One of my assignments for my current graduate diversity class is to conduct research regarding a topic I am interested in, become an "expert" in a few short weeks, and present what I have learned to my classmates. I have been thinking about this assignment at the same time I am conducting interviews for my AVID classes for next year and coping with the frustration of not being able to recruit and keep boys in this program. When the tornado of my brain whipped both of these into its vacuum, I found myself searching Google for information about literacy and achievement gaps between male and female students.
I ran across the article "Misreading masculinity: Speculations of the great gender gap in writing" by Thomas Newkirk, written in March 2000. Much of my early career teaching seventh grade English was spent teaching writing, and writing is a key component of AVID's WICOR. So I chose this as my first article to read.
One of many topics discussed in this article is the prevalence of violence in boys' writing. If you had asked me few hours ago, I would have said, "Bad, bad, bad. Boys should not be writing about violent topics in school." But Newkirk has swayed me:
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| (p. 296) |
Reading this sent me directly back to my first year of teaching. I assigned something for writing, although the exact assignment has long escaped my mind. The details of B.'s paper, however, are clear in my mind. He turned in his work on green paper, and I marked it up in red pen. B. had written about coming into the school with a sword and attacking his classmates. His story culminated with my head being chopped off.
Since B. was already a student with whom I had disciplinary issues (he was a 12-year old boy), I treated the writing as a threat toward me. There was a referral. There was a parent conference. There was a suspension.
If I could only rewind time! I made the mistake of automatically assuming that B.'s "use of violence
in writing [was meant to be] vicious or sadistic" (p. 296). According to Newkirk, I missed a great deal of the complexity that was included in B.'s writing:
- A video culture - B. had actually written his passage based on a video game he had been playing. This information was revealed during our parent conference, but my new-teacher ego was offended at the time. The last time I spoke to B. a few years ago, he was trying to become a video game developer.
- A friendship culture or social world - B. never intended to offend me with his story. He simply cast me as the villain and himself as the protagonist in a story set in our mutual environment. He expressed that he thought I would be complimented to be included in his story.
- "A curriculum culture - ...In transforming largely visual narratives to written narrative, students negotiate popular culture and academic work" (p. 297). B. was simply taking an idea from his everyday life and adding it to my assignment.
I have come a long way in the past 13 1/2 years, and I continue to grow and learn every day. I want to build a passion for writing, not kill it (pun intended). The next time I see any of my boys including violence in their writing, something I have discouraged over the years, I will engage in more dialogue. I know that in our current times, not every piece of expression can be treated equally, but I am now far less likely to apply the sentence before the trial.
As many of you know, I am currently working with a master's cohort program through Texas Woman's University, and this semester, I am enrolled in Literacy and the Diverse Learner. At some point during our class last Wednesday, Dr. Claudia Haag made a comment regarding children's and young adult literature that made an impact on me: With all the book series out there that are inspiring children and teenagers to read, where are the non-white protagonists?
My mind started racing with all the book series I have read. Little House? Obviously not. Sweet Valley High? I don't think the 80s were so accepting. Harry Potter? Nope. Hunger Games? I don't think so. Eragon? Percy Jackson? Twilight? No, no, and no. I searched book lists. None. I looked through my house. None.
I consider myself to be pretty on top of things, but this one has passed right by me. I have worked hard to make sure that my classroom library reflects all of my students. I received a $1500 grant through First Book right after changing classes this year, and it was the perfect time to create a new classroom library. I ordered books about African American teens. I ordered books about Muslim teens. I ordered books about gay teens. I bought a few book series that I had never heard of before. But not a single one of those series has an African-American, Muslim, or gay main character.
There is plenty of research out there that supports the need for young readers to see themselves reflected in what they read. Book series provide students with automaticity based upon familiarity with the author. Reading and fluency improve. With an achievement gap that continues to widen between racial groups, it is incredibly important to have students reading, not because we make them, but because we want them to enjoy the process. My student population consists predominantly of African-American, Hispanic, and Asian students, and I do not have a single book series in my classroom that reflects any of them in a starring role.
I mentioned all of this to a group of African American girls in one of my classes, one of whom devours almost every book on my bookshelf. They honestly did not seem terribly concerned. Since most of the girls are not fans of reading, and I cannot help but wonder if that lack of interest does stem from not seeing enough of themselves in books. I think I am going to delve into this a bit deeper with all of my classes in a few weeks and have my students do some research. I have a few students who would like to be writers, and maybe they will be the ones who change the field in the future.
As an insane reader of everything I can get my hands on, I am comfortable saying that things are definitely changing in the world of literature, but we still have a ways to go. Authors, we teachers are counting on you.
References:
Camera, L. (2016, January 13). Achievement Gap Between White and Black Students Still Gaping. Retrieved February 11, 2017, from http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2016/01/13/achievement-gap-between-white-and-black-students-still-gaping
Morrison, K. (2015, September 10). Part 4 - The Importance of Series Reading . Retrieved February 11, 2017, from http://www.inquirybydesign.com/part-4-the-importance-of-series-reading/
Popular series books. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2017, from https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/series
One of my assignments for my current graduate diversity class is to conduct research regarding a topic I am interested in, become an "expert" in a few short weeks, and present what I have learned to my classmates. I have been thinking about this assignment at the same time I am conducting interviews for my AVID classes for next year and coping with the frustration of not being able to recruit and keep boys in this program. When the tornado of my brain whipped both of these into its vacuum, I found myself searching Google for information about literacy and achievement gaps between male and female students. 
I ran across the article "Misreading masculinity: Speculations of the great gender gap in writing" by Thomas Newkirk, written in March 2000. Much of my early career teaching seventh grade English was spent teaching writing, and writing is a key component of AVID's WICOR. So I chose this as my first article to read. 
