the "illusion of choice"

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?