CI: 5410 Reading Response #8

Last dialogue journal…can you believe it!? Wahoo! I think I am going to be totally random for this one, so please bear with me. Today in class we talked about institutional forces that dictate who has power and who does not. While I think our brief conversation was interesting, I think that our definition of “institutional forces” would be somewhat difficult for students to understand. I think a better place to start would be defining “institution” and moving on from there. Our illustrious friends at Wikipedia define “institution” as “structures and mechanisms of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given human collectivity. Institutions are identified with a social purpose and permanence, transcending individual human lives and intentions, and with the making and enforcing of rules governing cooperative human behavior.” Whew. That is quite a definition. Regardless, I think if we can get students to first think of different institutions as places or things, then we can discuss what forces control those things—thus, institutional forces. Does that make sense? Maybe they would say school is an institution, then the education system might be the institutional force…I don’t know, but I thought our discussion today was bit messy at times (at least in my group where we had a bit of a debate about some of these “forces”).

Next on the docket...FoKs (or Funds of Knowledge). We read a lot about these in one of our foundation classes in the fall, and I think they are great to bring into the classroom. I would hope that by using time in the classroom to explore the different identities, cultures, and experiences of students through writing, discussion, and literature, we can tap into the FoKs and utilize them in the classroom. If I remember correctly, Amanti was working with elementary school students and, therefore, had a smaller class size which enabled her to physically go to the homes of her students to perform her ethnographic research. This is not practical for secondary school teachers, especially those who have over one hundred students in their classrooms. At this point I don’t know how I feel about entering the home of one of my students in a capacity other than to check in with a student or parent. Maybe as I gain more experience I might find myself more comfortable to follow in Amanti’s footsteps, but not just yet. Regardless, I think there are other ways to find and use our students’ FoKs in the classroom, and I believe in the importance of validating, respecting, and furthering the information and experiences our students bring into the classroom from their lives beyond the classroom.

Pirie. Hmmm. I don’t know how I feel about this article. I like that he is challenging our definition of the “English” classroom and pushing teachers to think examine their goals and actual accomplishments as teachers. I agree with his points on broadening our curriculum, studying interactions within texts and between texts and our own lives, the idea of literature and life consisting of a myriad of networks and webs, emphasis on personal growth and development, all of his bullets on page 97, and the importance of helping students connect with texts, but I don’t know that changing the name of the “English” classroom to “Cultural Studies” would suit. I agree that “English” is extremely limited (maybe even pompous) as far as its connotation, but I also think there are other courses of study which examine culture more explicitly than through language in our classrooms—anthropology, for example. I don’t know what title might be more appropriate…but I think “Language Arts” might be closer to what the “English” classroom is trying to accomplish: the study and development of human life through the use of written, spoken, and physical language. What do you think? My final question to you, have you got a better more appropriate course title?