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

After reading Hustle and Flow, I was reminded of Zonnie and Daniel. The African American males in this study also keep school and home life separate. Just like Zonnie and Daniel, they were more confident and had a more positive outlook on themselves with the names like “confident tutor “and “skilled lyricist”. In this study in an after-school program, Staples said they “practiced respect and pedagogical strategies for inclusion”. I wondered what types of activities they did to help alleviate any tension in the group. The group of students was described as coming from very different social groups at school. But, in the end they were able to break any tension and became friends as they got to know each other better. My other question is, did they continue to be friends, once they were in the regular school setting?

From this study, Staples was trying to connect with the student’s culture and dealing with adolescence in order to motivate them to get interested in reading. She also accepted their dialect which was another way she was able to connect with the students. She also encouraged Standard English. This looks as if she is trying to plant the seed of code-switching.

I thought it was interesting how the boys began to feel proud and wanted to show everyone what they know. Staples used material that I think would be very controversial in a regular school setting. I do not think a teacher could use material from The Shawshank Redemption rated R and Malcolm X rated PG-13. Then a big part of the study that was shared was from Hustle and Flow(about pimp and three hookers) rated R, which actually occurred during a summer 2006 reunion. My question is was this reunion associated with the after-school program?

It was neat that in this after-school setting they were able to use this material because in the end it had positive results. The boys ‘eyes were opened to the media they see in the real world. I think now they will question and have more of a higher level thinking about what they see. From this program they may feel they have a little more expertise in pop culture media and in reality they do. I also found it interesting that they were able to make connections to pop culture media and traditional literature. Even though they were all considered low readers, they still had knowledge of traditional literature. So, it sounds as if this program was transferring over to school at least a little bit with the connections that they were making. This is the higher level thinking that we want students to be able to do.

The Henry article also dealt with issues that I do not think could have been talked about at school unless you were in the guidance office. Tamisha shared a personal account that was not disclosed. This program allowed her to feel comfortable enough to share what happened to her because Henry tapped into her culture and interests just like Staples did with the African American boys. Again, it is great that she was able to open up and share her story which was most likely part of a healing process for Tamisha. But, as I said with the Staples article, this type of talk could not happen during the school day. Number one the child will probably never feel that safe and number two, since what actually happened was not shared in the study, it obviously could not be shared in a classroom.

After reading these two articles, I think one avenue to reach other cultures would be to create more after-school programs. There is more freedom to choose material and build a sense of trust, where students can share what they are truly feeling and not what they think everyone wants them to say.

Trish Edwards