Maddy's Jornal Post 2

Maddy,

We talked about this dynamic last week in our small group but I wanted to respond to it again, on sererndip.  

This is definitely a dynamic that interests and concerns me... Respeecting students' inherent cultures is of course important and definitely benefits the classroom.  (Imagine a teacher "flipping"/inversing the Delpit scissor example.)  However, I too feel your hesitation about the balance between teaching what is "acceptable English " and what is "inherent" different discourses.  I'm really interested in the intersection between this theoretical discussion and the practicality of being a working (over-worked?) teacher who, at the end of the day, _also_ has to prepare her students for standardized testing, etc.  

I'm so glad that we're having this discussion about inherent literacies and I think the idea of respecting inherent discourses is not only fascinating but also so exciting and important as an idea.  However, I cannot help but wonder:  what if my English teacher had not hammered the grammatical rules into my head as she did?  Theoretically, if a teacher did encourage me to speak/write in the language of my own reality, would I have ever learned about FANBOYS or the intrinsic values of the imperfect tense?  Knowing grammar intimately instilled me with a sense of joy and confidence and I wonder if that would have been lost if I had been taught solely in an inherent discourse.  

Furthermore, while the purpose of education is not necessarily to go to college and while standardized tests are inherently flawed, they definitely have practical concerns--how well will students perform on them if they are taught that in their primary literacy?

Of course, I guess everything is about striking a balance, and I'm not trying to suggest an "all or nothing" approach when it comes to teaching literacies.  However, with teachers who are already so overworked and underappreciated, are we suggesting to add more to their plates?  How would a high school English teacher appreciate multiple literacies?  

I think one of the main purposes of literacy is coherent communication with others based on speaking, reading and writing. I don't believe that "we have to speak the same way to connect." I think it may make the process easier, but not impossible. In order to broach the gap in literacies such as in black english and standard english, I think it would be important to find shared interests, and communicate based off the discourse in common. When talking to students that you are afraid you can't connect with because of different backgrounds, I believe it is important to not be patronizing and impose yourself and way of life on to them, but learn with them. Discover their backgrounds and use this as a tool to enhance their academic preformance and your own education of the discourse.