- Street argues that literacy is a “social practice.” Using examples from Hull & Schultz, Richardson and/or Newkirk, explain what Street means
- Street also argues that literacy is “always contested, both its meanings and its practices, hence particular versions of it are always “ideological”, they are always rooted in a particular world-view and in a desire for that view of literacy to dominate and marginalize others” (p.694 in reader). How might our discussion of Friere and/or racial power dynamics play into his conception of literacy?
- Richardson writes that “African American females’ language and literacy practices reflect their socialization in a racialized, genderized,sexualized, and classed world in which they employ their language and literacy practices to protect and advance themselves” (p. 637 in reader). How does this intersectionality create a unique linguistic practice? How does Richardson see these affect African American female students?
Newkirk writes about the role that Bourdieu’s “cultural capital” plays in
what is considered valid reading and writing subject material in school.
What does he mean by “cultural capital”? How does this tie into power in
our classrooms?
Last week, we read Mahiri and Sablo who indicate that “real life” subjects
such as drugs, murder, and abortion are not considered socially acceptable
topics. Newkirk highlights the unacceptable genres of comic books, horror
stories, etc. Why do you think classrooms are such restrictive spaces for
student creativity? Who benefits from restricting the canon? Think about
out of school examples highlighted by Hull & Schultz as ways we can
problematize these limitations.
When Newkirk discusses Bourdieu’s cultural capital and its implications on valid reading and writing subject material in school, he is discussing the relation between cultural knowledge you have accumulated through experience and how that relates to power and status. Young males derive a lot of information from something that may seem very factual such as a chart of baseball scores and rankings. For many boys, it tells an entire story about how each team is doing, what teams should be predicted to win, and even suggest something about how good certain programs are in terms of geographical location. Boys tend to like more action-packed stories that get straight to the point of the story without the “fifty” pages of scene and character description and often get left out or put down when they write stories lacking in character development. This has implications on their cultural capital because what they are interested in such as car chases, guns, parody, and satire are not accepted as an elite way of reading. These interests in satire fall at the very bottom of the social ladder in terms of elite knowledge in schooling.
ReplyDeleteThis tie has profound implications on power in the classrooms because the power would be found with students that are reading and writing in an “elite” manner which would suggest that they write with more seriousness as found in many novels. For young boys, their interests are found at the bottom of the ladder and therefore thought to be more juvenile. In the classroom, it would be preferred if one could write in a sophisticated manner so that one can go far in the future. However, but putting down boys’ writing due to containing mostly pure action connotes that boys are not good writers when in reality they are trying to express themselves in a way they would enjoy. Having your writing perceived as juvenile causes young boys to have difficulties in Language Arts which can have psychological repercussions and suggest that males are worse at literature than females.
- Kathy Shen
Richardson makes the point that all minorities, ethnic and racial groups have to develop code-switching as a lifelong skill and use it in their everyday interactions with the majority which is white. He also references Dubois' idea of doubleconsciousness and how it actually helps the African American community utilize the stereotypes and work it to their advantage by juxtaposing differential knowledge.
ReplyDeleteMuch of Richardson's argument, I have heard of before and the different stereotypes he describes in the beginning of his writing is only further perpetuated by mainstream media and pop culture but the strategies that he lists for African American females to deal with these negative stereotypes were quite interesting. Silencing, in particular was one strategy that caught my attention the most. This was just one of the many devising ways in which African American females "struggle to protect and advance themselves and their families- asset their humanity- against stereotypes and controlling images." It is that act of remaining silent that makes the louder statement. Sometimes speaking loud and speaking proud can hurt you because you feel as if there is something to protect, but when what you're protecting isn't true, just that act of confrontation or moment of vulnerability in your argument can give a false fact some validity to outsiders.
"The strategic use of silence is also a communication strategy used by African American women to resist perpetuation of distorted images of Black female sexuality and womanhood."
I think this is very interesting and extremely powerful in fighting stereotypes because it goes against everything society believes of a black women. African American women are labeled to be "loud," there is even a type of black woman one could be, like a "mad black woman" which does not only mean loud, but also just crazy, out of control, doesn't care who's looking at her, she's going to make a point and it's going to be made now. In my opinion, I don't think this only applies to the African American community, from my own experience, my mom can by described to be a "mad Chinese woman." But anyways, because the act of silencing is the direct opposite of the known general stereotype attached to African American females, I feel that it is a powerful way of fighting and exerting a different type of literacy.
Though the African American community remains strong in fighting against these stereotypes, they shouldn't have to do it alone. Society and pop culture need to help them break down these stereotypes, rather than strengthen them. In the identifying archetypes exercise we had in section last week, it showed Kelly Rowland, highly sexualized and genderized in not one but two magazines. The way African American females are depicted in the media, in music videos, and song lyrics should not be representative of the entire race, but yet it is.
By fighting in silence, African American women are not drawing attention to these stereotypes, not confirming it nor denying it, but in their act of silence, I think it will slowly rid some of the stereotypes attached to the black community. Slowly but surely.
Literacy is dependent on the context within which it is experienced. Street maintains that literacy is not neutral and “socially experienced” later. Rather, each and every interaction and past experiences/ paradigms of the individuals influences the “nature of the literacy.” In science, just the act of observing a phenomenon distorts or alters it in some way. “Literacy practices” and broad cultural pedagogies are easy to model, but each individual “literacy event” is unique and based on a multitude of qualities. One cause, as in science, is that the “social effect” or social observation of a literacy-based engagement affects the understanding of that particular “literacy event.” Street’s ideals are best understood through examples. Friere discusses the advantages of the problem-posing model versus the banking model. Since teachers of the banking model practice under the social understanding of being more powerful than the students, they believe that their duty is to feed information into the empty receptacles of their students. This social contextual background alone influences why the students may be unable to understand and may learn less in the future. Before judging students’ abilities in school, their social backgrounds and learning methodologies must be assessed. Another example is concerning racial power dynamics. In stereotyping, we may assume, for example, that African-American students are less academically capable. Are we able to confirm this in all contexts? No, we fail to see the viewpoint and social background of the African-Americans. Mendoza-Denton explains the phenomenon of students performing worse when faced with the stereotype that affects their gender or race. If all of these stereotypes and inequities in school were to be removed, Steel indirectly implies that all problems would be solved and all students would have the opportunity to perform equally.
ReplyDeleteIn "Behind the Model-Minority stereotype," Lee reflects on the notion that individual students differ in their view of available life opportunities and how such views shape school performance. Lee introduces the model minority stereotype in connection with Ogbu's research in which minorities fit into one of two groups: voluntary or involuntary minorities. As the name suggests, voluntary minorities arrived in the United States on their own accord. Ogbu argues that Asian Americans fit this description and see success in school as a direct route to social mobility. In contrast, involuntary minorities are in the United States as a result of slavery and other imposed measures such as conquest. Such minorities (African Americans, Mexicans…) are skeptical and doubtful that social mobility is possible because of ongoing social/economic prejudice, which in turn, frames their relationship with school.
ReplyDeleteThe model minority myth levied on Asians is undoubtedly problematic. Some interviewees expressed feelings of loss of identity because they couldn't escape the myth and their individual experience and character were ignored. I was angered by some of the teacher's responses to Asian students at this particular high school. One interviewee shared that her math teacher had joked that an Asian student who didn't excel in math was a mutant. I couldn't help, but think that stereotypes like the model minority have little chance of disappearing if people in positions of power perpetrate the stereotypes in the exact setting they're tied to. In addition to loss of identity, anxiety, stress and dismissing Asian academic success as inherent and hereditary instead of achieved through handwork there is also the issue of shame and humiliation when a student doesn't uphold the stereotype. A student named Ming struggled academically, but didn't see tutoring as a feasible option because of the embarrassment and ridicule he felt he was sure to endure as a result of veering from the Asian stereotype. How do we bring an end to or at least minimize the affects of such stereotypes when they're so deeply ingrained in us and entrenched in our culture (in this case, academic culture)?
Newkirk sees cultural capital as resources gained through cultural experience that can be put into good use. In terms of literacy, by cultural capital Newkirk means that narratives seen on television or comic books that children pick up as they grow up can be perceived as a resource in writing; visual narratives become sematic tools. This cultural capital ties into power in our classrooms. Valid reading and writing subject material in school are usually in line with mainstream culture in America, the culture of white and middle/upper class citizens. Television and other resources therefore does not cater to non-white and lower working class individuals, giving them less power in the classrooms, because their local culture does not match with the mainstream culture they experience through the media and popular literature. Individually on a smaller scale, the more cultural capital one has the more power one could have in the classroom. I say “could have,” because the power depends on whether the individual has the “right kind” of capital, which is capital in mainstream culture that is seen as valid material for reading and writing. I think it is important for teachers to recognize the diversity of the students’ experience in the formation of their cultural capital and encourage students to utilize their local culture as resources in reading and writing subject material in school. Newkirk’s comment that desire for certain types of experiential writing may be a part of a “broader cultural concern for the disappearance of local culture and the loss of a childhood rooted in that local culture” really resonated with me. Denying the local culture of those in the bottom rung of the ladder in reading and writing is similar to denying a part of the students’ identities as something to be valued and expressed.
ReplyDeleteRichardson argues that literacy practices include “the events and patterns of activity around literacy connected to something broader of a cultural and social kind”. (Street “Literacy Events” 21) In the case of African American females’ literacy practices, something broader of a cultural and social kind activities that are expressed in the literacy would be their identification. In other words, the socialization which categorizes African American female in many negative ways is reflected on African American discourse in the unique linguistic practice. African American females have to develop different strategies in language and literacy practices to protect their identities because they are commonly more vulnerable to negative stereotypes and controlling images such as sexual immorality or low social position. The distinctive linguistic practice of African American females is characterized by expressing remonstrance against the advocate of the supremacy of Whites and suppression of their mother tongue literacy. Richardson finds that these unique linguistic practices help African American female students to establish the ability to fight against negative stereotypes and controlling images. One example would be the use of silence. The intentional use of silence resist perpetuation of distorted images of Black female sexuality and womanhood.
ReplyDeleteThe African American females I believe have a very unique linguistic practice. Not only have they been stamped with the Mammy image which portrays them as asexual, but they have also been stamped as being heartless. They have suffered through different and dehumanizing conditions. Due to all of this, African American female students are confused and question whether they should respect their language or somehow gradually expunge of it as years pass. The intersectionality puts them in a unique position where they have used interesting mechanisms to express themselves. The article mentions communicative literacies including storytelling, silence, speech, and performance arts. It is a way for them to transcend all these different “compartments” and “make a way outa no way.” It is apparent that African American females have gained much knowledge through their lives and through their past generational history. This knowledge has significantly impacted their literacy and behavior. Examples include being loving and caring to their children (drawn from the times when cotton pickers and landowners came to exploit children for their labor),using storytelling to convey powerful thoughts, and the performative act of silence to stop the “perpetual distorted images of Black female sexuality and womanhood.”
ReplyDeleteRichardson also points out that African American female students are trying to rid of the image that they will not succeed by working hard and not talking. However, he also says that all the knowledge accumulated in the black female language can be used to their advantage and education system and society should not ridicule it. I completely agree with Richardson’s argument. As a society we need to recognize the struggles that African American females have faced and that their literacy is a part of a greater coping mechanism. It is how they keep the past in the present so as to not forget what they have been through. Codeswitching is something I believe that should be practiced by experienced teachers to facilitate the learning of these females so that they do not question their identity.
Richardson knows that it’s not a neutral world we live in. Depending on whether or not you fit into certain socially constructed “categories,” your life is, quite frankly, going to be easier and harder. It’s hard to say just where these categories come from, who makes them up, why they come to be, but the fact of the matter is that they are there because of people’s views and little else—it’s really not a matter of biology, physiology, genetics, or anything that can be very much scientifically grounded. It’s simply something that’s been passed down, information imprinted on the minds of the next generation that has simply learned to parrot back the views of their parents or their educations system, no matter how outlandish the views might be.
ReplyDeleteBut the long and short of it, however absurd it might be, is that there is a very real phenomenon of certain groups of people being disadvantaged in our world due ot its arbitrary stratification. Our world is divided according to, as Richardson says, race, gender, sex, and socio-economic standing or class. In our country, it’s easier to be white than black, easier to be male than female, easier to be straight than gay, easier to be rich than poor. Accordingly, some of the worst-off are poor African-American females. Because of this, the African-American female has a unique challenge in navigating the world around them—a unique challenge, in other words, in developing and practicing their literacy, given that by literacy we mean the ability to interpret the world around them and act in such a way as to survive and leverage their power.
For African American female students, one of the ways this power struggle manifests itself is through the images they are forced to take on in order to succeed—some masculinize themselves, some seek to break the traditional view of black girls as loud and consequently say very little—the long and short of it is that the African American female student feels that in order to succeed, she must reject her very self.
Back women basically have two options when it comes to stereotypes: over-sexualized and asexual. Stemming from slavery, they can “choose” to be heartless sexual creatures, incapable of love or an unattractive asexual mammy, brimming with love for white children. These stereotypes were originally created to eliminate any guilt slave owners may feel and have crept into popular culture over time. These stereotypes continue to be perpetuated through out modern media, including black popular culture. Personalities like Nicki Minaj, Amber Rose, and Lil Kim seemed to have embraced the image of the “Jezebel.” Their personalities are oversexed and hard, showing little emotion or affection they’re perceived as sexual objects looking to make money. Although they’re popular, they create a problem. Richardson argues that black women have chosen to fight these stereotype threats through silence; I would say they’re failing. It’s also argued that in order to shed these stereotypes, black women must shed their mother tongue, which plainly said, is to become and act more “white.” Whites, being the majority, are the models for what is perceived as “normal.” By purchasing Nicki Minaj albums, the masses continue to perpetuate this stereotype. I’m sure if silence is a real answer to this threat; however, other stereotype of black women being pushy, bossy and loud prevent them from speaking out against them without reinforcing other stereotypes of “mad black women.” Black women are really just stuck between a a rock and a hard place.
ReplyDeleteI response to the question regarding literacy as an "always contested" paradigm in which there are inherently "ideological" versions that promote a particular hegemonic worldview to "dominate and marginalize others", I believe there is a clear correspondence between the teachings of Freire and the racial power dynamics and the aforementioned ideological view of literacy. I believe that this is due to the fact that Freire looked at pedagogy through the lens of the opressor-oppressed relationship: students need to overcome their starting place as an oppressed demographic and move toward a place of liberation. However, Stark's conception of literacy as an ideological tool helps to create an understanding of the dynamics and challenges faced by students in the educational system. We know that people of minority communities have ample literacy, but it just might not be the "right" set of literacies to promote induction into the culture of power. I think that there it is a clear goal of the old model of education to force students to learn the dominant literacy and nothing else. However, we see now that this paradigm is lackluster when it comes to producing the best students--an argument for more culturally relavent instruction in our educational system.
ReplyDeleteI think that today there are many parts of the ideological literacy paradigm that might help people originating outside of the dominant literacy gain a foothold in a culture of power. It is needed to help children learn to play the game in the culture of power, and Stark's definition of literacy pedagogy goes a long way in explaining the need to do so. Students who are outside of the dominant and hegemonic ideology need to have the opportunity to learn and participate in the dominant ideology, and not be oppressed by it.
Q3.
ReplyDeleteRichardson talks about African American females’ language and literacy practices in his article. He states that the concept of ‘African American female literacies refers to ways of knowing and acting and the development of skills, vernacular expressive arts and crafts that help females to advance and protect themselves and their loved ones in society.’(reader, p.637) Since African Americans live in racist society, their culture was constantly adapted their needs in navigating their lives. Also, their literacy was build through their communication such as story telling, manipulation of silence and speech, and code/style shifting. Their dancing, acting, stepping, crafting such as quilting was for the purpose of communication. ‘Their intersectionality led them to develop creative strategies to overcome their situation.’(reader, p.637) Most African American females took their literacy role as nurturer and protector. African American mothers sacrificed their life for family surviving matter. As the result of mothers sacrificed in their education, African American students tried to achieve their mothers’ educational goal. African American female students grow up under their mother’s protection and sacrifice, so they know what their role is to be a African American women. As I read this article, I could feel the difficulty that African American females had to face. In those hard situations, they created their own way to create language and build their unique communication skills.
In her article, Elaine Richardson writes about the relationship between literacy and being an African American woman. In it Richardson states that “African American women’s language and literacy practices reflect their socialization in a racialized, genderized sexualized and classed world in which they employ their language and literacy practices to project and advance themselves (637.) Richardson also proclaims that "young black females often struggle to invent themselves against the distorted images of "money hungry heartless bitch," "Jezebel" and good ole "Mammy" among others, many which were created during slavery."(676) Black women seem to be fighting some kind of stereotype created by a society that seems determined to limit a whole community by a few characteristics.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking from experience, I can say that I relate with this article for several reasons. Richardson portrayed the dilemma of living as modern day black woman, much like I believe exists for Latinas today. Society has given structures for us to fill and when we confront those we are not taken seriously or given a chance. Being both Latina (or black) and female poses a threat to the rest of the world. Women of color, I believe, are an example of intersectionality that fits into multiple social characteristics, which means increasing the discrimination and challenges that are presented. We are fighting multiple stereotypes that we are expected to enact and when we confront, this is also something bad.
In relation to literacy, I believe that conditions in which we are brought up provide us with a particular language. Whether this language is considered appropriate or inappropriate by certain standards (or university settings), it is also a means of engaging and deciphering the world and a way of survival.