After reading chapters 1 and 2 of the text I have concluded that while I am in agreement with the author on a variety of topics, I question some of her statements and assumptions.
In the first chapter, the author states, “I don’t think modern communities, rural or urban, are fixed in terms of class identities.” It is true that those raised in a particular class are not banned from or held from attaining status in another class. I think people move from one class to another primarily based on education, mindset, and values. For example, my friend’s husband grew up in a poor, working class family. The community in which he was raised did not much value education, however, he worked hard and made good grades. In school, he learned what was valued in middle and upper class settings and strived to attain those skills. As a result, he went to college on scholarships, graduated with a degree in biology, earned a master’s degree in an advanced sciences and is now working at a lab that researches medicines to improve the lives of those afflicted with diseases. He was identified as low class and attained middle/upper class status through education, mindset, and values.
I also agree with the author’s statements that claim that “literacies are cultural and material practices shaped by histories, localities, and the persons within them that give form and meaning to children’s lives” and that children are not “autonomous reasoners who…individually construct knowledge about literacy practices.” Children approach literacies based on their prior knowledge and experiences and mesh what they are taught with what they know. They are not blank slates unaffected by their environment.
The author writes the text saying she accepts and uses a hybrid of cultural and critical research. Her stance falls in the middle of these views. Cultural research seems to offer the best lens through which to look at literacy. Cultural research on literacy explains that ‘histories and social ecologies’ affect children’s’ approaches to literacies. It explains why children interact with literacies as they do so that teachers can better connect with and meet their needs. It is applicable to the classroom; the teacher will know where they are academically based on what they know. Although the author likes critical literacy research , it seems to be lacking in explanation and practicality. It doesn’t seem to explain why children approach and interact with literacies as they do; it merely suggests that there are injustices and inequalities in relation to literacies. It is very scientific and doesn’t offer suggestions as to what teachers can actually use and implement in the classroom.
Finally, I have some questions regarding the author’s statements about class. What are middle class discourses? Who or what defines them? What research supports the author’s claim that schools have middle class basis?
Laura Corbello
Comments (3)
Laura- isn 't it crazy how research leads us to ask so many questions? When I first starting reading research studies, I assumed I was going to find answers. Instead, everything I read leaves me with more questions than I had before. I think it is awesome that we find ourselves in a position where we do not accept the things that we read as the gospel. The more we are educated the more we question. I think that is very cool. I have heard before that children are products of their environments. Your example disproves that. Why do some people "go above their raisin'"? I am the daughter of 2 working class parents. I was the first person in my family to go to college. My brother and sister hated school and did not go to college. We had the same parents and the same upbringing. Why did I want the education? I don't even know the answer to that one! I feel the goal of all techers is to make a connection with their students. And our goal for our students is that they make a connection with literacy. Maybe Hicks will lead us to some answers on how to best make those connections.
Posted by Carol Sherrill | June 22, 2010 10:01 AM
Posted on June 22, 2010 10:01
You make some very good points. I have a friend that grew up in poverty. She has shared stories about paying her mother so she could have a friend stay the night with her as a teenager. I could never imagine that because I did not live in that type of environment. She worked two jobs to put herself through school and is now very successful. I also think that you brought up very good questions. I don't think there are really different discourses based on what class you are living but different things you bring to those discourses because of your class. I think everyone has a home discourse but some value education and family where others value items such as a car, television, etc. There might be more of a difference between discourses in poverty and upper class living (upper class living might have more discourses) but that would be an interesting topic to learn more about.
Posted by Erin Whisnant | June 22, 2010 8:06 PM
Posted on June 22, 2010 20:06
Wow! There is certainly a lot to think about here. While there is a complexity to discourses that cannot simply be summarized in a sentence or two. I think that the middle class discourse favors interaction between parent and child, a higher emphasis on working together for social change, and education as an expected entity to be competitive in the job market and successful in life. This is in contradiction to the working class discourse which (often out of necessity) tends to be less interactive, changing the world seems out of reach (more focus on individual family's survival), and education not always placed in high priority (dependent on parents' experiences with school and what might be available in the workforce). For my own family experiences, we were part of the lower working class. We lived paycheck to paycheck and one mishap threw everything dangerously off track financially. My parents were very young (mom was 14) when they had me. I was told my whole life that statistically speaking I would wind up just like my mom. That was a hard thing to reconcile. On the one hand I respected my mother VERY much for the struggles that she faced just trying to keep food on the table in light of my father's addictions. I didn't see anything wrong about what she was doing. It was honest work (something valued as part of my discourse). I was very good at school though, and my mom saw that as an opportunity for me to have things that she couldn't give me. Therefore, I was taught that education was a means to better myself. That's why I think we have to tread lightly when it comes to discussing some of this with our students. I had teachers who approached my need for success as "you don't want to wind up like your parents." That was vary offensive to me, because my mom tried so hard (and is actually a very bright woman). The teachers that made the most difference in my life were those that helped to understand that I could have both (respect for my family and education). Granted there were times when fighting to get that education was extremely difficult--especially when it took me away from my support systems. I watched a 60 minutes (I think) episode on children and families from the mountains of Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky. It chronicled the lives of people from this area that were attempting to better their lives through education. There was a football player who received a full scholarship to a university, but wound up dropping out. People didn't understand why. The issue was similar to my situation. There is more to success through education than just paying a child's tuition (I had a full Teaching Fellows scholarship). I had to learn how to interact in this new environment. I had to figure out how to navigate the discourse of my new world. This is not something solved with money. I also had to learn to merge my new discourse with my home discourse. This was one of the most difficult things. Even though my family wanted my success, many of them felt that I was getting "too big for my britches." That was the one part of the struggle that I almost lost and still fight even today. The boy in the story did wind up going back to another unversity with a few more supports in place. This in my opinion is the most critical part of helping our students be successful. We have to help them learn to cope with the differences.
Posted by Christy Laws | June 22, 2010 11:02 PM
Posted on June 22, 2010 23:02