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

Chapters 3 & 4 really brought this text to life for me. I felt more connected to what Hicks was saying. Growing up, I never really thought about the struggles that my mother and father went through everyday to provide for our family. When I was a child, my father worked a factory job and my mother stayed at home with my older brother and myself. She did work a part time job as a waitress on the weekends when my father was off work. We lived pretty simple lives and my parents made sure that we had the things that we needed. When I began school, my mother went back to work as a teacher assistant. Although we did not have extra money to throw around, we had books and games and everything that I assumed others had. My mother made sure that we learned the things needed to begin school. I can remember using words to form sentences when I was young. I connected to what Hicks talked about growing up in the south. We went lived in a small town where everyone was either related or knew each other. We went to church and school but much of who we were and who we became centered around the relationship we had with our families.

When Hicks began discussing Laurie, I was really taken by her story. Laurie was this little girl who was like an adult in the home (taking care of her siblings and mothering them) and then in school she struggles to adapt. It is amazing to me. This little girl can adapt to being so nurturing at home (at times) and then so distant at school. I think that many children (especially girls) that feel inferior in school do try to just blend in with everyone else and appear to be pleasing to the teacher. I think that many times these young girls do go under the radar and their issues are not noticed due to the busy nature of the classroom.

I was surprised at how early Laurie and her mother begin to have problems getting along. As a child, I was always drawn to both parents. My mother provided a different type of affection than my father who was the more playful parent. I remember becoming more of a pest when I was a teenager causing disagreements with my mother. Laurie seemed to be more aware of issues that surrounded her therefore causing some problems between her and her mother.

I think that is very common for little girls in a single parent home to become attached and in love with the idea of love and finding a father figure. I think all girls grow up with these fairy tales that make them think love is something perfect. I think that Laurie wanted to love of a father because she felt unwanted by her own father. Being a new mom, I can't imagine how a person can give up their child and not want to be apart of their lives. With that said, I could not imagine how a child would feel knowing that they were unwanted. I think if I would have felt unwanted and unloved as a child, I too would have had problems at home and school.

I believe that what Hicks did to aid Laurie in her literacy skills progressing was above and beyond what most teachers do for their students. Coming from my previous school (where many students need extra help in literacy areas), I think that kids that have so many needs would rather be at school than at home because of the support and stability their teachers provide for them. As a teacher, I try to provide support and stability to all my students but I think some students that are from working class homes find more value in that than other students that live more cushioned lives.