Finn: Literacy with an Attitude

I am going to start out saying that this piece was insanely long and detailed, (but very informative after getting past the length) and connected to a lot of what we already read this semester. I also thought the post was due on Thursday so I apologize for this being a little late! I am going to do an extended blog post on Kaileen’s blog! Her blogs are always thoughtful and thorough and I am finally doing an extended post so of course I had to choose hers :)

The first quote that Kaileen picks is very interesting.

1. They expected people in authority to be authoritarian, and I gave them what they expected. (pg. 2)

I agree with her point about Delpit. This is all about the culture of power. In order for a teacher to be in charge they must have an authoritarian mentality. Being strict and demanding does not show power. I also agree with Kaileen’s point about the teacher being there to help the students. The teacher’s job is to help the students learn as much as they can and continue in their education. They are life role models for students and a most of what they do can stick with them forever. You do not have to be mean to be a teacher. You do not need to constantly yell to get children to do what they need to do. It’s all about figuring out what works best for your classroom. Many times it will need to be changed on a yearly basis depending on the students in your class.

The next quote that she picked jumped out to me as well when reading this piece

2. “Don't be so damned superior! Don't look down your nose at people out there teaching real children in real and sometimes dreadful circumstances. Don't question their intelligence or their commitment, or their motives” (pg. 8)

No one should judge teachers. Every time I tell someone I’m going to school for education, they always reply with “oh, summers off, nice” as if that’s the reason I’m going into the field. UM NO. I’m going into the field because I can’t wait to educate young minds and connect with them. I agree with Kaileen, the field is often looked down upon and seen as being “easy”. It is one of the hardest jobs out there! There are no two teachers who run things EXACTLY the same way. It does not give anyone the right to judge anything.

3. “In the working class schools, the dominant theme was resistance. Students would vandalize school property and resisted the teacher's efforts to teach. Boy fell out of chair; students bring bugs into the class and released them; children lost books or forgot them; students interrupted the teacher....” (pg.12)

I also thought of the Service Learning projects while reading this part of Finn. The difference in the school that I do my placement in and where I went to school, in Smithfield is night and day. I notice a lot of this resistance in Providence. It has a lot to do with home life and circumstances. Kaileen mentioned that it could be about the atmosphere that they’re in. I agree, it could have something to do with the environment that the classroom creates for the students and they notice that people at home do not need education, so why should they? They may be accidentally ignored in class which causes them to feel disregarded so they need to act out in other ways.


4. “The literate are powerful and you're not. What are you going to do about it?” (pg... 165)

This quote immediately made me think of SCWAAMP when I read it and seeing that Kaileen thought the same thing is awesome! If you don’t fit into the categories, that’s it for you. You’re not as good as those who do (according to SCWAAMP). WE are society. Someone needs to do something in order for things to change. Years and years after the civil rights movement white people are still superior. People with educations are immediately more powerful than those without. A little twisted but the best way to take over a country is to get rid of all of the schools and highly educated people and raise uneducated people. People who aren’t educated have trouble thinking analytically so they are able to me formed into anything. I feel as though an “E” for educated should be added to SCWAAMP or an “L” for literate because that is a major factor in power.