Literacy isn’t merely written. It is a cultural process that spans the colors of society, gender, race, and various discourses embedded with values, ethics, and beliefs visible through language. As teachers when students such as Jake come to school or Lee Ann for that matter, we judge their social discourses often misunderstanding the background of these students. At school it is like a box of crayons with various colors, language practices, and identities that are essential to literacy learning. By understanding that as Hicks suggests, teachers must recognize how this can impact literacy development in the classroom otherwise conflict occurs.
This reminds me of a student that I was told at the beginning of the year, “Oh no, I feel sorry for you.” This student wasn’t bad, but was caught between two worlds of home and school. While his actions at school were deemed inappropriate, at home that was the norm. He wasn’t terrible. At home, irritating behaviors were learned behaviors that got him the attention he lacked and that carried over to school. At home school wasn’t important and at times he didn’t feel important. While his father was more concerned with trying to talk to me not as a teacher, but in an attempt to get my number, this little boy was reaching out in the ways he was taught. He would claim to be stupid, and not know anything, but when I got a chance to hear him without judgment he made more progress. Although the other upper middle class students turned their heads in annoyance at his stories and actions, I knew there was something more to it. While I don’t think I understood it really until this point. I do feel that from reading this I recognize that sometimes we can misunderstand our students if we don’t understand the background and colors from which they come from. These chapters remind me that we must see the children we teach as individuals. It isn’t our place to change them, but to allow them access to the curriculum by supporting their discourse. By helping students navigate social norms and expectations. It is challenging enough to deal with school, adolescence, and the search for ones identity, but it is terrible to feel alienated and lost in a crowd of judgments.
Amy Hardister