Chapter 9: Understanding Literacy as Social Practices
In this chapter Kucer relayed the connections of various social groups and the impact of these groups on literacy. Literacy when looked at cognitively and linguistically, operates within a common set of rules that govern the language and guides the forms that are taken on. The focus of this type of view is on text as it is read is “cracked” or “coded.” Kucer encouraged the reader to look beyond cognitive and linguistic views only to see see the social dimensions of written language. This view of literacy lead Kucer to explain literacy in three ways literacy event, literacy practices, and literacy performances. Literacy moves beyond the individual possessing it to a particular group and the purpose and views of literacy in that group.
The exercise Dr. Beach had us complete and the text expounded on, was a great connection to the groups that we each see our literacy tied too and how those groups overlap. Kucer continued and gave examples of a professor’s literacy events and an artists. It was interesting they were a part of a group together (the university), but their purposes for each literacy event was quite different. The professor saw many of his literacy events overlapping between work and continuing education. The artist saw distinct areas where literacy was for her job versus her work.
As we see ourselves and our students as a part of various social groups, it is important to remember that the identity of the individual in the group is dynamic and changing. One social group can take precedence over another. Social groups are also dynamic and evolving since they are comprised of people and influenced by culture. This leads us to what is meant by discourse with a lower d. It is a spance of language that is unified and meaningful to a social group. Discourse with a capital D shows the appropriate way(s) to use discourse in a social group.
Keeping all of this in mind, they way students see literacy can vary greatly from a school definition of literacy. The culture of the family, as well as, socioeconomic status can affect the child’s view of literacy. Cultural modeling can be a valuable tool in the classroom to connect what is known about literacy to support academic learning. It is important to understand what cultural groups are in the classroom in order to plan appropriate literacy events, practices, and performances. Socioeconomics is not the only factor affecting literacy. Cultures within that group also affect the views of literacy.
I used to teach first grade in an inner-city school. The primary population was African-American students. At first I always wanted them to raise their hands in the class and be quiet to show respect for the speaker. (I did teach them how to do this!!) But, I had to connect learning activities that were heavily contextualized. Each student was a part of the class in a more vocal manner. Some groups would have considered it chaotic, but learning was taking place.
- What did you learn from examining your own literacy practices? How could this affect your view of literacy as a reading teacher?
- What cultures do you see represented in your classrooms or classrooms you have seen if you don’t teach in the classroom? What types of literacy events, practices, or performances are a part of those social groups? Given that knowledge, what would be some appropriate cultural modeling you could use in the classroom?
Chapter 10: The Authority of Written Discourse
In this chapter Kucer is observing the individual as a text critic and text user. Text is created and used within social groups. That information is reflected and is a part of sociocultural dimensions of literacy. In the classroom materials are considered a power relationship within society. The creators of the texts are sponsored by certain social groups thus giving them a portion of power. On a practical level, this reminds me of history books that provide only a partial view of a particular event in history, or there is a particular slant one direction or another.
Power and control are at the center of the Common Core debate. Children are not one-size-fits-all in education, though standards can help guide that instruction. Kucer says that some ideologies conflict with appropriate ways to teach young children how to read. Specifically, he says that different groups, such as the Christian Coalition, have conflicts over how reading is taught due to their perspective of the Bible being interpreted through exegesis. I am an Evangelical Christian and totally disagree with this statement. As a teacher I can teach kids using research proven methods, and yes I still use exegesis to read my Bible. Just because I am a Christian doesn’t mean I can teach kids to read in a way that is critical in nature. (I am stepping off of my soapbox now.) I will relay that my prior statements do support the discussion of the chapter about being a part of social groups. In Social Constructionism the key to understanding of any text always involves power and control.
As teachers we need to be aware of the background of our students and what they bring to the reading of a text. As teachers we need to help them discover the various implicit meaning found within and teach critical responses. Reading critically is a necessity for students. Kucer concluded say that the authority of written discourse varies as the groups involved with the discourse vary.
- Do you see power and control at work with the curriculum provided for you to use in your classroom? Do you agree with what and how it guides your instruction? (If you are not a teacher- just observations that may apply to you.)
- How do we teach young children to think critically about texts that are read? How does this look in the classroom?
I think examining my literacy practices made me more aware of what I spend my time on and how they interrelate. It was rather depressing to see how little of my time is spent on personal or pleasurable activities especially since I love to read! I can understand Kucer's view on the three dimensions of literacy. As a reading teacher, I need to help my students see that they participate in literacy events more often than they realize. We talk about this quite a bit in class especially when I push them to read more, but they think that reading is just what they do to a book. It's important for them to understand that the opportunity to participate in a literacy event is all around them.
ReplyDeleteMy classrooms across the three districts I've worked in have all allowed me to experience different cultures. When I worked outside of DC, I struggled to get a majority of my students to see the importance of reading and taking their work seriously. They didn't spend much time on social media as it was just beginning to become available, but they were, in general, very social. Therefore, most of their interactions with literacy were either for a practical purpose/daily living and what they were exposed to in school. In OKC, my students' parents understood the importance of education and pushed their children to take it seriously. My students' literacy events were mostly social-interactions. We pushed them to read, but most were ELLs, so they had an additional set of struggles that non-ELLs have. Now, my students' interaction with literacy is, for the most part, equally split between social interactions and school. They're required to read more for school, but they spend quite a bit of time socially as well. I think as teachers, we have a responsibility to show students that literacy is not limited to reading books and that each day each of them has the opportunity to participate in many different literacy events. We need to model how to interact with literacy in different ways while not expecting them to give up their cultural identities; we have to meet them where they are.
I am able to create my curriculum, but I definitely see that my classroom embraces Social Constructionism. I think that is primarily due to the nature of literature, though. Everyone brings their own perspectives and backgrounds to literature, and so everyone will have a different output and opinion. I don't, however, believe that Social Constructionism is appropriate in all content areas.
I think we have to teach students to analyze all parts of literature when we teach them to think critically: when the text was written, who wrote it, why they wrote it, their background, events in society at the time, and so on. All of these things impact why and how things are written. An open discussion about these things while a text is being read is appropriate for older grades for sure, but I am not sure how to this would best be done in lower grades. Perhaps just asking "why" questions as you read?
Cathy, I also thought Kucer's discussion of Evangelical Christians was a bit off. I think that he was trying to describe the different literacy avenues of diverse communities, but it was confusing. I think that it would've been helpful if some of the discussion highlighted similarities between cultures and communities, instead of just differences. I think it also would have been helpful if more solutions were made available to readers, rather than just the problems in our schools.
DeleteMelissa,
DeleteExpanding the groups students read for is a huge thing. I think this will help them broaden their knowledge and experience. I hope students in my class gain more intrinsic motivations to read. I find this harder to instill in kids.
Do you see power and control at work in the curriculum you teach? Yes! This question and chapter 10 made me think of the recent news about an Oklahoma State legislator (I don't remember his name) who is advocating for AP classes to be outlawed in the state becuase they do not teach American Exceptionalism. When I first read about this, I thought it must be a joke, it sounded like something out of "The Onion" news site. But sadly, it was true. I also understand that various groups with all different agendas try to influence what appears in student textbooks. Sometimes I wish that politicians (in both parties) would stop trying to micromanage what educators do, and just concern themselves with funding education properly.
ReplyDeleteAs far as how to teach children to think critically, I think the example provided in Chapter 10 is a great way to open the eyes of younger students to the idea of perspective. Who is narrating the story? What is their agenda? "The Three Little Pigs" is narrated by an unknown person, and in this person's view, the wolf is evil. "The Three Little Pigs. The True Story" is narrated by the wolf, who wants the reader to see his point of view. What could his motives be? Why is he retelling the story? Teachers can help young students to read critically by explicitly teaching them to analyze these kinds of questions, instead of simply going over the plot, setting, characters and themes. I was never taught this way of thinking until I reached college. As an adult, I never take anything I see or hear or the news at face value. There are always two sides to every story, and many reasons for things that happen that are unreported. It is an amazing exercise to watch a report on a story on MSNBC, and then flip to Foxnews and see how they report the same issue. In my opinion, the truth lies somewhere in a gray area in-between. Another example of the need for critical thinking is when reading any kind of marketing material from investment companies, credit card companies, and banks. They make their products sound so perfect, but- what is in it for them? You need to read the fine print to find out. The same goes for reading medical research touting the benefits of a prescription drug. Who paid for the study? What do they stand to gain? These are just a few examples of why children need to be taught to read with a critical eye.
Don't even get me started on the AP history thing. So ridiculous! I think that's important to think about in terms of who is designing our curriculum for us. Who creates our standards? Who decides which standards will be put into place? Who decides which classes/subjects students will be required to learn and for how long? Who decides which textbooks are used? Who decides what goes in those textbooks? Together, those are complicated questions with multiple answers, but we need to keep in mind that not all decision-makers (legislators, textbook companies, even sometimes state superintendents...) have our students' best interests in mind. That's why we must be critical thinkers and help our students understand that school and texts are not dogma and do not always tell the whole story.
DeleteLindsay, I love your suggestion for teaching young students to think critically! All semester, I've been struggling to get into the mind of an early elementary teacher. I think that is a perfect discussion to have about "The Three Little Pigs" with little ones. It's a great foundation for the critical thinking skills that we want them to have later on in life, such as when watching the news or reading just about any text. We have to empower our students to be critical thinkers and thoughtful citizens, and that starts early. (Also, you're going to be a great teacher, Lindsay!)
I think that the issues over the control over curriculum and standards shows our need as teachers to be a part of the political process. I realize that isn't the application for this class, but I just went to the capital to talk to state representatives. It is just fresh on my mind.
DeleteI do think we need to teach kids to think critically at all ages.
Lindsay, your ideas on teaching young students to think critically is good. I forgot about the alternate version of "The Three Little Pigs", but what a great way to really illustrate that there are two sides to every story! I agree that the real, whole truth is typically within and between the two extremes of either side.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete1. What did you learn from examining your own literacy practices? How could this affect your view of literacy as a reading teacher?
It made me realize that I read a lot for entertainment. It is also seems to show that reading is reading. If a child will not read a book maybe they will read a comic book. I think I would teach that reading is important no matter what you read.
2. What cultures do you see represented in your classrooms or classrooms you have seen if you don’t teach in the classroom? What types of literacy events, practices, or performances are a part of those social groups? Given that knowledge, what would be some appropriate cultural modeling you could use in the classroom?
Most of my kiddos are white. Only one African American. They are not really into reading, we really have to push that. The modeling that I do is in ELA both the teacher and I read during independent reading with the kids. We don't use that time to grade, email, talk or anything else. We model what we want to see.
1. Do you see power and control at work with the curriculum provided for you to use in your classroom? Do you agree with what and how it guides your instruction? (If you are not a teacher- just observations that may apply to you.)
I see that we must adhere to the state test. The curriculum is down to the day. There are not many free days as we have to teach everything that the test will ask. It takes out the fun times and group instruction and group talk. We tell the kids you must know this but we don't tell them why or what to do with the information.
2.How do we teach young children to think critically about texts that are read? How does this look in the classroom?
We ask the "W" questions and How. When I read a book I ask little ones to predict according to the pictures what is going to happen. I ask them what, when, why, and how things in the book happened. I also ask for the flow of the book, what happened first, second, third, etc. I think that children who learn to do these things and apply and generalize them over different contexts will learn critical thinking.
You just reminded me of something I used to do when I was first learning to read as a child. I used to drive my family CRAZY because no matter where we were, whether it be the grocery store or driving down the street, I would read everything I could out loud. Street signs, cereal boxes, my mom's grocery list, etc. were the primary texts I engaged with for the first year or two after I learned to decode words. Those things were texts to me, and I think that young students would benefit greatly like I did by helping them discover that. I think it really helped me develop as a reader.
DeleteI feel your pain about the state test issues. We have to do benchmarks every month, and reviewing, taking the test, and remediating students who struggled with it eats up so much instructional time and often guides my teaching away from the things that I actually feel would benefit them. It absolutely contributes to the power dynamics of society, as well. As my sign at the rally on Monday said, one test cannot define my unique students. This is especially pertinent because many standardized tests are geared toward the dominant cultures and do not account for cultural differences, language barriers, and disabilities. I truly believe that the way we approach high stakes testing will reinforce the power hierarchies we have in society, unfortunately.
I didn't specify, but the benchmarks are in preparation for the state test they will take at the end of next year.
DeleteAngela,
DeleteI did the same thing as a child. I read every sign I could. I was obsessed with reading as much as I could.
I have had a calendar down to the day w/ objectives that were to be taught mapped out. That is a lot of power given to the creator (s) of that map. It was even noted what page of the text was to be done on that day. When I taught under that, I felt as if my professionalism wasn't needed.
Hey, ladies, I just wanted to shoot you a message to let you know I will be commenting, but it will be a little late. This week has legitimately been one of the hardest weeks of my life because of some family issues that have come up, and I've simultaneously been scrambling to get work done for my other class in my rare free moments. I haven't really been home at all the last three days except to sleep, and I won't be home until after midnight tonight. My planning period is 1st hour, so I'll respond first thing in the morning, rest assured.
ReplyDeleteLaranda, I am just curious since I have never taught before- you wrote that the curriculum is planned to the day? There are already lesson plans that you are expected to follow? Do you have any freedom in how concepts are presented, or do you follow something that is already totally prescribed?
ReplyDeleteWhat did you learn from examining your own literacy practices? How could this affect your view of literacy as a reading teacher?
ReplyDeleteI learned that a lot of my literacy practices are social-interactional, work-related, and educational, as well as news-related to some degree. I think that examining our literacy practices can help us become more practical reading teachers and be more inclusive of literacy practices that don't involve fictional literature or disciplinary texts. That, in turn, can help our students see themselves as readers if they, perhaps, participate in social-interactional or daily living forms of literacy. I actually had a meeting with a parent recently because she wanted to know how to help her son get more reading in, since he struggles quite a bit but feels embarassed about reading children's books. I suggested that she have him read other types of text, like grocery lists or text messages with his friends (he does not usually text message), as a starting point to get him more text exposure. I don't think either of them thought of these things as forms of reading and writing, and we as reading teachers/specialists need to help change that.
What cultures do you see represented in your classrooms or classrooms you have seen if you don’t teach in the classroom? What types of literacy events, practices, or performances are a part of those social groups? Given that knowledge, what would be some appropriate cultural modeling you could use in the classroom? Do you see power and control at work with the curriculum provided for you to use in your classroom? Do you agree with what and how it guides your instruction? (I'm answering several questions at once here.)
Our school has a fairly large African American population, and most of the rest of the school is Caucasian. In my experience, school literacy truly is tailored for white students overall. The dynamics of race are systemic structures that are reinforced by institutions like schools, and I do see that even in our literature curriculum. As a result, many of my African American students often express that they don't feel like they see themselves in literature, and they are almost always very excited when they finally read about a black person in a story. Almost everything we have in our English curriculum is written by and written about white males. A couple of years ago, we got a book added to the curriculum called "Tears of a Tiger." It's a fairly easy read, but it deals with tough issues that adolescents deal with, and the characters are almost all black. The department recently removed it from the curriculum list because it isn't "literary" enough. I will be adding it to the reading list for my literacy class next year. There is a reason that our literacy curriculum (as opposed to our English curriculum) has several texts with African American protagonists--many of our black students are the ones who have learned to hate reading, and they're the ones who have fallen behind. With the current crisis we have in society with African Americans (mostly males) falling behind in academic achievement and being disproportionately represented in our prison populations, we absolutely have to explore how societal hierarchies of power and control are reinforced in the classroom. Texts can convey powerful messages that they perhaps never intended to communicate, so we as reading teachers can start with our curriculum.