What Does it Mean to be Literate in our Society?

The idea of being literate is understanding how to use oral and written communication for thinking and behaving in society.  What I question is whether the skills and knowledge has been properly offered and/or taught to ALL members of society.  Are we truly teaching literacy in a way that includes both political and social practice or are we picking and choosing ways in which to maintain social order?  

Teaching basic literacy skills in reading and writing helps prepare people for employment preparation.  Functional Literacy provides the skills needed to be active members of both educational and societal settings. Due to the fact that this resides in the range of 4th-6th grade ability, we are teaching people “how to read as opposed to reading to learn.” (Shannon, 1989, Myers, 1996)  Curriculum used to educate students at this level can appear to be “pre-packaged and restrictive” (Kelly, 1997, p. 10)  Missing is the lack of encouragement needed to challenge texts or ideas to promote critical thinking.   Research shows us that students that tend to fall in this category are ethnic minorities, or low working class people.  History proves that turning our heads, possibly having pre-conceived notions that they don’t want to work toward becoming educated,  have kept them maintained in social inequality.

Our students need to be heard.  Culture needs to be appreciated and discovered.  Standards are a cookie cutter way of teaching skills that will promote learning and promotion in society, but what happens to those students where English is not their first language?  Are we properly engaging them in experiences and literature that provides them with opportunities to discover, question, or analyze? Do we promote their values or knowledge in literacy or politics?  “The greater the intellectual and emotional involvement in learning, the more effectively the brain learns, uses, and retains what is learned.” (Weaver, 1988, p.7)  What gets muddy is how to examine questions of culture, power, and politics in a way that is effective without administration or parents believing we have our own hidden agendas or promoting our own political views or abusing our power of social status.  

The NCTE states a purpose of writing is to develop reasoning with others to improve society.  We need to embrace people from all walks of life and add their language to ours and learn from them as well.  As educators we need to strategically incorporate our students’ backgrounds, regardless of race, ethnicity, or economical status.  Collaboration is needed to look at ways to teach the skills needed to actively participate in society while at the same time including their own lived experiences and background knowledge that they bring to our classrooms.  

In a world where Growth Mindset promotes “hard work will make you successful” we need to supply the resources necessary to help them reach it.  Many poverty stricken students watch their parents work hard every day and see no improvement or change in their lives. Children are simply lacking things like  food, clothing, and  emotional stability to be prepared to learn.  What are ways in which our school systems are addressing this?  How are we as a society fixing this? History has taught us only the elite were allowed to earn an education.  Now that we are in the 21st Century, has anything really changed?

SED 445

Teaching for Joy and Justice

Christensen  

In Teaching for Joy and Justice, Linda Christensen shares her belief of uncovering brilliance by saying “Teaching for joy and justice also begins with the non-negotiable belief that all students are capable of brilliance.” (Christensen 2009, p.2) We as educators, have new students that arrive to our classrooms every year, each carrying their own backpack of experiences and skills. We have to keep in mind and respect each of their cultures and heritages.  Some of their school experiences  have scared them to believe they are not “good” in school or have fallen into a learned helplessness. “But just because students lack skills doesn’t mean they lack intelligence.” (Christensen 2009, p.2)

This quote is one that I agree with and strive to seek in my students. It is non-negotiable.  Making a connection with students individually is such an important part of this process. When I look back at students in my past who came to me struggling to write, and remember the growth they have made I know uncovering their brilliance was a part of it.  A practice I use in my classroom is the power of the word YET.  It is easy to say, “I’m not good at writing.” However when you put the word YET after it, and make a student say it, it reinforces how everything takes practice.  

Part of using the word YET is the way I conference with a student about their writing.  First, I go over all of the great things I noticed.  Next, it’s the student’s turn to share with me what they noticed or are most proud of.   I encourage how “brilliant” they are. After we have both shared,  I focus on one thing I’d like them to continue to develop.   Christensen’s experience with her student Jerald taught her to “teach the writer, not the paper.”  Gaining your students’ trust encourages them to bring out their “brilliance.”

Teaching Adolescent Writers

Kelly Callagher

Chapter 1 Reflection

Although I am currently an Elementary Teacher, I find Callagher’s Top Ten Writings Wrong in Secondary Schools (Teaching Adolescent Writers, 2006, p.9-10) up for debate.  For example, Number 3 states:  “Below-grade-level writers are asked to write less than others instead of more than others.” Callagher defines this as a “wrong” in teaching writing, that students are doing less writing and more worksheets.  I’d like her to define worksheets.

Graphic organizers are a way to help a struggling writer organize their thoughts and sort information.  Are graphic organizers considered a worksheet?  If writing down information in phrases or in a bulleted list is where the student is currently performing , how can you expect them to write more?

Gallagher also states, “these students, who need twice as much writing instruction, end up receiving half the writing instruction of others.  In essence, this approach ensures that these students will never catch up.”  (Gallaher, 2006, p.9-10) Never is a strong word.  I have actually found the opposite can be true.

With current RTI practices and Professional Learning Communities, teachers are finding more time out of a child’s schedule to get what they academically need.  Data collection of students’ progress shows the effectiveness of these practices.

For example, a technique used during a writing workshop model is small group instruction.  It is efficient as the student is getting access to the curriculum, then getting the attention he or she needs to grow as a writer. Using techniques such as a graphic organizer, (worksheet) or a sequencing chart, (worksheet), or a word web, (worksheet) are effective ways to guide and scaffold instruction that promotes success.  

I believe a few things on her list could be called generalizations that if a young impressionable teacher were to hear, “students will never catch up” they may believe it.  Education has changed greatly since this book was published. So much has changed in the last 10 years. I question if these Top Ten Writing Wrongs are still happening in secondary schools.

Radical Eyes for Equity

Confronting “our rigid refusal to look at ourselves”

By James Baldwin

Baldwin makes us look at best practices and if they align with our authentic and critical goals.  He suggests if they don’t align then we need to change them.  This is much harder than it sounds.  More often than not, we are pressured as educators to conform to “best practices” by teaching certain standards by certain times of the year.  We are micromanaged to the point where data is collected on spreadsheets that track student growth.  Meetings are made with administrators when students are not making proper growth and you are asked, “What will you be doing to make this population grow?” followed by a 6 week follow up meeting where you need to bring evidences of growth from student work pieces.  Student Learning Objectives, (SLO) are being written by administrators setting incredibly high expectations of growth that are affecting our teacher rating and evaluation score.  These are just a few things that get in the way of having freedom in our classroom and curriculum. Lou LaBrant states, “Teaching and teachers have been profoundly and negatively impacted by external forces for a century at least, and those corrosive forces have been intensified during the recent thirty plus years.”  We are held accountable for all aspects of our student population from academics to social and emotional health.  

Remaining true is the idea to teach students. Providing a classroom where students are comfortable to take risks and asking yourself as an educator, “What is best for students?”  Teachers need to downplay the stress of data collection and not make assessments  the main purpose of their learning.  Instead, as educators we need to encourage our students’ values, identity, and lead them to ways they can connect their lives and purposes through literature.