“Learning ….entails small, and at times imperceptible, moments of shading, valuing, and imaginative reconstruction. Those small moments and histories are as critical to a theory of learning as what we might describe as socialization or positioning in discourses. Very importantly, practices occur in engagement with others, such as the caretakers who help shape learners’ values, feelings, and attachments at a young age.” (Hicks, p. 36). Hicks quotes Jane Miller saying, “gender is shaped in relation to the specifications of those early words and attachments. “Reading is part of children’s situated histories.” (Hicks, p. 37).
I connected with Hicks’ recollections of her girlhood. I also remember stories of my mother’s life as a farm girl and how hard they worked in the tobacco fields. My grandparents raised four children on a farm while instilling values of honest, hard work. When my mother was a young woman and mother, she longed for the “classiness” of the upper-class. When my sister and I were dressed for church (where you showed your best), we had on gloves, patent leather, and those crinolines. Man, they were itchy! That was part of my history where my value as a girl was to look pretty and be nice and well behaved. I identified with Walkerdine’s description of a dual identity as a way that girls can be successful at school. Smart girls who were also “nice and helpful” can attain a high classroom status. So… I was a nice girl, did what my teacher asked, and learned to read.
I saw in Laurie’s experience so many of my EC students who fall further and further behind as they progress in school. Due to many and varied issues (social discourses, classroom practices, curriculum materials and pacing, chronic states of stress or crisis), students have difficulty learning to read. (I don’t include students with low or borderline IQ’s. There is often understanding as to their rate of learning). Some students are identified as a student with a Learning Disability or Other Health Impaired, if they have a medical condition (ADD or ADHD) and if they meet state guidelines. As to the overuse of medication, I will just say, medication is beneficial when needed, but often complicates things when it is misused. In Laurie’s case, it points to how medication is often used to “help” students “focus,” but creates side effects that do not outweigh the benefits. After Laurie was diagnosed with ADD and started her medication, “she seemed to lose her voice.” “The diagnosis changed her social relations in school.” On medication, she continued to struggle with issues at home and continued to lag behind in her reading development. Interestingly, Laurie did receive specialized reading instruction through the Chapter One Program, but she began to show more progress and be happier with school when her mother had a man in her life Laurie thought of as her new father. This changed things for her positively. When, he was no longer in her life, she again was making little progress and showing task avoidance behaviors. Was her behavior truly ADD or a response to the stresses in her life?
Hicks eloquently describes our tasks as teachers, “The paths to creating negotiated movements between culture and classes are, however, never simple---never reducible to a single method of teaching or theory of learning. Such moments of teaching require the hard work of seeking to understand the realities of children’s lives and to respond in ways that extend from those contextualized understandings.” “The starting point for critical classroom practice is girls’ own words and experiences---words that echo the value of their mother and other loved one. They can take on new practices of literacy as they form relations with middle-class teachers and take risks in trying out new practices and identities.” (Hicks, p. 96)
Susan Hines
Comments (6)
I had to respond to your comment about medicating students with ADD. This has been a hot button topic in the news and among doctors, parents, and teachers. Yes, medication is way over used as a behavior management tool, rather than an academic one, such as in Laurie’s case. I have filled out more diagnostic scales than I can count from doctors (at the parent’s insistence) where I had to truthfully and repeatedly mark “not at all” for ADD behaviors (this is also one way to get more money from Medicaid and in several cases I believe were fraud on the part of the parent). I am always willing to work with parents who are interested in alternative techniques, like timers, behavioral incentives and focusing strategies, to deal with an ADD diagnosis. More often than not though, in my experience these kids come out of homes that are already disorganized and chaotic and parents are unable or unwilling to put in the enormous amount of time and effort such an undertaking entails. But when kids really need medication and parents are consistent in giving it to them, it makes all the difference in their daily lives. I heard one such child as an adult explain it this way, “It took away all the confusion.” I had another who had been off his meds for a month lay his head down on my desk in tears (after being fussed at for hitting several students he was not even aware of) and say, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I just can’t control myself.” This year one of my students whose mother decided to take him off of his medication was sneaking and taking his “chill pill” when his mother wasn’t looking. When a second grader can recognize the positive impact medication has on their daily lives and desperately wants it to do better at school, perhaps is truly is beneficial.
-Rebecca Ashby
Posted by Rebecca Ashby | June 23, 2010 9:57 AM
Posted on June 23, 2010 09:57
I too have seen the over use of medication. There have been several cases over the last 5 years that stand out. The two most vivid memories are of young boys that have been so heavily medicated that they are like zombies and have no interaction with other students. The students think that this is strange but they accept it. Six months later “NO MEDS”! Everyone was surprised that they could even talk, because there had been no form of communication for six months. We all had to learn how to accept their new behaviors. With the ever increasing numbers of ADAH medicated students I have found it beneficial to read aloud Jack Gantos’ Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key. In this novel a young boy must deal with a chaotic home life and the side effects of medication that does not last all day. It is funny and sad and many students can relate to the daily struggles of Joey.
Elizabeth Achor
Posted by Elizabeth Achor | June 23, 2010 11:23 AM
Posted on June 23, 2010 11:23
Yes, don’t we all recall stories from our childhood that our parents told us about, “when I was growing up…” I remember so many times my mom or dad sharing stories with me. They were usually told to me to teach me a lesson and/or to keep me from complaining about something. I was an average student. So I too used my behavior to gain appreciativeness and praise from my teachers. I was a “good” girl. You are correct in that medication is beneficial when needed. So many times I see some of my own students turn into little zombies, because of what I believe to be overmedication or the use of medication when not needed. I remember my mom having a conference for me when I was young. The teacher was adamant that I be put on medication for my ADHD. My mom decided not to have me medicated and I was moved out of this woman’s classroom and placed in another classroom. I may have been a candidate for medication, but this was my mom’s decision not my teacher’s. I had a lot of trouble with focusing, concentrating, and staying on task. A lot of parents seem to just use medication as a quick fix for a rowdy and unruly child. They do not consider the long term effects and current side affects that the medication will cause. This was apparent in Laurie. It seemed maybe her grandmother found her too rowdy at the laundry mat and at home. Then her mom and mom mom decided to have her medicated. From then on she seemed to struggle in school. She was so sad and quiet. This seemed to impact her classroom participation and then her academics due to her shift in social behavior. Even some classroom teachers push for medication a little too much. I think they feel it will be easier to control a little zombie than to control a wiggle active young child. I hope teachers will at least consider the outcomes of having their students use medicine before they become supportive of it.
Posted by Maria Blevins | June 23, 2010 2:31 PM
Posted on June 23, 2010 14:31
Susan, I loved the quote from the book you used. I also quoted that one in my post. It made me realize just how much all the experiences, even the seemingly insignificant ones, can affect our literacies. There are so many people who pass through our lives and so many events that help shape who we are and how we relate to our world. We just need to remember that all of our students come to us with different experiences and that those experiences affect then as well in many different ways. What a challenge to us as teachers to really get to know them to understand them and to help them modify or even change perceptions of their world that can negatively affect them.
Posted by Linda Bohland | June 23, 2010 7:32 PM
Posted on June 23, 2010 19:32
Susan,
As I was reading about Laurie, I thought about a student whom you and I both have in common. As I was reading about Laurie, I started to think about the "stresses" in this little girl's life. I think definitely issues at home and also the fact that she has had to switche schools so many times. It is so sad to think about students such as her that seem to not ever be able to "catch" up. I also thought about what I could've done differently for her.
I agree with your comments about medication. I do feel as if it's overused, but still I've seen it make huge differences in some students. I wish parents would realize how many different kinds of medications there are so that if one type doesn't work, then to talk to their doctor about the different ones.
Marsha Warren
Posted by Marsha Warren | June 25, 2010 8:19 PM
Posted on June 25, 2010 20:19
Susan,
I too recall the stories my mother told me growing up on a tobacco farm. She was the baby of 8 children and they were all required to work in the fields until they had moved on to began their life. I also remember stories of my grandparents up-bringing. On my grandmothers side they had it a lot worse. The stories that my great-grandmother shared before passing was of their survival during the Great Depression. Because of these stories I am very grateful for all the things I have. The one thing I could not believe was how my great-grandmother was sent to live with another family to work at age 13.
I am just not sure about all of these medications for ADD. I have seen many students who were either overdosed or not enough. The that medicine is passed out now I feel like many are just taking the "easy" way out. It is almost like it's an excuse. I would much rather have a student not take the "drug" if it is going to take everything they are away from them.
Posted by Candace Barnes | June 27, 2010 1:43 PM
Posted on June 27, 2010 13:43