"As soon as she opened her mouth" ~ Double Entry Journal #2

Introduction: 
Before I begin, I wanted to take a few moments to introduce the literature and content  As soon as she opened her mouth in which this journal entry will be derived; mostly because this is an interesting read for anyone who is thinking about teaching or has been teaching for a multitude of years.  Dr. Purcell-Gates delves into the world of biases that surround the education of low socio-economic families, specifically Appalachian children, and attempts to break the dogma that states that these families are unteachable.  I believe we as people and teachers do not always realize how many times we prejudge a person due to their dialect or the location in which they have been raised.  Prejudging a child solely on this basis before they are able to shine and prove that they want to learn as much as any other child, given the chance, is not only detrimental to their development but places the child in a box in which he or she cannot she around.  Every child is aware when they are skipped over or given very little opportunities to prove themselves in school.  If this is done enough times he or she may begin to believe they are unteachable, which is tragic in and of itself.  Dr. Purcell-Gates demonstrates this point in her story of Jenny who cannot read and her son Donny whom she desperately tries to save from the same fate.  Born and raised in West Virginia myself, I believe this is an important read to break the dogmas that surround Appalachia and low socio-economic families.        

Quote:

The negative attitudes towards the spoken language of urban Appalachians is so strong in the cities that teachers regularly insist that students not speak or read orally unless they drop their dialect and use "standard English". (Purcell-Gates)

Reaction:
I literally shuddered at the quote above.  A child denied interaction in a classroom because of their dialect?   I had a multitude of reactions.  First I thought to myself, “Well yes, being from West Virginia I’ve experienced all kinds of snap judgments.”   Then again, I was born and raised in WV so my education was never halted due to my dialect.  My second thought, “How badly would that sting or hurt a child to be set apart from the rest of the classroom because their teacher has declared them a hillbilly?”  The final thought that shot through my mind, “If a student is turned away from hands on experience in the classroom, then when does he or she learn the material?  When does that student throw in the towel and declare themselves unteachable? ”

Quote:   

First, and most obvious, teachers and schools must except, believe, and act upon the belief that children of poverty are learners, have been learning since birth, are ready to learn at any time, and will learn. (Purcell-Gates)

Reaction:
I chose a second quote because I feel it backs my final reaction above.  It is easy to prejudge a person based on characteristics that set them apart from our own.  It is a human fallacy that is hard to overcome and sometimes we don't even realize we are doing it.  However, as a teacher I hope that I am able to recognize and break the dogmatic views stating children of lower socio-economic backgrounds do not want to learn.  If I do receive a student who have had this impressed upon them all the way up to my secondary school setting, I hope that I can become the inspiration they need to break away from this sort of stereotyping.  After all, our experiences and our backgrounds should be valued (never looked upon as insignificant) because that child that was just deemed unteachable may be the next Chuck Yeager. 

Chuck Yeager was born to farming parents in Myra, WV.  He became an Air Force officer and the first pilot to break the sound barrier in 1947.  He later rose in rank to become a prestigious and well known General. (Young)

What is literacy knowledge?  Give examples of both print and nonprint literacy knowlege.
Literacy knowledge is the ability to begin recognizing that letters make sounds which then create words; words build sentences; sentences have to read in a particular directions; and so forth. 
Literacy knowledge comes from the early exposure children receive from their care givers with written words and oral reading.  For instance, when my children were young they asked many questions about specific store signs and would ask what each one said.  It didn't take long to associate the sign for Lowes, Walmart, or the Mall.  They knew Lowes meant a boring walk through the home improvement section; Walmart meant shopping for house hold cleaners; and the Mall meant eating at Garfields.  The moment they saw the sign for Lowes you could hear the strong disagreement from the peanut gallery (as I liked to call them), "Oh no mom not Lowes!"  It didn't mean they could read the sign but it did mean that they had begun recognizing the individual letters in the sign.  Likewise the letters M-A-L-L meant delicous dino bites which created excitement from the peanut gallery.
Nonprint Literacy is the ability to recognize symbols even if they are not in their natural environment.  For instance a child may recognize the golden arches as the place they get chicken nuggets whether it is in the place they return to in their own hometown, while traveling, or on television. 

How do stereotypes interfere with literacy instruction?
If the stereotype places the student in a category where the teacher feels he or she is unteachable, then the student may receive less one-on-one instructional time.  The student may then become either a shadow in the back of the classroom *falling behind even more) or a constant example the teacher uses to deter other students from falling behind.  Either way is harmful in a learning environment.  The student may feel alienated and begin hating school all together. 

How do schools and teachers contribute to poor literacy instruction in school?
Schools and teachers may deny a child the right to participate in activities because of a preconceived notion that the child comes from a background that is unteachable.  In As soon as she opened her mouth it was obvious that Donny was being passed from grade to grade so that the teacher would not have to deal with him anymore.  He wasn't progressing, he wasn't learning. He wasn't receiving the one-on-one attention he desperately needed to succeed.  The school was simply over-looking him as unteachable.  It takes a special kind of teacher to take the time to help a student like Donny when in reality it should not.  The school and the teachers should have wanted, by nature, to intervene in Donny's education in the beginning before it became a serious learning disability.

What is the relationship between language, social class, and the denial of educational opportunity?
According to Dr. Purcell-Gates children from lower socio-economic household are given less exposure to written languages in the earlier years than children from middle class households.  Whether this is because of the depression, stress, and time constraints (two working parents or single parent households) that follows lower socio-economic households - I am not sure; Dr. Purcell-Gates does not go into the explanation. I do not agree with this being an over all trend though.  My parents did not have a lot of money - my dad was a mechanic and my mom worked graveyards in a grocery store while attending college during the day and I received plenty of written and oral language exposure.  I do not think my family was the exception.  However in this study the lower income children did begin school with less literary knowledge and were behind the middle class children.  Without this literary knowledge, children do not realize that written language is another way to communicate.  Ultimately, children from poorer families that do not receive enough exposure to written language in the early years and appear to be behind are written off as unteachable and not given the opportunities they need to succeed.

What are some misconceptions about the relationship between language and literacy?
Many times the dialect a family has is mistaken with their ability to formally write or read.  Dialect often defines a cultural background.  If the cultural background is defined in as a particular stereotype such as Appalachian people being hill people or hillbillies; the associated
stereotype follows - such as being dirty, pregnant, barefoot, toothless, and uneducated.  This is quite sad to write off a human being before they are able to shine.  Dialect does not dictate intelligence just as social classes does not dictate intelligence; The reverse is just as true intelligence does not dictate social class or cultural background.

What can schools and teachers do to improve literacy instruction?
School and teachers need to enter literacy instruction with the knowledge that students enter school from all walks of life.  Some students may have had more experience with written words while other students may have never picked up a book hence making that student more challenging.  Regardless, it is an innate human desire to learn and with the correct technique and the correct attitude higher goals of student readers can be attained.

How do you feel about the use of the term "proper English"? 
I feel the phrase is very abstract depending on the area in which the statement is derived.  To me, an individual from Boston, MA is hard to understand, as well as their analogies, slangs and phrases.  Their dialect sounds as if extra E's are added to words and R's are obsolete (or pronounced as short a).  It does not mean they are using "improper English" per se but a dialect that is different than my own.  It is part of their culture and their region in the United States.  Likewise, I expect my western West Virginia drawl (I do hear from time to time) somewhat "improper" for a resident in Boston. 

Related Source:
Operation Breaking Stereotypes challenging perceptions , changing lives is a site that takes several kids from several different backgrounds and literally places them in a world they are not familiar with (i.e. big city kids see stars for the first time in the country) but have already preconceive notions.  Within the link is a video that precedes the journey as well as essays that follow up on the students' reactions.  The goal?  "Different races, different cultures, different places, same story". (Carter)
What did the kids learn?  To appreciate their own cultures and to appreciate others' cultures as unique but not as different as they once thought.  If children can break past stereotypes and see the value in other cultures and ethnicities then we as adults should be able to as well.  Or maybe we need to literally places ourselves in different worlds to appreciate differences ourselves. 


References:
Carter, C. (2000). Operation breaking stereotypes. Retrieved
     from http://www.operationbreakingstereotypes.org/index.html

Purcell Gates, V. (2002). As soon as she opened her mouth. In L. Delpit & J.K
     Dowdy (Eds.), In The skin that we speak: An anthology of essays on language culture
     and power. (Print: Anthology)

Young, J. (n.d.). Mach buster. Retrieved from http://www.chuckyeager.com/1945-1947-mach-buster