In place of our class next week on 2/7, there are two things I'd like you to do in place of our class meeting so that we can move forward. This is #1.
Please read the two articles listed in the syllabus together first before you complete either of these assignments. By Friday, 2/8, at midnight, please comment to this blog one key vocabulary word or phrase from the readings that you want to add to our word wall. Your comment needn't be long but don't quote - put things in your own words as much as possible and, if possible, illustrate your definition with an example from your experience as a teacher or student. I've posted a few sites under literacy links that you may want to check out to inform your thinking especially about the multiliteracies concept.
If you find, at the time of your post, that you don't have a new word or phrase to add, then you should really comment on someone's definition and use it to build, elaborate, or expand our understanding of the word / phrase. You could also offer up some interesting links to sites that could be further illustrative for people.
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Oppositional identity. This is a slightly stuffy-sounding phrase for a heart-breaking reality: that many people who have lived for generations, indeed, centuries, in the United States feel that they do not belong here, that they exist only at the margins of American life, that they are in many ways invisible to the majority American culture and that the majority culture is, literally, the enemy.
When I read about oppositional identity, I first thought of the writings of Sherman Alexie, author of Reservation Blues, who "escaped" from a Spokane Indian reservation by being able to attend a "white" school and who now writes, lyrically, of the tremendous injustices handed out every day to Native Americans by their own country, particularly in the field of education; I read recently (American School Board Journal December 2007) that the U.S. spends less on education for Native Americans than for educating our prison population. For Alexie and his classmates, "oppositional identity" was seen through drinking alcohol and wearing their hair long and in braids, for which they were punished by their teachers.
I thought also of the stories told over and over again by African American writers of the ongoing destruction of opportunity , especially educational opportunity, for African-American students, who have, as Finn points out, nowhere else to go. Jonathan Kozol's 2006 book Shame of the Nation shows that apartheid is an American phenomenon - and especially a New York State phenomenon. And so you can see the outward signs of oppositional identity in any New York school with an African American population..
Multimodal texts- Multimodal texts utilize a variety of learning mediums including video, writing, sound, and images in the same text. Multimodal texts are those that combine printed text, visual images, and spoken word in computer presentation media as well as in film.
Immigrant Minorities -- (Finn) simply stated, these are willing migrants into greater American culture, specifically as that relates to school. Immigrant Minorities are able to identify differences between their culture and mainstream culture, but do not consider the relationship between the two to be adversarial. Immigrant Minorities can comfortably borrow and adopt aspects of mainstream culture without compromising their own cultural identity. Adapted behaviors aimed at conforming with mainstream culture are largely to improve social status and achieve academic success.
"Involuntary minorities" are groups of people who became part of America unwillingly, such as through slavery or colonization. While this terminology generally implies actions far back in history (Africans arriving as slaves beginning around 400 years ago, for example, or Native Americans being colonized, pushed off their land, rounded up and sent to de-culturalizing schools one and two hundred years ago) -- even though this term implies history -- the effects of that history are, to this very day, undermining and sabotaging the success of these "involuntary minorities" groups.
Involuntary minorities did not become Americans in order to improve their lives; on the contrary, they became Americans through someone else’s design, in order to be done to. To begin with, they were robbed of their cultures and languages when possible, creating a chasm between them and their former identities -- for who can be themselves without their own language (just to start)? Thus robbing these “involuntary minorities” of confidence and the possibility of self-determination, a permanent underclass was created, particularly economically.
The dominant group are seen as oppressors historically, and currently, by the involuntary minorities (and also, by some of the rest of us). The dominant group are, to the involuntary minorities, the enemy.
The dominant group dictates what is required for “school success”, and it’s not what the “involuntary minorities” were handed by white European-Americans who worked on the Welcome Wagons when these impressed minorities first became Americans.
Digital Native — a person comfortable with digital technology, able to absorb new technologies as they come, without fear. This serves as an well-meaning label to identify those who are comfortable with the multi-modal literacies and those who are more set in traditional print.
Although I watched the first year of Sesame St., used my first computer (a teletype with a 120 baud acoustic coupler — how many of the younger students know what that is?) in the late '70s, used the Internet as it was just starting, and work in web development, I would consider myself someplace between native and immigrant. I had computer language classes in HS and in college, but never used technology within other secondary school courses. In college I used technology (mainframes) to do homework, and made "snack-money" doing word-processing, before the Macs took over. I am always impressed by those who have the "knack" of doing a web-search. There is a definite skill (literacy) involved in reducing a concept down to a few keywords and quickly honing in on the "right" site. While some with this skill are immigrants, it is the natives who have really mastered these types of skills.
Digital literacy represents a person’s ability to use a computer in everyday life such as using Internet, sending e-mail, creating a resume, interpreting media (text, sound, and images), reproducing data and images through digital manipulation and evaluating and applying new knowledge gained from digital environments.
Teachers should teach students to use all forms of media with ease. Students need to learn how to use new technologies to gather, organize and evaluate information. Students should be taught to use technology responsibly to protect their safety, security, and privacy online.
Genealogy. I found this word to be interesting because when I saw it, I immediately thought of a meaning that was out of context with the reading. What do family trees have to do with literacy? As Alvermann points out, genealogies, when used in a cultural context, attempt to find meaning from apparently contradictory situations.
In writing about literacy, Alvermann uses a genealogical perspective to compare the conditions that support adolescents’ digital literacies (see Dalila’s explanation), with those conditions that support more traditional print-literacies. Digital literacies, such as the use of computers or iPods, are often associated with situations outside of the classroom, while print-literacies, such as the use of textbooks, are usually associated with classroom instruction.
From my experiences as a student, I am discovering that digital literacies are becoming part of the academic world. The need to be computer literate is essential for conducting research on the Internet, as well as for creating documents and presentations. Therefore, I agree with Alvermann’s view that categorizing literacy practices, as being either in-school or out-of-school, can impose artificial barriers on literacy usage.
Upon finishing the readings, there were many vocab words that I found interesting. However, with alot of other comments on the important vocab words, I chose a phrase or "label" to talk about. In the very first sentence of Alvermann's article, she talks about the so-called Net generation. This really got me thinking about the internet and its important on literacy. No longer do kids have to rely on books, schools, teachers, parents, etc for literacy improvement, they now have so much more because of computers and the internet. There are so many learning opportunties and ways to improve literacy. From reading the news, communicating with others, and yes....even blogging. The plethora of literacy builders just goes on and on. I recently yelled at my younger cousins because they are always on the computer and the net. I told them they should grab a ball and go out and play in the yard like I used to. However, after reading this article, the digital natives, scientific reading, and the net generation may not be such a bad thing.
Multiple sign systems (Alverman): As humans gain the ability to speak, read and write, we create a system which allows us to make sense of the world around us. This idea stems from constructivist theories on how we learn. Multiple sign systems have also been called "aesthetic literacy." Aesthetic literacy is the ability to interpret the signs or symbols involved in image, print, sound, body language and the like. Berghoff (1993) suggests that these signs have been structured into a system by “cultural beliefs and social conventions” (see link for more details: http://www.readingonline.org/articles/carroll/theory.html).
Multiple sign systems can cause much confusion for adolescents. Our schools provide cues that are different from the cues that adolescents receive outside of school. To loosely connect the Finn article to the Alverman article, consider a student who is applying to the Academic Plus program. Suppose this student is taught a system outside of school where a certain physical sign, such as a glare, means confrontation and disrespect? What if this student is taught outside of the classroom to respond to this confrontation and disrespect with stylized sulking? Not addressing the defiance aspect in partaking in this attitude, how can we expect students to be able to not confuse their out of school systems with their in school systems when they can be so drastically different? There is no switch. There is no orb around the school that fully transforms the students into “academic mode. “ We can hope that students know how to act in our classrooms, but unless we understand that students think and perceive the world in a multitude of ways that are unlike the ways of 50 years ago, our education system will become more out of touch with our students. If we cannot reach our students, how can we expect to properly prepare them for the future, a future that will be formed by culturally based, socially acceptable systems, not scientific reading instruction?
New Literacy Studies: Donna Alvermann uses the term "New Literacy Studies" (p. 23), and briefly explains that the term emphasizes the multiplicities of literacy and the social contexts in which they're enacted. "Multiliteracy," as Alvermann points out, is a closely related concept.
I Googled the term New Literacy Studies, and found some more background information (some web sites are below). New Literacy Studies began about 20 years ago, and is influenced by ethnography, anthropology, sociology, and linguistics. Unlike previous concepts of literacy, which privileged the individual mind, New Literacy Studies focuses on literacy as interaction and social practice.
There is a wealth of information about this topic, and the above is a very brief summary: here are some sites I found useful in understanding the concept:
http://www.schools.ash.org.au/litweb/page300.html
http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:Sn3dmZR2Mm0J:www.tc.columbia.edu/cice/Archives/5.2/52street.pdf+new+literacy+studies&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us
http://www.literacyjournal.ca/literacies/1-2003/analysis/2/1.htm
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/projects/ldc/research/lit.html
"Accomodation without Assimilation" - Well it's not that I would not have been able to explain this term befroe reading the article, but it was new to read it in the context it was used. Sort of... I had the same textbook for a previous class. "Accomodation without Assimilation" refers to people immigrating to this country and "playing the game" as it is instituted already in America, without necessarily becoming part of the American culture. The author separated immigrants into two categories with different attitudes: The "Immigrant Minorities" and "Involuntary Minorities". The main distinction here is that "Immigrant Minorities" are "ok" - for lack of a better term - with not being represented in the mainstream American culture. The latter, of course, are those who take an oppositional stance in reaction to this situation. See my blog posting for more on my reactions to this.
I chose to expand and add my interpretation to the word Jack used: Digital Native.
A digital native is someone who was born into the world of technology and using it has become second nature. For example, a digital native would automatically turn to the internet to do research, while a digital immigrant's first thoughts might go straight to print.
I would consider myself a digital native. Although I don't know the ins and outs of HTML and Javascript, I am at least familiar with them and how to use them. Using the internet for research is much more convenient and faster (for me) than thumbing through large volumes in the library. In fact, I'm not entirely sure I know how to use the dewey decimal system...does that make me a library immigrant??
In school literacy and Out of school literacy: I don't agree with this distinction because I feel literacy is literacy no matter how you cut it. However, I do agree that students may use traditional approaches in school such as simple reading or essay writing and out of school they may be text messaging but I see both as literacy just maybe a different expression of it.
Involuntary minorities. Defined broadly as students who generally do less well in school when compared to immigrant minorities. The issue is primarily one of identity. These students see themselves as oppressed and are reluctant to conform to dominant society as they do not believe that they will every be fully accepted by mainstream and do not wish, at the same time, to alienate themselves from their own communities.
Oppositional Identity - Members of an oppressed group come to regard certain beliefs, skills, tastes, values, attitudes, and behaviors as not appropriate for them because they are associated with the dominant culture. They may also embrace certain beliefs, skills, tastes, values, attitudes, and behaviors because they are not assoicated with the dominant group.
I am reminded of an article written by Harry Wolcott which we read in ED-632 called "The teacher as an enemy" Mr. Wolcott describes what it was like for him to be a teacher of minority students (Kwakiuti Indians in Northern Canada) who express their oppostional identity by rebelling against 'being schooled'. In fact it is Mr. Wolcott who becomes a student to the socialization tactics of his students. I tried unsuccessfully to insert a link to the article. Happily I have just noticed that Prof Clayton also has this article available in her e-reserves for this course. Please find it there.
Jack and Amanda in their comments (and Mike in his sherpa post) elaborated on the difference between a digital native (one who is "fluent" in the language of technology) as opposed to a digital immigrant (one who is not as comfortable with using new technology and is still in the process of familiarizing him or herself with it). I did, however, find an interesting website that, speaking of new technology, has a podcast (as well as a powerpoint and video presentation in a link on the page) on it of a speech given by an executive for Project Tomorrow. It deals with preparing ourselves, as teachers, for an interactive and technological classroom to optimize our students' capacity for learning. I find it very interesting because I think the inevitable incorporation of technology into the classroom is a positive thing and will engage our students because they are truly the generation of digital natives.
http://connect.educause.edu/blog/gbayne/e07podcasttomorrowsstuden/45344?time=1202451688
According to Finn, chapter 4, there are different classifications of minorities in America. Those that are "immigrant" minorities and those that are "involuntary" minorities. Both face adversity in their development as far as literacy. Both groups typically have certain difficulties in adopting to language and culture. One important factor distinguishes the two groups, this being a sense of oppression that involuntary minorities feel. Often this causes rebellion, indicated by a purposeful uncooperativeness as far as adopting to language and customs. Evidence of this phenominon is "ebonics". Ebonics doesn't just come from the inability to speak proper English, it is actually used with a sense of pride and identity for minorities, as if it is a badge of honor. Typically, immigrant minorities come from places without as much opportunity, and see America through a lens of hope and optimism, trying to take advantage of new circumstances and strive to blend in.
New Word: Multiliteracies, it refers to "modes of representation much broader than language". For example, to read a good book, Japanese pull out their cell phones", these developments drive students toward high stakes testing, adequate yearly progress, and higher graduation rates at the secondary level.
Multiple sign systems:
Multiple sign systems are used when communicating. Some of the examples given by Alvermann are: images, words, digital, gestures, print, sounds, and symbols. People use different sign systems to demonstrate what they mean. In the article by Alvermann, he talks about how youth is increasingly utilizing technology to increase their sign systems.
Digital Native: a person who had grown up using recent technology, i.e. computers, internet, video games. Most people in my age group in the United States are digital natives. Most of us are very familiar with the ins and outs of technology and new products. There are also digital immigrants, these are the people who did not grow up with the newer technology, but learned how to use it, and are surrounded by it. Technology is a daily factor in the U.S., so people living here have to be computer literate to go anywhere in life now a day.
Wow - our word wall is full here. Make sure to add some of these words to your own personal word wall if they are new to you. I think we will clarify a few of the terms defined here - most specifically accommodation, assimilation, and scientific reading instruction. Thanks, Jennifer, for the podcast. I'm listening to it now.
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