mju13
New Member
Posts: 13 
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Post by mju13 on Mar 14, 2016 16:17:59 GMT -5
"...It is also important to examine how those who are socially, economically, or politically more powerful typically determine the kinds of literate practices that are valued, who has access to tools and texts of power, and who is taught to become literate in the most potent ways."
I thought this quote from the reading was very powerful and important to discuss as it ultimately affects our students especially minorities and those of low SES. My question for you is what practices do you think are valued above others and why?
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Post by loganc on Mar 15, 2016 21:07:52 GMT -5
GREAT TOPIC! This quote was stuck in my mind too because it's a powerful statement that says what everyone is thinking but no one has the guts to share. By that I mean, it says that those who are more powerful are the ones that ultimately decided what should be valued and what is of lesser importance. Just that subject alone is interesting to me because it really gets me thinking about who set the standards that we are all trying to reach. It's not me, a junior in college, who determines the value of certain literacy practices and although I may disagree with some things that the more powerful feel are of most importance, those who are most powerful , whether it be socially, economically or politically, are the main opinions that matter in this case. To me, the most valuable literacy practices are speaking and writing! I say these two because I am a strong believer in the freedom that comes with speaking one's mind and writing because is something that we can hold onto forever and maybe some day someone will stumble upon something that I wrote today and it will make an impact in their current society.
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Post by andryahr on Mar 16, 2016 14:57:41 GMT -5
As I read the article, I reread this statement about 3-4 times. There is so much to it that I had to break it down and dissect each piece. What is terrible about this statement is that it is 100% true, and more often than not these people are thinking of themselves. After reading the article and noticing how often it brings up academic language, I believe it's one of the more valued practices. Language, in general, is definitely valued but I think the ability to have a professional, "well-spoken" conversation is much more valued. The tools to acquire this literacy practice, though, are not always offered to every student. The school's environment plays a major role in this and I believe the environment of say a D school (from what I have seen and noticed), might not encourage the practice of academic language.
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Post by katelyn on Mar 16, 2016 16:27:37 GMT -5
The majority of the American public can read and write, but most often choose to watch a movie or tv show or listen to music and create meaning from that. I believe that those are fine literacy practices, and that we as teachers should incorporate more of these literary practices in our classroom. I think it takes an intelligent person to watch "New Girl" and analyze its dialogue, set, the characters, the character's clothes, the colors of the tv show, how genders are being represented, etc. However, traditional English classrooms value different literacy practices, like analyzing literature or writing analytical essays.
The article mentioned that, to update and align her lesson with Common Core standards, a teacher let her students watch the play "Death of a Salesman" before they had to read it. And people disapproved. It made me think about how Rikki (for those of you who aren't English Ed majors, one of our professors last semester) let us watch, instead of read, certain books; she was the first professor or teacher that had thought a screen version of literature was worth studying just as much as a print version--or at least, was an adequate substitution. Giving me this choice made me want to participate in her class more--we have a ton of reading and assignments, and I gladly watched a two hour play instead of sitting down for four hours and reading. I think a lot of teachers and people skip over digital and cinematic literacies because they deem them academically unacceptable; however, it is really the opposite. I think if we and school systems start to value these types of literacy, we will encourage and engage our students more fully.
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Post by alexandrajohnson on Mar 16, 2016 19:45:00 GMT -5
This is a great quote and something that stuck with me as well while I did the reading. It is evident that the "higher ups" as we sometimes call them have all a strong proportion of power when it comes to what is important, especially when it comes to our education system. It is not fair to those of lower socioeconomic status essentially get the short end of the stick when it comes to their own literacy skills. They are time and time again criticized because they are denied from equal access of this resource.
I think literacy itself is something that is hugely valuable. It is something that society connects with success. If you are literate, you can be educated and you can be successful. While these are the views of the powerful, they are very widespread.
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Post by sarahaubreyr on Mar 17, 2016 20:11:50 GMT -5
I agree with everyone else who has commented. This quote really shows that the ones higher up in power tend to choose what should or shouldn't be valued the most. like Logan said, it is not use who determine what is more valued and even though we may not agree with it we are stuck with it because it is not our choice at the moment. I also agree with HR as she said that having a well spoken conversation should be highly valued. I think that is something that is lacking at times and it should be one of the top priorities.
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Post by angelawithee on Mar 23, 2016 12:10:06 GMT -5
I really enjoyed this quote and how it relates to schooling in our society. There are some students who have just had more oppurtunities than others. For example, students from wealthier communities will often have resources like paid tutoring, technology and funds for additional clubs and sports. Where as students with lower ses may find themselves struggling but have little options to get help where they are. Literacy is developed through time and years of schooling, it makes sense that a student who has had more help given to them in school would appear to others as more literate because of this.
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Post by kaylynj on Apr 19, 2016 15:48:09 GMT -5
I also really like this quote and am glad that it is being discussed! I agree with what is being said that in our society the people who are higher up tend to control what the country sees as important. It is disappointing to think about how low SES get looked over or are not thought of. Shouldn't all literacy practices be valued in our society? As a person, I want to be able to read an academic book for information, have an intellectual conversation, write down my feelings, or persuade others with my writing. All literacy practices should be valued because they will all be used. I know people will have their favorite literacy practices, but that doesn't mean they aren't well rounded individuals. Personally, I value reading and speaking as literacy practices but I also think speaking is very important for daily life.
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