These two articles were very interesting because the students in the acrticles felt unheard and without a voice. In the Henry article these girls felt that they must become silent to blend in. I was frustrated by this article because I felt that the fingers were being pointed at teachers for not doing their part. I feel that teachers do the best they can with the students they have. I think that middle school is not just an important and critical time for these girls but for all students of this age. Why did just these students get pulled out. There are many situations that all children this age are going through and we as teachers need to figure out how to help them but I don't think it was fair for just these girls to get pulled out just because of their race and their language skills. In the article Henry stated that "traditional forms of literacy education have required silence, invisibility, and other forms of accomodations." My question to this was why does this author think that these girls voices have been silienced. She never seemed to really explain this she just kept stating it. I feel that yes teachers need to try to bring in students culture into teaching about things that they can relate to, but there is so much for teachers to get through in a year that we are lucky if we just get the required things in.
I think the Noll article was very interesting too. I felt very bad for the way the students percieved themselves and struggled with their culture and how to find a happy medium with their school lives. They seemed to both feel more comfortable outside the school environment and they thought of school as a job that they wanted to leave there everyday. I found it very interesting how the Native American children used music and art to interpret reading and writing. I had never thought the way they had with music and art. I do however think that these children were very intelligent and that they just were not as interested in school. They had many other different things going on outside of school. I think that Daniels teachers did try to engage him in the classroom with some of the choices in work but he was just not interested in them. I think that he felt that his teachers were not trying very hard to see who he was as an individual and therefore he just became voiceless and they thought that he was not a fard worker. I think that Zonnie had more friends but she did not like the attention that they gave her about her poems. She felt that her work was personal and that it shouldn't be read outloud. I feel that Zonnie still felt like she disappeared because her teachers did not take an interest in knowing who she was either.
I know that as a teacher I take all my students interest at heart. I make sure to learn about who my students are and to make sure that they are not falling silent or voiceless in my classroom. I think this happens more so in the upper grades, middle, and highschool level. So many children come through those doors of the classroom and I think that the teachers have a hard time finding the time to speak and learn about these students. I am fortunate enough that in kindergarten I am able to spend ample amounts of time with my students and make sure that they are being heard.
Megan Machuga
Comments (7)
I think that the reason these girls were 'voiceless' is because white culture is what most school related reading is about. These girls were unable to express the stresses and difficulties of the their lives becasue they were not accpetable by the larger group standard. Not to say that some of the same problems don't happen in white culture, these things just did not seem to have a place in the classroom they were apart of.
Posted by Shannon Keough | June 16, 2009 3:23 PM
Posted on June 16, 2009 15:23
Megan I agree with you on the fact that these students seemed very intelligent. I like how you pointed out that Daniel's teachers tried to reach out to him, but at the end of the day he was still very ready to go home. I think as educators, we need to continuously reach out and strive to interest these students and help them to become very engaged in a typical classroom setting. I too find it very important to find an interest in all of my students and get to know them personally. You are so lucky to be able to spend a great amount of time getting to know each of your students that come through your classroom doors.
Posted by Erica Spicer | June 16, 2009 4:12 PM
Posted on June 16, 2009 16:12
Shannon hit the nail on the head. The curriculum and teaching going on for these minority students had nothing to do with their lives. The white kids were getting what they needed, and the minority was thrown a bone. (Write a letter). The assignment was unimportant to Daniel. In fact, the work was so meaningless, even though I think Daniel would have presented as an eager and diligent student in other circumstances, he just didn't care about the work. It was meaningless to him. He was unorganized because it wasn't important in his priority list.This is where the bombshell exploded for me...the myriad ways students might make meaning for themselves, even in difficult circumstances and against all odds. To a degree, some individuals in minority groups may choose to alienate and remain aloof from others in the school environs.But it's a given they might, because they still have nothing in common with white culture, no matter how hard they might try to assimilate.
Posted by Annie Croon | June 16, 2009 5:40 PM
Posted on June 16, 2009 17:40
Megan: I hear the question you’re asking, “Why do these young girls feel the need to be silent”? But maybe you don’t understand their need to “blend in” because our world as we know it is white, middleclass, and majority male dominated. These girls and their worlds are totally the opposite of what we know and experience daily. They do not have the required skills or necessary discourse to “blend” into our world, so they have felt it necessary to be silent and blend in the only way they know how. The author, Noll felt the need to conduct this research because she knew there were a deficit and a growing problem with these girls and their race. She understands and explained about her own race and why she felt it was essential to pull these girls and try to reach them outside of school. Yes, I feel that it is partially the teachers’ responsibility to know all her students, and try to reach them all on their level. After all, isn’t that what true differentiation is all about?
Posted by Toni Wheeler | June 16, 2009 6:20 PM
Posted on June 16, 2009 18:20
I was interested in your viewpoint as well as the comments others have made. We need to remember different cultures look at "silent" girls as a good thing, a quality that is admired. Unfortunately it is because they are not expected to think for themselves. We, as educators must find a connection to enable us to reach these children so they don't become pawns, manipulated to serve another's own ends. I grew up in a household where the boys ruled, girls worked and were silent. We must keep in mind, minority is not necessarily determined by color or ethnic group. Many "normal" kids become the minority when they are overlooked for what ever reason.
Posted by Grandma Cunningham | June 16, 2009 7:36 PM
Posted on June 16, 2009 19:36
Megan,
I don't think Henry was pointing any fingers at specific teachers per se but to culture in general. And the reason the girls were in their own group was for a research study.....
Race *DOES* matter, and Henry saw their difference as a strength, not as a deficit. Henry does indeed give a very detailed explanation about race, gender, and silence, so her study was justified in that way.
Posted by Alecia Jackson | June 16, 2009 8:21 PM
Posted on June 16, 2009 20:21
Megan,
I read your questions about why these girls are called “voiceless” and had to go back to the text. These girls were ESL students already, so they were receiving pull out services. (That’s fairly standard, or seems to be in my county.) The reason Henry chose the ones to highlight that she did is because they stayed around and in the program for the longest amount of time.
On page 242, Henry explains that “Voice becomes problematic for students like Kay who find themselves in a strange and new land, as well as for non-White students who do not speak Standard English, yet who are compelled to express themselves in what Carol Boyce Davis called ‘a master discourse’.” All of that to say, these young ladies were chosen because they were incredibly hesitant to participate in class assignments OR on the Tamisha end of the spectrum, did not know socially acceptable ways to address complex topics.
I agree with you on the need to have open discussions like this with all adolescents! It’s difficult with time constraints and scheduling issues to build in advisory programs, but that’s one of the cornerstones of true middle school philosophy. Most middle schools around here are a mix of junior high & middle school. My team is attempting to work in an A-A time next year with the help of encore staff. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them!
Ruth
Posted by Ruth Johnson | June 16, 2009 8:23 PM
Posted on June 16, 2009 20:23