A few weeks ago, Dr. Harste, a professor at the University of Indiana, delivered a thought-provoking lecture about children's literacy in contemporary American society. Some of the most pertinent comments he made included the fact that kids must see themselves as characters in what they read, in other words kids should be able to identify with the character in the book. Teachers must select texts that their students can relate to on some level.
He also discussed multiple literacies, which pertains to how cultural groups induct their kids in literacy in different ways and critical literacies, which suggests that different cultures value different types or kinds of literacy over another.
The most poignant point he made was the fact that in today's society, we educate inner-city school students to follow directions and work in assembly lines while we train suburban students to be lawyers and doctors. As a teacher who educates students in a school district where only 59 percent of students graduate from high school, it is a sad reality that some of my students end up with menial jobs. Since the beginning of the school year, I have already lost about 9 students, which is very troubling. There are various reasons inner-city school students do not succeed, however, I believe that our current educational system is designed in many ways to fail our students. No substancial changes can be made until some of the problems that plagues the educational system are eliminated.
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2 comments:
thepowerinlearning,
you have named a very serious and sad problem. now the question is how can you create spaces to change the current trend?
thanks
vivian
I understand where you are coming from being worried about your students dropping out of school and already having lost nine this year is a lot. I have seen a lot of students drop out of school for varying reasons including the fear that they might not graduate or that a high school diploma will not mean anythign for them. But is there anythign that would help with equity between the suburban schools and the inner city schools? The school systems really do need a major change to promote equal educational acess for all students.
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