Hi everyone,
Something we talked about a few weeks ago was this idea that Julia tried not to reveal which level her students read at in an effort to protect them and not embarrass them. We discussed how this was idealistic but not really possible because students notice the reading groups, book choices, etc., so even if it's not made public- they still realize this.
Later Lewis refers to this as an "illusion of choice" and refers to Valerie Walkerdine's work, where Walkerdine explores "student-centered" or "progressive" classes. Walkerdine argues that students can quickly understand what it means to be "a good student" in these progressive classroom settings, and learn to "read the discourse and position themselves within it" (90). I thought this was such an interesting point-- and it reminded me of how Lewis noticed that while the girls did each others' hair during read alouds (and this was ignored by Julia), the boys who wanted to draw were shut down. It seems as though equality in the classroom isn't really possible because the teacher's vision takes precedent. Is drawing for boys the same as hair-styling for girls? I'm not sure, but it seems that if we take this "illusion of choice" one notch further, we can see that it's almost an illusion of equality that Julia strives for. Or is she striving for something other than equality?
I think that as far as the literature goes, Julia is striving for quality rather than equality. Socially I'm not sure. But then the question becomes who defines quality reading and that inevitably is where the teacher has more power. Throughout the book Lewis talks about "interpretive competence" and this entry reminds me of the scene (page 69) where the girl reads a journal entry that just recounts the story. The girl is described as "a fifth-grade girl who often did not meet class standards for competence" and the student herself stated that she knew her journal wasn't up to par.
ReplyDeleteWhere I keep getting conflicted in reading this book is that I do see a value in striving for deep thought -- I would love it if some of my students would stop just retelling plots to me. And I absolutely would draw a quality line there and say that this entry isn't as good as that entry. But on the other hand, some of the ways in which Julia goes for the deep thought and deep responses seem to set some kids (particularly boys) up to fail at the task.