Chapter eight of, The Skin That We Speak by Victoria Purcell-Gates focused on how many people, even teachers, associate class with achievement. In other words, some people feel that lower-class students are incapable of learning in the classroom, where as upper-class students are capable. As many of you would agree, this stereotype needs to be eliminated because it’s false on so many levels.
The author of this chapter explains that experience gives students a basis for learning. Students who are exposed to reading and writing before they enter kindergarten have prior experience to build their new knowledge upon. Students who do not have the same home experience may struggle to catch up to the levels of the other students; however, the important point here is that students who have not had home literacy experiences are not incapable of learning. As teachers, we need to introduce these students to different forms of reading and writing that they have not seen before they entered school, so that they can understand what it means to read and write. Just because they were not able to gain this knowledge at home, does not mean that we should label these students as incapable of learning.
What does this mean for us as secondary teachers? If students have had less experience reading and writing when they reach our classrooms, how can we help them? Can we help them as much as their elementary teachers helped them? Can we have just as much impact on these students as their elementary teachers might have had?
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ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 12, Wynne brings to our attention that we need to let go of language biases created by race so that our students are not silenced. Wynne brings to our attention that the impressions that we perceive of our students lasts a very long time. Wynne is concerned that if we do not teach students to accept and value other people’s cultures that we will never be able to work together to “build build bridges of understanding” that will erase racism (209).
ReplyDeleteGabrielle, I think that the way for us to have an impact on the students we teach is to show them our acceptance of who they are, and what it means to be them. This means that we have to embrace their language and their diversity. We have to create a space for them where they are free to be themselves. This acknowledgement of equality will teach students to embrace their peers and in return they learn from them.
I learned from an interview of one of my teachers that one of the best ways to gain respect from your students is to respect them. Her strategy was to learn as much about them as possible. She showed an interest in their lives outside of school. Another way that she created a community of learners was by setting the standards high. This showed the students that she knew they could achieve, and showed them that she had faith in them.