Writing Instruction in
the Culturally Relevant Classroom pg 1-13
CRW using diverse critical texts
A former teacher, Latrise Johnson, reflects
on a poetry lesson she created for her students. She wanted them not only to
grasp the content of the lesson, but also to recognize the value of the lesson.
She could only do this by making it relevant to her students. In her past
classrooms, her students had not always been receptive to lessons surrounding
poetry even though they interacted with it on a near daily basis. Her school at
the time of this lesson was located in Atlanta, Georgia, and was 90 percent
black. She decided to base her lesson around texts they were likely to be
familiar with, such as songs from The
Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Johnson was motivated to provide these diverse
texts to her student because she felt that it was something she was deprived of
as a student.
The “achievement gap”
This vignette inspires some personal
thoughts. First, a memory of Dr. Taylor’s class in which she discussed the way
we have been socialized in how we identify which works can be considered
critical texts. This leads many teachers to fallback on common mainstays, such
as Shakespeare or Mark Twain. Many texts such as these center around events or
themes which have no relevance to our students. The inability to connect to what
is being studied makes it difficult to understand why it’s important. That
inhibits the motivation to engage in the lesson and retain the information. The
resulting data from standardized testing based on lessons like these allude to
an “achievement gap.” My second thought, and the real issue here, however, is a
relevance gap. American classrooms are becoming increasingly more diverse, but
as the demographics have changed, the curriculum has stayed the same. This
means that more and more of our students are missing a connection to what is
being taught in their classrooms. This undoubtedly contributes to the perceived
achievement gap.
Questions
Do you think you could use your students’ work (i.e.
narratives, poems) as critical texts in your classroom? Why or why not?
Do you think the curriculum has stayed the same due to the
intention of keeping diverse students below the gap or is it caused by an
unwillingness to stray from academic tradition? Explain your answer for either.
What is something you want to offer your students that you
did not experience during your schooling?
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. (2019,
November 6). Retrieved November 7, 2019, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Miseducation_of_Lauryn_Hill.
Winn, M. T., &
Johnson, L. P. (2011). Writing instruction in the culturally relevant classroom. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English (1-3)
To address the third question, I will offer my students an opportunity to broaden their horizons revolving around what's considered academic reading and writing. My reasoning stems from the ideology presented as NCTE determine, "Since writers outside school have many different purposes beyond demonstrating accountability…it is important that students have experiences within school that teach them how writing differs with purpose, audience, and other elements of the situation" (para. 3). In previous discussions, I have discussed the benefits of using hip-hop music as a form of expression, analogous to poetry, which may become more appealing and engaging to our students. For instance, although several people have provided praise towards my occasional poetry writings, my style of poetry resembles the writing structure more often found in hip-hop, such as incorporating internal rhymes, multi-syllables slant rhyme schemes, and double-entendres. Nevertheless, regardless of the subtle differences in the writing format, my writing capability has progressed significantly by connecting poetry with the personal pleasure received from hip-hop. Therefore, for my class, I will use socially conscious hip-hop and other forms of music, analogous to the educator, who used Lauryn Hill to advance students' reading and writing in a culturally relevant manner.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, through broadening the criteria for reading and writing, I can provide various written and nonwritten forms of personal expression and critical consciousness, which can showcase students how to channel their creativity for academic purposes. For instance, stand-up comedy is a unique form of expression which often attempts to critique society while providing entertainment towards the audience simultaneously. For instance, a comedian such as Trevor Noah often uses metaphors in his stand-up act to exhibit the transferring and elaboration of his knowledge to the audience. Therefore, similar stand-up comedy, which critique society, have the potential to demonstrate to students, who are considered class-clowns, that have traditionally become considered a disruption in the classroom, in acknowledging that their jocular personality can manifest as an academic asset because through using their sense of humor, the students can recognize that their audience might maintain a more sustained attention towards their viewpoints. Moreover, when one learns to describe in-depth situations from their personal lives, as comedians exhibit frequently, these individuals are engaging in oral storytelling, which can benefit the students in their writing process. Furthermore, I believe this ideology is worth considering because creative individuals often engage in creative tasks intrinsically. Therefore, to promote the understanding that reading and writing extend beyond the sole purpose of demonstrating academic accountability, which consists of extrinsic motivation, I will provide my students some autonomy to explore and engage in multiple presentations of reading and writing to express themselves, express their perspectives, and transfer their knowledge to audiences.
References
Professional Knowledge for the Teaching of Writing. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www2.ncte.org/statement/teaching-writing/.
(Here's the rest of my blogpost)
DeleteAlthough for this blog post I focused on two forms of writing not traditionally considered as having academic value, I agree with the NTSE to also incorporate, "Conventions for digital communication, including email, chat, text messages, social networking, and online discussion forums" (para. 13). Moreover, following one of my school program students describing his video blogs on YouTube, alongside taking the Capstone Midterm on webcam, another way I might engage students in the contemporary digital society, would consists of having the students make video blogs to build upon their oral storytelling or provide visuals which illustrate and enhance the details in their stories. Moreover, if I allowed students to use my webcam and create a YouTube page for my classroom, I could provide writing opportunities for students to give feedback to their peers while simultaneously publishing my students' work. In conclusion, I plan to use digital and non-traditional formats of reading and writing in the classroom, because I acknowledge that one-size-fits-all approaches that do not consider the individual's interests, culture, learning styles, and background knowledge is a recipe for disengagement towards the reading and writing within and outside the classroom.
To answer your first question, yes, I believe that you can and should use your student’s work as critical texts in your classroom. The main reason I believe that you should use your students work is not only does it give your students a powerful voice in the classroom, but students can often relate to other students and so it would be a great way for students to feel a connection to what they are reading as it can have a connection to their own life. A lot of what we read and talk about in class talks about culturally relevant pedagogy and making sure that our students can see themselves in the classroom. While you can find text that can relate to students lives, sometimes the best text to relate to their lives is their own text, or their peers’ text. By using students work as critical text, it can increase their desire to write, and it can increase their desire to act in different situations. When we look at the article put together by the National Council of Teachers of English, we see that writing has many purposes, modalities, and processes. When students write and their text is used in class, I think it not only has relevance to the classroom, but it also has learning points for students. It can be a connecting point, but it can also teach students about writing as they analyze the forms, process, and language used. By using students’ text, it also gives them a reason to want to write, they will want to see that they can be used for other students to learn from. Students work should be used because it is critical text and it can be used in multiple ways, to help students connect and to teach students about writing in a powerful way.
ReplyDeleteCitation
Professional Knowledge for the Teaching of Writing. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www2.ncte.org/statement/teaching-writing/.
I agree with you that educators can and should use student’s work as critical text because through using the students’ work, you provide the student voice in the classroom. Moreover, to extend your ideology, I believe this understanding has the potential to position the students as experts through using their personal perspectives, background knowledge, and experiences. For example, during my first service-learning experience, there was a student who analogous to me exhibited a severe brain injury. To my knowledge, I have never seen a children’s book revolve around the experience of suffering a brain injury. Furthermore, although I may comprehend an idea of the struggles of the student, his classmates more than likely have never been around anyone who has had brain injuries. Therefore, if the student decided to write about this experience, the student’s work could become used as a critical text, which allows other students to empathize with people with cognitive disabilities, injuries, or difficulties by acknowledging that anyone of us can experience cognitive difficulties following a quick incident. Moreover, presenting this type of text might allow students to make connections and emphasize with grandparents or elders who have Alzheimer’s. Additionally, I believe because there are so few books revolving around people of color, students from cultures exhibited less frequently can provided critical texts that may become hard to find. For instance, at summer camp, one of our children who only spoke English had a parent from Papua New Guinea and had a parent from Guam. Although I have never personally attempted to find critical texts with characters who had a parent from Papua New Guinea or Guam, I believe it would become difficult to find this type of critical text in English. Therefore, by providing this child an opportunity to write their own critical text, the child remains to maintain cultural competence while providing critical texts for others.
DeleteI think you could definitely use your students work as critical texts. We talk about giving our students voices and by using what they write that’s exactly what you’re doing. Every student has a different view and outlook on life, and they all have different experiences. Using their work gives the whole class a new look into a different life, it’s just a look into one of their classmates lives. Pairing that with other critical texts such as songs or books will further teach students that the stuff in books isn’t made up, people you encounter every day deal with these issues.
ReplyDeleteTo answer the question Do you think the curriculum has stayed the same due to the intention of keeping diverse students below the gap or is it caused by an unwillingness to stray from academic tradition? Explain your answer for either. I think the curriculum has stayed the same by an unwillingness to stray from academic tradition. I believe this because I think that a lot of people are afraid to change things that work and have worked for so many years. "Why change something that isn't broken." Even though I think there are a lot of things that could be different and better within curriculum, not everyone shares that opinion. I think people are afraid of failure. Changing it could benefit everyone, mostly students of color because changing it could allow them to feel more comfortable in the school and classroom.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your first question, I definitely think that student work can be used as critical text. All of your students will have a unique perspective on the world and the problems in it. By using student work as critical texts in the classroom, you'll stay away from the trap authors like Shakespeare and Mark Twain help us fall into. In fact, you could create a class project on creating critical text. You can talk with your students about what makes a critical text and then compile a storybook of your classroom in which you put stories that students have written (and peer reviewed and rewritten, etc.) that are critical texts they can use.
ReplyDeleteDo you think the curriculum has stayed the same due to the intention of keeping diverse students below the gap or is it caused by an unwillingness to stray from academic tradition? Explain your answer for either.
ReplyDeleteIn response to your second question, I think it is a bit of both. I think that teachers have a set idea in their heads about which books they should be reading in class and these books often don't stray from the historical texts that they have been told to teach. I think there is also a sense of unwillingness to stray away from what they know how to teach in hopes that they wont get into any conversations that they don't know how to handle. The lack of representation of books and curriculum that meet the needs of a more diverse student base is likely rooted in the systemic racism of schools and institutions. This unwillingness to stray from tradition is what keeps students of color below the gap and discourages them from wanting to learn.
I also think that teachers are worried students will ask questions that they won't know the answer to. Uneasiness about addressing serious questions or thoughts is something that we need to prepare for as future educators. I feel like our courses this semester have done a really good job of teaching us ways to prepare for the more "difficult" questions.
DeleteElisha, great post! To answer this question, "What is something you want to offer your students that you did not experience during your schooling?" I want to offer my students the opportunity to learn about other cultures around the world. I also want to offer my students with the ability to freely express themselves in the classroom, making the classroom more inviting. I think it is important for students to feel welcomed in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good post! I think what I would provide for my students that was not provided for me would be readings that are culturally relevant to my students. Most of the readings I did in elementary and middle school were about white people. As a Chicana, I wanted to read something that had other brown people. The only time teacher would bring out diverse readings, would be doing Black History Month or Hispanic Heritage Month. I did not think it was a bad thing since I didn't know any better. After going through these education classes, I realized how my teacher put me and my peers at a disadvantage because we were only introduced to readings about the dominant culture.
ReplyDeleteSomething that I would like to offer my students in my classroom is a voice. A lot of times in school you are told to keep to yourself and just go with the flow. But as someone who enjoys sharing their opinion it can be good to say what's on your mind. This will also help the entire class learn about one another in an appropriate environment.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to your third question, one thing that I want to offer my students that I didn't necessarily experience in my own schooling is constructive criticism in regards to writing. I was a strong writer from a young age and never felt like I was pushed academically with my writing because my peers and teachers always said I had nothing to fix. I would have loved writing assignments and projects that pushed me out of my comfort zone and required two or three drafts so that I could grow as a writer and as a student. I would have also loved to have more of a voice and been able to do more classroom debates/discussions in preparation for college.
ReplyDelete