Wow, I think I know how my students feel after reading Chapter 1 and 2. I had difficulty myself with some of the language and had to reread constantly to gain meaning.
I think I get the general idea of how discourse the student has experienced at home influences their learning and perception of discourse at school. I also agree that most students need to feel loved and a sense of belonging at home as well as at school to be able to open up to learn.
In chapter 1 the author commented on how the school setting sometimes is distancing and sometimes embracing. In reading these first two chapters I found ideas that made me feel both. For example, I embrace the idea that educators hope that education will result in change of oppression. I also agree that we are limited by our pedagogical expectations especially when it comes to intervention. By the time we meet the expectations of our curriculum in as creative a way as possible, our time is running out to go back and work with those who just don't pick it up as quickly. Unfortunately it is usually those students who lack the prior knowledge or discourse that would have helped them make the connection.
At my school our students are not making good Math connections. They do not seem to begin with a good foundation about numbers. This has been a topic of debate all year as we examined how we are teaching Math. It isn't the fact that we aren't teaching it, but seems to stem from a lack of discourse about numbers, time and even money before they come to school, that sets a purpose for Math. It also seems to be most evident in our economically challenged subgroup. As I read Chapter 1 I began to think about the NCLB, middle class practices and expectations and thought again about what a social injustice this is for those subgroups although this is supposed to help those very groups to not be left behind.
The quote that begins Chapter 2 confirmed for me why we as teachers must point out and teach strategies to our students so therefore they can begin to make sense of new ideas on their own. So many of our students come to school with very little prior knowledge about the world. Many of them have a large repretoire of family experiences like we read about with Jake and Lee Ann but few experiences outside of that circle or outside their home area. I like the idea of getting to know a child's background and social circle through home visits as a means to enlighten our teaching approach. But then also working toward giving them as much experience and knowledge as we can point out, as the books says "school and teachers can transform and create new positions." This challenges us later in the Chapter as it states "construct pedagogies that our students can easily move between at school and at home."
I embrace the idea of listening to and using the experiences and stories they do bring in an unbiased manner to engage them and empower them to learn and experience more through others language and experience which is exactly the idea we read about in "The Skin That We Speak".
Comments (4)
Sara,
I agree I had too had to read many of the sections over and over. I also believe that children need to have a sense of belonging to open up to new ideas. I remember when I was in 3rd grade I had a teacher that yelled all the time in an angry tone. She and I had problems as I would shut down rather then listen to her yelling. Neither of my parents yelled and to this day yelling bothers me. I remember talking to this teacher with the school counselor and I told her it was the yelling that bothered me. She said my second grade teacher yelled. It was true my second grade teacher did yell sometimes, but she also loved and we new she loved us. She did not yell in the same way. It all goes back to listening to yourself as a teacher. This teacher thought her yelling was okay because the other teacher yelled. She did not try to listen as if she were a third grade child. I was the one with the problem because I could not deal with the yelling.
Laura Wollpert
Posted by Laura Wollpert | June 5, 2007 5:24 PM
Posted on June 5, 2007 17:24
Sara,
Your example of math discourse is so interesting. I am glad that the book so far is already helping you to think about the various discourses that children bring to school, and how you can bridge gaps by closely examining their home contexts.
I also really like the connection you made, in your last paragraph, between the previous text and the beginning of this one. Great!!
Alecia
Posted by Prof. Alecia Jackson | June 5, 2007 10:03 PM
Posted on June 5, 2007 22:03
Sara-
I completely agree with your statement about children coming to school with few experiences to connect ideas to. This is very common in my school. Vacations are something rich people, according to my students. They do not have the opportunity to build upon other experiences.
I also liked your statement about listening to children and their experiences. If we stop and listen to our kids we find out so much about them, often times, more than we wish to know (abuse, neglect,etc.)
Posted by Lisa Outland | June 6, 2007 3:46 PM
Posted on June 6, 2007 15:46
Sara, I to agree that the discourse students experience at home influences their learning and perception of discourse at school. School can feel distancing for children because of the middle class beliefs and ideology that schools are founded on. It may not be beliefs that some families share. Not saying they don’t feel the same way.
I enjoyed reading your response on discourse and how it relates to math. The lack of math skills student have does have a lot to do with how they are raised. Just as print may not be a big part of home life for children from working families, math may not be also. I think about one of the boys my mom baby sits. His family is millionaires and the way they use math at home is different from what a working class family would do with their children. For instance, the 6 and 9 year old boys count their money and discuss how much they have in the bank so they know how to count money at an early age. Their dad also discusses the stock market with them and even though they may not understand it, all they learn math skills in that as well. This is different from what children from working class families may experience.
I think we should get to know a child's background and social circle through home visits. It helps us understand the whole child and be better equipped to work with
Posted by Danielle Griffin | June 6, 2007 8:24 PM
Posted on June 6, 2007 20:24