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
It is extremely sad that everyone does not find the value in reading and writing in their culture or society. Sometimes children's parents may not know how to read or may not be capable to help their child learn to read. It is our job as teachers to try our best to make up for that. It does not mean their parents do not care about them or they are bad parents they are just not capable of helping. Another thing that comes to mind when I was younger my parents did not read much to me because they didn't like to read but that does not mean I have bad parents because they chose not to read aloud to me. In a lower income household books may not be a priority because they are somewhat expensive, that money spent on books could be taking away from grocery money.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this thoughtful exchange! Casandra, Your blog posting was outstanding! Understanding reading and writing as a cultural practices or a social practice is essential to understanding the connection between language, literacy, and power!
ReplyDelete"thinking about reading as a cultural practice rather than a rule of society." This quote that you gave pretty much sums up the connection between language, literacy, and power. It's amazing, because although I read and understood the article, I didn't really think too hard about literacy being culturally driven but it is VERY true! I enjoyed reading your blog. It's also nice to think about literacy not defining a person's personality but simply their ability to learn (which we as teachers can adapt to the best of our abilities). This was encouraging!
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