Cadeiro-Kaplan, Failing Still to Address Poverty Directly, Professional Knowledge for the Teaching of Writing

   Welcome back to another installment of Frankie's blog. In this week's episode, we take a look at an excerpt from The Literacy Curriculum and Bilingual Education: A Critical Examination by Karen Cadeiro-Kaplan, Failing Still to Address Poverty Directly: Growth Mindset as Deficit Ideology by P.L. Thomas, and Professional Knowledge for the Teaching of Writing from ncte.org. Let's dive in.

   The Cadeiro-Kaplan reading was interesting as it dealt with problems that English language learners experience in a typical school setting. One difficulty students go through is the idea of cultural literacy. Cadeiro-Kaplan explains that cultural literacy assumes that all readers understand certain ideas of a culture. This could be a little difficult from someone coming into this country with English most likely not being their first language. Readings that involve U.S. history, American authors or poets, or American traditions may confuse foreign readers. They aren't less intelligent because of this, they simply haven't been exposed to these ideas before. 

   The quote found within The Literacy Curriculum and Bilingual Education sums this idea up well: "The curriculum of cultural literacy has been with us since the Enlightenment and has been long evoked as an argument for the reproduction of elites. It is a position that advocates a social system in which a select cadre of intellectuals... are the only individuals deemed fit to possess the culture's sacred canon of knowledge, which assures their supremacy" (Cadeiro-Kaplan 8).

   An idea I enjoyed from Failing to Address Poverty Directly was that teachers should rethink how they form and grade a test. Typically, tests are graded by starting off with the highest score, and then being subtracted from there. Instead, teachers should start imagining a student with a zero and what they learn builds from there. With the state of the current deficit ideology we demand students perform outstandingly in school as if they have no problems outside of school. This is a theme in these writings, and I agree wholeheartedly. We can't expect all students to forget their problems at the door upon entering school. We need to work with students to help them feel not as pressured.

   The final reading, Professional Knowledge for the Teaching of Writing, had some good pointers for future English teachers. The idea that stuck out to me the most was that teachers need to show students that writing can be so much more than essays. It is the ultimate form of expression, and that idea is sadly lost on many students within high school. It is not entirely the student's fault however, most of writing throughout high school is for an essay to receive a grade. If the teacher can show the student what the literacy greats have done throughout history, I believe they have done their job. I don't believe this involves putting heavy emphasis on Romeo and Juliet and The Odyssey however. While both stories are great, most of the time the idea that students are looking for something more personal to connect to is overlooked. I believe these tales should be taught, but further exploration of what a student is interested in can hook them on reading for life.