Summative Self Critique
RES 5535
Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research
July 2, 2009
Reaching the end of the course, I have realized how important that cultural contexts are in literacy learning and expression. The research studies provided left an understanding of young children and their experiences with literacy in school, family, and other settings. I like Michel Foucault’s quote, “There are times in life when the question of knowing if one can think differently that on thinks, and perceive differently than one sees, is absolutely necessary if one is to go on reflecting and looking at all.” The course material left me wanting to conquer all issues at hand. In order to be an effective teacher then students need to believe in what is being taught and why. Children need exposure, just like adults. I want to reach every race, economic status, and gender and make an impact on cultural differences and be a part of uniting as one. Life is full of surprises, pain, and happiness. This quote tells me to think outside the box more and focus on integrating literacy with all cultures reaching a happy above standard grade with parents, faculty, and administration while maintaining a positive and safe environment for the children. Sound crazy? This gender, race issue transferring over into language deficits needs to be addressed so everyone can be life long learners. I feel if something is not broken then why mend it. But if something’s bent it can be fixed. This whole research on Jake and Laurie was interesting but can we study students in one year and automatically know what the best and most effective way of modeling teacher assisted lessons is and will the student be able to apply what they are being taught. Can I make it interesting? You bet I can. A lot of mind boggling ideas cross my mind. My daughters in Greenland, I can introduce the Danish this year. My other daughter lived in Korea so I can introduce the Koreans. Compare likenesses and differences. Sort all the nationalities and language spoken by introducing all continents. Include picture walks, reading and watching a specific footage of a country. Children need to be subjected to third world countries and witness famine so they can understand why they eat and others don’t. Other ideas are to invite a parent or guest speaker to address a certain culture. For every different descent student in my classroom, I plan to respect their language and learn with the class how to pronounce words and numbers in other languages. This would be great and students could partner read about their culture, language, writing techniques, drama, and partake in role playing. Readers Theatre would work because it comes in so many different languages. Rosetta Stone is another program geared towards ELL learners or any other language for that matter. I have taught ESL at Caldwell Community College for the past eight years. I know how effective this program is because everything is picture coded and it targets all areas of literacy. I have had adults on primer level in English and some cannot even write their native language, but they can converse well. Students and teachers working with parents need to learn to adapt to stressful and unknown situations. They need to be problem solvers. I often wonder how I would feel if I were in a strange country knowing how I appeared and spoke differently. I love to hear different dialects. We have enough different dialects in the United States to keep us busy for a whole year in the classroom.
In reference to the quote, to perceive differently than others see makes me think of knowledge in order to gain it, you have to listen and acquire all you can. God didn’t put us here with a wealth of knowledge for us just to close our minds and who’s to say what is the right and wrong way to approach this situation. But this may be out of context but I have to say this, I have always taught and respected my students as if I were teaching my own children. Sure I get aggravated at times because we’re not medical doctors they see one patient at a time. We have more power as teachers than the president of the United States. Look they put us in a classroom and trust us with their children. They trust teachers with twenty to thirty children at the same time. We are not diagnosing an illness, we as teachers are surviving difficult issues while accommodating all level students. . We can conquer the world if we want to that’s what kind of power we have. We can teach kids in every aspect from every spectrum on our planet Earth. It’s pretty scary if you ask me. I can’t wait to get back to school so I can use my knowledge to transform these beautiful children into the best they can be and it’s better to have tried and quit than not to have tried at all. It’s like Laurie and Jake they had to fight to get their identity and to feel accepted knowing they felt inferior to others. The deceit Laurie faced at home led her to the quiet person in class because she wanted to compromise for not being able to complete her work. I say push those academically high and motivate the lower level students. Don’t pair them up together. No one wants to feel intimidated because they can’t express their thoughts through words. Processing, what a big deal. It is a big deal and sometimes pairing a higher to lower level will work for both children.
Ending the course I feel more sensitive to everyone’s needs. I look forward to listening for code switching. I feel there are multitudes of literacy materials to meet all diverse needs. I am a Taxi for one. I know when I read the book I couldn’t believe a boy that young could be exposed to so much in the Columbian Cartel. Until someone paints the picture, it’s hard to perceive what is different to others. In closing, there are different situations that were not researched. How about the children raised by Lesbian or Gay couples? They have issues too. This is just something to think about.
Robin Hand