Like some of the others, I struggled to get through these chapters. I felt like I got lost in all the technical terms and classifications and had to go back many times and re-read something so that I felt like I was understanding.
Hicks is looking at how literacy is influenced by aspects such as race, class, and gender. Most of the reading we have had to this point have related to these areas. When Hicks speaks of the different discourses that make up a person, I kept thinking about the article we read about the lost boys. The working class discourses are very common (church discourse, school discourse, home discourse, etc) but the lost boys were shaped by very different discourses. If you think about their journey, they had a discourse from their home life before they lost everything (one that involved storytelling). When they traveled to the refugee camp, they learned another discourse about survival. Their family discourse might have even changed in order for these children to create new family ties.
I have taught in two very different school settings. In one school, the children mostly came from low income homes. The other school has children from upper middle class homes. Although the children came from very different life situations, many of them shared a great deal of the same discourses (home, church, school, sports).
Hicks also talked about how we learn and how gender roles can influence our learning. I agree that our learning is influenced by the people around us. I think this can very easily be seen in the amount of education a child wants to acheive. Many children that come from working class homes talk about finding a job when they finish high school instead of talking about attending college. Many children coming from homes where parents went to college will also attempt college at some level. Although I know this is not always the case, I think in many instances many children still follow this path.
I believe that gender roles are ever present in todays world regardless of what race or class children are from. Although many jobs that used to have gender roles (such as nursing and teaching) are finding more of the other gender in those positions, we as a culture still consider certain jobs as a "she" job or a "he" job. I think that gender roles in the classroom are not as big a problem as they used to be. I think the one age where gender roles can still be found in the class, is kindergarten. I believe this is true because children are still learning about the different roles played by men and women in the home and society. I am very interested in reading more about what Hicks says in her book!
Comments (4)
Erin,
You bring up some great ideas about gender. I think it is so important for us as teachers to show students jobs they can have. I talk to my students during career week about being a nurse whether you are a boy or a girl, the same goes for a teacher, a fire fighter etc... Some of my students are shocked when they find out at there are male teachers at our school. One of my students thought only girls can be teachers so it was a good teaching moment.
Posted by Natalie Enns | June 21, 2010 8:41 PM
Posted on June 21, 2010 20:41
I agree that gender roles still exist. Many positions are still considered to be a man's job or a lady's job. Teaching is still dominated by women at least at the elementary school level. More men are teaching at the middle school and high school level. When I was in elementary school principals were usually men. Today however more women are becoming principals. With each passing year I see more female policeofficers, and more male nurses. Gender is not as significant as it once was.
I am lucky to be a kindergarten teacher. At this age (at least in my experience) gender does not play a significant role. My students boys or girls enjoy playing in homecenter or playing with blocks. Gender has not been a factor in my class. Pam Aubuchon
Posted by Pam Aubuchon | June 21, 2010 9:31 PM
Posted on June 21, 2010 21:31
Erin- I can see the relationship you are describing between Hick's research and the Lost Boys. It does help to make discourse easier to understand with that comparison. find your opinions on gender rolees interesting. It made me think about my own classroom. Do I do things that reinforce gender roles? I now see that I need to be more self-aware. I remember being in middle school and attending a meeting of kids interested in signing up for band. The band director made it clear to me that if I were to sign up, I could play the clarinet, flute or trumpet. I told him I really wanted to play the drums. He told me girls couldn't play the drums because if they ever wanted to be in marching band, they wouldn't be able to carry them. That still makes me mad! I hope I am never responsible for squashing a child's dream base on their race, gender or class. Now, I find myself pondering- what can I do as an educator to correct gender misconceptions?
Posted by Carol Sherrill | June 22, 2010 11:22 AM
Posted on June 22, 2010 11:22
I also see gender roles in the classroom as something that feels stuck in the 50's. I worked with first graders this year and they seem more open minded to people doing jobs that are outside of societies norms. However fifth graders thought it was hysterical that my husband was a nurse. So if a first grader doesn't think it's odd but an older student does then they are definitely a product of their rearing.
Posted by Candy Mooney | June 22, 2010 1:45 PM
Posted on June 22, 2010 13:45