There are times in life when the question of knowing if one can think differently than one thinks, and perceive differently than one sees, is absolutely necessary if one is to go on looking and reflecting at all. Michael Foucault
In my opinion, this quote best represents my learning with the course material. I feel that this comment means that without active reflection of the information presented to us through articles and readings we will not change no matter what we read. This comment involves taking action about the material we felt moved by and introducing it into our teaching lives.
The articles “Speaking Up and Speaking Out” (Henry, 1998) by Annette Henry and “Hustle and Flow” (Staples, 2008) by Jeanine Staples were the first readings that truly required me to begin my reflective journey. These articles talked about helping children to find their voice through reading and writing. I had previously thought that the selections I made for reading were revolutionary, because I went against the county mandates of the reading series and taught through novel studies. However after reading about how these researchers used the students’ interests to draw students into active engagement while teaching I quickly realized that my “revolutionary ideas” were incorrect. I am a middle aged middle class female, whose ideas no more correspond to my students’ than they do a toddler’s. These teachers used writing topics and reading materials that were reflective of the personalities they were teaching, not their own. This requires thinking outside of your comfort zone. I had done this in the past with my personal reading, but never in a classroom. In my classroom I like to feel in control and have things go my way. Using alternative means and topics to reach kids was not something that I saw myself doing. However, after reading these two articles I see the importance of letting kids use their voice in reading and writing. It allows children to make those connections to their reading to their lives and cultures like the African Caribbean girls in Henry’s article. Often these are connections that we as teachers could not make on our own, because our understandings and experiences are limited to what we know. Taking on this new role as facilitator can be scary at first, but this method can bring about a change in the way lots of kids see their role in education. For some it may mean the first time that they are able to make a personal connection with school, which can be a catalyst for an even greater event, like Bashir in Staple’s article who reauthor himself and started his own focus group for young men. Without active reflection and exposure to a new way of thinking that was presented in these articles, I would continue to view my narrow rebellion choice of alternative reading materials as differentiating to meet the needs of my learners. This would be meeting the needs of me as a child learner, but not all students who are in my class.
Another article that had a large impact on me as a reflective practitioner was Kristen Perry’s (Perry, 2008) about Sudanese refugees. Their life was filled with tragedy and turmoil. However, through it all, they felt the need to recount their life long journey through storytelling, which was an important means of communication in their culture. They used storytelling to tell fictional stories of their culture, explain things, and promote welfare for others in their homeland. Story telling allowed them to be a catalyst of change themselves. Sudanese culture was extremely important to these Lost Boys. They were able to assimilate to the live style here in America, but they felt that it was their duty to continue in the practice of telling stories. The Lost Boys felt that people need to know and behave in ways of their culture but also learn to appreciate others’ cultures, and how to intermingle between different cultures. After reading this amazing story and the success that these struggling children had educationally, I became deeply moved. I began to think of the things that hinder me to be a better teacher or role model, none of these are in any way as detrimental as what these Sudanese children witnessed, yet I let my “issues” hold me back on a daily basis. These young men used story telling as a connection to their past and used it to mold their future and inform others of living in conditions similar to theirs like Darfur. I began to again think of helping students find their voice. I began to think about how many other cultures I am aware of and how I let that influence my teaching. This year I had an African student who had immigrated ten years before. I treated her no differently than I had other children. This should have not been the case. In the future I will help her and others to investigate their culture and make assignments relevant. I am going to have all students next year interview the oldest family member they have and have them tell them a story. The child is then going to record the story so they have a piece of their history. History and family help us to realize who we are and where we have come from. Hopefully this will be a moving experience for them and allow them to see that we can all learn from others.
The most eye opening reading, however, was Reading Lives (Hicks, 2002) by Deborah Hicks. In her research through Laurie and Jake, two southeastern working class children, I was able to peer into the insights of members of my class. My school environment is now full of Lauries and Jakes after a redistricting when a new school opened. This has been a tremendous change to the population of my school. Previously I had received training on Ruby Payne’s Framework for Understanding Poverty. However, there is a large difference between working class and poverty, and a lot of the presented ideas were not applicable. This book allowed me to think of children’s home lives and how it impacted the learning that occurred in school. The previous year I gave little consideration to the value of education in the home or role of literacy at their home. The activities I gave hopefully reached them, and I tried to be respectful of different learning styles in my room. After seeing the responses of the two children about school assignments and understanding how their roles at home impact their school discourse, I have a new appreciation for choice assignments and individualized reading materials. These children can easily become lost in the mandated curriculum. Any steps that a teacher can make to help working class children make meaningful connections between their home discourse and their school discourse should be attempted. After reflection of this book, I have decided to use more student led writing journals in my class. This type of writing can help to connect reading selections to each student personally; it can help further development of ideas on an individual basis, or the student to fulfill a fictional need to develop a story.
I am excited about using the ideas I have become conscious of during this class. I have also learned that I need to become a more hybrid teacher that is accommodating of all discourses in my classroom. I feel that if I follow these ideas, all students will be able to achieve success in learning. Maybe I can be the one who sparks a new interest for those who have previously been lost, or help further an advanced learners interest in other cultures.
Amy Reep
Bibliography
Henry, A. (1998). Speaking Up and Speaking Out. Journal of Literacy Research , 233-252.
Hicks, D. (2002). Reading Lives Working Class Children and Literacy Learning. New York: Teachers College Press.
Perry, K. (2008). From Storytelling to Writing:Transforming Literacy Practices among Sudanese Refugees. Journal of Literacy Research , 318-358.
Staples, J. (2008). Hustle and Flow. Educational Action Research , 377-390.