Week 3: Assignment A-Finn: Literacy with an Attitude

 

Literacy with an Attitude

Educating Working-Class Children In Their Own Self-Interest

P.J. Finn 1999

Talking Points

1. In the opening sentence Finn gives a bit of a historical picture related to literacy. Literacy of the HAVES and illiteracy of the HAVE-NOTs, power came to mind immediately. Power in the form of technology (printing press) and currency (taxes on political literature).  In contemporary times there is still a divide of the HAVES and the HAVE-NOTS where literacy is concerned, Finn concludes that although there is illiteracy among the HAVE-NOTS, increasing their literacy may lead to fear among the HAVES resulting in liability.  Wait, what?? I was confused...I re-read that statement and read further I was relieved to know what he was saying was that Although you can make a group larger by adding to it but, it's vital to recognize that clumping individuals together without accounting for major differences such as literacy does not help to educate the HAVE-NOTS who have been consumed by the more powerful group, it still keeps them powerless.  This is happening in present-day education. 

2. Finn articulates some of the historical social dynamics and mechanisms which have led to present day education.  Oppositional identity, pretend-school model, discourse of schools, both traditional and progressive methods of education are those mechanisms mentioned.  Finn points out the thought process of contemporary social scientists that say, "if we can understand these mechanisms, we can change them and bring ourselves to a different place, one where there is greater equity and justice."  A requirement is that both the rich (literate) and the poor (illiterate) receive empowering education and powerful literacy by way of those mentioned mechanisms. 

3. The final paragraph sums up the reading. Finn challenges, " Those who are the smartest and work hardest go furthest?" The question is a bit obvious after I finished reading his work.  In these early chapters of his book, he goes on the explain that "When students begin school in so many different systems, the odds are set for them." 

I have constructed a visual display of the left to right description of some of the concepts in Finn's text. 

Week 2: Assignment B- Armstrong and Wildman Colorblindness Is The New Racism

Margalynne J. Armstrong and Stephanie M. Wildman

Deconstructing Privilege: Teaching and Learning as Allies in the Classroom

Chapter 5 Colorblindness Is The New Racism

In this chapter the authors Armstrong and Wildman argue that colorblindness has become the new hallmark of the race debate, and because of this, it is becoming increasingly difficult to recognize discrimination and to have open and honest dialogue or debate about it. One focused term openly discussed in Armstrong and Wildman’s work is white privilege. A natural consequence of privilege is power. In a juxtaposition, my thoughts revisited Delpit’s work and the culture of power. One of the five aspects of power that Delpit discusses is “Those who possess power are frequently least aware-or less willing to acknowledge (or to name) its existence. Those with less power are most aware of its existence.”  Immediately the argument also brings me back to Allan Johnson’s article, “Privilege, Power and Difference, where he discusses the use of language and words. He states, “you can’t deal with a problem if you don’t name it; once you name it you can think, talk, and write about it.”  How these two articles connect to Armstrong and Wildman’s argument is that when powerful people, white people can’t or don’t recognize that colorblindness exists, it acts as a diversion about race, equality and equity. Camouflaging or omitting direct terms does not create a medium for strong, factual debate. 

Armstrong and Wildman suggest color insight as an antidote to colorblindness and go on to say, “Color insight provides an appropriate antidote to colorblindness, one that remedies the omission of context in racial discourse.” This statement alone is a solution to their argument.  The authors go on to provide the reader with four process steps of developing color insight.  Once an individual successfully develops color insight it allows them to comprehend what racial awareness is and its meaning. 

Of the four process steps of developing color insight, The Power Line Exercise can prove to be a visual schematic to highlight the impediments to equality as related to identity categories to include race.  Constructing and examining an individual’s power line is a meaningful and useful tool to assist a person to identify, recognize and understand the existence of systemic privilege in relation to their own identity categories.  Once a power line has been worked out, focusing mostly on an individual’s possession of “above the line attributes” may certainly introduce discussion around whiteness and assist those individuals with attributes or systemic privileges above the line to have a more conscious awareness and be able to incorporate such named privileges into their everyday thought process and vocabulary. Denial of such systemic privileges and failure to speak the words allows discrimination to continue. 

For a short, additional reading click the link below.  The author makes a short and concise argument to admit that racism exists.  This is a powerful argument that is thought provoking and essential to understanding the reality that racism exists. 

https://www.wmuk.org/wmuk-news/2020-02-11/the-paradox-of-colorblind-racism

As previously discussed in this blog, I specifically recall Johnson and Delpit's work that articulate the importance of language and naming the problem.  At first glance, the title of the assigned reading by German Lopez Why you should stop saying "all lives matter," explained in 9 different ways caused me confusion.  I quickly got the point.....

It is common culture for individuals to counter the "Black Lives Matter" with  "All Lives Matter."  Lopez states that the all lives matter culture "is a complete misunderstanding of what the phrase “black lives matter” means. The person on the receiving end interprets the phrase as “black lives matter more than any other lives.” The “Black Lives Matter” movement does not suggest that black lives are more important than any or all other lives, but rather insinuates that those lives are undervalued and marginalized in the US.  Lopez offers real life situations with an exaggerated twist to better drive his point home.  He achieves this by including a short video titled such as “All Plates Matter” 

https://youtu.be/NtAAeyswlHM

I hope you all enjoyed my Blog and I look foward to reading more of yours! 

Week 2: Assignment A- Delpit Other People’s Children

Week 2: Assignment A-Delpit Other People’s Children

Delpit suggests that miscommunication attributes to academic failure of children of color in the classroom when taught by white teachers.  Academic failure is the result of not only a power dynamic but an imbalance of that dynamic. Through investigation, immersion and reflection, Delpit believes there to be a theme imbedded in the classroom when the teacher exerts power over students of color during instruction. She goes on to conclude that exertion of such power leads to the miscommunication between the teacher and students. She identifies the theme as “the culture of power.” She goes on to elaborate on five aspects of power as the basis for her presentation. The five aspects are:

• Issues of power are enacted in the classroom
• There are codes or rules for participating in power; that is there is a “culture of power.”
• The rules of the culture of power are a reflection of the rules of culture of those who have power.
• If you are not already a participant in the culture of power, being told explicitly the rules of the         culture makes acquiring power easier.
• Those with power are frequently less aware of-or least willing to acknowledge its existence. Those with less power are often most aware of its existence. 

Key Point:

Teachers must become ethnographers. In doing so teachers may be able to collect qualitative data. Collection of such data helps teachers to identify and understand the cultural and social behaviors of their students. Once the behaviors are identified the teacher is better equipped to break out of the process or skills boxes and to communicate clearly and explicitly the rules and codes of power that exists across cultures. Blending process and skills can assist students to actively learn by power acquisition and establish their own voice. That voice can be heard in the classroom as well as in society. 

The below process graphic is an example how teachers may use three methods of data collection while attempting to identify qualitative cultural data of their students.  Once the process of data collection is complete these methods can be utilized as a bridge or pathway to the central goal of ethnographic data and provide the teacher with awareness of their cultural power and the possible disconnect or miscommunication based on cultural differences between the teacher and the students who do not possess the power. 

Week 1 Assignment A-Johnson Privilege, Power and Difference

Week 1: Assignment A-Johnson, Privilege, Power and Difference

As I sat down and settled in to read Johnson’s article, I performed my usual task of thumbing through the material to see how long it was, how many chapters or sections made up the reading and then observed the date of the work. 2001, hmmmm, how old was I in 2001? What might have been my understanding of contemporary social issues happening in my community, country, or the world at the time.  

Well, I was 29 years old, working as a registered nurse. I found myself back in the academic setting taking courses and was pretty much happy, safe, and secure. While all the while, some social issues affecting the U.S. society were gender wage gaps, poverty, paid/unpaid family leave, prison overcrowding, prescription drug costs and mental health issues. 

With those social issues in mind, I started to read Johnson’s work. Immediately I recognized an argument that he presents. Johnson states, “All of us are the problem. There is no way to avoid that as long as we live in the world. But we could also make ourselves part of the solution only if we knew how.” His statement is powerful and points out that one static metric is world that we live in and do not have a choice to live in another.  So, if we are limed by the world in which we live, I was hoping to uncover possibilities to change those things that we can.  Johnson did not disappoint.  He insinuates that we can be part of the solution by changing the way we think and react to troubles.  Action may then assist an individual in getting “unstuck”.  Action can be progressive, linear, or sometimes circular depending on an individual’s ability to understand, process and structure a new way of reacting to a problem.  Reflecting on individual experiences while investigating other’s experiences allow individuals to initiate the wheels of change. 

Chapter one discusses the behavior of getting along.  Do we really get along? I think not, if the perception of getting along, and harmonious interludes are not investigated and evaluated on  an internal and global level how do we know if we are getting along?  By global I mean outside of one’s singular being, if that is the case, getting along can be ingenuine and harmful. In the case of racial dilemma and “getting along”, I agree we weren’t getting along as best as we could when the article was written or even now. Why don't individuals of a different race play well together? Is it segregation in such cases of housing or wealth inequity between races? Is the problem an inability to recognize the cause of incivility?  Johnson points to one common denominator, “fearing the unfamiliar.” The unfamiliar for many people is the variation on human nature, such as race. Until we unlock and provoke the ability to examine our own experiences related to race differences and how some experiences shape our thoughts and behaviors, getting along is impossible in most cases. We are ALL capable of relearning behaviors to promote the notion of getting along.

Moving on to chapter two, an important social phenomenon that is discussed is language. As social beings we use language as a medium to communicate. Being that a primary function of language is to communicate, when doing so are we clearly communicating and representing our thoughts and beliefs or are we saying just what the receiver wants to hear? Do we communicate differently depending on the audience, or what the communicator wants to gain from the conversation? Johnson’s discussion about language and naming the problem allowed me pause and really think about words that I use when discussing or debating a problem.  How about you? Are there problem words that you are uncomfortable using in certain circles?  Words like privilege, sexism, classism, oppression and homosexualism to name a few.  Johnson’s work provoked me to self-reflect. I am guilty of not naming the problem.  My guilty behavior is not done to deny/ignore the word or the problem, but rather not to offend or to spare the feelings of the receiver in the event of a past trauma.  I have a renewed perspective of communication…. naming the problem and becoming more comfortable discussing a problem in certain terms has the potential to connect the problem to a solution!! As Johnson stated in chapter one, “We can be part of the solution, change how we think and act”.  One step toward a solution is as easy as changing our language! I know that I will, how about you? 

Once I accepted and acknowledged my guilty behavior related to language and communication, I was excited to read more! Chapter three proved to be complex and hard to absorb with only one read. I went back over the chapter several times, I found myself frustrated and overwhelmed with the content.  Some of my frustration revolved around privilege.  Johnson states, “It allows people to define reality and to have prevailing definitions of reality to fit their experience.” He goes on to say that “Privilege means being able to decide who gets taken seriously, who receives attention, who is accountable to whom and for what.” In my practice as a registered nurse, I have often been quoted as saying “I have had the privilege of connecting with, caring for and healing patients as individuals assigned to my care”. I feel that perhaps I was using the wrong word, and instead the word should be duty to describe my practice, not privilege. Johnson describes privilege as being able to decide who gets taken seriously, who receives attention wo is accountable to whom and for what.  As a nurse I absolutely do not decide who is privy to receive my care.  

Upon conclusion of my reading, I am convinced that Jonson achieved his point, I believe that pervasive change may allow an individual or groups of individuals to change how people think about and act or react to social issues such as difference…. to include privilege and power.  I appreciate the opportunity to read and review Johnson’s work and am motivated to employ constructive and meaningful tactics to be the change, and to make change!

Hello Blog: FNED

 This my first time to blogging!! I am sure I don't know the Blog lingo! 

I also don't know how to include pictures, but I will sure find out so that I can share photos of my doggie!