As I began reading (and please note that I am not done yet – mid term papers have the majority of my attention today), I instantly thought of Shirley Brice Heath’s Ways with Words, an ethnographic study of Trackton and Roadville, two rural communities in South Carolina. Heath looks at socializing process of children through words, words used within the community, by their families, by their peers, etc. Heath notes a disconnect betweeninuity between home and school is disturbing and points out that students who do not fit the traditional way of schooling are left behind. Very much the message from Lee, too.
My first connection, however, was how both Heath and Lee look at the mathematics skills of these “left behind” children. Their math reasoning skills are amazing, and Heath suggests that there are multiple literacies within all children – We just have to know what we’re looking for, and we have to be open to other forms of literacy that might push against our traditional definitions. I look forward to reading more.
I was also especially impressed with Lee’s explanations of Theories of Cultural Deficits (great story with this – remind me to tell you when we get to class) and our orientations of teaching, learning, and culture. Good information to have. Once again, all the pieces are falling into place. (Remember my statement earlier in the year… “I wish I had known about this when I was taking ______.”)
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I agree that issues of language variety are central in culturally responsive teaching. Lee shows how allowing students to use African American English is what allows their literary reasoning to flourish and what sustains high levels of engagement. I was interested, for example, in her analysis of multiparty or overlapping talk that is definitely not the way teachers are comfortable running classroom conversation! She shows how multiparty talk allows large numbers of students to participate in classroom conversation simultaneously, rather than the typical case where one student has the floor and everyone else needs to be silent and listen. The important implication of this is that teachers need to recognize how students' use of AAE signals the learning that is really taking place and how its features are linked to disciplinary knowledge and processes.
I've made a note to ask about your great story on cultural deficit theories!
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