Readings 3/22/2012 - Loyola University School of Education -Gorski Lecture.

 Title of Lecture: 'Good Intentions aren't Enough: Education for Equity and Social Justice"

The Loyola School of Education welcomed  Paul C. Gorski, Ph.D., founder of EdChange and assistant professor of integrative studies at George Mason University, for a lecture on Thursday, March 22, at 6:30 – 8 p.m. in the school's McGuire Hall.

The lecture was based on why movements for educational justice often seem to be stalled by what the lecturer refers to as “well-intentioned do-gooders more concerned with celebrating diversity than with crafting an equitable and just educational system,” and what alternatives are needed for a truly transformative approach to education for equity and social justice.

Dr. Gorski opened the lecture by expressing his views about the need to accept the fact that the idea of diversity is being approached in the wrong way. That it is not diversity that we should be addressing but rather diversity. 

He then expresses that practicing authentic equity requires shifts in consciousness which inform shifts in practice and that many common equity practices result in more inequity, however he points out that there is something we can do about it.

The lecture was interesting and thought provoking, but no way eyeopening. The great inequities that exist in our society and our school, - gender, race were discussed as well as the

fictions 'culture of poverty' - difference between people at the top and those at the bottom that exist within our schools. He expressed tho sin terms of the fact that people with the most power frame problems in terms of human relations which does not solve the problem at all.

He then went to discuss what we can do as teachers:

What can we do? - be more authentic

• As teachers- being a champion of justice in our own sphere of influence
• No set of values thatbeveryonenwho is poor shares- based on research
• Cultural competence/ proficiency- culture is not the issue- inequity is
• Competence is a pretty low bar.
• Research shows how learning styles are inconsistent and non-existent
• Research shows that teaching to a specific learning style is not effective

I totally get the gap  and the problem and I think I have a fair understanding of some of the solutions. The lecture discussed most of what I already know and a few things that I was not aware of. A lot of what was said I agreed with and there was other ideas that was put forth that I did not agree with. 

I agree that the problems we have in schools related to segregation is more related to diversity rather than equity and that we need t address the, however I do not agree with the lack of need for cultural competency. We live in a society where diversity is an issue and if I as a teacher cannot understand my students as individuals as well as within the cultural context with which they identify themselves then I will have problems reaching them. As someone who identifies greatly with trying to preserve a cultural identity I know what it's like to be lumped, but greatly appreciate when someone can relate to who I am and my upbringing on even a general level. We will not be able to solve the equity issue if we are not culturally aware. We need to celebrate cultures and we need to have cultural awareness and competencies as teachers and educational leaders. We just need to do it on a deeper level.

Another point made by Dr. Gorski with which I disagree was the point he made about parents getting to conferences, and as teachers we fail to realize what percentage of our parents do not have cars. Its not that they don't care. They just can't afford to be there. We get it as teachers, we just want to see some effort. The problem is not the teachers, like he blatantly said, it's also the parents, collectively.

I work at a school where we have conferences form 7 am to 7pm so parents can make it, we meet parents anywhere within reason of their home or jobs and parents still show no interest in their children's education.  That is not a reflection of me or of any other teacher, it is a reflection of that parent and their lack of interest. 

We all want a world where equity is a non-issue, but we all live in a world where it is an issue. With this in mind, our role as educators is to deal with this in the best way we know how, while learning the most authentic ways to. We also need to teach our students to survive in this world until it changes.

Readings 3/15/2012 - Effective Writing

Readings: Beers et al Chapter 13
                 Gallagher 2
                 Edelesky "Theory, Politics, Hope and Action"

‘Talking is a hydrant in the yard and writing is a faucet upstairs in the house. Opening the first takes the pressure off the second’ Robert Frost

    As I read the assigned chapters for this weeks readings I found that there were many similarities in theories ad strategies that were presented by the different authors as well as those presented by the NCTE.

    The theory and strategy that resonated with me was based on the concept of viewing writing as thinking as well as the fact that there was no one process that defined the way all writers write. These resonated with me because I view writing in regards to purpose and so thought that all writing required thinking. I also find that I generally developed a rubric for writing based on the traits of writing and tried to find ways to make it fit.

    Some of the specific theories and strategies that the authors recommended included the theory that people learn to write by writing as well as the fact that students have to do a lot of writing to accomplish the best writing. Some of the theories/strategies that I found that I could relate to were the ones that stated that students should write for real reasons and real audiences, that writers, need, choice, time and models of good writing as well as constructive feedback and most important that writers needed places to collect ideas, an example of which was writing portfolios.

 I related to the latter strategies and theories mentioned because I have tried them and find that they do work.

    The NCTE Beliefs about Teaching Writing support most of these theories and strategies in that they state, as do the authors in the both texts that everyone has the capacity to write if they are thought how to do so. It is also stated across all three texts that people learn to write by writing. It is also stated that that writing is a tool for thinking that should grow out of many different purposes.

    Writing is a process and teachers need to understand that to be able to teach it effectively. We can work with teachers to implement these ideas in their classrooms by teaching them the process, letting them have the experiences that the students will be expected to have and evaluate the effectiveness of such experiences for themselves as well as how they think their students would respond to those experiences.

    We can also work with teachers to implement this process by having them evaluate the effectiveness of the writing they teach as well as providing the tools with witch to effectively implement a writing program in their classrooms. We can also do this by providing access to research about the validity of writing based programs that work, as well as have teachers observe other teachers who effectively implement writing programs in their classrooms.

It is also important to note that teachers who are expected to teach writing, like teachers who are expected to teach any content area must be taught the content first. We need to provide adequate teacher training programs that teach pre-service teachers the skills we expect them to teach our kids.

Readings 3/8/2012 - Writing to Read = Reading to Write?

    Readings:   Gallagher Ch 1

                     Writing Next Report                                  
                     Writing to Read Report


'Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers.  My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them.  There's many a bestseller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.'  ~Flannery O'Connor

This weeks reading were very interesting as the were all connected and focused on the role of teachers in writing instruction. The readings also discussed the challenges of teaching writing and gave suggestions on how to overcome these. 


I summarized this weeks readings in the form of a mind map (my latest fancy) and thought it would be interesting to share the mind map instead of re-writing my thoughts into paragraph format. Click on image to enlarge.

The readings had a bit in common and some missed some essential points that the others pointed out. As I read I began to understand that writing is not a natural process as I had previously thought, but the best practices of the art actually come about through explicit instruction. 

Article Review - 3/1/2012

Article: Moje E.B., Moore D.W., Readence J.E., Young J.P., (2000). Reinventing adolescent literacy for new times: Perennial and millennial issues. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 43, 400-410

I wanted to share this article because I felt like it was a summary of so much of what we have discussed in class so far. 

      The article was written in response to the proposed need to reinvent adolescent literacy for new times. According to the article, based on a quote from Moore, Bean, Birdyshaw, and Rycik (1999), adolescents entering the adult world in the 21^st century will read and write more than at any other time in human history. They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives.

The aspects of adolescent literacy addressed by research and put forth in this article include the need for a renewed focus on the literacy learning of adolescents and the issues brought forth by reduced funding for middle and high school reading programs. The article was centered around four major questions, what does adolescent literacy signal that content reading and secondary reading do not?  What constitutes best practices in adolescent literacy? How can we meet the needs of marginalized readers in new times? and should critical literacy be part of our classrooms? The authors used these questions as a guide to discuss and analyze the thoughts and ideas of educators surrounding the instructional, policies, and research issues dealing with the ineffectiveness of adolescent literacy instruction in meeting 21^st century literacy demands. The overall goal of the article was to offer insights into reinventing adolescent literacy for new times. The authors used the article as a means to express their advocating for a challenging, responsive literacy curriculum that puts adolescents first, yet one that pushes them to learn new things, to have new experiences, and to read their worlds in new ways.

 The research reported in the article is relevant for classroom teachers and literacy professionals in a number of ways. The authors set out to shed light on answers to the questions posed to provoke thinking on the part of educators, as well as, address ways in which we can reach our students. The authors explained that educators are limited in how they think about students and their literacy needs because of the labels and notions that words and phrases carry in regards to students and the groups with which they are identified. The paper also outlines different aspects of literacy practices geared towards adolescents and outlined pedagogical practices that educators can employ to meet the needs of their students, especially those who are considered to be marginalized readers. The report also mentioned the misconceptions surrounding content reading, where the authors explained that content teachers, although required to teach literacy, are not literacy teachers and as such the content methods or materials do not necessarily match the literacy needs of adolescents in the classroom. The article also incites thinking on the part of educators as it challenges them to utilize an approach to teaching adolescents literacy that goes beyond student-centered approaches. It challenges educators to use approaches that urge adolescents to stretch their thinking beyond their immediate backgrounds and experiences, while honoring those backgrounds and experiences, which I believe is one of the goals for 21^st century citizens. Cultural competence.

Another key point in the report was the expansion on different aspects of literacy that educators do not take into consideration when trying to teach literacy, but which can be a tremendous help if considered. Such pedagogical practices or ideas included using students day to day experiences to engage them in literacy, being open to the idea of multiply literacies, as well as the use of multiple texts along with extended notions to engage students. It was also suggested that educators observe students in different contexts outside the classroom and integrate students’ interests and outside accomplishments into their teaching through interdisciplinary, project-based pedagogies that support literacy development. The article also expressed the concept of critical literacy, which is a very valuable 21^st century skill as our students become engaged in different types of literacies inside and outside the classroom.

Literacy professionals as well as general education teachers can use this research as a base for understanding different pedagogies surrounding literacies that appeal to adolescent. This article can also be considered relevant to educators as it outlines practices that are pertinent to adolescents now and in the future. The authors not only took the time to highlight the deficits but to offer feasible solutions as well.

 Throughout the article, the authors mentioned different research methods that they drew upon to validate their postulations, as well as a number of different studies. The main one of which was of a yearlong study of a student who appeared disinterested in school and what was going on in literacy, but upon further shadowing proved to be an excellent African drummer. Upon the acquisition of this piece of knowledge it was suggested that this particular student be motivated through literacies, which include African drumming/music, as that was of great interest to him and he also had some background knowledge about the subject that should help in boosting his confidence in class as well as his interest.

The article provided a great summary of some of the issues being faced by educators teaching adolescents literacy within a literacy setting or other content areas. The authors had valid arguments that highlighted the limitations of educators in their quest to teach literacy skills to adolescents as well as some solutions that educators could utilize to help reduce the generation gap. As I pursued the information presented I realized that most of the ideas presented were suitable to the needs of educators today. The idea of teaching students 21^st century literacy skills through the use of their backgrounds and integration of literacies they encounter outside the classroom, as well as how to critically assess and utilize these literacies for their own personal development is, I would hope, the aspiration of every educator no matter their content area. The article expressed these ideas and pedagogies in which educators could actually engage to bring these concepts to their classrooms.  The most resonating content in the article was the discussion around the use of the standards. The authors suggested educators not view standards as limiting but rather to use them as guides for instruction and not for assessment. This article had a number of valid points that left me feeling great about the scope of consciousness about the need for 21^st century literacy skills to be taught in the classroom. The article also left me thinking of how to educate educators who are not currently in a literacy program and do not consider themselves literacy teachers about the great need to teach literacy, especially 21^st century skills to our students. I also wonder about the goals of educational institutions and the role they play as an entity in meeting the changing needs of our students in preparing them for what is to be.  My greatest wonder/question as I reflect on this article is, Can we as a country or even a state, effectively meet the needs of the 21^st century global citizen we want to produce one classroom at a time, or does it need to be a school wide effort and if so, how do we get our administrators involved and what should their roles?  Where does the work for such a venture live so that we can accurately measure our results for effectiveness? Should it be through teacher-training programs, continued professional development, or school culture? Maybe all of the above?