Laura Jones's Teachers' Attitudes toward African American Lanaguage is exactly that. Through studies and surveys, she observes and draws connections concerning the current attitudes of teachers and students regarding African American Language.
Because the studies used are current, I am curious to see the information gathered from the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Have the number of teachers who considered AAL increased or decreased? And the students? Could growing acceptance be a result of growing awareness?
Of greatest concern to me was the following: "While a majority of teachers recognized that teacher's rejection of students' language can harm the student, over 20% fewer teachers agreed that eliminating AAL might harm students who speak it." Is this not blatant ignorance? The irony in this statement is almost too much.
Are countries facing a similar problem? If so, how do they handle it? Additionally, our focus has been on high school, but is this a problem that is also prominent in elementary ed.?
Ultimately, my frustration was with the lack of research. If the achievement gap is our biggest dilemma, how are we not doing, trying, testing, everything to try and diminish it? How can we know if there is a correlation between using AAL in the classroom versus using LWC if this hypothesis is not tested? If tested and proven sound, would it be an effective class to require of all aspiring teachers? And as aspiring teachers ourselves, how can we call attention to the subject, or even bring it into our classrooms?
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I'm going to respond to this one :)
ReplyDeleteAccording to Anne, our main concern as teachers in this dilemma is to bridge the achievement gap, and I couldn’t agree with her more. There will always be controversy and difference of opinion surrounding the use and acceptance of AAVE. We can talk about it and argue until we are blue in the face, but when it comes down to it, what are we doing to change it? Obviously the goal is not to get rid of AAVE. We need to help students understand their own language and it’s origins in order to learn Standard English. Where and when does achievement gap take affect? This is a question that we should be trying to answer.
ReplyDeleteLooking down on AAVE or discriminating against those who speak it will only widen the achievement gap and push students away from learning Standard English. In addition, if people assume that speakers of AAVE will perform on a lower level academically, then they will. Not literally, but in a sense the lower you set the bar of expectation for students, the easier it will be for them to underachieve. In chapter 11 of The Skin That We Speak, Linda tells a story of a time she was thought to have plagiarized a paper because the quality of her writing was above what was expected. The professor obviously believed that because Linda spoke AAVE she couldn’t possibly have written something so eloquent in Standard English. According to Shuaib Meacham, “Students who have difficulty speaking Standard English can more successfully write it because they can be more conscious of editing their communication.”
Maybe part of the issue is teachers not understanding AAVE well enough to be able to teach Standard English effectively. The more a student is surrounded by LWC outside of the classroom the easier it seems to be for them to comprehend and write in Standard English. Why not simply explain to students that while you understand and accept different dialects of English, you would like them to learn to speak and write in Standard English so they can be successful? If we can believe that every student has the ability to achieve; while, respecting their culture and background, then we will be one step closer to closing the achievement gap.
I love the pragmatism here: whatever works to ensure our students succeed, let's do it. I hope you both always keep that attitude as you navigate the often tricky waters of education and educational politics! It will serve you well.
ReplyDeleteIn the realm of theory, the approach your taking is an ethical one, rather than an ontological one: you're saying it doesn't so much matter what a thing IS (i.e. is AAVE good or bad?) but what really matters is what a thing DOES (i.e. does valuing it help students learn?).