I question whether I got this or not. But here it goes.
At one time I was the working glass girl in the middle class classroom trying to find the “me in the we” of the classroom. It was second grade when both my parents were laid off and we went on food stamps, at least that is what mom tells me. Yes, at that time we were in a different class. However, “My family had middle-class aspirations and pushed education strongly (5).” Both my parents worked hard to quickly overcome the hardships and by third grade we were building a house on 3 acres of land. I learned by example that hard work pays off and education would make my life easier.
The theme of diversity within the classroom resonates in this piece also. Schools are for the middle class, but aren’t the middle class often the minority? Our classrooms are filled with different races, classes, and gender. Once again, we are looking at how classrooms are not paying attention to what “history” children bring with them into the classroom- this time it focuses on class. Hicks believes that the way a child is socialized at home effects how they relate to school literacies. This does not mean children have to fail. She feels children can shift among the two discourses of home and school. As educators, we must not ask children to forget who they are when they walk into our rooms. We must not write them off because of the amount of their paychecks or the looks of their clothes. Take what you know about their backgrounds and work with it.
Tamera Wilson
Comments (6)
What I saw here was not only taking the child from where they are but take into consideration the parents input into the child's literacy. As for the minority, I believe the middle class is becoming the minority, at least in my school, 98% free and reduced lunch.
The discourse may certainly switch but as teachers I believe we should be in control and set the expectations at the beginning of the year.
Posted by Grandma Cunningham | June 22, 2009 8:45 PM
Posted on June 22, 2009 20:45
I had a professor who stressed the importance of home visits. I can't imagine, having heard anecdotes from some of my students, how some home visits might go. But as a teacher, we would gather vital, first hand information about our students' histories, familial and cultural attitudes, customs, and beliefs, and possible gain some insight into helping kids find a place to belong in an education system that was written somewhere else, for somebody else.
Posted by Annie Croon | June 22, 2009 9:21 PM
Posted on June 22, 2009 21:21
From a teacher standpoint we should not let our students leave their personalities/identities as the door and teach them our way. I think any caring teacher would allow for their students to shine through at any class level.
One of the things that my school did a couple of years ago was to initiate a uniform policy. At first, I was very against a uniform policy, but I noticed that as the kids walked into school in uniforms there was no way to identify the kid that had nice clothes and the kid that had ripped jeans and a dirty t-shirt. This allowed for all the children to see each other for their personality and not by their looks (from a money perspective). It allowed for an environment that was focused around the whole child (minus first impressions or lack of confidence because they could not afford high-end clothing).
Barbara Terauds
Posted by Barbara Terauds | June 22, 2009 9:59 PM
Posted on June 22, 2009 21:59
I hope no teacher would write a kid off because of their looks or clothes! If anything a student who comes to my class in dingy clothes probably needs more love! I find it really important to build a positive relationship with all of the parents of the students in my classroom. As a very young teacher this can be easy with some and very difficult with others. But then this way they always feel comfortable coming to me with needs and concerns.
Posted by Kelly Beckley | June 23, 2009 12:49 AM
Posted on June 23, 2009 00:49
Hopefully it does not matter to a teacher how their students look, but it does matter to the kids. They want to fit in and dress like their friends, I know I did as a child. It's heartbreaking to think a child will fail or be behind in school just because of the amount of money their family has. I think many kids do come to school with an opinion about literacy but it doesn't mean that kids who aren't read to at home will not become great readers. I completely agree with you, I do not want my students to forget who they are or what they come from. This is an important part of who they are.
Dana Eudy
Posted by Dana Eudy | June 23, 2009 11:10 PM
Posted on June 23, 2009 23:10
Tamera:
Yes, I really do believe you’ve got it! In fact in sounds like you lived it. But I think the only commonality you shared as a child growing up, with a lot of our students today, is just poverty. I would hate to think that teachers write off students because of the clothes they have on, or how much money their parent’s make. It sounded like even though your parents went through a though patch….that’s exactly what happened. They went through it. I don’t know what the determining external drive was to help them get through it but they did. Unfortunately, we have students, no fault of their own, whose parents can’t seem to work through their current situation. Not saying that these students are failures… because 12 out of 25 of my students were classified as economically disadvantaged this year…all 12 of them passed the EOG. I believe culture may play a small part in ones success, and their educational beliefs may play a larger part in ones success than what we want to admit.
Posted by Toni Wheeler | June 23, 2009 11:59 PM
Posted on June 23, 2009 23:59