Powerful Literacy

Literacy with an attitude should be the right of every student because educators would agree that literacy is essential and therefore powerful. Patrick J. Finn’s book Literacy with an Attitude Educating Working-Class Children in Their Own Self-Interest discusses aspects of power, whether it be subtle or blatant, that are enacted in a classroom and therefore make powerful literacy challenging. Finn discusses the subtle mechanisms that exist, the conflicts between the types of discourse used, and the need for progressive methods to make powerful literacy accessible and possible for working-class students.
Now, after much personal reflections and consideration, I feel that classrooms are a reflection of the wider society and the local communities in which they are located. As a teacher I know I have authority in the classroom and I am very conscious that there are powers at play. Finn writes, “”It takes energy to make changes, and the energy must come from the people who will benefit from the change.” (p. XI) Literacy is power and an empowering education is important for all children regardless of social class.
Powerful literacy requires collaboration. It requires that parents, students, teachers and administrators work together in classrooms and schools to engage students in critical literacy or literacies. It requires that we question the path, the purpose and the end result. It requires that general or stereotypical assumptions be left behind. It requires that everyone involved in the process recognize that collaboration is essential and important for student success. For me, I see the parallel relationship between educating the LD student and the working class student Finn identifies.
I always revert back to what I know. Stay with me here; I come from a Special Education background. I know the term learning disability at one time was associated with an advantaged socio-economical class. The term was once used with a specific group of students because it protected white middle-class children from the stigma of failure. I also know that children from ethnic or lower income backgrounds did not fit into the same category; learning disability was a label primarily reserved for the privileged that struggled to succeed academically in a classroom. The term learning disability today does not discriminate against socio-economic class and ethnic background. The LD label used today, to classify a child who is not meeting academic expectations, can cause a stigma in privileged socio-economic areas. Ironically, a label that once protected now threatens to hinder.
Working in a privileged socio-economic community has shown me that labels like “learning disability” do have a strong stigma attached to them. That label is not one that is easily introduced or spoken of to a parent at an affluent school. New students enroll at the school and their academic history is sanitized before arriving. When the OSR is finally up to date, we then discover there may have been concerns at the previous school. Even then sometimes, rather than address the issue, parents opt to transfer their children to another school. This is frustrating for a teacher who is filled with good intentions and wants to help students succeed. What appeals to me is that teachers in the private sector are not to assume LD students will not go on to hold positions of power or meaningful employment but rather to assume if students are given the opportunity to engage in an empowering education they, the students, will find their way to success. Finn noted that in middle-class schools knowledge was “more conceptual” and that the theme of possibility exists. For an LD student at an affluent school the theme of possibility too exists, like in the middle-class schools, but it is because personal development and creativity are valued in an affluent school. Knowledge is being open to discovery. Finn tells us “it [is] used to make sense and thus it [has] personal value.” (p. 16)
Literacy is important to everyone’s success. The role of a teacher is thus extremely important. Teachers should be making a positive impact. As an idealist, I think for the most part they, or should I say we, do! Finn examines the role of teachers in diverse school settings and he reminds that teachers too are the product of their own educational and socio-economical backgrounds. We teachers have a tendency to expect what was expected from us but what we could be doing is taking up the challenge of reframing the pedagogy and expecting more, engaging in powerful literacy!
I am the product of immigrant minorities: Latin, first generation, Canadian. I was encouraged to play the “classroom game” by my parents. I engaged in what Finn describes as “accommodation without assimilation”. Literacy in my home growing up required the use of two languages and at times three. It required that I understood the difference between the culture I came from and the one I was being introduced to. I was going to have opportunity here in Canada that had not been available to my parents at home. I’ll never forget the difference teachers made in my life. I do know that although I viewed my teachers as different, I didn’t view them as opposing. Then again, the distinction here is that my family is not part of the involuntary minorities. My culture is part of who I am and I am free to celebrate that. My educational experiences and literacies are parts of who I am and I am comfortable with that. I don’t feel it held me back from being the best me I can be.
Most of the time, I feel I expect more from my students than what was expected by me from my teachers, but that is because education has changed in the last thirty years. Differentiation is demanded in my school setting as is collaborative and cross-curricular teaching and learning opportunities.
I know I encountered a few teachers growing up who would speak to me in that voice, that loud slow voice, that voice that was suppose to pass on literacy through osmosis but I also know that was not the case with all my teachers. I’m conscience that I became a teacher because I wanted to emulate those educators who had believed in me, those teachers who saw through the broken English and saw my potential; they saw my ability to think, question and make connections. Working with LD students, I have to see their ability to think, question and make connections that are real to them. Liberating education should be a right for all. Shouldn’t all teachers encourage thinking, questioning and make connections that are real? Collaborative learning environments make a difference. Powerful literacy is the answer for all students.

My Response

The readings for this workshop were thought provoking. I found the Garland article did more to perpetuate stereotypes than it did to find a solution to the problem. It bothered me that the article was filled with growing statistics of how the black underclass continues to grow in isolation from the economical and social mainstream. Even the blurb, How Social Investments In Children Pay Off, did little to detail how to invest dollars so that the gap was narrowed between classes but certainly highlighted the possibility of tax dollars saved from the underclass issue. I felt the concern was not to provide a solid educating for youth so that they have a prosperous future, but rather the draining of America’s economic present and future. Because race was highlighted throughout all the reading I was bothered. I wanted to know whether the statistics were the same for other races or for immigrants. I have experienced issued of Literacy in my educational community and have found that they do exist across all races and socio economical classes. Because of my Special Education Background, I revert back to what I know. Special Education was a white middle class movement to protect the interest of a white middle class. Issues surrounding language and learning are easy to dismiss in poor, or ethnic students and are only addressed or labeled, special education, when an explanation is needed to protect white middle class students and interests.

As an educator and life long learner, I know and believe in the importance of education. Today’s socio economical reality is not the socio economical reality of tomorrow. With new market advancements come new demands and I know that students will need to be prepared to be adults in the workforce they will join. Students need to be critically literate which means the curriculum needs to be examined. If student needs are met and they are engaged in the learning, the opportunity will be there for them at graduation to partake in jobs and job creation. Lankshear noted that naive literacy is a large part of today’s issue. A more robust approach of examination is needed to truly deal with the issues of literacy and the underclass. Critical literacy is required and should essentially not be comprised.

Lankshear also noted that the underclass is the underclass because of the lived consequences of exclusions; it is a social historical creation. I was both surprised and bothered that people who were able to benefit from social programs and thus no longer be part of the “underclass” were noted as contributing to the issues of the underclass. Garland too noted that people who took advantage of opportunities left behind those who did not. Schools then became for the poor and role models were gone. This bothers me so I agree with Lankshear when he wrote that it was a cruel twist. I don’t feel that the issues of the underclass should not be placed back on those who were able to leave the underclass. The blame needs to go elsewhere; or better yet, the energy required to find blame should be put to use in finding a solution .

Our present day curriculum and expectations need to be examined. Does the curriculum really meet the needs of our learners? Are present day student expectations essential for tomorrow’s world? I believe in education and the right to an education. Shouldn’t students have the right to be critically literate and prepared for tomorrow’s world? Obviously, past prescriptive teaching of literacy has not worked for all students; perhaps, it is time for a more descriptive approach be examined. A shift needs to occur, a literacy revolution of sorts.

A Literacy Where I'm From...

I am from the ESL class.

Hello-my-name-is-Sylvia.

The-boy

The-girl

I-like-English.

I-like-school.

Thank goodness for kind teachers with big hearts who saw my potential.

I am from the Mr. Mugs school of thought.  Learn my English sight words and befriend Curt, Jan and Pat.

I am from clothes pins and blankets make great play toys... and so do cardboard boxes.

I am from roller skating Saturday's; why do I have to go to school on Saturdays?

Are you literate today without a computer?

I have just arrived home with my MacBook. I can tell you that having been without a computer now for over a week was an insane experience. I was disconnected from the world around me! I was illiterate. My computer is obviously very important. I was unable to communicate; I had lost my voice! 

Now with my functioning MacBook and new Memory Stick (I must remember to backup... hard lesson to learn) I will attempt to reconnect with the world! I know I have my work cut out for me... fingers crosses.