Write It Out!
Write It Out!
"We, the Sister Authors, write for then, now, and
later to honor those before us and to inspire
those who are yet to come. We write because we
will not allow those who aren’t us, speak for us,
judge us, or tell our stories. We all bleed blood
but society has chosen to look only at our skin
color. In order for the world to hear our voices,
we must be brave enough to let them be heard,
so we write to advocate for change. While we are
young, black, and female, we are individuals.
Our stories are uniquely beautiful.
We cannot hold it in, we write it out!"
- 16 Authors
This was the preamble of 16 black, adolescent girls between the ages of 11 and 17 who participated in a five-week writing institute. They wrote this preamble as a group and recited it each day. By writing their own preamble in their own words, this group of students established themselves as authors and by reciting it each day, they reminded themselves why they were writing.
Four Themes found in an examination of black women's literature:
- Identity
- Resiliency
- Solidarity
- Advocacy
These four themes were centers of the instruction for the institute, and they were paired with mentor texts that taught the students about content, structure, and theme. The four themes combined with the mentor text satisfy all the aspects of culturally relevant pedagogy as defined by Ladson-Billings in her article, But That's Just Good Teaching!; academic success, cultural competence, critical consciousness.
Adolescent black girls are often unrepresented in literature -- both writing and reading. In the teaching practice of "standard English", black girls are punished for using their authentic voice. And by choosing to focus on traditional literature such as Shakespeare, black students are left with a strong disconnect between their experiences and their readings.
By allowing students to write to express "self, society, and of self in society", as black women have historically written to do, we can establish a "literary presence", or an environment in which students can share their voices and visions as they explore themselves through writing. With a strong "literary presence", we can work toward helping our young, black, female students see themselves as authors, writing for then, now, and later to honor those before them and to inspire those who are yet to come.
Blog by: Brandt Hatcher
Sources:
Ladson‐Billings, G. (1995). But that's just good teaching! The case for culturally relevant pedagogy. Theory into practice, 34(3), 159-165.
Muhammad, G. E. (2012). Creating spaces for Black adolescent girls to “write it out!”. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 56(3), 203-211.
Questions To Consider:
1) What impact do you think a writing preamble (like the one the girls in the institute wrote) could have on your class?
2) What specific things can you do to create a "literary presence" in your classroom for all students?
3) Did any of your classrooms or teachers create a "literary presence" for you when you were a student?
Good post, I really like how you stated four themes found in black women’s literature. Just by reading the preamble you quoted to being your blog, I was able to identify all of those themes by just reading that. I can also see how those four themes mesh very well with the three tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy. I agree that all black students cannot connect with famous works by Shakespeare for example, but I don’t think any student can really connect with works like that either. I think all students need to be exposed to the modernized ways of teaching literacy.
ReplyDeleteTo answer question 1, I really like the idea having a “preamble” written by the class at the beginning of the year. I think this would give the students a sense of identity and make them want to choose academic success, which would fall right under the first tenet of culturally relevant pedagogy. I also think having a “preamble” would make students more accountable for their work and more importantly, effort.
To answer question 2, I think one way to have a literacy presence in the room is having all types of books in the classroom. Have the traditional novels, but also have comics, magazines, picture books, plenty of different genres to pick from, etc. Also, I think it would be good idea to have students keep a journal throughout the year. Hand students a list of possible topics they could write about or if they wanted to write about something not on the list that would be fine to. Just giving the students a chance to free write I think is one of the best practices to use in the classroom. Students can build their writing and literacy skills by doing this.
I am intrigued by the statement you made about the disconnection many students experience when reading Shakespeare. Although some of the themes in Shakespeare's works may correlate with the experience of students, a culturally relevant educator must recognize culture is everchanging, and elements of past culture might not register and connect with students to the extent we desire. For instance, despite personally enjoying some literature, where the period of the story exhibited a culture unique from my American experience, such as The Great Gatsby, the way characters spoke in Shakespeare, which is another element of culture, appeared so drastically different from how people in the contemporary society speak on a regular basis that I could never identify with Shakespeare's characters. Additionally, when educators place Shakespeare on a pedestal without incorporating literature in which students can identify themselves, then students may not exhibit literacy presence because they might not believe those analogous to themselves are worthy in the intellectual community. Moreover, this ideology is analogous to my writing throughout my school upbringing. Although I could not often identify with characters in the dominant group throughout the text read in my classrooms, I would often try to write from the presence of these characters instead of exhibiting my authentic voice.
DeleteBilly, your idea that many students can't relate to Shakespeare no matter their cultural background is very interesting. For me, it was really hard for me to look at his plays like Macbeth, I was never really able to figure out why I had to read it and how it related to me. I didn't, and probably never will, live in a mansion with servants and people who are my "employees." I think this lack of cultural connection leads students to be disinterested in what is happening in the readings and it causes them to not care or want to dig deeper into the underlying meaning of the work. This is where it draws in the culturally relevant pedagogy and the need to use works that students can relate to but also the traditional repertoire.
DeleteBrant, great blog, I would like to respond to question number 3, did any of your classrooms create a literacy presence for you when you were a student? I feel that, it was not ever an option to create a literacy presence in my classrooms. Typically if we are reading and discussing a book it was because we had to, there for, there was a structure of questions and discussions planned around that reading . there was really no way for us to express ourselves within these readings because our answers were guided based on what our teachers wanted us to say. I do remember having free writing time in some of my past classrooms, so maybe if educators have free talked based on our readings and the answers/questions are not guided we there may be more literacy presence.
ReplyDeleteBrinkley, my school was basically the same way when it came to literacy presences, they were nonexistent. I don't ever remember having a literacy space in the classroom such as the reading describes. The only time there was a literacy presence was when we would go to the library to check out books and when I was in elementary school going to the library was a special like gym, art, music, etc. I do think having "library" as a special does have a positive influence for students to enjoy reading. I, as well had free writing time in some of my classes growing up. That is why I discuss that being a good strategy to use in my future classroom.
DeleteTo answer the third question, throughout my educational upbringings, I can not recall a time where an educator created an opportunity to established literacy presence in the classroom. My reasoning stems from Muhammad (2012) concluding, “The ideal of literacy presence in literacy societies meant that black women…sought to exert their presence and make their mark on history to tell their narratives, rather than have their stories told by others” (p. 206). The narratives that my educators required consisted of writing prompts, such as write about what you did this summer or write about your favorite school field trip. Although I acknowledge the academic value in such writing prompts, by recording one’s experience in story-form, these prompts did not allow me to explore my identity in-depth. Moreover, because my educators neglected opportunities for self-discovery and self-expression as a cultural being, a significant component of who I am did not emerge until taking a Multicultural Education course, despite having to deal with race considerably throughout my childhood. Therefore, while my existence as a “different-looking” individual was acknowledged, without having an opportunity to tell my story and build my cultural identity, I did not feel secure enough to embrace my identity and make this part of my presence known. Ironically, because I wanted to assimilate into the mainstream culture deemed as having value in both the intellectual and social community, I did not want to give off the impression that I talked about race all the time despite never talking about race in the classroom. Additionally, analogous to Muhammad (2012) stating, “Iris also talked about having to mask herself when she writes in school to meet the standards of what she feels is expected of her in a classroom setting,” (p. 209) because opportunities for literacy presence was not provided, when I wrote for my educators, the absence of my authentic voice contributed to a surface-level exploration of my identity. Furthermore, I believe despite frequently talking in the classroom, my educators and peers never comprehend my true self. Considering that you mention the three tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy, I believe I would have showcased more cultural competence had my educators given me the space to perceive my identity and self-expression valuable in the intellectual community. Nevertheless, rather than merely existing, through having opportunities to write my narrative in college, I believe I have possessed the liberation of establishing my unique presence as an ambiguous-looking biracial Filipino individual who was predominantly raised soley by a father of the dominant group.
ReplyDeleteReference
Muhammad, G. E. (2012). Creating Spaces for Black Adolescent Girls to “Write It Out!” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 56(3), 203–211. doi: 10.1002/jaal.00129
To answer your first question, I feel like the preamble would help students recognize that they were all there and writing and reading for similar reasons. I think one way to do this would be to have students write their own preamble and then share them among the class while looking for common themes. This could then turn into a class preamble where the students find the common themes and goals and are able to recite them before they begin their writing. I feel that this would be a constant reminder that, though each student has their own uniqueness, they are also all there for a common goal, to write and learn.
ReplyDeleteYour answer definitely hits the Solidarity theme of black women's literature. I think a class writing a preamble along these lines gives the students purpose, too. They won't be writing "just because"; they will be writing for whichever goal they have the intentionality to pursue. It lets students take ownership of what they write, how they write, and why they write.
DeleteTo answer your first question I think that a preamble would give the students something that would hold themselves accountable for the work they are going to do. It can give them strength and courage in their everyday lives as well by creating a positive self esteem and self image for the students. I think for it to be really powerful they would need some guidance from me in keeping it positive and making it something that they can all agree on. It is also something they will probably remember for the rest of their lives.
ReplyDeleteBrandt, I'm going to combine questions 1 and 3 because I believe that one influences the other. When we did the blog share outs in class, you saved the text's example of a writing preamble towards the end, and that made me pause. I haven't looked at your blog before today, so when you read that out loud, I really listened. If I had a classroom with such a powerful writing preamble, I would have been more motivated to put effort into my literacy education. Moreover, my teachers never created a "literacy presence". I never felt as if my voice mattered, nor were my opinions being heard. I felt as if I was constantly judged for my grammar rather than the content I presented. It's difficult to present yourself emotionally and vulnerably when you are instructed to write how they want you to write. To answer question 2, the first thing I would do to create a "literacy presence" in my classroom would be to treat my students like they mattered. Making a writing preamble that is full of passion and inclusivity will influence students to write and speak critically in an equitable classroom.
ReplyDeleteLynne, I think a lot of us were judge on our grammar. I often wonder if the people who have a deep love for writing weren't judged based off of their grammar. I love that you said you want your students to know that matter because they do and every child/person should feel like they matter. Writing is a great way to get shy students to use their voices, so that they feel heard even when they are not speaking. Creating a strong preamble is a great start to writing because it will influence students to write and use their voices.
DeleteOne way to have a literacy presence in your classroom starts with having a wide variety in your library. You want to make reading something that all of your students are able to do within your room. By limiting your students you may be discouraging reading and therefore the literacy presence will be taken away. Also, letting students write their own stories can be a fun way to have them share stuff about themselves.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of a preamble for writing in our classrooms is a really unique idea. I think it allows students the opportunity to hold themselves responsible for the content they are writing. It is also a great way to introduce the rest of the school to the content in which you are writing about (if posted on a board.) I am curious as to ways we could do this at the elementary level.
ReplyDelete