This Link will take you to view my graphic organizer about the Cultural Deficit Theory.
Bolima, Donna. "Contexts for Understanding: Educational Learning Theories." N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Aug 2011. <http://staff.washington.edu/saki/strategies/101/new_page_5.htm>.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Blog Response : 'As Soon As She Opened Her Mouth'
Quote
"What do you expect from these people? Happens all a the time." pg 11
"they [the children] did not understand that print existed as a meaningful semiotic system." pg 6
"reading as a cultural practice" pg 7
Response
Starting from quote one, the words of a narrow minded individual (in my opinion), whom like us all in today's society see reading and writing as a natural process of becoming an individual. I read this quote and immediately become frustrated with thoughtless words that were said, degrading a 'people' because of their lack of literacy in the modern world. Literacy that has evolved over many decades and has become very distinct in various areas of the nation. Just like the people who have developed different features and physical attributes so we develop different ways of communicating. Which leads me into the next quote that I found intriguing, thinking about reading as a cultural practice rather than a rule of society. I really love the way that the author approaches the idea of literacy as something that is culturally developed; the author continues to make sense in my mind when she breaks this down even farther. Giving examples of how children in our society start to learn how to read and communicate with others, the key word is 'learn'. As she states in her essay communicating in the way we do, does not come naturally it is something that we see our caregivers and others communicate so naturally we learn to communicate in the same manner. I really do believe that this break down of learning communication and literacy explains why some regions and groups of people have a hard time communicating with others. If one culture of people learn to use mainly symbols and pictures to communicate then words to them would be unknown and meaningless. Just as if the culture used mainly vocalizations and words, then symbols may become meaningless to them. So in the instance of the authors case study the family which she did her study did not grow up in a culture that valued the ideas of using words and symbols to convey their thoughts and emotions which appears to have been taught like this through many of their generations.
I have never thought of literacy as a cultural idea before, like many of us we have been brought up to believe that being able to read and write properly and to certain standards was how 'normal' people got through life. And I certainly do think that these skills are important, more so for the fact that you can better protect yourself from others. As we have seen before, people who may not understand cultures of greed may be overrun and taken advantage of.
Back onto the original quote though, teachers who have this attitude do nothing but hurt the children they are suppose to be teaching and giving hope to. Its hard to be unbiased 100% of the time there are always hidden stereotypes that we may even be unconsciously unaware that we act upon, but the one thing that I feel we can be to help combat this is tolerant. Not becoming rash when a student cannot understand what you are trying to teach them, understand that you have to try your best to get on a similar wavelength just as the student is trying to do (meeting in the middle), learning from one another. If you are willing to learn from the student you may learn ways to better help them.
Reference
Purcell Gates, V. (2002). As soon as she opened her mouth. In L. Delpit & J.K Dowdy (Eds.), In The skin that we speak: An anthology of essays on language culture and power. (Print: Anthology)
Related Resource
This video was done by West Virginia student who discusses the impact that our dialect has and where it originated.
cited source
zachtriplett, . (Producer). (2009, November 30). [Audio Podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIJq-T1FbQo
"What do you expect from these people? Happens all a the time." pg 11
"they [the children] did not understand that print existed as a meaningful semiotic system." pg 6
"reading as a cultural practice" pg 7
Response
Starting from quote one, the words of a narrow minded individual (in my opinion), whom like us all in today's society see reading and writing as a natural process of becoming an individual. I read this quote and immediately become frustrated with thoughtless words that were said, degrading a 'people' because of their lack of literacy in the modern world. Literacy that has evolved over many decades and has become very distinct in various areas of the nation. Just like the people who have developed different features and physical attributes so we develop different ways of communicating. Which leads me into the next quote that I found intriguing, thinking about reading as a cultural practice rather than a rule of society. I really love the way that the author approaches the idea of literacy as something that is culturally developed; the author continues to make sense in my mind when she breaks this down even farther. Giving examples of how children in our society start to learn how to read and communicate with others, the key word is 'learn'. As she states in her essay communicating in the way we do, does not come naturally it is something that we see our caregivers and others communicate so naturally we learn to communicate in the same manner. I really do believe that this break down of learning communication and literacy explains why some regions and groups of people have a hard time communicating with others. If one culture of people learn to use mainly symbols and pictures to communicate then words to them would be unknown and meaningless. Just as if the culture used mainly vocalizations and words, then symbols may become meaningless to them. So in the instance of the authors case study the family which she did her study did not grow up in a culture that valued the ideas of using words and symbols to convey their thoughts and emotions which appears to have been taught like this through many of their generations.
I have never thought of literacy as a cultural idea before, like many of us we have been brought up to believe that being able to read and write properly and to certain standards was how 'normal' people got through life. And I certainly do think that these skills are important, more so for the fact that you can better protect yourself from others. As we have seen before, people who may not understand cultures of greed may be overrun and taken advantage of.
Back onto the original quote though, teachers who have this attitude do nothing but hurt the children they are suppose to be teaching and giving hope to. Its hard to be unbiased 100% of the time there are always hidden stereotypes that we may even be unconsciously unaware that we act upon, but the one thing that I feel we can be to help combat this is tolerant. Not becoming rash when a student cannot understand what you are trying to teach them, understand that you have to try your best to get on a similar wavelength just as the student is trying to do (meeting in the middle), learning from one another. If you are willing to learn from the student you may learn ways to better help them.
Reference
Purcell Gates, V. (2002). As soon as she opened her mouth. In L. Delpit & J.K Dowdy (Eds.), In The skin that we speak: An anthology of essays on language culture and power. (Print: Anthology)
Related Resource
This video was done by West Virginia student who discusses the impact that our dialect has and where it originated.
cited source
zachtriplett, . (Producer). (2009, November 30). [Audio Podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIJq-T1FbQo
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Tall Tales of WV: Breaking stereotypes
Quote:
"Saving the people in the Appalachians from themselves."
Reaction:
There were a couple of statements that caught my attention in this article, the one though that I felt the strongest about the particular part where the president of Berea (1897), out of needing money for the school decided to shift attention onto what he called 'Contemporary Ancestors' and made southern West Virginia out to be unintelligent backward 'hillbillies', stating that they needed to be saved from themselves.
I have lived in West Virginia all of my life and if its one thing we do not need is being saved from ourselves now or even then. West Virginian's are a strong people who were able to make a living off the rugged land that is covered completely in mountains. My grandparents and great grandparents both did it and raised their families and never went hungry and had clothes and a roof over their head.
I believe that it is truly ignorant of people to take any culture and slander it just because they do not understand it or have never been exposed to it. And another issue that arose in this article that made me raise an eyebrow was that the people who really pushed these stereotypes were corrupt politicians and people with money and power who couldn't care less about anyone but themselves. They saw that these 'hillbillies' were unknowing of such corrupt thoughts and ideas and took advantage of them stealing land and resources and then slandering them. These folk may have not understood the world of politics and money, but they understood how to treat people properly and with respect, many of these people like myself grew up in a strong family environment and learned what it meant to be a decent human being caring for all and giving of themselves when their neighbor.
Reference:
O'Brien, John . (2003). Tall tales of appalachia. The New York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/10/opinion/tall-tales-of-appalachia.html
Related Resource:
In this article I found while browsing stereotypes of West Virginia, what really grabbed my attention about this article was that the writer was wanting West Virginian's not to take the hillbilly jokes so lightly and to take responsibility of their heritage and home.
Cite for Resource:
Keeling, Jason. (2007, December 4). West virginia stereotypes: don't believe the hype. A better west virginia . com, Retrieved from http://www.abetterwestvirginia.com/2007/12/04/west-virginia-stereotypes-dont-believe-the-hype/
"Saving the people in the Appalachians from themselves."
Reaction:
There were a couple of statements that caught my attention in this article, the one though that I felt the strongest about the particular part where the president of Berea (1897), out of needing money for the school decided to shift attention onto what he called 'Contemporary Ancestors' and made southern West Virginia out to be unintelligent backward 'hillbillies', stating that they needed to be saved from themselves.
I have lived in West Virginia all of my life and if its one thing we do not need is being saved from ourselves now or even then. West Virginian's are a strong people who were able to make a living off the rugged land that is covered completely in mountains. My grandparents and great grandparents both did it and raised their families and never went hungry and had clothes and a roof over their head.
I believe that it is truly ignorant of people to take any culture and slander it just because they do not understand it or have never been exposed to it. And another issue that arose in this article that made me raise an eyebrow was that the people who really pushed these stereotypes were corrupt politicians and people with money and power who couldn't care less about anyone but themselves. They saw that these 'hillbillies' were unknowing of such corrupt thoughts and ideas and took advantage of them stealing land and resources and then slandering them. These folk may have not understood the world of politics and money, but they understood how to treat people properly and with respect, many of these people like myself grew up in a strong family environment and learned what it meant to be a decent human being caring for all and giving of themselves when their neighbor.
Reference:
O'Brien, John . (2003). Tall tales of appalachia. The New York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/10/opinion/tall-tales-of-appalachia.html
Related Resource:
In this article I found while browsing stereotypes of West Virginia, what really grabbed my attention about this article was that the writer was wanting West Virginian's not to take the hillbilly jokes so lightly and to take responsibility of their heritage and home.
Cite for Resource:
Keeling, Jason. (2007, December 4). West virginia stereotypes: don't believe the hype. A better west virginia . com, Retrieved from http://www.abetterwestvirginia.com/2007/12/04/west-virginia-stereotypes-dont-believe-the-hype/
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