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

Noll really opened my eyes. I hadn’t thought of literacy in those terms. And I wrote my thesis in college on multiple literacies, and the effects of gender, behavior difficulties, and the home environment. So I KNOW there are multiple literacies, just as there are multiple intelligences. I just never addressed the arts; I mean, literally, the arts of music, dance, and art. Those Lakota and Dakota students made meaning for themselves in new and unique ways that I had not seen before.

First, I must say, I must be a little slow on the uptake. I mean, the grand objective of reading is making meaning, right? Comprehension is the ultimate goal, and when students can understand what they “read”, they are literate. But there is so much more to “reading” than I ever thought before. There doesn’t even have to be a letter recognition component, because stories can be told rather than written down. How incredibly novel, (no pun intended), for a story to be related rather than written. And that constitutes literacy! Well, making meaning of one’s world, making a place for oneself in an environment where I am the minority (or even marginalized) also constitutes literacy! Imagine that!

The students in the study were using reading and writing to somehow construct meaning in their lives. In order to understand how they did this, we must agree with Noll to broaden the definition of literacy and the construction of meaning through language AND other forms of expression. Decoding meaning from any of these forms means literacy is present.

Daniel was fortunate to have his parents to teach him about the familial ways. His father sounds like a wise man to me, and someone I would call “friend”, if he would let me. Daniel’s exposure to two different cultures makes him a gifted and richly blessed individual. But he must also struggle with ugliness in the forms of racism and discrimination from those who may not even appreciate his special gifts. Daniel could sing cultural songs of his people, could speak to others through his drum music, and could tells stories in ways we can not begin to understand. Daniel had trouble finding his way through “white man’s stuff”, and found himself uninterested in his politics, history, or current events. Really, no surprise there, Teachers! Daniel’s identity was clearly formed apart from the standards and objectives of any white man’s education, and the little importance that student placed upon its requirements should have been forseen by someone.

Zonnie found a way to express herself through poetry. Her feelings and thoughts found an outlet there. Zonnie had trouble writing, because the writing assignments were unconnected to her life. HINT… writers write what they know…that’s where good writing comes from. So how could we possible expect her to have any interest in those assignments? Even in her journal, the teacher rarely responded to Zonnie’s thoughts
( probably because he / she couldn’t relate at all!) Zonnie wrote about discrimination in her journal. She described her life’s experiences there, and tried to work out her questions and problems there. So literacy became for Zonnie, a way to deal with racism and her culture.

As educators, we must be aware of the many forms and disguises in which we can find literate practices in our students’ lives. I had never thought about literacy in these terms, but I will be much more on the lookout for signs of meaning being made through alternate means in my students’ lives.

Annie Croon