the final paper is due July 1st, by 11:59pm.

I will not be on campus today.

Per the subject line, I wont be on campus today. Instead, I will be available via both phone and email.

There will be no presentations tomorrow; instead, we will spend the majority of our class time working on final papers.

For tomorrow

For tomorrow, please bring in (either on your computer or a hard copy):

• Your introductory paragraph complete with your thesis, which should be both bolded and underlined..
• Also, bring in a list of the three articles that you plan to take up/analyze in your paper, with a brief rationale as to why you chose the specific texts that you did.

Questions, questions, questions...

Morrell & Duncan-Andrade

•              Morrell and Duncan-Andrade argue that students benefit from culturally relevant instruction, yet there has been (and continues to be) ardent resistance insofar as rethinking or recapitulation the “canon” is concerned. Why do you feel that there has been continued resistance to the incorporation of this kind of pedagogy?
•      The authors cite Ferdman (1990) who argues that cultural valuation leads to higher levels of literacy acquisition; why do you believe this is the case? More specifically, do you feel that cultural valuation (i.e., valuing a student's culture) in fact leads to higher levels of literacy acquisition?
•      Why is it important for students to be taught in their own “native” tongues; and, what kind of transformational experiences do the authors attribute to this kind of instruction?

Anzaldua

• ·        Anzaldua writes that the "home" tongues are the languages spoken among family and friends; according to Gee, what type of discourse is this? Please provide an example of the differences between your particular "home" tongue and the tongue you most frequently adopt when not at "home".
• ·        Anzaldua argues that language is, essentially, twin-skin to culture; that is to say, that language both instantiates and carries culture. Please discuss what it is that she means by this; and, argue for why you agree or disagree with this argument?
• ·        How can linguistic suppression, or worse oppression lead to negative mis-identification? More specifically, how can linguistic oppression lead to the internalization of pejorative associations for linguistically marginalized groups?

Rose, I just wanna be…

• ·        Based on his experiences with Vocational education, it seems as though Rose invokes his buoyancy metaphor, (students will float...), pejoratively; is there way in which it can be viewed positively? (Please explain)
• ·        Rose described the “Voc Ed” track as a “dumping ground for the disaffected”; first of all, what does he mean by this? And, secondly, do you feel that remedial tracks still represent a “dumping ground” of sorts? Why or why not?
• ·        What does it mean to be “groomed for the classroom”? On page 37 of the reading (the last full paragraph), Rose describes his subjective experience with literacy: which of Scribner’s three metaphors best encapsulates the relationship that Rose depicts?

 Rodriguez: Hunger for memory

• ·        Many readers find Rodriguez problematic: Do you agree? How do you think other academics might respond to Rodriguez's stance in relation to cultural heritage and language? If you're familiar with Gloria Anzaldua's work, how do you think she would respond to Rodriguez's perspectives on culture, education, and assimilation?

     Howard: We can't teach what we don't know

• Sociologically, race is classified as a social construction (i.e., not an irrefutable biological reality); that is, it is defined as an abstract notion, so to speak. Is this designation problematic for Howard; and, do you see any potential problems with this classification? Please explain.
• What are “legitimizing myths”; and, what purpose do they serve (according to Howard)?
•   Why does Howard consider the notion of meritocracy, as delineated in our distinctly Westernized, Eurocentric National ethos, to be mythical (pp. 37 of original text)? Please explain.
•   Also on page 37 of the original text, Howard discusses what he terms “social arrangements of dominance”: please provide examples of said social arrangements, and, explain just how they fit into the definition that Howard provides.

 Fredrick Douglass, Narrative life of Fredrick Douglass, An American Slave

• ·       On page 53 of the original text, Douglass recounts the vicissitudes of his own literate awakening. What does his account speak to regarding the internalization of negative, oppressive reinforcement?
• ·        What caused Douglass’ aversion to thinking? Why did it quickly become the bane of his existence?

L.S. Vygotsky: Mind in Society

• ·        Beginning on Page 80 of the reading, three theoretical positions, regarding the relationship between learning and development, are posited, which of the the theoretical postulations seems most plausible? And contiguously, which of the three positions (re-conceptualizations) would be most efficacious with regard to pedagogy?
• ·        How does the Zone of Proximal Development represent a paradigmatic shift in the way in which the relationship between learning and development is conceptualized?
• ·        Vygotsky argues that “writing must be relevant to life (pp. 118 of reading)”, what does he mean by this? Is this argument consistent with conceptualizations of culturally relevant pedagogy?
• ·        According to Vygotsky what is the difference between (merely) teaching written letters and  actually teaching written language?

 Scribner: Literacy in three metaphors

•  Why would there be proponents of bounded literacy, i.e., why would there be supporters of a conception of literacy that has fixed boundaries?
• Would it be fair to argue that the quest to offer a universal definition of literacy can be explained, at least in part, by an over-reliance on classification or scientism that (arguably) pervades western intellectual thought? Why or why not?
• Do you agree with Scribner that definitions of literacy can only be arrived at synchronically, i.e., at a particular moment as opposed to diachronically (over time)? Why or why not?
• How is literacy a social justice issue? To this question, how has literacy been used as a "hegemonic tool"; and, how can the obverse be made true, that is, how can literacy be used as a tactical, subversive tool? Offer an example.

 Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

• In Freire’s critique of the banking model of education, he argues that students are posited as receptacles or depositories (pp.72 of original text). For Freire this is problematic because he considers the banking model inherently oppressive. Do you see a way or ways in which this metaphor can be appropriated and/or re-envisioned as something positive and or generative?
• Why is it in the best interest of the oppressor to “change the consciousness of the oppressed, not the situation that oppresses them (pp.74)”?
• Freire argues that the inherent contradictions, which he feels are constitutive of the banking model of education, will eventually lead the oppressed to “turn against their domestication and […] attempt to domesticate reality (pp. 74 of original).” What are the inherent contradictions that he is referring to? And, what would an attempt to domesticate reality look like?

 Freire & Macedo, Literacy: reading the word and the world.

• On page 98 of the original text, Freire argues that: “…the notion that literacy is [only reducible to] learning the standard [i.e., dominant] language still informs the vast majority of literacy programs…” Freire clearly has a problem with this; why?

·        On page 99 of the original text (fourth full paragraph), Freire appropriates Althuasser’s (1971) conception of the ideological state apparatus (i.e., ISAs, which we discussed briefly in class) to describe the educational atmosphere in former colonies. Is the analysis of the situation that he describes limited to former colonies or can it also be applied to contemporary local and National contexts? Please explain.

·        In this chapter, Freire lists four approaches to literacy: the academic approach, the utilitarian approach, the cognitive development approach, and the romantic approach. Do you see parallels between Freire’s approaches and Scribner’s metaphors? Please explain. 

Freire argues for a problem posing pedagogy in order to subvert and counteract the damage caused by the banking model of education: what are the primary differences within these educational paradigms (pp.79)?

Lam

• Why does Lam feel that it is problematic, when engaging discourses, to focus on binary oppositions? And, do you feel that her concern is warranted?
• What does Lam mean by “transnational social fields (pp.83 of source text)” and how are they potentially counter-hegemonic (according to Lam)? Please explain.
• According to Lam, the development of intercultural voices and perspectives are vitally important for youth, especially immigrant youth. According to Lam, what do these two terms denote; and, do you agree with her regarding their intrinsic significance?

Steele and Aronson, Stereotype Threat

Steele and Aronson, Stereotype Threat

Steele and Aronson:

•           In this essay the authors discuss the ill effects of stereotype cues and stereotype threat both psychologically, and to a lesser degree, psychosomatically. Do you believe that stereotype threat has the propensity to physically affect, when activated, negatively stereotyped students?
•       The authors write: "From hundreds of interviews that I've conducted with black college students, it's clear that many believe that the stereotype places them in situations freighted with unnerving expectations. Some report feeling a sense of unfairness, that there will be less patience for their mistakes than for white students' mistakes, and that their failure will be seen as evidence of an unalterable limitation rather than as the result of a bad day." How has this thinking been engender/proliferated, and by whom? Please explain.

Reading : The Color of Supremacy: Beyond the discourse of ‘white privilege’ The idea of "White Supremacy" seems a little bit unfair. We've been discussing this in my other Education class, ED!90 these days as well. Everyone has different experiences, and therefore different opinions. However, first of all, I guess we have to recognize the difference between domination and dominance. The history of domination that did occur amongst Whites--colonization, slavery, etc.--can put a sour taste in many non-Whites' mouths. But we really should recognize the difference between the two ideas. Sure, racism exists. Being a minority myself, I recognize that all too well. But I think just because a group of people have domiNANCE, doesn't mean they desire dominATION. and it's unfair for us to generalize. Sometimes, we even place that 'privilege and status' on White people. I feel like in that, they can become marginalized and discriminated against, too. Christine Yang.

Assigned reading & groups (or pairs)

Hello all,

  Nearly all of these readings are int he reader, either Volume One or Volume two. Please check ASAP to make sure that you can find your assigned reading. If you cannot, please let me know right away.

Steele, C. & Aronson, J. (2004). Stereotype threat and intellectual performance of African Americans.

Travis

Uriel

Gandara, Patricia, & Orfield, Gary. (July, 2010). A return to the “Mexican Room”:  The segregation of Arizona’s English Learners.

Joyce

Amanda

Mendoza-Denton, R. (2010). Are we born racist? New insights from neuroscience and positive psychology. Framed! Understanding achievement gaps.

Jeremiah

Delpit, L. (1995). The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other people’s children. In Other people's children: Cultural conflict in the classroom (pp. 21-47). New York: The New Press.

Yvonne

Vi

Lee, S.J. (1994).  Beyond the model-minority stereotype: Voices of high- and low-achieving Asian-American students.  Anthropology & Education Quarterly 25: 413-429. 

Rahwa

Bhavi

Rose, M. (1989). “I just wanna be average.” In Lives on the boundary: An account of the struggles and achievements of America's educationally under-prepared (11-37). New York: Penguin.

Sen

Mehanie

Douglass, F. (1987). Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass. In H.L. Gates, Jr. (Ed.), The Classic Slave Narratives (pp. 273-281). New York: Penguin.

Jake

Diane

Rodriguez, R. (1981). The achievement of desire. In Hunger of memory: The education of Richard Rodriguez, An autobiography. (43-73). Boston: D.R. Godine.

Martin

Aubrie

Tan, Amy. (1999). Mother tongue. In S. Gillespie & R. Singleon (Eds.), Across cultures: A reader for writers (26-31). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Anna

Kyle

Dorner, Lisa; Orellan, Marjorie; & Li-Grining, Christine P. (2007). “I helped my mom,” and it helped me: Translating the skills of language brokers into improved standardized test scores. American Journal of Education 113: 451-478.

Christine

Maris

Nam

Final Paper, due July 3rd, by 11:59AM

Education 140AC, Literacy: Societal and Individual Development

Summer 2012, Session A

Final Paper

Due: Tuesday, July 3^rd, 2012

The final paper (5-7 pps., not including title or works cited pages) for this course will be a literature review, which will demonstrate both understanding and mastery of course concepts. You are required to include a minimum of three course texts.

What is a literature review?

A literature review surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, and by so doing, providing a description, summary, and critical evaluation of these works. Literature reviews are designed to provide an overview of sources you have explored while researching a particular topic and to demonstrate to your readers how your research fits into the larger field of study.

Literature reviews are designed to provide an overview and synthesis of pertinent sources you have explored; that said, there are a number of approaches you could adopt depending upon the type of analysis underpinning your study. For this paper, your review will assume the form of an Argumentative Review:

Argumentative Review

     This form examines literature selectively in order to support or refute an argument, deeply imbedded assumption, or philosophical problem already established in the literature. The purpose is to develop a body of literature that establishes a contrarian viewpoint. Given the value-laden nature of some social science research [e.g., educational reform; immigration control], argumentative approaches to analyzing the literature can be a legitimate and important form of discourse. However, note that they can also introduce problems of bias when they are used to make summary claims of the sort found in systematic reviews.

Requisite part of a literature review

Establishing a Critical Response for a Literature Review:

When reviewing your sources, explore the following areas to help develop your critical response:

1.      Introduction: Clearly state your position/thesis; identify the “problem” that you are seeking to address (or redress).

2.      Review of pertinent literature: Provide a brief synopsis of the articles that you will cover; and, describe how they speak to your overall thesis; i.e., discuss your rationale in choosing these particular articles.

3.      Conclusion: Make your line of argumentation clear such that your conclusion simply reiterates whatever it ids that you have “proven” via the literature that you reviewed.

Some additional considerations

(You will want to bear these questions in mind while constructing your literature review)

·        What is the purpose of the research or work?

·        What research or literary methods are used?

·        How do the major concepts operate?

·        In a research study, how accurate are the measurements?

·        In a literary work, is the author’s position objective or biased?

·        What are the different interpretations of the results of the study or of the literary work itself?

**For this paper, students are required to include a minimum of three course texts. Your thesis should be clear, and the texts that you choose should both substantiate and problematize your thesis. That is to say, do not simply select three (or more) texts that bolster your position; instead, choose at least one text that can be used contrastively, to better illustrate and illuminate your presupposition. Additionally, remember to define all key words and key constructs. You cannot, simply, assume that I hold the same definitions for the words and concepts that you employ. Also, be sure to have clear transitions, which function to signal to the reader that your argument is shifting, transitioning, etc. **

Optional Literature Review prompts:

1.      Please define literacy or literacies, based on course materials.  You may include several aspects of literacy in your answer.  Be specific with course readings that you weave into your answer.

2.      How does literacy reflect relations of power?  Please discuss at least three of the readings from the course, and show how literacy and power are intimately interconnected.   

3.      Discuss how literacies and identities interrelate in three course readings.   

4.      Several authors that we have read argue that students benefit from culturally relevant curriculum in schools, related to language instruction.  Give examples of how out-of-school literacy practices might serve as a bridge to in-school learning.  Discuss at least two articles or readings from the course that engage these topics.

5.      Discuss the ways in which race informs access to literacy, and, concomitantly, the ways in which literacy has been (and continues to be) used to enact racist, and inherently inequitable schooling practices.     

I will be in class by 9:45.

Assigned readings & Reading groups: 6-07-12

Ogbu, J. U. and Simons, H. D. (1998), Voluntary and Involuntary Minorities: A Cultural-Ecological

Theory of School Performance with Some Implications for Education. Anthropology & Education

Travis

Uriel

Christine

Johnson, S. (2007).The Burden of Being Black: Exploring The Inequitable Nature of “Acting White” “Equity in K-12 Public Education” (Educ 737 004 F07), University of Michigan, School of Education,

Ann Arbor.

Kyle

Joyce

Amanda

Ainsworth-Darnell, J.W., and Downey, D.B. (1998). Assessing the Oppositional Culture Explanation for Racial/Ethnic Differences in School Performance. American Sociological Review, Vol. 63, No.

4 (Aug., 1998), pp. 536-553. American Sociological Association. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/

stable/2657266

Maris

Nam

Anna

Leonardo, Z. (2002). The souls of white folk: Critical pedagogy, whiteness studies, and

globalization discourse. Race Ethnicity & Education, 5(1), 29-50.

Yvonne

Vi

Aubrie

Leonardo, Z. (2004). The color of supremacy: Beyond the discourse of “White privilege”.

Educational Philosophy and Theory, 36(2), 137-152. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/

journal/118750554/issue.

Rahwa

Bhavi

Martin

Roediger, D. (1994). Toward the abolition of whiteness. New York: Verso.

Jeremiah

Howard, G.R. (2006). We can’t teach what we don’t know: white teachers, multiracial schools

(pp.13-27; 53-67).Teachers College Press. New York and London.

Sen

Mehanie

Jake

Diane

Questions for: Delgado & Stephanic, Critical Race Theory (2001); and Roberts (2011), Fatal Invention.

Delgado, Richard; Stefancic, Jean (2001-05-01). Critical Race Theory (Critical America (New York University Paperback)) (Kindle Location 252). NYU Press academic. Kindle Edition.

• According to Delgado and Stefanic (2001), Critical Race Theory is: “… [a] movement [which] is a collection of activists and scholars interested in studying and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power.” Is there an inherent relationship between race and power? Please explain.
• "First, that racism is ordinary, not aberrational—“normal science,” the usual way society does business, the common, everyday experience of most people of color in this country. Second, most would agree that our system of white-over-color ascendancy serves important purposes, both psychic and material. The first feature, ordinariness, means that racism is difficult to cure or address." The above quote speaks to the (specious) positioning of whiteness as normative, as the default “race”; how is this reality instantiated, and, how is it (potentially) damaging for non-whites?
• “Many modern-day readers believe that racism is declining or that class today is more important than race.” Where do you find yourself, theoretically, on this continuum? That is to ask, do you agree that class injustice now takes precedence of racial injustice; or, do you think that the obverse is true?

Roberts (2011). Fatal Inventions: How Science, Politics, and Big Business re-create race in the Twenty-First Century.

Questions for: Glenn C. Loury. The Anatomy of Racial Inequality.

• Loury, as evidenced by the quote below, argues that racial stigma is more pernicious, in the final instance, than is racial discrimination? What does he mean by this? And, do you agree/disagree? Why?

“Indeed, I will argue that "racial stigma" should now be given pride of place over "racial discrimination" as the concept which best reflects the causes of African-American disadvantage. Chapter 4 is devoted to a discussion…”

• Loury argues that race is: "… all about embodied social signification. As such, much depends on the processes through which powerful meanings come to be associated with particular bodily marks.” Is this an oversimplification of a more nuanced definition; or, in your opinion (explain your rationale) does his definition accurately capture the essence of the notion of “race”?
• Does Loury’s argument that, "… [a] self-confirming stereotype" is a statistical generalization about some class of persons regarding what is taken with reason to be true about them as a class, but cannot be readily determined as true or false for a given member of the class.”, function to further disempower traditionally marginalized groups? More specifically, by positioning certain pejorative stereotypes as “self-confirming”, does Loury (perhaps inadvertently) strip traditionally marginalized groups of their agency? Explain.

Glenn C. Loury. The Anatomy of Racial Inequality (Kindle Locations 172-174). Kindle Edition.