A "jewel" of an article.
Jewel is a child of globalization and "fluid" meanings of literacy. Labeled as "at risk" due to factors that include - working poor family background, immigrant status, English is her second language ... Jewel is only able to prove her "literal" worth when she enters the first grade computer lab and not only completes her assignment (several times, since she's erased and started over while she experiments with the software), she tutors a classmate and later socializes for a while. The New London Group defines the emergence of multi literates built on change, flexibility, quality and distinct niches.
A citizen in a globalized world is able to design themselves as a "shape shifting" portfolio person capable of changing their skills to fit changing social and economic opportunities.
Reflection: I vote this article "five stars". I agree that with the educational system we have in place, many students are losing out. The article states that "what is needed is a rethinking of literacy curriculum that considers the changing texts and practices that are already part of the students' worlds."
Sunday, January 30, 2011
New London Group. "A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures." Harvard Ed Review 66.1 (1996) 60-92
This article states that the mission of education is to ensure that all students benefit from learning in ways that allow them to fully participate in public, community and economic structures in life. It expands this idea to meet global needs, and asks the reader to think about how literacy pedagogy must change to meet present day needs in schools where people become members of multiple communities and the boundaries of those communities overlap ... where "differences are the NORM" and also "complement each other."
Reflection: It seems that this is the way colleges and universities have designed learning for many years. No doubt that improvement has to be made, but more thought has to be placed on k-12 education where diversity of cultures is becoming more commonplace. Perhaps a "college model" for k-12 design (redesign) needs to be created.
Reflection: It seems that this is the way colleges and universities have designed learning for many years. No doubt that improvement has to be made, but more thought has to be placed on k-12 education where diversity of cultures is becoming more commonplace. Perhaps a "college model" for k-12 design (redesign) needs to be created.
Roberts, Peter. "Defining Literacy: Paradise, Nightmare or Red Herring?" British Journal of Ed Studies 43.4(Dec 1995): 412-432
This article stresses an idea that I believe most educators agree with. "The great divide in literacy is not between those who CAN read and write and those who (CANNOT). It is between those who have discovered what kinds of literacy society values and how to demonstrate their competencies in ways that earn recognition" (Meek 1991), and that literacy is entirely a matter of how reading and writing are conceived and practiced within particular social settings (Lankshear and Lawler 43).
Roberts explains that there is very little agreement among scholars about the definition of literacy. It speaks to seveal approaches to attempts in defining literacy like: QUANTITATIVE - number of years in school; QUALITATIVE - concentrates on the qualities of being a literate person; PLURALIST - multiple modes of literacy (survival, social, cultural, functional, higher order, and critical); and PARTICULARISTIC STRUCTURE -form of reading and writing.
Roberts explains that there is very little agreement among scholars about the definition of literacy. It speaks to seveal approaches to attempts in defining literacy like: QUANTITATIVE - number of years in school; QUALITATIVE - concentrates on the qualities of being a literate person; PLURALIST - multiple modes of literacy (survival, social, cultural, functional, higher order, and critical); and PARTICULARISTIC STRUCTURE -form of reading and writing.
Heath, Shirley Brice. "Literacy and Social Practice." D.A. Wagner, R.L.Venezky & B.V.Street(Eds.) Literacy: Intl Hndbk(102-106) Boulder,CO:Wview 1999
Heath tells us that the definition of literacy has changed over the years. The old view of literacy embraces the development and reception of writing and reading of literal texts. In 1970 the perception changed to the decoding and encoding of symbols for meaning being conveyed by oral language. The article discusses how ... 1-scholars believe activities, values, patterns of time and space shape responses to written texts in societies and institutions ... 2-research reveals how literacy practices and formal instruction clash with literacy that is fostered in the home and local communities ... and 3-social position and orientation to community values are not the results of formal education. Instead it is influenced by ethnicity, geographic location, social and political factors.
Reflection: The definition of literacy has changed with time and between cultures. There cannot be one definition for "literacy" unless it is so general as to fit generic meaning into that of industrialized U.S. and China as well as aborigine Australian bush-country and west Africa. Each culture has its own way of making meaning of those symbols valued in its society.
Reflection: The definition of literacy has changed with time and between cultures. There cannot be one definition for "literacy" unless it is so general as to fit generic meaning into that of industrialized U.S. and China as well as aborigine Australian bush-country and west Africa. Each culture has its own way of making meaning of those symbols valued in its society.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Smith, Frank. "The Myths of Writing." Language Arts 58.7: 792-798. 1981
An article on "WRITING" from the writer's point of view. This list should be posted in all writing classrooms.
The author responds to some of the mythical ideas of writing in a brief narrative on "writing".
1 - Writing is done to create experiences and explore ideas.
2 - The writer is the first reader ... sometimes the only reader.
3 - Writing is not a matter of taking dictation from yourself; it is more like a conversation with a highly responsive and reflective other person.
4 - Writing can be reflected upon, altered, and even erased at will ... and also gives the writer power to manipulate time ... speech, once uttered, can rarely be revised.
5 - Writing is "plastic art" - it can be done in several places and directions concurrently.
6 - Spelling, punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing, neatness, etc. are necessary aspects of the transcription required to make written language manifest. For ALL writers, undue concern with transcription can interfere with composition (the creative and exploratory aspect of writing).
7 - The only difference between writers and people who do not write ... writers write.
8 - Writing fluency and facility comes with WRITING.
9 - The easiest way to learn to write is to see something you would like to say being written.
10 - One learn to write by READING.
11 - The classroom atmosphere is NOT the most reasonable place in which to expect children to learn to write.
12 - Thoughts come WITH writing. Writing may never come if it is postponed until we are satisfied that we have something to say.
13 - Writing is hard work and requires concentration, physical effort, and a tolerance for frustration and disappointment.
14 - Writing generally requires many drafts and revisions to get ideas into a form that satisfies the writer. A separate editorial polish is required to make the text appropriate for a different reader.
15 - Writing cannot always be "done to order".
16 - The act of writing does not break itself into neatly identifiable and manageable "steps".
17 - Writing is not a sedentary activity -- that's unrealistic.
18 - Writing is not a silent activity -- writing frequently involves making noise, exchanging ideas, expressing exhilaration or frustration.
19 - Writing is not a solitary activity -- writers need other people to stimulate discussion, provide spellings, listen to choice phrases.
20 - Writing is not a tidy activity.
21 - Writing is not the same for everyone.
and
22 - People who teach writing must be able to 1) demonstrate what writing does and 2) demonstrate how to do it.
Teach children to write with a purpose -- the primary purpose being one's own joy and satisfaction.
The author responds to some of the mythical ideas of writing in a brief narrative on "writing".
1 - Writing is done to create experiences and explore ideas.
2 - The writer is the first reader ... sometimes the only reader.
3 - Writing is not a matter of taking dictation from yourself; it is more like a conversation with a highly responsive and reflective other person.
4 - Writing can be reflected upon, altered, and even erased at will ... and also gives the writer power to manipulate time ... speech, once uttered, can rarely be revised.
5 - Writing is "plastic art" - it can be done in several places and directions concurrently.
6 - Spelling, punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing, neatness, etc. are necessary aspects of the transcription required to make written language manifest. For ALL writers, undue concern with transcription can interfere with composition (the creative and exploratory aspect of writing).
7 - The only difference between writers and people who do not write ... writers write.
8 - Writing fluency and facility comes with WRITING.
9 - The easiest way to learn to write is to see something you would like to say being written.
10 - One learn to write by READING.
11 - The classroom atmosphere is NOT the most reasonable place in which to expect children to learn to write.
12 - Thoughts come WITH writing. Writing may never come if it is postponed until we are satisfied that we have something to say.
13 - Writing is hard work and requires concentration, physical effort, and a tolerance for frustration and disappointment.
14 - Writing generally requires many drafts and revisions to get ideas into a form that satisfies the writer. A separate editorial polish is required to make the text appropriate for a different reader.
15 - Writing cannot always be "done to order".
16 - The act of writing does not break itself into neatly identifiable and manageable "steps".
17 - Writing is not a sedentary activity -- that's unrealistic.
18 - Writing is not a silent activity -- writing frequently involves making noise, exchanging ideas, expressing exhilaration or frustration.
19 - Writing is not a solitary activity -- writers need other people to stimulate discussion, provide spellings, listen to choice phrases.
20 - Writing is not a tidy activity.
21 - Writing is not the same for everyone.
and
22 - People who teach writing must be able to 1) demonstrate what writing does and 2) demonstrate how to do it.
Teach children to write with a purpose -- the primary purpose being one's own joy and satisfaction.
Gee, James P. "Ideology and Theory: The Moral Basis for Discourse Analysis." In JPGee Social Linguistics and Lit: Ideology in Discourse, 2nd ed.(1-20)
Gee's article on non-standard dialects describes a child's early literacy as initiated in the home followed by their subsequent entry into the school's literacy program. The child is seen as poor and possibly neglected and impoverished, with no books in the home environment and little encouragement or support from parents. Gee considers these thoughts "charitable". But he goes on to analyze the child's use of words and explains that they are properly used within the atmosphere of the home.
Gee uses historic points to explain his views on ideology and Napoleon's efforts to thwart any effort to allow the Renaissance and Enlightenment to release his power over his people. Napoleon felt that he was the most "literate" for his time as he had the most experience in the matters of social discourse at the time. Marx, on the other hand, spoke of ideologies in his social theory by identifying the "real" socioeconomic structure of society as "what the course of history was" and the determination of whose ideas were right versus whose were an "illusion of false consciousness and bad faith rooted in exploitation." Marx's ideas make us ask "What theories are we to believe in and act on? Not, Whose experience is the best?"
Gee uses historic points to explain his views on ideology and Napoleon's efforts to thwart any effort to allow the Renaissance and Enlightenment to release his power over his people. Napoleon felt that he was the most "literate" for his time as he had the most experience in the matters of social discourse at the time. Marx, on the other hand, spoke of ideologies in his social theory by identifying the "real" socioeconomic structure of society as "what the course of history was" and the determination of whose ideas were right versus whose were an "illusion of false consciousness and bad faith rooted in exploitation." Marx's ideas make us ask "What theories are we to believe in and act on? Not, Whose experience is the best?"
Street, Brian. "The Meanings of Literacy." In DA Wagner, RL Venezky & BV Street (Eds) Literacy: An Int'l Hndbk (34-40). Boulder, CO: Westview P 1999
Street sees a shift from a study of literacy as phonics vs whole language to more social and contextual practices. The major shift from illiterate to literate society reflects the historical beginning of modern society and the fact that writing brought language into social consciousness. The use of plural "meanings" in the title of his article signifies the author's idea of multiple literacies at work in society ... and that the emphasis is on the practice of literacy abilities (context and social meaning) and not on the medium (computer, visual media, traditional print). Those different literacies may include (as in Street's example of an Iranian village) the village literacy, community literacy, in-school and out-of-school literacies. But he also points out "home practices" as an important part of the "repertoire" of literacy.
Street identifies an interesting case study of a successful cross-age tutoring program in which students who had been failing and dropping out were trained as tutors for elementary reading students. The success of the program in terms of teacher attitudes and pupil improvement in literacy skills became a model for teacher-researcher collaboration.
Street identifies an interesting case study of a successful cross-age tutoring program in which students who had been failing and dropping out were trained as tutors for elementary reading students. The success of the program in terms of teacher attitudes and pupil improvement in literacy skills became a model for teacher-researcher collaboration.
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