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

Both of these projects seemed to be a great way for the students to become exposed to literature that is appealing to them personally and allowed them to open up to ideas and be able to do some self-evaluation on topics in a semi private arena. I applaud the efforts made through the two years by the students and Ms. Staples. She was very dedicated to the project to devote three hours a day, four days a week for two years. I dare to say that she made a tremendous impact in the lives of children that are often overlooked. I believe that there should be more after school groups that promote positive self image and literacy aimed towards inner city youth. This could help promote inner self improvement as well as academics. I can also see how using media with these children could be a great segway into reading and writing in a high school class. With technology as empowering in society as it is in today’s generation that is a great way for teenagers to feel that they can make a personal connection with their reading and writing assignments. Like these students in the study, the connections made through literature can carry over not only into educational realms, but also to their inner self. However, I feel that teachers may often have their hands tied as to what materials they are allowed to use in the classroom, especially living here in the Bible belt region. Right now I know that teens and preteens are discovering the Twilight series. To me that is great. They are reading fictional literature and devouring it as fast as they can. They are also engaging in discussions about the literature amongst friends. The interest they have towards these books could be used in classroom lessons, but I know in our library the books are banned. Children can read them on their own, but cannot get them through our library. This is alienating children from literature that parents feel may be too risky. I do believe that most communities could benefit from having afterschool projects such as the one mentioned here. This project improved the students’ responses to literacy and their self image. What a life changing impact Mrs. Staples has made. I was very impressed that Bashir, a student involved in the program, became an “activist” and started his own focus group.

The Speaking Up and Speaking Out article was another great example of a research project impact student lives educationally and interpersonally. These girls were given exposure to personally relevant literature that helped them to find their voice. I can easily see, after viewing their own writings included in the article, how these students may feel inferior to other students. That is not to say that their reflections or opinions are less important but there are lots of teachers who would say that they were unable to read/understand what these girls are trying to say in their writing due to lack of proper conventions and spellings. I believe that by participating in this program which allowed the girls to use their own language conventions and spellings, they were able to freely express themselves. It opened their minds to believe that they can contribute good ideas and thoughts to classroom discussions and group work.

One thing that I noticed in this article was the statement by Brett Blake that “girls need permission to write in formal classrooms”. She was saying that girls are often passive, timid members of the classroom and allow boys to be the dominant members. I find that this is often the case on my classes. I teach 3 classes of fifth grade reading (each with about 30 kids each) that are ability grouped- one average, one remedial, and one AIG learners. In all of these classes the boys are the vocal ones. When in literature circles the boys are the most vocal in selecting books, first to start group discussions, and first to volunteer to read. My girls almost have to be made to orally communicate in this setting. However, when writing about their reading, girls put more emotion, details, and self reflection into their written compositions. Boys’ writing tends to be matter of fact, with little reflection or personal connection. There is a school that groups students according to gender in the sixth grade. I had never given much thought to this or at least not the positive aspect of this type of grouping. Over the summer, I now plan to do some research on the topic and next year try to incorporate it on a small scale, for instance literature circles that are gender based and ability based.
Amy Reep