Voice…what a powerful tool. I think the researches did an excellent job of helping teachers figure out how to give students a voice. Would our students find their voice if we didn’t provide an outlet for them? Are we, the teachers, merely doing “the thinking, knowing, talking, and decision making, and in which the students passively comply and regurgitate?” Sometimes we are. I think we have to make conscious decisions to pull from our students interests and teach what they want to learn in addition to our standard course of study. We have to help our students figure out who they are and where they fit in the world.
As I was reading about Kay I wondered which is more important – to be able to read a book or to be able to read the world. I think they have equal importance and one cannot stand alone. When you read, you have to be able to relate what you’re reading to the world you live in, or to what you know. Reading is making connections. If you can’t read the world, then is your book reading as meaningful? On the flip side of that, don’t you learn about the world as you read? Books help you make sense of the world around you, they help you read the world.
The focus groups helped the students read both books and the world. The girls were trying to make sense of the world around them, learn how to live and find their place. The texts, journals, and discussions were relevant to their lives. They were making connections. They were learning how to read both books and the world – and finding their voice during the entire journey. The teacher was a facilitator.
The same is true for the male participants while reading and re-authoring Hustle and Flow. They were answering the question, “is niggaz always on hard times?” This is something they have had to read in the world as well as read as text. I believe you cannot have one without the other. And through their discussions and readings, they found an answer. They found their voice through the power of re-authorship.
As educators we have to help young people find their voice. They have to be able to relate to the world around them. We must provide opportunities to discuss their world, their lives, their issues. We have to provide a safe, comfortable environment where they can speak freely and find their path for success. The kids need high interest texts relevant to the world around them. Which leads me to those awful passages that are put on the end of grade reading test – but that’s a post for another day.
Jennifer Wagoner
Comments (4)
Jennifer - you are exactly right! As teachers we should help students find their voice and their place in life. But how in the world can we do that at the same time as teaching reading strategies that will help them pass the EOG. What exactly are they accomplishing by passing the EOG and being able to read a stand-alone reading passage? Nothing in my opinion. It is important that students are able to read the world around them but also be able to read at the same time. We MUST find a way to connect the two in order for our students to grasp this understanding because as you said you learn about the world around you by being literate and being able to read texts.
Katy Dellinger
Posted by Katy Dellinger | June 14, 2010 1:37 PM
Posted on June 14, 2010 13:37
As teachers, we do need to help our students discover who they are and where they fit into the world. This must begin at home. Families should have a greater influence than the school. It is my desire to teach the child, not create the person they are to become. If we help them with our teaching to relate what they are learning to real life and how the learning will benefit them (make it relevant) then what they do with it becomes their choice. I believe students need more from family and community than what their teachers alone can provide when it comes to finding their voice and being open to speak out.
Posted by Tracy Icenhour | June 14, 2010 5:48 PM
Posted on June 14, 2010 17:48
This made me think about what my principal said to me. She told me that I needed to start letting my students do the learning for themselves. In the beginning of the year I did not think they knew how to do it so I "spoon fed" them the answers. It wasn't until after my principal said "Let them try it on their own and see what happens" did it really hit me. My students CAN do it!! So then I started giving them activities to do after we read a specific story and it was amazing to see what they could do and they actually enjoyed it! They were able to write about what they wanted to write about and not what I wanted them to write about and it was so cool to watch!
Posted by Natalie Enns | June 14, 2010 7:22 PM
Posted on June 14, 2010 19:22
I like how you brought up that it is important for our students to read as well as to read the world. I don't think I quite thought of it that way, but it is a good point. Reading the world is definitely how they make sense of what is going on around them, but if they are not given the opportunity to learn how to read about the world, than they could be missing out and pertinent information and therefore miscontruing the world around them. I definitely think as teachers we need to give them the skills they need to read and understand information about what is going on around them. I'm sure there are plenty of high school students that haven't ever read a newspaper or worldly magazine articles. I don't think they know how to sift through the information to find what is important, or how to decide what is actually true. The more we bring relevant issues from our world to our classroom, the more comfortable our students will become with this type of literature as well as making connections to events and people around us.
Posted by Angie Sigmon | June 15, 2010 2:08 AM
Posted on June 15, 2010 02:08