Last night’s topic was critical literacy and media literacy. It’s a juicy topic I love, but I’m not quite sure the students feel the same way.
We started off by doing a little writer’s workshop. I wanted the students to share their learning from writing the essay and to identify elements of what makes a good essay. Interestingly, the students identified the issues that I found were the potholes students struck in their writing. That was reassuring. I’m working from memory here. The elements identified were transitions, clear thesis, authorial voice, and appropriate/professional language. The thing I want to stress, and I didn’t talk about it last night, is that these issues of form are integral to content. It’s impossible to separate form from content. Gaining control of these elements also helps one gain control of the content. By using transitions, one is showing the connection between ideas, by using professional language appropriately, one is demonstrating an understanding of that language. And of course, being to write a clear thesis demonstrates an understanding of how all the multiple pieces in an essay are linked together. It’s what makes a piece of writing cohesive. In an academic piece of writing, the thesis is explicit whereas in a literary piece it may very well be implicit. So understanding the genre is part of the picture as well. The thing that really strikes me is that by writing the essay, the students are also engaging in the theory as explicated by Olson.
We also spent some time talking about the texts. I gave some guiding questions, but I’m not sure they were effective. The discussions I listened in on weren’t as deep as previous discussions. The whole group discussion however was quite interesting. I admit, I kind of took over, but as I explained to the class this is a topic I feel passionately about.
I find it interesting how introducing critical literacy brings up the concern of “fitting it into the curriculum” even though we’ve just spent 8 weeks talking about the role of oral language in literacy acquisition and the difference between acquisition and learning, and sociocultural theory and how learning is through participation. Yet, when we come to critical literacy, resistance and fear and mandates appear. It shows me that even though theories can be talked about, it’s not integrated into the ways of thinking yet. But it’s developmental. At least the ideas and questions and struggles are out there. I was really serious when I said, baby steps. It takes time to be the kind of teacher we want to be and there are so many forces pushing back at us. I get those pressures too. But rather than giving in to the pressures, critical literacy gives us a way to respond to and push back. It’s a way to subvert the system.
Again, I didn’t talk about it last night (I can only say so much), but as a former English teacher, I believe that any text can and should be taught critically. So even though I’m no fan of the western canon of literature, if I were “forced” to teach it, I would do so critically. The question I would ask is, why do we read these pieces of literature? Whose voices and experiences are represented in this literature? What perspectives on life do these pieces of literature lead us to? What responses can we give to these pieces of literature? These types of questions all support the ELA standards and by engaging in these questions the students would be well prepared for the ELA exam – yet we would be engaging in important questions. Heck, we could even analyze the ELA exam critically as part of test prep. Hmmm, maybe it would be fun to get back into English education.
Granted, critical theory is scary. It may bring up things that people don’t necessarily like to talk about. It forces us to uncover our own assumptions and believes let alone what the text says (or doesn’t say). The same with media literacy. Frankly, the term media literacy bugs me. I didn’t talk about that either. It’s a dated term. If we have an expanded definition of literacy, then “media” or multimodalities is automatically part of that. It’s something to think about in terms of updating the syllabus.
We spent the last half of class on the literacy artifact review. I gave an overview of what the institutional (read NCATE) requirements are for the assignment, but then let the students go. My intent is for the students to begin to build an understanding of the new literacies and critical literacy through engagement in the literacies. It goes back to the acquisition versus learning thing. We can talk and read about it, but to really understand it and know it, you have to experience it. I know it makes a lot of the students concerned/scared/confused because there aren’t strict guidelines and directions. But that’s the thing with the new literacies – the rules are being formed and the rules are being formed by social interaction. It’s Jenkins and Lankshear & Knobel and…
I’ve got midsemesteritis too. I’m discouraged and frustrated by the institution of school. I love teaching and learning, but I hate the institutionalization of those processes. We’ve lost the joy and the excitment of discovery. I want it back. I’m hoping some of that will be found as students create their literacy artifact review.
November 6, 2008 at 8:39 pm
The stress about curriculum and assessments is freakishly frightening, especially in ELA where in the 7th and 8th grade they have added 4 benchmark assessments to an otherwise full schedule. The asesessments take 4 periods to complete and for our program that is a week gone. The kids are sick of them (they’ve also had math assessments) and because they do so poorly(because they are meaningless to them even when used as a teaching tool) the teachers are already freaked out about the next one and this one isn’t done yet. Who has time for critical thinking? I am glad that I have pushed for it in social studies (civil war) even though the teacher was fearful of a racial uprising. What she got instead was an intelligent debate and a lot of truly thought provoking questions. She was amazed since this particular class has on occasion accused us of being racist. The other thing she got – and she did not anticipate – was understanding by the students of what the climate of the country was at the time of the civil war. It was also great that we could play “What would Lincoln say if he was running against Obama”. Interesting comments. It is truly a struggle to get everything in, but I really believe that it can be done and that it stimulates a truer understanding. I want my own classroom so I can be a rebel!
November 7, 2008 at 11:43 am
Wow, thanks for sharing that insight, Lynn. It really is amazing the learning and insights that occur when kids truly are engaged. I worry that with all the pressure of tests etc. our kids are getting good at “performance” (or giving up trying to perform because they know it’s meaningless), but lose a sense of intellectual curiosity and wonder and caring. The discussion you described sounds fabulous and I hope you’re able to do more in the future. I continue to maintain that the pressures of accountablilty are in place in part because in reality institutions DON’T want kids to be critical thinkers. The purpose of an institution is to reproduce society, not challenge it. Yes, a cynical viewpoint, but I get discouraged at times. Your attitude gives me hope.
November 9, 2008 at 2:22 pm
It was very helpful to have time in class to discuss the mid-term essay’s as we were able to point out some of the same struggles and even some of the same successes. As always, discussing the readings is very helpful in synthesizing all that we are taking in. I have to agree with Lynn about the pressure of testing and scores. It is so frustrating. In my fifth grade classroom I try and give the students as many opportunities for critical thinking as I possibly can. So far in the school year we have had the pressure of getting the students reading for the NYS Social Studies test this coming week. Not only are we being given practice tests to complete within our class time, but some days we have specialists pushing into the classroom two times a day to ‘prep’ the students for social studies. They do things such as go over the practice tests, go over graphs, etc. It is so frustrating to me because I see my students lose that excitement toward learning. Lynn, what you did with your students for social studies is great! Keep being a rebel!
November 12, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Ok, time for me to vent. I am so incredibly stressed with the amount of reading that we have to do, and the literacy artifact review, oh, and the final essay. Not to mention all the nonsense some of us are dealing with in the “other” class, and job pressures on top of it all.
Ok, that is done, I feel a little better.
I think part of the stress around the literacy artifact review is the fact that there arent’ strict rules and guidelines, and we are so used to that. I took a class once in undergrad where we didn’t get any grades. Talk about frustrating. There was no sense of knowing where I stood, so I second guessed everything I did, read, thought, and turned in. I learned to trust my instincts in that class. I thought I was doing alright, and in the end, I did really well. I think if we just learn to trust ourselves, our abilities, and try this literacy artifact out, it will be ok. It is time consuming, and that is one commodity we are all short on, I think in the end it will be worthwhile. Anyone know how to add 5 hours to the day? I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure that one out:)
On a side note, I am really enjoying the critical literacy aspect. It is something I am interested in, and I don’t really mind talking about those uncomfortable topics, because unless we talk about them, they will always be uncomfortable. Words can only hurt if we allow them to hurt us.