dialectal differences, that only makes sense now that I've been given the chance to think about it.

I am grateful for this opportunity to study, albeit "virtually," with such an open-minded and supportive group of teachers. Unlike some of you, I haven't had the pleasure of meeting most of you face-to-face. But I have learned a great deal from reading your thoughts and hearing your thoughts on what I've written. I also am grateful for being able to work with Dr. Jackson--it's been a pleasure! And I am so appreciative that the texts that were chosen and the podcasts that were given to us for clarification were so thoughtfully done.

Hope everyone has a wonderful end to their school year!

Christy Rivers