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

While reading chapter 3 in Reading Lives, I started thinking about my own childhood and how I think it affected me as a reader. I started to see how certain events that occurred growing up probably aided my desire to spend a great deal of time reading. I think books opened up a whole new world to me outside of the small town I grew up in. I also started to see how my middle-class upbringing solidified what type of student I would be. I, too, was raised Baptist and knew very well what was expected of me in certain situations. Adults were seen as authority figures and I was to do as I was instructed. I was to always be polite and respectful. School tasks were relatively easy for me and I had an internal drive to do my best. I used to think I was born with that desire, but now, I think it stems from watching my own mother “do it all”. I was born in 1971 and my mother was definitely striving to meet the expectations of feminists during that time. She worked as a nurse full-time, headed the PTA on several occasions, made many of our clothes, cooked every night, ran the household, and participated in almost all church functions. My dad owned the town funeral home so he was rarely home to help out. I remember thinking that this was what was expected of women. Yes, we could be whatever we wanted, but we better be prepared to work hard if we wanted it. One of my favorite book series growing up was Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House in the Big Woods. Again, I always thought I liked the stories because they were adventurous and had a strong female character I could relate to. After reading Hicks, I now wonder if I liked the stories so much because it was totally different lifestyle then what I had in reality. I can even remember playing pioneers during recess with several of my schoolmates. All of the information in chapter 3 was interesting upon reflection, but it wasn’t until I read chapter 4 that I started to understand Hick’s research in relation to our students.
Laurie reminds me so much of a student I had this year. This student comes from a very troubled working-class home. Her parents have been divorced for some time and her mother was recently released from jail. Both parents have drug/alcohol issues and no one in her family has ever graduated from high school. My student has grown up with a deluge of social discourses that are both traumatizing and contradictory when compared to the educational discourses she has experienced. Until this year, the student had been a struggling student. She had not put much energy or effort into her schoolwork and had set no goals for herself. This past school year (her eighth grade year) has been much different. Our guidance counselor began working with her on dealing with family and emotional issues as well as helping her set goals for herself. She has gotten a tremendous amount of support from her teachers and a great deal of positive feedback and encouragement from school. She was also enrolled in my reading class where she made substantial progress. My class gave her an intimate and safe outlet to work on her reading weakness. She was able to grow as a reader and even began to choose to read outside of class. She enjoyed books about romance and typical teenage topics. More importantly to me, she began to discuss her readings with me and would even ask for help if she came across text that was confusing. My class also gave her a place to write and share her feelings through her writing. She wrote many poems this year that detailed the pain and frustration she felt towards her parents. During this past year, the student started to see herself differently. She began to think of herself as a good student who could and would graduate from high school. Her grades improved and so did her EOG scores. She started to work on making the transition from what she thought were inescapable facts about her reality, to what could be if she chose to make the changes. Due to her family circumstances, the student came to us with a lot of confusion about what it meant to be a strong woman and what it meant to be educated. She has watched her mother for years move from one abusive and dead-end relationship to another. She has witnessed both parents use the social system for support. No one in her family supports her goal of graduating and they have even encouraged her to drop out when she turns 16. Luckily, we were able to intervene and put a plan in place to help her build new ideas and discourses to support her future plans. I do worry that next year, without proper support, the family discourses that are so deeply ingrained will sabotage her education. She still continues to struggle with her desire to gain attention and affection from boys and easily loses focus when she is in a relationship. The guidance counselor and I plan to check in on her next year at the high school. Unfortunately, this is just one student and I know my school had many more that could have used the same help from us. Hicks states on pg. 96 that, “working class girls can take up new practices of literacy as they form relations with middle-class teachers and take the risks involved in trying out new practices and identities.” I think the student I depicted above is a perfect example of this.

Sally Elliott