RES 5535: Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research (summer 2010)

In a dog eat dog world, the big dog eats first! Many of our students face issues at home that have different solutions at school. Some teachers find it difficult to understand this is a part of their culture. Students must be taught how to settle arguments at school using more “socially” acceptable acts. One way that I am trying to understand other social issues is by looking for books related to some sub-culture activities. I have read NASCAR biographies and am currently reading a book about dog fighting. I have my students complete an interest survey each year and use this to help make a personal connection.
Elizabeth Achor

Natalie,
I find it hard to believe that like your students, my own students are often the ones that are in charge at home. It is true in that we find these students bridging their home discourse with their school discourse by acting, or wanting to be in charge at school. I also find that students who have a home discourse in which they receive little attention at home from parents affects their school discourse in their desperate desire to do what they have to receive the attention at school. It is difficult to teach children that when they are at school, they must follow the school rules. I think this battle will become tougher and tougher as our society continues to change and our students develop more discourses. How do we continue to teach students to do what is right at school (school discourse) without saying that what they have learned at home is wrong (home discourse)?

Natalie,
For one, the author of this truth, “I think that being from a working class background also affects your background knowledge. Students come to school sometimes knowing a lot about what we are reading and learning, and sometimes do not know a lot. When they have parents that work all the time they may not have the ability to do a lot of extra things so they may have never been to a museum, or when we read and learn about different animals a lot of them have never seen those types of animals. I try to get my parents to take my students to the store, and read to them, but I know that after they work all day (or night) all they want to do is sleep..” understands the readings just fine.
For two, I completely agree with you and your insight into the minds of students. I argued in my post that we try to separate the kid, from the teen, from the parent, from the life, from the literacy’s and that is just simply impossible. We need to take into consideration that sometimes parents want to read to their kid or take them to a museum, but they have to put food on the table instead. My mom did. This was interesting, be confident in your wise opinions.
William Byland

I can completely relate to what you were saying about your students being in charge. I teach Kindergarten and there are times when my students are the person in charge. I am still strugling with punishing my students when they "fight back" because I know that is what they are taught to do at home. It is the same situation as it was with Jake, if someone hits you, hit them back. The same goes for literacy. I work with my students on literacy in both reading and oral literacy yet when they get home, what I have taught is sometimes not viewed as valuable as other skills. I don't want to punish a five year old for not doing their "reading" homework, because "Momma said it was your job to teach me to read at school not hers." Yet at the same time I want my students to understand responsibility.

Natalie,
I can't express enough, just as William has above, how great it is that this is a author of TRUTH! That is the key thing that makes her research reliable! As you had said you have students who have to switch discourses between school and home. My previous job I tutored at an Elementary school 3rd through 5th grades. During this time I became very attached to two boys who were brothers (African Americans). I had the the younger brother in my classroom. Daily I would take them home. I found out all kinds of information. I was so shocked that the older brother would fix supper every night for his younger brother, as well as all of the other choirs that had to be done. I know their mother did the best she could be a single parent, working every hour she could.

I also teach in a first grade classroom. I definitely see a difference in children who come from a middle class family and a working class family. Some of my children from working class families would not have their homework completed or the child would have tried to do the homework alone and not understood what to do. Children from a middle class family seem to have an advantage. They come to school with more past experience, parents spend more time reading to them and parents have more time to be involved in their child’s education. I know this is not the case with every family but from my experiences these are things that I have noticed.