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

Daniel and Zonnie must learn to express themselves in multiple settings (in school, at home, out of school, with friends, etc.). They both struggle to “fit-in” with regular school culture while also learning about their Native American roots. They must learn to survive in a world where Native American culture barely exists, while still being true to their Native American identity.

Daniel and Zonnie both use literacy to express themselves. Both students love to express themselves through music. Zonnie likes to write music, while Daniel likes to read music to play the saxophone and drums. Music helps both students connect with the real world while still remaining true to their Native American heritage.

Both of these students use writing as a means to connect school life with their Native American life. Zonnie enjoys writing poems as a means to express her feelings and attitudes about school, culture, and life in general. Daniel prefers to write prose about what is going on in his life. Both students have communicated prejudices they have experienced through their writing. These students are also similar in that their parents both care deeply for them and want them to succeed in whatever they choose to do in life.

This article is important because it reminds teachers that every culture is important. Even if a teacher only has one student from a different culture, that student needs to feel as if his or her teacher cares enough about them to learn and teach a little about that culture. It makes students feel good when a teacher shows interest in their culture and probably makes them feel even better if a teacher mentions their culture to the class. I believe if a student feels important in class, it will make him or her try harder and be more accepting of school.

As teachers, we should learn a little about every culture represented in our classroom. We should not overlook cultures, but should celebrate the culture of each student. I teach in the younger grades, so one way I could celebrate various cultures would be to have a Cultural Show and Tell Day where every student can bring in or tell about one neat thing they believe or do related to their culture. I could also lead some lessons describing the culture of the students in my classroom, as well as find some books to share from various cultures. I believe with the right attitude, every teacher can make every child feel welcomed in the classroom and excited about who they are. I do need to practice integrating all cultures in my own classroom. I am guilty of not always giving students from different cultures the opportunity to share their heritage. I need to take my own advice.

~Jamie Brackett

Home Is Where the Heart Is
I thought it was interesting that Daniel wrote about not fitting in and how he just wants to be accepted. He even mentioned how he wished he could be like the white kids with short hair, slim and good-looking. Daniel does not have a positive attitude about his culture when it comes to fitting in. He obviously feels like he is on the outside. Despite all of that, he still wears his hair long and does not try to fit in. It seems he needs a famous role model to help him feel more confident like Michelle Obama is to African American girls.

It sounds as if Daniel is having a hard time connecting at school because he does not feel comfortable. Zonnie also does not appear to feel comfortable around people who are not her family or very close friends. They both tend to keep home life and school life separate. They may do this because they may feel they will lose their culture if they mix the two too much. They are surrounded by a predominately white community and media who have little or no interaction with Native American culture. Therefore, Zonnie and Daniel want to keep their culture in tack. They may feel that by taking part at school, they lose a little bit of themselves. So they only way they can do this are to keep them separate.

The article No Kinda Sense showed how students are more apt to learn a dialect when they are not stressed. This may be true for Daniel and Zonnie in relation to leaning in general. Since they do not feel accepted, they have a harder time connecting with teachers and classmates. Everyone wants to be accepted and feel like they belong. This is part of human nature. Both Daniel and Zonnie are proud of their cultures. So, I wonder if their culture was more fully recognized at school, would they be more successful? It may make them feel special at school, just like they feel special at home. There are some subjects at school and that may be harder to incorporate culture. There are so many different cultures, how can we as teachers try to incorporate them all? I guess we can at least first start with the students in our class. From my experience as a teacher, my students love learning about other cultures.

Daniel’s grades were between C’s and D’s. One of his teachers believed it was because of his busy life outside of school. This is a part of the research that I can relate to my classroom. I have an African American girl who is performing below-grade level in math. She is the only African American girl in my class. At my school we have a very low percentage of minorities.

I have talked with another teacher who has her brother and he is performing below-grade level in math and reading. Both siblings tend to be late a lot and get signed out early. This teacher has mentioned she felt it was because the family is always on the go. They are very into sports and do everything together as a family and you can tell family is very important to them. This reminds me of Daniel and Zonnie of how family is important to them. Just like Daniel, both siblings seem disorganized. But, I can’t help but wonder if she feels she does not fit in at school.
Trish Edwards

I understand that this author wanted to understand the role of literacy in American Indian Adolescents. I found her research to be extremely descriptive. I found that I felt that I knew these students by the end of the research. The research was extremely detailed and helped us to really see the role of literacy in the lives of two American Indian students over the seven months of her research.

After reading through these case studies, I wondered how we would feel about this research if students from other ethnicities would have been included, so we could compare how American Indians differ in the use of literacy compared to other ethnicities. I don't think it is strange that an eighth grade girl would be more interested in socializing than she is in school. The characteristics and struggles these two students have and face seem very normal for middle school students. I think many students at that age struggle with understanding why the information they are learning is important. Daniel seemed to enjoy reading books about his heritage, and I think this is definitely something we can fix in the classroom. In the future I really hope to choose books that "all" my students can relate to on a cultural level. Incorporating this in our classes can help our students get engaged in reading as well as help others gain respect for cultures that they are not familiar with.

I also feel that many students at that age struggle with finding their place in the world, school, and even with a group of friends. I really feel for these students because they are being bullied for who they are. In our elementary school we have an Anti-Bullying Week which seems to help some of our students find an outlet for dealing with being bullied. I don't know how we can stop bullying and maybe we never will, but through our relationships with our students I definitely feel that we can make a difference in the lives of the bullies and those being bullied.

What I did find interesting is that Daniel and Zonnie's parents seemed very involved and introduced literacy to their children at a young age. As a teacher, I think sometimes I assume students who are not performing well or continuously miss assignments don't have involved parents or haven't been immersed in literacy. You can see that this is not always true. I am wondering why teacher's are not getting more involved and having better relationships with these students. I know being a middle school teacher is different than teaching elementary students, but I still feel that they need to make a strong effort to help these students develop academically, socially, and emotionally. Isn't that our job? I feel that the better relationships we have with our students and the harder we work to create a school community you will see students seeing each other the way Daniel's father does. He stated, "The way I was taught, the only race I know is the human race." I can't believe this is still an issue today, but unfortunately it is, so as teacher's we need to address it and correct it in our rooms and schools.
Angie Sigmon

After reading this article I thought about the minority groups that are represented at our school. I thought about how they are perceived by the other students and teachers. I thought about how the groups I have had do in school. I wonder if they feel the way that Zonnie and Daniel feel about school and their peers. Do they wish they were more like them? I know that I am guilty of not finding out a lot about their culture. I just try to teach them and help them overcome any language barriers that they may have. We have a growing hispanic population at our school. I have had different abilities represented in my class and I have never really sat down with the parents or students to talk to them about their views on literacy. The article raised some good points about the students. The family's view of their child's literacy abilities and the school's view were very different. Each family valued literacy and had done their part to read to their children and promote their music and love for writing.
Both students felt inferior at school, but felt very comfortable in their own tribe and surroundings. At school both students enjoyed doing assignments on what interested them. Zonnie enjoyed poetry and Daniel enjoyed learning about a story from the indian perspective. Both seemed to enjoy the assignments,but did not turn some of the assignments in to the teacher. I wonder if they thought she would not value their work. I think when students are rejected by their peers and school they tend not to want to voice themselves for fear of being rejected.
Daniel and Zonnie are using literacy skills in their music and poetry. They are stepping outside the box and applying literacy to real life situations. These are not recognized in school so the teachers really do not know their potential. They often do not turn in assignments and if the assignments are turned in they are often not shared with the class. How does a teacher know a child's full potential if they do not do assignments. They cannot know their true potential if assignments are not turned in. This often gives the student a negative apperaance because the teacher assumes the student is not capable of doing the work.
I think that their teachers should have taken an interest in their community interests. The qualatitive research shows that Zonnie and Daniel do have an interest in literacy. The teachers just need to get to know the students on a personal level and find out their likes and dislikes and see how they can develop their literacy skills through their interests. I can see both sides of the teachers. We have 20-23 students per class and various minoirites in our classroom. We as teachers have so much to teach that it is almost impossible to be involved in each child's homelife and community activities. You just can't teach to each child's individual intersts and get everything accomplished. On the other hand we as teachers have a responsibility to teach each child in our class. We need to get to know each child and offer a variety of assignments that meet the needs of the groups represented in our class. Each student should feel valued in our classroom.

Michelle Moffitt

The qualitative case study, “Experiencing Literacy In and Out of School”, was very enlightening and it made me realize how important it is to view the experience of school and education through our students’ eyes. The subject of the research, American Indian students, was quite interesting to me. I have always wanted to teach on an Indian reservation and was even offered a teaching position on a Hopi reservation in Arizona. I think, had I been able to do so, I would have a much greater appreciation for what it’s like to be the “outsider” in the midst of another culture. This was one of the most eye-opening facets of the research. Although I have always felt that minority students had more trouble acclimating to their school environments then other students, I don’t think I ever really thought about what it must be like to be the odd-man-out. I can’t imagine the conflict these students feel between preserving and respecting who they are while attempting to assimilate into an unfamiliar and often hostile environment. I have always been a part of the majority so I have no idea how I would feel if suddenly the situation was reversed. The bullying both students faced was sad, but what seemed worse was how both Zonnie and Daniel closed themselves off when in the school setting. Neither student felt comfortable speaking in class, sharing talents, or making relationships with teachers. Only Zonnie was able to form a connection with her reading teacher (even though the teacher had limited knowledge of Zonnie). The students need to “hide” in class allowed the teachers to look over them and therefore, no relationship was ever formed. On a personal side note, how can a reading teacher not know what type of books her students enjoy?!!?! The students seemed to regard school as necessary evil (not unlike most middle schoolers). In contrast to how the students were feeling about school, the parents seemed to be very supportive and engaged in the educational process. You would think, knowing what their children were facing and what they surely must have faced as students themselves, they would have more negative views of school. I thought it was very fascinating that the parents had an issue with Ms. Noll calling her after-school club, The Literacy Club. They were concerned that it had negative connotations and meant their children were receiving remediation. It would have never crossed my mind to see it that way but, to me, it shows just how in touch these parents were with the education of their children and how easy it is to overlook things that could be considered disrespectful. Ultimately, it’s all about perception and it is evident that these parents did not want anyone to think their children were less intelligent then the white students. Finally, another significant point that was brought up in the research was the idea of family and community as an integral part of the educational process. I completely agree that teachers need to understand intimately the local culture and backgrounds of their students. When students realize we truly value and respect who they are and where they come from then they will be able to open up and trust what we are trying to do for them. At my school, we have been trying to bridge the gap between school, home, and the community for a few years now and it is definitely harder then it seems. I am pleased to see that Noll’s research validates what we have been trying to do.

Sally Elliott

Daniel and Zonnie’s culture did have a quality that I do not see a lot of parents in my classroom having. They came from families that taught via story telling. I just don’t see that a lot anymore. There are some Appalachian families that still thrive on story telling but I do not see a lot of their family members in my classes.

Both Daniel and Zonnie’s teachers thought they were mediocre. I believe the cultural separation they experienced and lack of understanding caused them to really misjudge their students. They were so talented but in ways that weren’t assigned to them.

While reading this article I started to really feel sorry for Daniel and Zonnie because of all the racism and hardships they endured because of their Native American background. I started to also feel sorry for all cultures that experience racism and hostility towards them. It was brought to my attention by the writer of this article that cultural awareness activities are so very important. Zonnie’s father spoke at the museum during a celebration of Native culture. I was thinking if more celebrations like this were carried out maybe more people would be accepting of other cultures and less racist. I also started to think about how we teachers have a duty to celebrate cultures as well. It is our job to help educate people on different cultures. Cultural awareness may be one step ahead of racism. We could use literature and arts such as music, dance, and crafts to address this. Writing activities conducted after unit studies on different ethnicities are a great way to get children to understand one another’s culture. I feel that if children understand each other’s cultures then they may respect them. Thus have less racism toward certain cultures.

Maria Blevins

The case study by Elizabeth Noll really opened my eyes to the American Indian culture. I have never had the opportunity to interact with this population, and I am interested more in these cultures.

As a child, my family and I traveled to Cherokee, NC for family trips. I remember going to a program called “Unto These Hills”. From that point on, I had this preconceived notion that those of a Cherokee decent were painted, feathered and half-clad, running around with sharpened tools and singing songs of praise. I guess that I had this lasting image in my head until I was in middle or high school and did a project on Native Americans (American Indians) of North Carolina. Here is a link that depicts what I thought happened day in and day out of the Cherokee Indians: http://www.cherokee-nc.com/index.php?page=56

At that point, I realized that this culture was a lot like my own. Both of our cultures had our traditions. In my family, we had a turkey on Thanksgiving, a Frasier Fir tree on Christmas, and gave gifts for birthdays. I attended church in my best “Sunday Dress” and spent my time reading the Bible, looking for guiding words to understand the world around me. American Indian families are just like my family. They have “everyday” practices just as I did. They have meals with their families, attend their pow wows and practiced their religions. I was right that they do dress up in their special costumes for special occasions, but I did too. Halloween meant scary costumes for trick-o-treating. Easter meant frilly dresses with shiny shoes and baskets full of eggs. I thought we were very different, but I found out that I wasn’t completely correct.

As for the Noll case study, I see more points that back up my beliefs that American Indians practice their “native” customs as well as “American” customs.

It seems that our first student, Daniel, is a husky 7th grade student who sports dark, long hair with darker features. He finds himself quiet at school and is encouraged to take up for himself by his father. Daniel is not organized, and seems to take no interest in school work outside of the classroom. He uses literacy only when it interests him such as when he reads his favorite genre of books, or when he reads about his culture. He describes his other school assignments as “not important to learn” (such as politics) and earns himself only C’s and D’s in language arts class. However, Daniel seems to be very into his culture. He spends his free time learning to play instruments at powwows and practices dances. It seems that Daniel’s culture is #1 in his life. Daniel also displays a liking to literacy when he writes for his own experiences. He describes times in his life that he was attacked racially by others in his school. Daniel expresses that he wants to “help children of all races live in harmony”.

When I re-read information about Zonnie, I saw quite the opposite of Daniel. Zonnie is an 8th grade girl who is of Lakota and Navajo decent. She is a family lover and spends lots of her time with students of other races. Zonnie experienced lots of opportunities at home to be immersed in literacy. She found a strong liking to poetry. Zonnie is described as liking other arts as well. She enjoys bead work, and writing and listening to country song lyrics. Zonnie says that she uses her relationships with her family members to write her songs. Unlike Daniel, Zonnie shows the upmost respect for her teachers. She has a love for school and wants to perform well. Zonnie, although fairly popular, has found herself stuck in a racist qualm, and uses writing as a way to share her feelings.

Both American Indian students use literacy to expose how they feel about racism. Writing seems to be an outlet that allows a nonviolent flow of feelings and words to surface for Daniel and Zonnie. The study describes that this is possible due to the fact that both students were influenced by supportive families at home to continue their practice in literacy. Along with literacy, both students seem to be in tune with their cultural differences among the white population in which they live among. They both use the arts in their cultures. Dance is important to both, while Daniel enjoys making music. Zonnie likes to write music. A thread is woven between the two students that connect the cultural differences to the literary differences.

Renee Hennings June 8 2010

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this research article. I was very impressed with how well Noll conducted and presented qualitative research. I have firsthand experience with conducting and writing a qualitative research paper, and it is no easy task. One of the first things I noticed about this paper was the fact that Noll observed Daniel and Zonnie over a 7 month period. This showed me that Noll spent enough time with her subjects to truly obtain accurate data.

As I read through the paper I highlighted points that I found interesting. However, a quote on page 225 stood out to me the most. Zonnie’s language arts teacher made this comment, “ I really don’t’ know her like I know other students who are more vocal. Zonnie is just kind of there.” As I read those words I felt as if someone punched me in the stomach. My mind pondered mainly on the last four words.. “Just Kind of There.” At first I thought, how could a teacher say that about their student. Then, I began to reflect on myself as a teacher and ask the following questions. Do I know my students like I should? Do I view any of my students as “Just Kind of There?” Do my students feel like I don’t know enough about their personal lives? Actually answering these questions were hard, but as a teacher and mentor I needed to go through the evaluating process. I know many of my students and their families very well. However one student I need to spend more time with and learn more about is my ESL student. She too is very quite like Zonnie, but that doesn’t mean that her voice should not be heard. My ESL student’s mother does not speak hardly any English so it has made it difficult to get to know her. Sadly, I think I have used this as an excuse to not dig deeper and find out what really interests my ESL student.

This article showed me that Zonnie and Daniel struggled with being “Just Kind of There” in both of their worlds. They both wanted to be heard and found an outlet to express themselves through music and writing. My heart broke when I read how disappointed Daniel became when his teacher did not read his Halloween story, a story he spent a lot of time on and was proud of. This made me wonder how many times I have overlooked one of my student’s interests simply due to the fact that I haven’t taken the time to truly know them. The hours in a school day seem so limited to get accomplished what I feel like I am required to do. However, through this paper and the previous articles the reoccurring theme that keeps sticking out in my head is the importance of getting to know my students’ interest both inside and outside of school. I have thought of a couple ways I could do a better job at this next year.

1.Have “Get to Know your Classmate” days. Each student would have a day where we would learn about them. We could listen to their favorite music, eat favorite food, read their favorite book, write a story about them etc…
2.Conduct home visits and meet my students’ families.
3.Conduct unit studies about the cultures that make up our classroom.
4.Support them outside the classroom (e.g. sporting event, band concert, church event, etc…)

If you have any other ideas please let me know. I don’t want my students to ever feel like they are “Just Kind of There.” I want them to know that their voice is heard and that they are an important part of my life and classroom.

Emily Rhoney

By using a qualitative research study Noll allows us to see how Daniel and Zonnie’s perceive their own literacy. Their perspectives were sometimes surprising to me. I would not have thought they would have faced such discrimination at such a young age, nor that coming from such literacy rich environments they would struggle to be successful at school.

What struck me immediately in reading Noll’s article is the time and effort Daniel’s parents put into teaching him about his culture. They actively transferred their culture and pride in their way of life to Daniel. In that regard Daniel is at a great advantage to the children that I teach. If any cultural values at all are taught, I sometimes find that they are defensive in nature and do not allow for differences in others. For example, a student might say, “My mama said to play with my own kind ‘cause we’re the same.” To these kinds of statements I respond, “Well at school we…” I would think that Daniel’s strong family life would make being a minority easier on him. He has positive feedback from his Native American community, if not from his classmates, and plenty of opportunities to build self-esteem. I teach second grade, so it is hard for me to imagine an environment where such racial slurs as Daniel described would occur. Surely that kind of behavior is not acceptable to the staff of Daniel’s school and they would intervene if alerted. It is the nature of middle schoolers to find a way to set themselves up as superior to others, if not because of race then because of sex, income, or appearance. That does not make it acceptable to put others down, but I do not think Daniel’s experience is unique in that regard. Most children that age feel that they are at the bottom of the social pyramid and are self-conscious of their differences.

In Zonnie’s case I was struck by the phrase about her parents, “…both were forced to learn English in school.” The author writes as if this were some horrible tragedy. If they had not learned English, their common language, would they be able to communicate with each other and the outside world? I encourage my students to continue with their Spanish and my parents to teach their children to read and write in Spanish. I know that being bi-literate will be a great advantage to them as adults in the job market. While I never reprimand them for speaking Spanish at school (unless it is to exclude someone or to cuss), I do expect them to learn English. English is still the language of the majority and a necessity for them to navigate adulthood.

Despite her father’s incarceration, Zonnie also seemed to have a supportive and literature rich home life. Both Zonnie and Daniel came from environments that should theoretically have produced good students. I do wonder whether the incongruence between home and school cultures are what hindered their academic performance, or if there were more factors involved. I think additional research as to the parent’s involvement and goals for their children’s future would have been helpful in determining all of the causes of these student’s lack of success in school.

-Rebecca Ashby

Noll did an amazing job presenting the research she found in an easy to read and follow way. She grabbed my attention, and I was able to read and take from her findings a lot of valuable information. As I went through the paper, I kept being drawn back to the different ways people learn, being reminded that not one person learns everything like someone else. In the case of most people in the world, they learn through the use of movement, music, chants, rhymes, etc. Noll presented to the reader that American Indians learn things when their interests are involved. Throughout the article the miscommunication between Zonnie and Daniel and their battle with the outside world really hit home with some behaviors I see in the school. These two children struggled to find a place in the world, because they weren’t real sure how to make sense of it. For both Zonnie and Daniel there life was two-fold, friends and family.
When reading about Daniel and his life growing up, my heart just melted. I was overjoyed by the family structure he belonged to, and I only wish many of my students had the same support from their families that Daniel had from his. A father who tells his son to fight for what he believes in after he’s tried everything to stop someone from bullying him and supports his son despite his faults, is a true father who believe everyone should be treated the same way. The solid support Daniel was given gave him the foundation he needed to be a good man. Children all over the world need this foundation to build upon to better themselves and their lives. Daniel’s parents were proactive and supported his education. He knew he had to do well in school, but he didn’t have to be perfect. He was able to express his inner feelings through his writing; a process many people do through journaling. This way of escape, I believe helped Daniel to become a better person and fight against the rage he had in a non-violent way.
In school Daniel felt like he was not part of a family. He was often picked on and a loner. Many children growing up feel this way, and as a teacher we need to try and help everyone feel like they are important and belong. When he began reading his actions were like all other beginning readers, taking it one step at a time, building upon knowledge as he progressed through the pages of books. This process brought him to his safe zone in writing and he was able to survive in school. Many children I teach can’t wait to leave home and come to school where they feel loved and safe, but for Daniel, he left school at school, because for him school was not enjoyable, but a chore, and home was a safe and happy place. Daniel kept his two discourses separate and enabled him to be happy.
Zonnie on the other hand had a good home life, not as solid as Daniels, but her parents still supported her and the decisions she made throughout life. Zonnie used writing as a way of escaping her life. Through music, lyrics and poetry, Zonnie wrote down her thoughts and feelings in poetic form. Writing on her own without being told what to write was a joy for Zonnie, but when it came to being told what to read, what to write and what to do she hated it. Zonnie wanted choice in her life and when she was given the opportunity to choose, she made sure to write. Zonnie and Daniel excelled when they were given the choice of what to write and read. They may have not been the best writers or readesr when it came to something they didn’t want to do, but when they had their choice, they took their work to another level. Like the two of them, children in the classroom need choice. The more choice they have and input they are able to give with each assignment the better they perform, because they take ownership over their work.
Noll spoke of how Zonnie was conscientious, and she could always be counted on to do her assignments and readings. I see this in strong structured and family oriented homes; stable homes where education is respected, unlike homes where children have little support and love.
Daniel and Zonnie both grew up in loving families and were read to as children. They both had a knack for music and used their talents to build their self esteem and belonging in the community. Their joy and ideas came from music and these same joys for Zonnie and Daniel outside of their home life were also social breakages at school. Since others didn’t understand why they weren’t “social butterflies” they were picked on and treated differently. Life isn’t fair, and it’s especially not fair for children growing up with different ethnicities. It would be nice for every child to having a happy loving home, with guidance and support, but we all know that is far and few between these days. I just hope that the love we have as teachers can help one child feel a sense of belonging and love, and maybe help that child fulfill their dreams.

Meredith Bromley

I found it interesting that both of these American Indian students thought that they wanted a career in fields that involve reading and writing. I found it refreshing, as a teacher who loves writing, that these students enjoyed writing. I have taught narrative writing in fourth grade for seven years and can eventually get most of my students to also like the writing process. It also made me excited that both students were read to as children. I believe that this is the key to getting children started on the right path as readers.

I could tell that their heritage was important to them and their family. I have taught a student that was ½ Cherokee. One big difference though between the two students in the article and him, was that he knew nothing about his culture. His father never spoke to him about living on the reservation as a child. He spoken broken English and was a laborer. The child came from a home where education was not valued and rarely had work. I believe that my student was very intelligent and will eventually find out about his heritage on his own. I hope that he can treasure the culture of his people.

In the article about Daniel, I really thought that the teachers at his school allowed him to explore his culture through openness of assignment topics (reading and language arts, and civics). It stated that even though he did the assignments, he lost them. I got the feeling from reading the article that he valued his cultural experiences far more than his educational ones. That is sad, especially when teachers are willing to incorporate your culture into the assignments. I am glad that he can relate his experiences and emotions through his fictional stories. I hope that there are American Indians to write about the experiences they have so that we can glean their insights as to what changes can be made to make school a better experience for them.

I was also glad to read that Zonnie expressed herself through poetry. This was something that she obviously did well since so many adults, teachers and friends knew of it. I believe that being a female is sometimes easier than being a seventh or eighth grade male. Females are more social and make you feel like you belong in a group. Alienation by her peers was not as intense for Zonnie as it was for Daniel. I believe that both students wanted to be accepted by their peers for who they are, which is true for most teens.

I think that Ms. Noll conducted her qualitative research for this article very well. Seven months is a long time to spend with students. I felt that she conducted thoough interviews with the families as well. She noted that the families were often hesitant because they felt that American Indians were often presented in a negative light in the past. I think that the time and effort that she put into her research allowed her to see a more true picture.
Amy Reep

Misunderstood

This research article really helped me understand that sometimes the way we perceive a situation to be may not be at all the way it really is. Daniel and Zonnie’s struggles with fitting in, in a place where they felt a sense of isolation brought home the fact that many children of different cultures or backgrounds may feel the same way. Both students wanted so badly to be able to be who they truly are in a world that may not be open to differences in certain situations. Having to fit into 3 worlds, their American Indian world, the world of the school and the world of mainstream USA brought so many challenges and frustrations. I love the fact that they do embrace their native culture and that they had white friends that did support them in friendships. I wondered if this means only a few others made fun of them and their perception was that the white race as a whole does not accept them because of the few or could it be that most do accept them but the ones that don’t are the ones that stand out. Maybe accepting them and embracing them are two completely different animals.

When I read how the students were able to express themselves through poetry and music, I immediately thought of some of my LD kids who are able do the same thing. Music and art are definitely forms of literacy and beautiful ways to express what’s on their minds in a meaningful way. Both students were able to connect their worlds through the arts. It was interesting to read how when Noll was organizing the literacy club, the American Indians wanted the name changed because they felt others would think it meant a club for students that had deficits in reading and writing. Experiences had shaped how both Noll and the Indian population felt about the term “literacy,” one positive and one negative. In order for us to bridge the gap between cultures we have to take the time to really understand each other and the teacher’s role in this can be what makes it or breaks it. We need to make sure no one is “ just there” in our classes but to find ways to give everyone a voice. That may mean going beyond our comfort zone to dig into the lives of students , parents, etc. in order to find the connections we can use to build these relationships and to help all of our kids to succeed in the worlds they happen to be a part of. That’s the challenge I am giving to myself . It may mean more work every day to “ develop a cultural responsive curriculum” but a challenge that needs to be accepted.

Linda Bohland

Misunderstood

This research article really helped me understand that sometimes the way we perceive a situation to be may not be at all the way it really is. Daniel and Zonnie’s struggles with fitting in, in a place where they felt a sense of isolation brought home the fact that many children of different cultures or backgrounds may feel the same way. Both students wanted so badly to be able to be who they truly are in a world that may not be open to differences in certain situations. Having to fit into 3 worlds, their American Indian world, the world of the school and the world of mainstream USA brought so many challenges and frustrations. I love the fact that they do embrace their native culture and that they had white friends that did support them in friendships. I wondered if this means only a few others made fun of them and their perception was that the white race as a whole does not accept them because of the few or could it be that most do accept them but the ones that don’t are the ones that stand out. Maybe accepting them and embracing them are two completely different animals.

When I read how the students were able to express themselves through poetry and music, I immediately thought of some of my LD kids who are able do the same thing. Music and art are definitely forms of literacy and beautiful ways to express what’s on their minds in a meaningful way. Both students were able to connect their worlds through the arts. It was interesting to read how when Noll was organizing the literacy club, the American Indians wanted the name changed because they felt others would think it meant a club for students that had deficits in reading and writing. Experiences had shaped how both Noll and the Indian population felt about the term “literacy,” one positive and one negative. In order for us to bridge the gap between cultures we have to take the time to really understand each other and the teacher’s role in this can be what makes it or breaks it. We need to make sure no one is “ just there” in our classes but to find ways to give everyone a voice. That may mean going beyond our comfort zone to dig into the lives of students , parents, etc. in order to find the connections we can use to build these relationships and to help all of our kids to succeed in the worlds they happen to be a part of. That’s the challenge I am giving to myself . It may mean more work every day to “ develop a cultural responsive curriculum” but a challenge that needs to be accepted.

Linda Bohland

I had a hard time with the Noll article because I didn’t see two American Indian children. I saw two children that had a sense of self centered in the arts, and having a hard time bringing their artistic talents into their school and social life. There are many students that love music, dancing, and poetry. There are many students that have activities outside of school that do not fit in with the school “norm.” Why do we have to single them out by their heritage? I don’t understand.
Teenagers struggle with their identity everyday. They reflect on their values and morals taught to them from birth and decide if they want to keep or reject them. Daniel and Zonnie are doing the same thing. They are exploring their heritage. Yes, they probably have a more difficult time because they are in the minority, but they are exploring themselves just the same as the other students. Zonnie has learned to express herself through poetry, but insists she is not a good reader. She likes the positive feedback from her teachers, which more than likely affirms her love of poetry. Daniel has discovered that reading music is similar to reading a text. Granted his music and dancing are harder to bring into the classroom environment, and there are less students that participate in his out of school activities, but Daniel has discovered his sense of self.
Both students have to deal with racial prejudice and inequality, but they have positive support and role models at home. Their families are very supportive of the children’s activities both inside and outside of school.
I think my issue with the article appears at the end when the implications are discussed. “Their teachers are, for the most part, unaware of the multiple literacies that are so central to the students’ out-of-school lives.” I find it nearly impossible to learn what each of my 70 students do outside of school. I have a basic idea of who they are, what they like, and try to pull from that during class when appropriate. I have issue with the fact that we are focusing on American Indian culture here. As teachers, shouldn’t we take an equal interest in each of our children regardless of their culture? I appreciate the qualities and histories that make us all individuals, but why can’t we look past our colors?
Jennifer Wagoner

In reading this article, I felt like these kids were living in two very different worlds; one that took place in the school setting and one that occurred in their home environments. In their home environment, both students share with their family things they enjoy such as reading and writing, they make connections between things that they do at home and literacy, and they live social lives by participating in the powwow's and other events of their culture. Daniel even made a connection between learning to read musical notes and learning to read text. He even compared the sound dynamics of music to be similar to puncuation. What insight and intelligence found in a connection! In the school setting, both students appeared to struggle. Daniel was thought of as being nice but withdrawn from his peers and his teachers perceived him to be disorganized and uninterested in school. Zonnie appeared to have a better relationship with her peers but was still found to be disconnected with teachers and people that she didn't have a bond. Her reading teacher thought that she was a mediocre student even though she showed interest in reading and would often stay after class to discuss things that she and the teacher had read.

I found the struggle of these students interesting. With the high population of immigrates that live in our country (many of which speak other languages when beginning school), I would think that teachers would try to make better connections with their students in order to create a safe and invovled learning atmosphere for all students. Previously, I taught at a school in which most of the students were from other countries. They struggled with literacy from the perspective of the teachers. These students, as the Native Amercians, participated in some of the other literacies mentioned in the article. I found that the best way for these students to understand that you care about where they come from and what they have to say is by participating and showing interest in their culture. This was also mentioned in the article. One year, I made a deal with several of my Hmong students to learn some words in Hmong if they worked hard to learn how to read in my classroom. That year I learned several new words and they made an enormous amount of growth.

I believe that all students can excel in literacy if their teacher attempts to learn more about who is apart of the class that they are teaching. I think that it is the teachers responsible to make every effort to learn what things their students enjoy and show interest. This also aids them in helping their students find books or magizines that are of interest to the student so they are also encouraging reading. I think if a teacher makes an effort to do some of these things, their students will feel more comfortable in the school setting. Feeling more comfortable in school will encourage the students to socialize more with their peers and teachers and hopefully encourage those students to become more aware of literacies that are found in the school setting.

Are We Teaching All Students?

A common goal for us as teachers is to meet the needs of ALL of our students. After reading Noll’s research article, I began to question myself in how I strive to meet the needs of all of my students. With the high demands of teaching: working to meet school, county, and state standards, creating a safe community of learners, etc., where does meeting the needs of students fall on a teacher’s list of priorities?
I commend Noll in taking the time to learn about the community and culture of American Indians of Lakota and Dakota adolescents. I cannot imagine the difficulties that Daniel and Zonnie experienced not only in their community, but also academically, trying to “fit in” in a mainstream white culture. There is great importance of working to meet the needs of these students, especially through the use of literature and writing which “further generate understanding about the personal and social issues that were important to them”.
How do teachers meet the needs of all students? I personally make this one of my top goals each year, hoping to be successful. When teachers receive class lists at the beginning of the year, we quickly become aware of students that have learning disabilities, behavior problems, and academically gifted, well-behaved students. For these students, preparations are made to help them achieve even before they walk into our classroom. It is important to not make judgments or assumptions as to how the child will work. However, we do need to be prepared and keep in mind those children whom will need to sit close to the teacher, have a buddy, and need activities to meet them at their own levels of learning. How much do we pay attention to the race or culture of the child? Do teachers prepare lessons to teach the Hispanic or American Indian child’s culture? We may also be guilty of assuming that the child may not speak English, stressed to meet the child on the first day of school. I personally have learned the lesson of “not judging the book by its cover”. My first year teaching, I was apprehensive of having Hispanic children in my classroom; I had not had Spanish practice since high school. However, I discovered that the student was very fluent in both Spanish and English. He was also a very bright, well-rounded student. I did my best to work to meet his needs and learn about his culture. During the holidays, we did a “Christmas around the World”, unit in which we learned about different traditions and how different cultures celebrated the Christmas time of year. The Hispanic student really enjoyed the unit, as well as the rest of my class. In fact, I even asked the student to help teach about the Hispanic traditions; he really got into sharing his culture. It is important that we prove Philip’s quote from the article wrong, “It is primarily by virtue of the teacher’s position and authority that the students and not the teacher come to be defined as the ones who do not understand” (pg. 206). It is vital to try to meet the needs of all students and to not make judgments or assumptions until proven otherwise, and even then not assume that they are set in stone. We must try to understand and work to recognize all students no matter their shape, color, or size.
I applaud the way in which Noll explored not only Daniel and Zonnie’s literature and writing at school, but also how they used literacy in their cultures, and how they used it to help define them. We often conclude that literacy only affects our educational experiences in the classroom settings. However, as Noll discovers in the article, literacy has a great influence on our lives outside of the classroom including on our culture through art, dance and music. When working to meet the needs of students, it is imperative to tap into the students’ interests, whether it is sports, cultural experiences, or arts. I am always fascinated by teaching a lesson that strikes a connection or interest with a student. It is exciting to see the child become so enthusiastic about the lesson, and typically the child is successful with the activity. It was neat to hear Zonnie say that she would like to be a composer and singer: “I like music and I like writing, and I could put the two together…and see what I can come up with.” (pg. 226). Zonnie’s statement reminded me of a student that I have struggled with this year due to a rough home life causing him to bring a negative behavior to school. I have fought the battle of behavior and completion of work. We recently did a lesson on Memorial Day and the importance of honoring our troops. One day he opened up to me, expressing that he hopes to be in the military one day. After our discussion about his dream, I gathered as many books as I could about the military for him to read. It was through that lesson that I was able to connect with the student. An activity that the students completed was to write a letter to a soldier in the army. My “future soldier” wrote one of his best pieces of work this year. I was very proud of him.
How can we meet the needs of our students? I believe a possible answer to my question would be to set out to teach the student where they are, not only academically, but also culturally. We should also encourage literacy to help our students make connections to their personal goals and lives outside of school.

Katie Johnson

As educators, we must familiarize ourselves with the communities in which we teach as well as our students' backgrounds and families. I think that if the teachers of the two students in this study were more familiar with their students' culture and practices, then they may have been able to relate to their students and help "tap into" some of their talents that were hidden at school.

I'm still puzzled as to why Daniel would not turn in his assignments. I know that he was disinterested in most of them and often didn't feel that they were important, but I was hoping that the researcher would have stated other reasons why he didn't complete his work. As an elementary teacher, I try to figure out what's going on and how I can help when students don't turn in homework. I want to know the reason/s why it wasn't done, so that they don't fall behind.

Both students had a passion for horror books and music, had the teachers known this, they could have given them an assignment that related to these interests and probably have seen them show off thier talents. If you don't make a connection with your students and show them that you care, they won't "buy into" what you're trying to teach them.

By: Reshawna Greene

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this qualitative study. One of the most valuable tools I have gotten from grad school is the ability to read research studies and learn from the documents I am reading. I wouldn't tell just anybody that but I am guessing you guys know exactly what I mean.

As usual, as I read this article, I came away with more questions than answers. Why in the world do we allow policymakers to put so much importance on standarized terst scores? Why do we let testing reports define the worth of a child? How can we break this vicious cycle? How can we stop racism in our schools? How can we make children know and understand their truth worth? So many questions!

The researcher suggested that locally developed instructional materials should be used to support students' native language and their academic achievement. Does locally developed mean that it is culturally relevant? To me it would be a shame to ask students to become standardized and lose the cultural characteristics that make us all different. I was fascinated by the creativity and artistic skill in the study children. It reminds me that I need to reinforce that everyone has a special talent. I really need to learn to focus on what my students bring to the table, not areas they are deficient. We need to build on the pride children feel for their heritage, not use cookie cutters to turn them into people they are not. As en educator, I need to do more than buy culturally diverse books and put them on a shelf. I need to be a student too. I need to explore cultures that are different from mine on both a personal and professional level. Should part of my education have included cultural diversity? Who dropped the ball?

All people want affirmation. They want to believe that what they produce and choose to share has value. Not matter what race, background, etc. we want to be appreciated. Can we teach children to place value on themselves and others?
Carol Sherrill

“Breaking the Mold”

Daniel and Zonnie were chosen for this qualitative research project to provide a “purposeful sampling” to represent a “rich understanding” of American Indian students in a predominantly white, rural community. They were studied in regards to their use of literacy and the factors that influence their literacy experiences as well as how others interpreted those experiences. Through interviews, observations review of records and schoolwork within multiple settings, this research was conducted over a seven month period.
What is obvious through this study is that Daniel, Zonnie and their families break the stereotypical mold of rural, American Indian families. I am comparing this to commonly held stereotypes in the South in regards to rural, lower socio-economic families; that they don’t care about education; they are ignorant; they won’t amount to much and have no aspirations. Both Daniel and Zonnie were read to by their parents and were provided books through their local library. Their parents supported their education in school and in the traditions of their American Indian culture. These two had support from family, but also faced the same adolescent struggles as most young teens as they try to find their identity in the world. Their struggles are complicated with the issues of being in cultural minority in their community.
What became evident through the study was the realization that literacy is not gaining meaning purely through various forms of oral and written language, but it also includes the “influences of music, dance and art.” Additionally, relationships with friends and family impact the acquisition and expression of literacy and language; who and how books, music, art, and written communication are shared, from traditional cultural stories and drum music to popular forms of music, art and books. All of these influences shape literacy experiences. Daniel and Zonnie built an “understanding of themselves and their world through reading, writing, dance and music.”
What is significant about this study is the awareness of these factors and how they influence adolescent students. To maximize learning in schools, teachers need to take these factors into consideration to plan meaningful activities in literacy lessons. Incorporate what interests them. Daniel and Zonnie both performed better in school when they were allowed to explore the areas that had relevance to them and they expand the areas where their strengths lie; Daniel in his story telling and writing and Zonnie in her poetry and music. People seek ways to express themselves through many different ways: literacy, art, music, crafts, sports,… Teachers need to be able to open the door for students to journey through experiences while recognizing where the student is coming from and not holding to preconceived ideas about diverse students.

Susan Hines

Reading about Daniel left me frustrated and puzzled. Daniel was such a smart boy, why did he not do his homework and complete his class work? He knew how to do it and he knew that he could complete it, yet he didn’t complete it. Could it have been that he felt that it was not relevant to his Indian Culture so it wasn’t important to learn about? I wonder if his parents told him that it was important to learn about other cultures as well as learning more about the Indian Culture. It seemed to me like his family was very supportive of him, but never once did it say that they helped to make sure that he finished his homework. Did they communicate with the school? I was so frustrated when he did his horror story and he was so hoping that his teacher would read the story to the class but his teacher just skipped right over it. I felt crushed inside; I wanted to scream at that teacher!!! I think that as a teacher if you know that you have a child that is struggling you should take extra time to build that student up. I find that if I have a student struggling in their writing and they wrote something that they were proud of I would take the time to either read their writing or let them read it. In the reading it said, “…he slumped in his seat each time she passed over his…. Later he expressed disappointment that she did not choose to read his story.” If I were Daniel I would not want to write anything to turn in again because what I did was not good enough to be read. I just wish that the teacher had taken the time to encourage his writing!! I know that he had AMAZING potential I just wish that people took more time to help them develop their talent.

Zonnie’s academic life was frustrating as well. She was such a smart girl, her parents believed in her and believed in a good education. Why did her teachers not do as much as they could to help her? She was a great poet yet her teachers did not take the time to read what she had and comment. Noll says “…her language arts teacher rarely read or responded to her journal entries…” yes it made her write more, but why did they not read them? Did they not care about her style of writing? Did they not understand her style? I got so frustrated!! She only received Bs and Cs and it seemed like they knew that she could do more but they didn’t do anything to help her do better.

This made me really think. Do we as teachers really do everything that we can to help every child of every race? I know that I try my best but from reading this I have really learned that I need to be much more aware of what I see and what I can do to help each student succeed.

Natalie Enns

I chose the title keep it or lose it for this post because Native Americans are having to choose between the "white" way or "their" way. In the end survival becomes whether or not Native Americans get to keep their heritage.

While reading about the two case studies I thought back to a wise professor that I had during undergrad, James Bryant. It was through his class that I saw how important family stories are that get past down through the generations. Dr. Bryant wrote the book Curely which is about his great-grandfather who was a full blooded Cherokee. The story is telling of his great-grandfather's journey during 1930's up until his death. The biggest thing that was talked about throughout the book was the racism he and his family faced and how they were trying to take the "Indian" out of them. For a final project we were to talk with a family member and record their life story. I chose to do my grandmother who is now 86 years old.

The biggest issue that I had throughout the reading was the fact that the "white" people were trying to take away all that the Native American people have ever known. I am a white woman, but feel this is completely wrong. What makes "us" superior to everyone else to where we can take away who they are? Do we not ever stop to think, hey...that could be me? I know I don't want anyone taking my personal beliefs and my heritage away from me. Also, why does the so called "superior race" think that just because they are Native Americans that they are illiterate? From the reading I gathered that both Daniel and Zoonie are both very intelligent in many different areas. The area that I saw they both had trouble in, in terms of writing was word order and finding the correct words for what they were trying to say.
I really was not surprised that neither of them wanted to do their school work. As one of Daniel's teacher's mentioned she believed he viewed school a a job. When the day was done, so was Daniel. Lastly, it was very upsetting to see that they were fighting within themselves to find their "identity." Just reading journal entries and stories you can just feel the pain and hurt in their words. I think it was great that they found ways of expressing themselves. For instances, Daniel becomes Benny when writing who has an Elvis Presley hair do. But the reality is that with children who struggle with "identity" loss they can end up doing things to themselves and others. In the book Curley mentioned above they, meaning most Native Americans that lived on their reservation, turned to alcohol.

I think the teachers teaching both of these students should assess themselves. As a teacher I do my very best to connect with every student and see how that child learns best. But, some of their teachers were alienating them as if they did not exist. "He acknowledged that he did not 'really know her like I know other students who are more vocal. Zonnie is just kind of there." I thought as a teacher it was our job to engage all of our students no matter what race or ethnicity? Am I wrong?

Candace Barnes

When I first began reading this article all I could think was how bad I felt for these people. The fact that Noll had to go before a committee simply to work with these students. I was also shocked by the sentence, “some of the parents expressed concern about the term literacy, which they regarded almost as a euphemism for illiteracy” (Noll) I was bothered by the fact that a group of parents could view the two the same way. As I read though I realized that neither Daniel nor Zonnie were unintelligent students. I still don’t understand why Daniel never turned in his homework or why Zonnie didn’t have better grades. The only thing I could think of was that Daniel and Zonnie did view school as a job. I grew up in a home where there was a large emphasis put on school work so I can’t relate to a family putting as much emphasis on other activities such as a powwow or music. As I continued to read I couldn’t help but think that this article could have been written about any number or races, genders, and socio-economic classes. Students in high school are trying to find themselves and figure out where they belong and who they are. Anyone who has gone through high school, especially if they were a minority, could probably relate. We were probably all be much more interested in literature that pertained to our interest or heritage and we probably put forth more effort in areas that we felt a connection with. I do think that there are obviously a number of prejudices in our minds about Native Americans in terms of their intelligence, but as far as the article is concerned you could do the same type of research in just about any area where there are high school students who are in some way a minority. In fact I would think that the research was more legitimate if Noll had gone and conducted this study with African American students, Hispanic students, Asian students, and then written this report.
Katie Templeton

This article brought out a lot of emotions in me. Initially, I felt sadness for these 2 adolescents. I feel they are "torn between 2 worlds." I think they feel that if they participate in things their peers are doing, then they are turning their backs on their heritages. I think they also feel they can't express themselves freely at school because of being subjected to criticism and bullying. Being adolescents, they are going through enough emotions and changes without having to worry about fitting in with their peers because of their race.
I am glad that these 2 students have such a wonderful support system at home. It seems to me that both sets of parents want more for their children than what they received, in terms of education. They both have played active roles in the development of their childrens' literacy. It also seems that the parents support the children in their artistic talents as well. I'm also glad these 2 students found a way to express themselves freely, without having to worry about criticism, through writing and music. After reading about the parents' support, I do wonder what Daniel's parents think about his attitude towards school and class/homework?!?!?
I think the parents were unsure at first of the author's motives in doing the research because of their past experiences with other researchers. I think it's safe to say that if someone treats you badly or speaks of you in a negative way, then you would probably be suspicious of that person. I honestly think this is the reason the parents, at first, questioned the researcher and were not very supportive of her.
I also wondered after reading this article what type of, if any, staff development is offered to teachers concerning the different cultural backgrounds of the students? I know at our school we've been required to attend staff developments on lower SES backgrounds, as well as the Hmong culture, which are 2 groups in which we have a lot of members of our student population members of. If teachers were offered this, then maybe they would understand better the different backgrounds, beliefs, etc. of their students, which in turn may make the students want to do better in class. It would show them that the teacher cared enough to learn about them as people. At the same time I believe teachers should make more of an effort to learn their students' backgrounds, I also feel that students, such as Donnie, should make more of an effort to do his best in school.
Marsha Warren

Elizabeth Noll impressed me with her determination to understand and represent the Native Americans in the study accurately. She considered and understood the objections of the family’s toward the name of the literacy club. She checked her perceptions or assumptions at the door in order to view the data honestly as possible. The research causes her to broaden her definition of literacy. Shouldn’t all research cause people to reflect and grow?

Zonnie and Daniel shared similar family backgrounds. They came from families that value education, were read to in the early years and taught to express themselves. Daniel’s ability to connect music to reading was amazing. It reflected his knowledge of literature. Both children freely wrote stories and poems own their own. Zonnie and Daniel did not connect to school because school did not connect with them. The teachers did not attempt to invite Zonnie or Daniel into the class. Instead, they seem to blame Zonnie and Daniel for not being better students. The teachers in the study appeared indifferent toward the children’s ability in the classroom. I believe teachers have to open their minds to different culturals and respect their beliefs and traditions.

I become frustrated with teachers who keep their head buried in the sand. If a student does not conform to society’s perception, the student is not teachable. Zonnie and Daniel can teach me a few things—I cannot read music, no rhythm whatsoever and cannot write rhythmic poetry. Both, Zonnie and Daniel, expresses themselves through stories or poems for an assignment. Neither student’s work is acknowledged by the teacher. Why? Is it because the story or poem is telling a truth the teacher is avoiding? The teacher walked away from a moment to connect with the students.

Zandra Hunt

These two students, Daniel and Zonnie have such a strong love and dedication to their Native American culture that their daily life in school they are not able to be themselves. They want to express themselves in ways that show their culture and others judge them, criticize them, and refuse to look past their differences to see their gifts and talents. This makes me mad to say the least. Kids can be so hateful and mean. It's so sad to see everyday in school kids being bullied because of their cultural differences.
Zonnie had a gift and desire to write poetry and to dance, and Daniel loved to write, especially the horror because of the great details, and also into music. He wrote many stories that were overlooked by his teachers that created him to become less interested in school. Zonnie's teacher also overlooked her talent and strong interests. Seeing that these teachers only saw these unique and talented individuals as mediocre or unmotivated left me with a feeling of disgust. These teachers didn't take the time to get to know them and look into their culture to truly understand who they were. As a teacher, we are obligated to care. Why else would we be teachers? When I read articles like this one, it makes me examine what my flaws are. What do I do that maybe makes my students not feel important or acknowledged. Each student deserves the same chance to prove themselves and share their uniqueness. In today's public education it is becoming harder and harder to focus on each individual and what their true gifts are because we are shoving information down their throats without taking the time to teach with improving and allowing them to grow and develop into individuals with unique differences that need to be celebrated. If I was a teacher in a community such as theirs, I would like to think that I would take the time to go to their homes and learn more about their families, because right now I could tell you that I know nothing about Native American culture. It makes me also look at the diversity in my classroom and ask myself, how much do I really know about their cultures? An honest answer is, not enough.

Abby Boughton

After reading this article, I was wondering why the main focus was on the culture of these two kids? What difference, from an educational aspect, does it really make? None that I am aware of...
When a student enters your classroom, you basically size them up academically. What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? In what areas do they need the most help? How can you make these lessons connect with them? You never have a moment to stop and think "Oh, wow. He is Hispanic. How does this affect his learning style?" As teachers, we simply look at this in no reguards to the race or cultural background of our students. We have, by almost all means, learned to look past color or race. What we tend to see before us are children who are all equally as priceless, in need of an education. And we need to attend to that education in the very best ways possible.

Sarah Hutson

When I first began reading about Daniel I honestly thought that these were going to be two completely different stories. I thought that Daniel was the student who faced racism throughout school and I thought Zonnie's story would be different. I thought she would be the student who may look different to the "white" people but still fit in and school was a breeze for her. Since I work at an inner city Title One school there are many different ethnic groups that we teach. A lot of the students who "do not make the grade" are students of different ethnicity backgrounds. It seems so easy to just say the students are lazy and education is not important to them. I am guilty of this and I am also guilty of blaming the parents for how their children perform in school. The problem here is that as teachers we should not just assume this. There may be reasons why these students are not performing up to par and it is not something that is so easy that we should blame the parents. As Noll notes in her article, "a seeming disinterest in education could be a reflection of parents' discomfort resulting from their own negative school experiences." This could not be further from the truth. Last semester I heard this in Dr. Gill's class and now I have seen it as being true. The question here is why did their parents not have an interest in school?

It goes back to the parents feelings as if they do not fit in either and facing the pressures of trying to staying connected with their culture, but attuning to the "white" culture as well. In this qualitative research study we see two young American Indians who face these same struggles. However, is it okay to blame their parents? Well clearly it is evident that education is important in their household and both Daniel and Zonnie's parents read to them and spoke to them of the importance of education while they were growing up. We should honestly be glad that these parents do care about their child's education and want to be involved. Both of these young adolescents faced trying to succeed in the classroom, but also did not want to forget where they came from. As teachers we should not expect them to. They should be able to embrace their culture and background and teach others about it. As teachers our goal should be to make school interesting for ALL students. Obviously this is very difficult because every child that we teach is different. But when we are aware that there are children in our classroom who were not brought up the "white" way then we should bring in lessons they can connect to so they will feel comfortable speaking out in the class and then they will start to feel proud of where they came from. Just like with Zonnie - she felt so excited when her friends were amazed about her beadwork. Obviously Zonnie had it a little bit easier than Daniel because she had more friends, but in her journal writing you can still tell that she struggles with her identity and people laughing at her because she is different. They both felt as if no one understood them.

Overall I think this was a very interesting article. After listening to the podcast it made even more sense to me. Pretty much we read about two different, but coincidentally similar, stories of two American Indian adolescents and their struggle in school. In qualitative research a phenomenon is described and then a solution is proposed. Elizabeth Noll says it perfectly when she says "the literary strengths that exist in the lives of Indian youth outside of school might be more clearly revealed within school." Our goal is bring connections from inside the household of students to inside the classroom!

Katy Dellinger

In the article “Experiencing Literacy In and Out of School: Case Studies of Two American Indian Youths,” Elizabeth Noll attempts to examine the meaning of literacy in the lives of two Native American teenagers and the role that literacy places in helping them find their way in the various cultures of which they find themselves to be a part – Native American culture, “mainstream” culture, and the culture of their school. While many aspects of good qualitative research were present (such as member checks, the amount of time spent collecting data, and rich description), I must admit that in some instances I was overwhelmingly left with a feeling that what Noll found was not necessarily unique to the experience of Native Americans.

First of all, with Zonnie, Noll commented that friends were extremely important to her. She said that one factor that influenced how Zonnie expressed herself was “her desire to socialize with friends” (p. 222). That does not sound so different from many teenagers, no matter what their cultural background might be.

Secondly, Noll also comments about the fact that Daniel and Zonnie often do not feel connected to the assignments that are given in school, such as when Zonnie is asked to come up with a cause-and-effect story. They do not feel that these assignments relate to the real world. While my understanding is that a central idea of Native American thought relates to the interconnectedness of all things, I do not think the feelings these two teenagers have regarding their assignments are that atypical from many American teenagers. At that particular point in their lives, they do not see how school assignments are relevant to the world as they are currently experiencing it. To them, it is just something the teacher comes up with for a grade or to pass the time, and it is definitely not something that would ever be used in day-to-day activities in the real world, either now or when they become adults. (I can certainly understand this as I never understood why I needed to take calculus in high school.)

Thirdly, Noll states that in most instances, “the adolescents’ literacy strengths, cultural knowledge, and richness of expression outside of school are not fully recognized or tapped in school” (p. 229). My feeling is that this is pretty much par for the course, especially with regard to activities taking place outside of school. I think there is, in many instances, a tendency on the part of many teachers to be very compartmentalized in their thinking. The individual teacher deals with his/her particular subject area with a particular group of students at a particular time during the day and anything that happens outside of those parameters does not matter in terms of that educator’s realm of responsibility in educating a child. I realize this is not true of all educators, but I believe it becomes increasingly true as children move up through the grades and teachers have more specialized fields of expertise and see increasingly large numbers of students. In my own particular grade of pre-kindergarten, I am required to do home visits at the beginning of the school year and since I have these same 17 students all day for the entire school year, it is potentially easier for me to establish a home-school connection which encompasses activities outside of the classroom, whereas if I saw 90 students for an hour each day for half the school year, I think that connection would be harder to make.

I do have to commend Noll on her willingness and ability to evolve as this study progressed. One of the most concrete examples of this was her willingness to expand her notion of literacy beyond traditional boundaries of reading, writing, etc. and to include the influence of music, dance, and art. I was more impressed, however, with her willingness to listen to the Native Americans’ concerns regarding the naming of the after-school club she proposed. If she had not consulted with these individuals and been willing to be flexible in this regard, I believe this would have severely limited her access to valuable information for her study because she would have been seen as just another white “oppressor” who was trying to dominate the minority culture. In my opinion, the parental objections to the proposed name of the club basically boiled down to the cultural history of “haves” vs. “have-nots” and the human tendency to think in terms of polar opposites. These parents believed by having the word “literacy” in the club’s name, this meant that the purpose of the club was to move them from the ranks of the illiterate (the “have-nots”) to the ranks of the literate (the “haves”), based on previous experience with being dominated by Eurocentric cultures in which they were forced to move from their native ways to the ways of the majority, as were Zonnie’s parents when the dad said they were forced to learn English. As I’m sure we all know, when one is forced to do something, he/she often doesn’t find the experience very pleasant and he/she often engages in the experience begrudgingly.

Clyde Rice

Noll Article

Red, yellow, black, white, we all have our own traditions that make our families unique; regardless of race, class, or gender. Both Daniel and Zonnie have these rich traditions that they have been taught to live by. Traditionally American Indians are thought to celebrate through music and dance, and a specific physical appearance – males that have long hair. These traditions were observed through the literacy observations at home, in the community, and at school. The article suggested that Daniel was often teased for having long hair. This is a problem of tolerance. Tolerance is something that has to be taught; we as teachers cannot assume that this is being taught in the home. Caldwell County has a “No Tolerance” rule for bullying. These differences have to be embraced to make ALL students comfortable. I have seen students with Mohawks, rattails, initials dyed into hair; these are the small things that students have to learn that these qualities are what can identify who they are as individuals. None of the teachers at my school treated these students any different.

Daniel and Zonnie both became “good” readers. Their homes were rich in literacy, both of them being read to and told stories. Daniel chose to write in prose, while Zonnie embraced poetry. They both used writing as a means of communicating to their family members. Daniel wrote to communicate messages to his family, but he also showed promise in wanting to write children’s literature. Daniel realized the need for others to understand American Indian rich customs. Zonnie shared of writing to her imprisoned father. She even used mentor texts to assist her writing, such as country music.

Teachers have to be the ones to embrace the differences in learning. Zonnie’s favorite teacher showed her this quality. The teacher didn’t try to “fix problems and mix around words”. Telling a student that an answer is wrong is often a discouragement, but giving a student a suggestion about a better word choice would be better received.

To me, the “distorted view of their capabilities” is not that of Daniel or Zonnie abilities, but because of their teacher’s shortfalls. As I said in my last critique, it is the teacher’s job to make learning relevant to the student. To gain the interests of both of these students, all the teachers had to do is acknowledge some of their traditions/current events. In my class, I welcome these learning opportunities that students can bring to the class. For example, I helped to organize and participated in learning about how other people celebrate Christmas in other countries with 2nd grade students. Both Daniel and Zonnie’s potential might have been seen if they would have been encouraged in this way.

I do feel that doing a qualitative study was best for this research. The reader was able to understand not only the research subjects, but other influences in their lives. I would have liked to have known more about how involved the parents were in their schooling. Were the parents actively participants in the school (not just reading to them in the home)? These few points would have made the research even stronger.

Angela Steele

The Noll article made it abundantly clear how culture can affect literacy development. In my classroom, I am able to see how my Hispanic parents push their young first graders to become part of a literate society. Teaching in a low-income area, we see how generational poverty has occurred. Our families who are natives to our country put less value on the child's school success. Often this is seen in the child as well in their lack of motivation. But with the families who are not native to our country I have seen a completely different level of support for their students. These parents go above and beyond trying to help their child gain and absorb every opportunity they have possible. It has been eye-opening to see how this culture embraces and values the literacy of their children. These parents are eager to help their child in every way imaginable because they realize how being literate in our current society is crucial.

Nikki Leggins
This email is for the sole

Noll makes interesting and eye-opening observations and discoveries in her case study. What grabbed my attention was her statement in the Implications portion of her findings. Noll writes, “With few exceptions, the adolescents’ literacy strengths, cultural knowledge, and richness of expression outside of school are not fully recognized or tapped in school. Their teachers are, for the most part, unaware of the multiple literacies that are so central to the students’ out-of-school lives.”

I think Noll’s statement regarding literacies being unrecognized is not only true in the case of the American Indians, but also true for most students. Students are proficient in many literacies that are not fully employed in the classroom, especially in technology and in the use of technological devices. In addition, they are involved in and excel in the arts. Students are literate in cultural, visual, and musical expression.

Unfortunately, many schools and teachers do not value the students’ literacies as stated above. It’s not that schools and teachers are unaware of students’ multiple literacies, it’s that schools and teachers feel extreme pressure to focus solely on tested material, the traditional literacies: reading and writing.

While traditional literacies are certainly very important, I think a small shift in school values could benefit students. Not only should students still be taught traditional literacies and be expected to become proficient, but they should be taught and have the opportunity to explore other cultural, visual, musical, and technological literacies. As a result, I believe students would be well-rounded and feel more valued and more confident.

Laura Corbello

As I was reading this article, I began thinking about some of the students I teach and wondered how they feel about attending school as a minority group. The Noll articles addressed many issues facing minority students. Although I teach 8th grade language arts, I am also a K-12 certified ESL teacher. I see students struggle everyday trying to fit in just as Daniel and Zonnie. The social aspects of the issues are only part of their struggles. From my personal experience with these students, academic concerns arise, in the middle grades especially, due to so much content reading. Language barriers often prohibit comprehension of the text resulting in low test scores and a lowered self-image that they don’t measure up to their American/Caucasian peers. Having students with different abilities and nationalities in my classroom, the parents’ expectations and support vary dramatically as well.

Daniel’s parents put a lot of effort into teaching him to have pride in his culture, and they fostered a positive learning environment by reading to him when he was young. That should help him to feel confident in school. The support Daniel receives from his family should make his minority status in school insignificant to him. But constantly being put down by peers would pull even the strong among us down. Teaching middle school I see injustice towards the students who don’t meet the norm. Even though we have an anti-bullying policy, much of this harassment occurs just beyond the teacher’s scope.

Zonnie, like Daniel, grew up being read to. Even though her father was imprisoned, he fostered literacy by writing letters to her. She was descibed as a cooperative student, but her talents truly weren’t recognized. I am disappointed that Zonnie’s teachers didn’t notice the young lady’s aptitude for writing poetry and simply identified her as a “C” student. Her friends described her as shy in social situations, but not so with her friends. I wonder if her personality might have blossomed more prominately had she have been white?

Zonnie and Daniel both have pride in the hertitage and want to preserve it. I see this same pride in my ESL students, and my school allows these students to “share” their culture with all students during integrated cross-curricular days such as Asia Day, Immigration Day, and African Safari Day.
Karen Chester

As I read about Daniel and Zonnie, I could clearly see how each of them had a passion for literacy both with reading and writing, as long as it was with the freedom to read and write what they enjoyed. Now the hard part comes when they are ask to use those skills to do "required" school work, which they both found to be boring. As a teacher, I have had students who loved to read and read all the time, but when having to read from textbooks and respond to it they would have the hardest time. This is when I tell them that in life we all have to do many things we may not want to, but we have to. We all have those things we do because we have to that is part of being in the real world. No matter what race of people you belong to this can be a struggle, but it must be realized all the same.
I think the teachers should have been more assertive in telling them that they had the ability to do much better in school and try to help them achieve that.
As far as the prejudice, racism, and discrimination, I find it so disheartening that we still have this struggle in our world today. I hated how they had to deal with this at school which was most likely most of the reason for their lack of enthusiasm for education.
I believe this should be a subject that is discussed and made clear in all schools that there will be no tolerance of prejudice, racism, or discrimination regardless of race, class, or gender.
I have found that students are not picky on who they choose to bully, just anyone who seems different or weaker than them. I was glad that Daniel’s family finally told him to fight back when he was being physically abused at school, I would have told my sons to fight back too. Where were the teachers?
Overall I see two Native American teens who want to do what they enjoy doing and will do the least necessary to get by in school. They are both out going in their own communities with family and friends, but do not bring this to school. They both have supportive families who encourage them to express themselves through their arts, dancing, music, and writing but this does not make it into the classrooms when it comes to performing on school work. Even if the teachers were to include content relative to their cultures, I am not sure they would be open to embracing it and being open in class to enrich the classroom discussion based on how quiet and to themselves they are in class, but I could be wrong.
This Qualitative Research provided a very descriptive view of Daniel and Zonnie at school and in their communities embracing their own cultures. It would have been beneficial for me to know more about how their parents responded to them being more willing to express themselves in their own unique writing or other art form but not performing to their best abilities on what they deemed as boring school work. Did their parents try to get them to work harder? Did they expect more or were they okay with what they were doing in school? Was their school work as important as self expression to their parents?

Tracy Icenhour

When I was reading this article I was surprised that in the introduction it was said that sometimes instead of embracing an Indian child's background and culture, remedial classes are prescribed. On one hand I think this is outrageous- since when does having a different cultural background automatically make you less intelligent? On the other hand, I realized that I do sometimes automatically assume that my ELL children will have a hard time reading. Although, not because of their culture, but for language reasons. However, it made me realize that I do have a stereotype in my head about this.

I think that throughout the article the main idea that stuck with me was that, as teachers, we really have to find what our children are interested in and capitalize on that. Some children are automatically going to do well, regardless of the quality of instruction they receive and regardless of the bond they do or do not feel with their teacher. However, some children need for us to go that extra mile and find out what they are interested in, to feel as if we truly care about them and their education.

I also thought it was interesting that when Daniel talked about not fitting in with his peers he talked as if "white" characteristics were much more desirable than his own. I guess that every person looks at another at some point and thinks, "I wish I had her hair," or "I wish I had his eye color," but I had just never thought about a person wishing away their own characteristics in order to have those of another ethnicity. In looking back now though, I don't know why this had never occurred to me, people seem to always want what they don't have. I just think that people should be proud of their cultural background and hold fast to that. I do know though that peer pressure can be immense, especially during middle and high school, and that once Daniel is grown he will, more than likely, come to truly appreciate the things he once wished he could change about himself.

In the story about Zonnie I was excited that she had found a teacher with whom she could share her talents. I love it when I am able to form that type of bond with a student! It is one of the things that makes being a teacher so fantastic. I have several students that repeatedly come back to visit me and talk with me although I taught them 8, 9, 10 years ago and it brings me a lot of joy. I thought that it was sad though that the teacher with whom it seems Zonnie feel a bond, didn't truly know her and her interests, although she did seem to have an overall positive opinion about her.

This article made me think about how important it is to take an active interest in my students, to value them for who they are and where they come from, and to try to do my best to teach them things that are relevant to their lives. It takes more work and creativity, but the payoff is tremendous.
-Elizabeth Norwood

Before I begin, I would like to explain that I hate the phrase “American Indian,” and find it incredibly offensive as Indians are from India and American is a world that refers to people who moved here from other places and now own the land that they took, which is fine as I love being an American, but we don’t call concurred Iraqis “American Iraqis” do we? Instead, I will use Native American, which I also find offensive for many of the same reasons, but to less of an extent. I also use black or Black American as opposed to African American, because my black friends are from here, not Africa, and I just generally avoid many other large mass lumping of people by terminology meant to divide us into races of hate as opposed to join us as a world community.

This study, while it may have its short comings, is amazing. I have many, many friends of the Cherokee tribe that I emailed this to, and found many similarities within their own experiences of high school and the struggle to represent their own forms of identity. I do not usually discus the articles in a way that forces one to reread what we have already read, however, for a short few lines I feel it necessary to get to my point. I loved the one statistic that Native Americans average 57 points lower than whites on verbal skills and that their graduation rate was only 66 percent, all of course taken from 1992; paired with her explanation that this did not represent other diverse forms of literacy and expression as the test only supported numerical testing of the main stream cultures view point of literacy and that many early Native American schools focused on assimilationism, which changed with the course of history, but still remains rather discriminatory, due to the fact that linguistic differences are perceived as deficiencies just before they lock the children into remediation courses for life.

This, in my opinion, takes away from the beauties that are the differences that make America unique. We literarily try to stamp out any uniqueness’s by forcing children to change their speech patterns to the dominant, instead of teaching them the basics of code switching as discussed in our last readings, all in the name of higher test scores, which inevitably leads to either drop outs or conformities that over power the singularity of standing out, thus depriving us of yet another great uniqueness. For example, William Faulkner, the writer of the greatest literature that America has proffered since its inception, would have never made it in our classes today. In fact, he dropped out of college after only three semesters because, even then, his professors did not accept his unique way of writing and of thinking. Given, he was able to control language because he had a better understanding of it than most, but it is equally true that if Faulkner were in my English II course, I would fail him due to his inability to follow the rules of the English language. It is also interesting that many proclaim that we have lost all literary merit in our society as the best our generation can produce is Tony Morrison, but I argue that it is because we, as teachers, are forced to and even force children to give up their uniqueness to fit into a mold that we believe is right because some old dead white guy, Noah Webster, thought it was a good idea as his wrote his “American Dictionary,” which in reality was transcribing a verbally and lexically incorrect dictionary of language, all of which he did for money. And besides, Tony Morrison is awesome and I love her ineptitudes as much as her greatest, perfect English speeches, from the master of code switching.

The parents of the studied Native Americans were afraid of the literacy club as they thought that people would see it as a remediation and would result in inaccurate and damaging conclusions about their children and culture. This is also happening at my high school because we have set up our own literacy council and are meeting with children to help them with their language skills and to learn about their literacy’s, yet many of the students parents initially felt like this would lead to a paper that would deface their children’s ability to read and write within our own community. It is interesting how a few bad researchers can ruin the reputation of research for an entire community.

Also, during her literacy club she learned that they expressed just as much through music and dance as through written expression. This is something that I see every day with my black students because they struggle to get words down on a page, but when asked to verbally submit a report, especially when they can rap the report, they are truly able to show their depth of knowledge and a skill level that I, as a “poetry guy,” couldn’t match until years of practice. This also affects their ability to succeed in classes, just like the Native Americans, because all of our tests are written. Exactly who are we trying to exclude with these monstrosities? As one of my favorite poets, Oscar Brown, Jr. says, “Adults who fail them and then jail them to hide the results.”

I loved that both Daniel and Zonnie love horror stories as I too, in secret, love horror stories. Daniel was an interesting kid, proud of his heritage, which was taught through his father’s demonstrations of how to be a Native American, as many kids are. Yet he still struggled with his identity as a Dakota vs. American. Again, just like in “Ovuh Dyuh,” we see this child struggling with the choices of joining the mainstream white culture vs. retaining his heritage. We see this too with Zonnie. I was truly intrigued by the notion, put forth by Daniel’s English teacher, that he leaves his work at school to keep the two worlds separate. That sounds like a load of crap. If a white boy leaves his work at school, do we say he is trying to separate his two worlds as well? This then lead me on a research binge to prove that I was right as usual, but as even more “usual” I was completely wrong. As it turns out, many children apparently do this as a form of separation, especially if they are under duress within their school environment through things like bullying or racial tensions. This then lead me to look into one of my kids who suffers the burden of being both small and having opinions that go against the grain of the teenage medium. After speaking with his mother/aunt, and that’s a whole other story, it turns out that his lack of homework may be from the same situation. So I learned something new.

I found this, stolen from one of my favorite professors, very amusing and very related to this discussion on Native American issues in education and in general. Charlie Hill’s video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3ismmzVAsM&feature=PlayList&p=90CEA6DE22BF875F&playnext_from=PL&index=0

Oscar Brown, Jr.’s poem, if you are interested, is at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5lIeU3P9gs

Post by William Byland

The main thing that stuck out for me in this article was that the teachers had no idea the students’ interests. It seemed that all the teachers focused on with both Daniel and Zonnie was the negative aspects of their class work, instead of trying to learn their interests and turning those into ways to motivate them. From my own personal experience if I have a student that seems to be disconnected from school I try to find what they are interested in and use that outlet to get them involved. I know these are middle school students and it is probably more difficult for teachers to do that, but they could at least try.

I also agree that the teachers need to be aware of the surrounding community in which they work. As a teacher it is essential that you know the cultural backgrounds of your students. There is always going to be a student that needs that connection with the teacher. The more you know about where they come from and what their lives are like outside of the classroom the more you can tap into their creative energy.

Odessa Scales

When I started reading this article it did not seem to me that Daniel and Zonnie showed a lot of differences than other middle school students. Yes they are American Indian students, but our schools are full of students from different cultures and backgrounds.

Daniel and Zonnie seemed to have a solid home foundation with parents that valued literacy and parent involvement at a young age. Their parents provided them with the strong heritage and culture that they should be proud of. When entering school the students seemed to have a difficult time finding themselves. I believe that they had a hard time because they were to reserved they did not share what made them special and different from others. Yes students can be cruel. Often time’s students are cruel because they do not know how to react to someone different. As a teacher I would make sure that I educated the other students on the Native American culture. This would have given Daniel and Zonnie something to be proud of and a connection to the other students. People need to be more open minded and willing to see people of different cultures. As teachers it is our job to make students aware of the differences and highlight what makes other cultures unique and special.

I believe that Daniel and Zonnie looked a school as a job and did not really try to relate and make connections and share their heritage and culture.
Angie Somers

I noticed many similarities between Daniel and Zonnie other than that they are American Indians. Both children felt like they did not fit in or belong at school. They were both very bored with the classes they were taking. Both students’ home lives was drastically different from their school lives. They both felt that their culture was not appreciated and accepted at school. Daniel felt that the stuff he learned at school was “white man’s stuff.” They were both very intelligent and artistic children but at school they were not being given an outlet to express this creativity. Zonnie’s outlet was her poetry and Daniel played the drums at Pow Wow.

What really struck me about this article was how different their home lives were from their school lives. At home, both of these children were very loved and involved with their community and family. Daniel attended Pow Wows with his family and Zonnie learned how to make jewelry from her mother. In their school life they were viewed as very average students. Their few friends described them as withdrawn and shy. They felt very separated from the curriculum and the instruction they were receiving at school. I also found it interesting that literacy was prevalent in both homes and had been from an early age. The family was involved with reading to the children and literature was in the households.

As I was reading this I felt bad for both of these students. They were at a predominately white school where they were the minority. They did not have many friends or teachers who could relate to them. They felt out of place and bored at school. I started wondering if I have students who feel this way in my classroom. I hope not. This year I had a hispanic little boy and a little girl who was half hispanic. My other students never made any indication that they noticed the difference between these students and themselves. They were very well liked. Then after Christmas I got a new student who was multi-racial. My students were very accepting of her but I could tell that they did notice the differences between themselves and her. I wonder if this is because she was new to our school and the students I referred to earlier have been together since kindergarden. She quickly became a member of our classroom family and the children became friends with her. Does the cultural difference start to fade away after awhile? Is it easier for younger children to be more accepting of differences? Can teachers do more to make children like Daniel and Zonnie feel more at home at school?

Ashley Caldwell

My personality is defiantly one of yes or no. I mean, there is no in-between for me. Because I love the concrete tangible facts, I love to see data. It tells me at a quick glance the truth of a matter. Well, so that is what I always felt, until reading this report. I had not ever taken the time to see how the data presupposed my thinking on any given topic. Once looking at data, I guess I attacked the situation as the “glass half empty” rather than “half full.” Meaning, I saw the negative rather than the positive. How true for what was stated in the research; “…often find that their children are viewed and defined by sets of numbers rather than by the experiences and activities of their daily lives.” Reflecting on my own teaching practices, I tend to view my ELL students as a percentage, rather than unique individuals with wants and needs just like everyone else. Why didn’t I recognize the ability they had to be bilingual as a plus and actually made them more “gifted” than others in my room? We tend to see their diversity as a hindrance. Literacy learning is built on meaningful, social, and collaborative engagements. However, what would make meaning for an ELL student is viewed as unusable material in the classroom. As public educators we “neutralize” our classrooms to make everyone feel welcome. Maybe we have gone too far, but not allowing enough of the culture backgrounds to drive the instruction in our rooms. I speak for myself with this as well. I never truly tapped in to the rich background my students had to attach meaning to their learning. I always allowed more time for many of my ELL students to talk, knowing they needed to build their language skills, but did I allow enough collaboration time? I fell I didn’t. Many of my interactions with them were simply “sit and get”, not “we’re all in this together.” Through reading, one can develop a sense of direction. Both students in the study could have benefited from being guided to see that reading could provide them with such direction. They both were struggling with culture identities and reading could have been used to bridge a gap for them and make connections not found elsewhere. I also felt that both students were crying out for what they needed as readers, and yet the teachers just silenced them or ignored them. Again, I reflect on my own practices and wonder how many students I have unknowingly ignored while they were giving me the tools I needed to grab their attention. Do we try and make our jobs too complicated by exhausting all forms of motivation? Daniel told the story how he longed for his teacher to read his story, and she continued to pass him over. There was an easy way to motivate him and the teacher glossed over him, and I am sure his ethnicity played a role. While the data can give us the cold hard facts of the current reality, the numbers don’t give us a look at who they represent and the personalities of the individuals.

Michael Lemke

For me, the most strinking thing about this article was the type of person that each of these students is. While they both have some academic struggles, it seems that they both are very artistic and have many gifts to offer. While neither of them plays the game of school in a way that puts them at the top of the class, they are both talented children. That makes it a little more difficult to see them as potentially struggling in a classroom.

When the teacher says that he doesn't know much about Zonnie that she just exists, it reminded me a lot of a couple students that I have had in the past. It is amazing how students can be quiet and well-behaved and receive little to no attention, but a student who cuts up gets the attention. It is hard to balance this in a classroom and can be a major factor in a students lack of performance in our classrooms.

The other thing that I noticed (and appreciated) is the amount of pride in their culture that these two children have. They both are very involved in the traditions of their family and seem to have a strong connection to them. It is important as teachers that we understand how our students live and their culture. If we don't know these differences and how they affect our students, how can we really expect to reach them?

While the traditions of Daniel and Zonnie are easy to see in this article, all of our students are really like these two in their own ways. All of our students have unique intelligences that they bring to the table. If we choose not to recognize that kids can be bright in different ways, then we will miss many opportunities with our students. There are, after all, many differences that have nothing to do with ethnicity and intelligences that have little to do with the standard curriculum.
~Christy Laws

“Children are viewed and defined by sets of numbers rather than by the experiences and activities of their daily lives.” What a powerful statement. My school recently completed their EOG testing. I listened as upper elementary grade teachers compared our school scores to other scores in the county. I was bothered by the fact that teachers from other schools were pleased that their scores were higher than ours. Did these teachers forget that it was young boys and girls taking the test? Didn’t they care that actual children were devastated when they received a 1 or 2 on the test? I think there is too much emphasis placed on these types of test scores. I think this was clearly shown through the cases studies of Daniel and Zonnie.

Daniel was obviously a very intelligent and gifted young man who was proud of his heritage. His love of music was clear. He played three types of musical instruments, and had the ability to play music by ear. Daniel had a supportive family and was active in his community. This is what builds Daniels character not a standardized test score. Daniel obviously has the ability to learn but due the situation at his school he did not put forth his best effort. Daniel was only going through the motions, and settled for C’s and D’s. Zonnie could be described in the same way. She also had a strong support group at home, and was proud of her heritage. Zonnie loved to write poetry. However she did not like to write in school because the topics were based on cause and effect of stories they covered in class on topics she did not enjoy. Zonnie did not put forth her best effort and settled for B’s and C’s.

Imagine the grades Daniel and Zonnie could have made if they were working on lessons they enjoyed. Why not give students the opportunity to express themselves through their lessons. Let the children select their own topics when writing, and give them the opportunity to select their own books when reading. Teachers need to make a conscious effort to reach every student in their class, and embrace their culture differences. Pam Aubuchon

Daniel’s story about Benny B. reminded me of Vivian Paley’s book, A Child’s Work. In this book Paley discusses how children work through conflict going on in their lives, either directly or indirectly. She cites examples of Kindergarten students reenacting the 9-11 disaster, only in their version of the story everyone ends up ok and goes back home to their families. This shows how children even as old as Daniel, use stories to work through situations they are otherwise powerless in. Through stories, they control the situation and make everything work out “right”.

I think it is a shame, though, that Daniel doesn’t have the opportunity to showcase his many skills and talents within a school setting.

Zonnie seemed to have more positive experiences at school than Daniel. I wonder why this is so? I think it could possibly be the connection she has with her teachers through her interest in writing. I also wonder if it is more difficult for a Native American boy to ‘fit in’ around white boys than it is for Native American girls to ‘fit in’ with white girls.

Marcia Smith

This case study left me with more questions than answers. What did Noll do with all of this information, besides publish this paper? Has there been a change in the attitude and teaching style of the teachers in that region? What does this mean to a southern rural teacher?
Daniel and Zonnie both struggle with prejudice, racism, and discrimination at school from both peers and teachers. They are also feeling the growing pains that define this age in life. The self-doubt and wishful thinking that is described here is almost identical to the feelings of Maya from the chapter The Skin That We Speak. Through this case study we learn that they both use literacy to express themselves more clearly in their private world. Noll had to gain the trust of the children and their families before she could even begin this study. I think that the biggest issue with Daniel is lack of trust. He does not trust the teacher to respect and understand his culture and therefore he is unwilling to share or give away the precious details of his life. I always felt this way at school too and had difficulty writing or sharing for fear of being teased and tortured. If you don’t share the details of your life “they” won’t have any ammunition. I also believe that his pride in his culture will sustain him and that is why he chooses to wear his hair long.
Zonnie seems to like school and is proud of her writing abilities. I wonder if her teachers didn’t want to get to know her better because her father was in jail. I know teachers that make judgments about children based on this type of information. This brings me back to the big question: What does this mean to a southern rural teacher? This case study is a reminder that we each have a cultural background and deserve respect. It also reminds us to go the extra mile to learn something special about each of our students and their families.
Elizabeth Achor

Noll

As I read this article about two very individual Native American young people I began to question if I allow my students to truly bring their world into the classroom with them. We have multi-cultural bulletin boards and watch videos about children from other cultures but do I use the children’s families and their cultures as a way into the child. I had a student this year and didn’t know that she was of the Jewish faith until April. She was out of school around Spring Break for a week of religious observances and I was shocked when I found out. I thought about all of those important cultural events she had attended and I hadn’t given her the opportunity to share them with her school friends. I talked with the mother later and apologized for not doing a better job in offering her the opportunity to share. She explained that they had always kept a separation between the two since it was different than what most of her friend’s belief systems at school. I was saddened by that. Sometimes I feel that the majority takes for granted our ability to share without worry of what others might feel.

Candy Mooney

Zonnie and Daniel have many things in common. Music is very important to them and is a way for them to express themselves and their cultures. Each of them writes to express their feelings: poetry for her, prose for him. They both have supportive parents and communities. They both feel undervalued in their schools and classrooms. I think these same things could be said of most teenagers and particularly of most minority teenagers.
Noll said, "Just exploring self identity is central to adolescence, so too is a growing awareness of broader social issues." I really like this statement. Adolescence in general is a time of turmoil and discovery. Being a minority on top of that is daunting. As teachers, we need to not only learn about and explore the various cultures in our classrooms to gain an understanding of them, but we also need to find ways to celebrate our differences. When the teacher shows an enthusiasm for something, the students will often find this same enthusiasm (even in high school?). When teenagers feel they are valued, they will give 110%.
I think there are many ways that a teacher can demonstrate enthusiasm. First she could allow more freedom for students to demonstrate understanding of topics taught. For example, when Zonnie had to write about cause and effect, she could have been allowed to write a poem instead of a story. Daniel could be allowed to do a prestentation using his drum or in the style of a powwow. Teachers could enlist the help of community volunteers as tutors, guest speakers, "big brothers", etc. Noll created an afterschool literacy club, but a teacher could create a club that celebrated cultural differences where kids could get together and "powwow" about their lives and conflicts. I know that William Byland runs a poetry club at his school and he has told how cathartic it is for the students. This type of club would provide an excellent outlet for minority students. Hearing him discuss his club is inspiring. (Way to Go William!)
I think that in general adolescent students want a voice. As teachers, we need to find ways to give them that voice and make them feel valued. This is especially true for minority students.
Christy Findley

In the qualitative study, “Experiencing Literacy In and Out of School,” Elizabeth Noll targets the literacy experience of adolescent Native Americans. Noting their struggle to succeed academically in the school environment, Noll’s observations provide in depth insight into the great need for teachers to make connections with their students and their interests. In both studies of Daniel and Zonnie, there was a clear evidence of strengths in areas of literacy; however, in school they were merely completing the tasks disinterested and feeling lost as a result of discrimination and lack of empathy.
From hearing the perspectives of these students, it is obvious that there is a lack of connection in the classroom. While both students, are excellent writers, and express their ideas clearly, they perform merely adequate on school based instructional assessments. It is evident that from both of these students that they are struggling with issues that are beyond control, societal norms and expectations that further negate their feelings, who they are, and what they are interested in. Their lives are different from those of the white students. They are expressive through dance, music, song, and stories. From this case study, it makes me recognize the value of journaling with students and getting to know them through their own words and ideas. I was extremely hurt for Daniel who sat disappointed unable to hear his story aloud. While I know time is a factor for teachers, it is important that you validate them somehow and come up for a way for them to be heard. That affirmation that the teacher hears them and thinks their story is interesting is key. I really wanted her to say “let’s read a few a day at the end of class through the week or why don’t you guys group up and share your story with a buddy.” The biggest asset in my classroom is my student relationships. Knowing and connecting with your students enjoy is so valuable. And through journals, there is a safety that a student feels that is so essential to build trust in your relationship. Teachers need to involve the community and be creative in the ways they allow any students to express themselves. Teachers need to find out the whole student not just the part that’s there at school. It is a challenge, but one definitely worth the effort for the student’s welfare and comfort in your classroom. While this study may only target Native Americans adolescents, I believe the findings are significant to other struggling students as well. Knowing and understanding our students, and correlating students’ academic literacy experiences to their needs through various expressive modes allow teachers to see the whole student. And understand their thought processes.
What do standardized tests really tell us about a students learning? Our students have various ways of thinking and sharing their ideas-through art, performance, music, poetry, and writing. Finding an answer on multiple choice tests doesn’t necessarily provide much insight into the true depth of student’s knowledge. I know there are plenty of multiple choice test questions that are questionable and with further discussion with a student you realize there is more in depth thoughts than what a simple answer choice reveals. As a result, it becomes up to teachers to make learning relevant and argue the validity of testing doesn’t always portray a students capabilities. In that respect there are biases-biases against who a child is and how they demonstrate literacy.
I was pleasantly surprised at this story because for me it validates how I teach my curriculum. It is frustrating to hear an administrator question why you might have students draw, create, listen to music, or view movies to study language. I recognize the approach to learning is a significant motivation for student learning. I’m glad for this, but sadden that my students are judged by mere multiple choice assessments. The pressure that results banking everything on an End of Grade test to measure a child is ridiculous and damages their self esteem. Just the other day the retests came back, and I found one of my students in tears feeling stupid because she didn’t pass. This child has a learning disability and is easily frustrated, but when you talk to her you realize there is more there than what that test allows her to show. It doesn’t provide her a voice-a voice she needs. That unique voice is how teachers cater to students needs and recognize their strengths. That is a voice that should be heard.

When I think of quantitative research within a school, I think of demographic information, state assessments and grades. The teaching and learning that goes on within a classroom is more qualitative in nature, because there are unique features or characteristics of the teacher’s instruction, the students and their work. I was able to conduct an action research project while taking Teacher as Researcher. The research required careful analysis of several sources of data from two subjects. I know replication is not a goal in qualitative research, but I don’t see how it could be replicated. When I think of the research that I conducted, I could not find two other students who are just like the subjects in my study. The students, their needs, their work and even my teaching could not be exactly replicated. I believe qualitative research is important because detailed research conducted by professionals can add essential information to our current ideas concerning education.

Carol Holt