Blog Post #5: Literacy with an Attitude

 Literacy with an Attitude

Educating Working-Class Children in Their Own Self-Interest 

By Patrick J. Finn 

Three Talking Points 

1. "Over time, political, social, and economic forces have brought us to a place where the working class (and to a surprising degree, the middle class) gets domesticating education and functional literacy, while the rich get empowering education and powerful literacy" (Preface- Page X). 

• We exist in a society that educates students according to their socioeconomic status. The rich continue to have the most powerful literacy, educational opportunity and privilege in society because various systems have been set in place for affluent students to succeed from the moment they enter kindergarten. There are endless possibilities for access and opportunity for affluent students due to their means and the high-quality education delivered to them. On the other hand, working and middle class students are pushed to the background and taught functional literacy, one that keeps them within their socioeconomic status, unable to break through the cycle of socialization. Schooling is unjustly determined by a student's socioeconomic background!

2. A) "In the working-class schools the dominant theme was resistance" (Page 12).

     B) "The dominant theme in the middle-class school was possibility" (Page 14).

     C) "In the affluent professional school the dominant theme was individualism with a             minor theme of humanitarianism" (Page 18).

    D) "The dominant theme in the executive elite school was excellence" (Page 19). 

•    The themes of each school analyzed by Jean Anyon are extremely different from one another due to the vast differences in socioeconomic status. Resistance from the working-class students was revealed in the demeanor and behavior of the students in school who did not meet the "traditional" expectations of school set by the educators who were seen as mere dominant figures of power. Thus, low expectations were set for these students and they were treated as passive recipients of their education. Possibility in the middle-class school came from this idea that a students were building a relationship to the economy that they were about to step into while seeing the values and rewards of education and exploring their role in it. Individualism and humanitarianism were the main themes in the affluent professional school because students were encouraged to value "higher level" thinking through their personal creativity, discovery, and various experiences. The excellence from the executive elite schools came from the powerful literacy that students were granted to prepare them to not only exist, but to excel in every capacity of their future endeavors. These themes were so different not only because of the socioeconomic differences between these student populations, but also the educational opportunities and expectations placed onto these students.  

• 3. "I'd like to hope that a child's expectations are not determined on the day that she or he enters Kindergarten, but it would be foolish to entertain such a hope unless there are some drastic changes made" (Page 25).  

• Unless drastic socioeconomic and sociopolitical changes are made within nation-wide, state-wide, and city-wide systems, literacy inequality will continue to be a huge problem in education. The abilities and academic expectations of students will continue to be determined from day one by their financial means because greater access equals greater opportunity. To set expectations of a child's literacy, education, and future due to their zip code and financial means is an injustice. 

Argument Statement 

In his work Literacy with an Attitude: Educating Working-Class Children in Their Own Self-Interest , Patrick J. Finn argues that the quality of education that students receive should not be determined by their zip code or socioeconomic status. He argues that working and middle class students in any school district deserve the same  level of high-quality, empowering education with powerful literacy that affluent students receive. 

Blog Post #4: Rethinking Color Blindness

 

Rethinking Color Blindness 

Articles:

Why you should stop saying “all lives matter,” explained in 9 different ways

By German Lopez

“Colorblindness is the New Racism” Raising Awareness about Privilege Using Color Insight 

By Margalynne J. Armstrong and Stephanie M. Wildman 

In Armstrong and Wildman’s work “Colorblindness is the New Racism” Raising Awareness about Privilege Using Color Insight, the authors challenge readers to think critically about the rhetoric of “color blindness.” Several points are made throughout the reading to prove the argument that claiming color blindness in itself is a racist act. Color blindness suppresses the reality that race holds strong social and political influence on society, while color insight encourages the exploration of the impact of race on society and human relations. Color insight also demands people to examine the social power of whiteness and its connection to privilege in the modern world. 

Toward the beginning of this article, Armstrong and Wildman exclaim, “This incomplete understanding of the nature of white privilege, coupled with the modern move toward colorblindness, conceals the raced nature of much law and power” (page 65). This quote brought me directly back to Allan Johnson’s work “Privilege, Power, and Difference.” Both of these articles demonstrate that white individuals in the United States hold evident power and privilege in society due to the injustices that have been woven into American history. While white individuals can be well-intended in saying that they are “color blind” as they wish to treat all people equally, the narrative of “color blindness” takes power away from people of color who have been stripped of dignity, privilege and voice for decades throughout history. 

Further into the reading, the authors write, “People of color know all too well that society racializes them with a race other than white. Yet, Whites often do not think about race and racial justice, except when they notice people of color are present” (page 66). I connect this quote directly to Lisa Delpit’s work "Other Peoples’ Children" as she introduced “The Silenced Dialogue.” Delpit argued that those with power in a dominant culture are least aware of their power and privilege, while those without it possess the strongest awareness of it. In Armstrong and Wildman’s work, the authors argue similarly that white people do not even have to think about race unless people of color are present. This in itself creates a privilege and power imbalance between white people and people of color. This is a reality that must be acknowledged. 

The authors urge readers to promote color insight and eradicate color blindness. The text states, “Color insight requires a commitment not to sweep race under the rug, but rather to name its presence and to examine its attributes from multiple perspectives, including the operation of privilege” (page 69). Color insight is a call to action for white people to speak truthfully about race and gain perspective. To deny the existence of difference, power, and privilege in race relations is an injustice. Color blindness allows people to avoid difficult conversations about race. Color insight, however, promotes engagement in meaningful dialogue about the impacts of race, exploration of its effects, and work towards solutions.

The second article Why you should stop saying “all lives matter,” explained in 9 different ways by German Lopez offers great perspective as to why the expression “all lives matter” is an insensitive and degrading response to “Black Lives Matter.” Lopez points out that while all lives do hold inherent value, “Black Lives Matter” speaks explicitly to the unjust devaluation of people of color in the United States that exists even today in the twenty-first century. In his address to a church member, a Unitarian Universalist minister writes about this topic and exclaims, “To deny the truth of these experiences because they make me uncomfortable would be to place my comfort above the safety of others, and I cannot do that” (Lopez). I believe that both authors Johnson and Delpit would agree with the minister’s position that avoiding the discomfort and accountability in conversations surrounding race is to deny the reality of individuals of color. We must acknowledge the existence of privilege, discuss racial justice openly, and explore further to gain deeper understanding. 

Blog Post #3: Delpit- Educating Other People's Children

Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom 
By Lisa Delpit  

Three Talking Points

1. "But parents who don't function within that culture often want something else. It's not that they disagree with the former aim, it's just that they want something more. They want to ensure that the school provides their children with discourse patterns, interactional styles, and spoken and written language codes that will allow them success in the larger society" (Pages 28-29). 
"My kids know how to be black- you all teach them how to be successful in the white man's world" (Page 29). 

• In these two quotes, Delpit draws attention to the various discourses and language patterns within schools that breed students to be successful in the white man's world. In the modern world, parents want more for their children in their education where their language codes are treated as assets instead of deficits. 

2. "Children have the right to their own language, their own culture. We must fight cultural hegemony and fight the system by insisting that children be allowed to express themselves in their own language style. It is not they, the children, who must change, but the schools. To push children to do anything else is repressive and reactionary" (Page 37). 

• Schools must adapt and change in order to adequately serve and effectively educate the students in front of them. Students have the right to express themselves authentically using the language that aligns most to their identity. Schools need to encourage students to use the language that they are accustomed to instead of shaping students to be people that they are not.

3. "The dilemma is not really in the debate over instructional methodology, but rather in communicating across cultures and in addressing the more fundamental issue of power, of whose voice gets to be heard in determining what is best for poor children and children of color" (Page 46). 

• Delpit's position is to be a voice for the voiceless, particularly for disadvantaged students and students of color. Her position is that there is a power struggle that exists in American schools between educators and students. How can educators be open to truly listening to students of color? How can we push all students to be their true and authentic selves without molding them to be something that they are not? How can we incorporate more student voice and input in our classrooms? 

Argument Statement 

In her work Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom, Lisa Delpit argues that the relationship and interaction between white educators and "other people's children," or students of color, demonstrates an unjust power imbalance in the American classroom. The various dynamics of the power struggle result in prejudice and ineffective education for disadvantaged students. Delpit argues that the educational framework must be altered to change this narrative between educators and students of color so that these students may be prepared for great success in their own world, not the world of the white man. 

Blog Post #2: Privilege, Power and Difference

Privilege, Power and Difference
Allan G. Johnson  

Three Talking Points

1. In order to implement true social change in the world, people must transform how they act and think in order to actively participate in the world, understand the profound dynamics of privilege, power and difference, and commit to making social change. 

2. There are two types of privilege mentioned. The first is based on "unearned entitlements" and the other is referred to as "conferred dominance." An "unearned entitlement" refers to simple privileges that all people should have such as safety and security or feelings of belonging and inherent value. When these entitlements are restricted to certain social groups and taken away from others, this privilege becomes an "unearned advantage." On the other hand, "conferred dominance" occurs when one social group is granted power over another group. This can pertain to gender, racial, cultural, or socioeconomic dominance. In this case, human differences lead to privileges and create power struggles. Belonging to a privileged group or category that has an oppressive relationship to another social group is not the same as being an oppressive person who behaves in unjust ways. 

3. For every social circle or group that is privileged, one or more other social groups are oppressed simultaneously. Privilege and oppression, while opposites to one another, and directly correlated.  

Argument Statement 

Author Allan G. Johnson argues that privilege is derived from human differences. The existence of privilege leads to an uneven and unjust distribution of power and ultimately results in oppression of social categories and groups. 

Blog Post #1: Who am I?

 

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