RES 5535: Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research (summer 2009)

Wow! I enjoyed Noll’s qualitative research study of Zonnie and Daniel. For only being in middle school, I feel they carry a lot baggage and intelligence with them. My heart goes out to both of them because they have to play two roles in life (learning in a predominately white public school and also carrying on the traditions of their heritage/family outside of school). Just like other articles we have read about non-whites fitting into two different “worlds”, the same goes for Daniel and Zonnie, whom amazed me with their talent in literacy and the arts. For being looked at as being disorganized/lazy in school (Daniel) and mediocre (Zonnie) their stories, journals, music, and poems were very impressive.
I wish I could have somehow helped Daniel with his sense of belonging in the school. I was slightly upset by the fact that white kids would pick on him and when his parents went to ask for help with this, there was no help from anyone. I give credit to Daniel for not wanting to use tae kwon do on those kids before given permission by his father. It must be very hard to want to be liked by others and instead he was verbally and physically abused by them. It makes me realized, that as a teacher, I must make connections with my students and understand why they might not be turning in assignments or focusing in class. He is a bright kid and if given a little motivation and encouragement from a teacher it might have pushed him in the right direction. Instead they sounded like they were frustrated with him when he did not turn in work. If asked “why” about these things, he might have told them and gave his teachers an understanding to his behavior/lack of assignments. It is not like he did not have supportive parents at home to push him if someone were to show interest in his academic talents.
Zonnie… what an amazing poet for only being 14 years old. I also felt much sympathy for Zonnie when she went on about how she enjoyed her reading teacher and that her teacher understood her love for reading, when actually the teacher said she didn’t know Zonnie liked to read and called her “mediocre”. We should be trying to lift up those mediocre students and pay attention to them, instead of allowing kids to think we are listening to them when we as teachers, don’t know what they are interested in. Zonnie and Daniel are falling through the cracks of our education system when there is so much that we could be encouraging them in. How disappointing. :(
In reading Annette Henry’s article on “Speaking Up” and “Speaking Out” I liked the literacy ideas she used to get African Caribbean girls to use their voice. Making connections through reading and writing using background that they can relate to makes for good discussion and allowed these girls to express their thoughts.
I also felt sympathetic for these girls as I put myself in their situation. To be in a new country, without some part of your family or living with relatives, observing different cultures, and trying to learn a new language, would be very scary for me and leave me voiceless as well. I would be afraid to speak up because I would be afraid to be wrong or offend someone. By the sounds of Henry’s article, the girls were able to eventually communicate theirs thoughts on reading and current events, along with discussing their feelings and asking questions.
The podcast mentioned that the qualitative research articles need to be “rich, thick, descriptions” on the research. In some way I felt this article way so descriptive in parts that I needed to go back and reread these sections many times. (Rereading it may have confused me more in some parts, but for the most case I understood her study and outcomes.) Side note: As curious as I was to know what Tamisha shared with the group, I found it sincere of Henry to not disclose this information. She obviously respected her enough to leave it out of her study. Kudos!
Barbara Terauds