Banksy tags Detroit

Banksy tags Detroit

Only people from Detroit care about about Detroit.  There's something very special about the place we call home, even when it's a deeply troubled city that makes national headlines for all the wrong reasons.   Well, I was reading about my hometown and came across a familiar name and his street art.  It seems Detroit came up on Banksy' radar as an urban cesspool worthy of a tag.  (Yes, only people from Detroit get to criticize Detroit).

It seems the Banksy tag was just the beginning of the controversy.  The Detroit Free Press originally reported this story in 2010: "Discovered last weekend, the stenciled work shows a forlorn boy holding a can of red paint next to the words “I remember when all this was trees.” But by Tuesday, artists from the 555 Nonprofit Gallery and Studios, a feisty grassroots group, had excavated the 7-by-8-foot, 1,500-pound cinder block wall with a masonry saw and forklift and moved the piece to their grounds near the foot of the Ambassador Bridge in southwest Detroit.

The move -- a guerilla act on top of Banksy’s initial guerilla act -- has sparked an intense debate about the nature of graffiti art, including complicated questions of meaning, legality, value and ownership. Some say the work should be protected and preserved at all costs. Others say that no one had a right to move it — and that the power and meaning of graffiti art is so intrinsic to its location that to relocate it is to kill it."

The Los Angeles Times  reported in 2012 that "the parties recently settled the dispute, and the gallery paid $2,500 for the wall art, estimated to be worth $100,000." 

 Given our studies and interest in street art,  I thought I would ask what you think of the Banksy controversy in Detroit.  I have mixed feelings about 555's action.  I believe the meaning of street art is  its context.  Will the "guerrilla act" of moving the work to "preserve it at all costs" become part of the context and thus a new part of the artwork's meaning?  Or, is removing the graffiti from its surroundings, valuing it at $100,000, and "preserving it" turning it into a neutral thing?

I'm also saddened because there doesn't seem to be anything else in Detroit to care about, much less, to preserve.  Why was this Banksy work deemed so worthy while neighborhoods, historical buildings, and city treasures sit in a state of decay?   Then again, I suppose you have to know the Motor City to understand the Motor City.

I did not intend to make a connection to Michael Gecan's article, but somehow, that's where I'm going.  Maybe I should ignore the media hype surrounding the Banksy art and look at  555's work.  Maybe they are fighting to save their hometown, a place that never gets much attention other than making the news for crime and corruption.  Perhaps 555 is just one small part of a larger network of organizers that I don't see because I only listen to media hype.  I'm blind to the current situation.

 Gecan's passion as a community organizer is evident in his writing, but I did not get the sense that East Brooklyn was his hometown, his touchstone, or his native context.  Maybe, like Banksy, Gecan's passion is in his work, where ever that may take him.  But, his organizers, the people he meets and gets to know, are connected heart and soul to their communities.  I wonder, then, how being disconnected from our communities (hometowns, families, roots) turns us into neutral things like the "stolen" art?   Do we loose interest in what's going on around us because we are out of our contexts, valuing our lives based on the superficial? 

I am left with only one final thought: I wonder if anyone is organizing a raid to return the Banksy work to it's original location?  I'll keep you posted.  Thanks.  Susan 

When's the Last Time You Found Yourself in the Middle of an Unfamiliar Discourse?

A few hours ago I found myself sitting on a cold seat.  As I pulled on my coat, I realized that I was sharing an experience with thousands of people that I did not know.  All of us were huddled together with ear plugs in our ears as exhaust hung in the air; and yet I was separated from this group by one reality.  I am not a true member of the Discourse that surrounds the sport of Nascar racing.  A moment later as a yellow caution sign appeared on the screen in the middle of the track, I watched as everyone jumped up and started to either cheer or yell out in dismay.  I looked over at my husband, the reason that I was here in the first place, and watched his face as he excitedly tried to explain to me what had just occurred.  But while he patiently tried to educate me on the event and what it meant for the race as a whole, I realized that I was in the midst of a Discourse that I may never truly be a part of.

I do not say this with dismay necessarily or joy, but instead with new understanding.  My still novice literary lens really made me take a step back tonight and consider what I knew in that moment about my surroundings.  I looked at the advertisements and sponsor emblems, and struggled to recall what each of them stood for.  I took in all 43 cars and reflected on the true meaning that the numbers that adorned those cars could hold.   Those two stenciled on digits represented a person and a team; a team that fans either chose to love or hate.  Feelings that then drove them to support that driver and show their appreciation through merchandise purchased and worn to symbolize their devotion.  A symbol that, while immersed in this Discourse, could cause complete strangers to stop and speak or offer a 'fist bump' as a way of showing their mutual support and appreciation. So imagine how those fans may feel should they find a 'visitor' in their midst that may, at best, recognize one number and its associated race car driver.   Would they cast me out?  Would they wonder why I was here?

Upon further reflection I realize that I have often been privy to a conversation that is riddled with these numbers, leaving me lost in translation.  I wonder, in that moment, did they notice?  Or was I somewhat hidden because I had 'dressed the part'?  I will, in fact, usually listen to these types of conversations and try to appear interested.   I may even try and tap into the limited knowledge that I have acquired to participate or at least attempt to piece it together in my mind. But I'm afraid knowing terms like 'caution' and 'green flag' can only get you but so far….

I am, like many of you perhaps, constantly in awe of how often I am now seeing the literacy that surrounds our world in a whole new light.  And while I have learned some of the words and phrases that can be found within the Discourse of Nascar, and admit that sometimes the event that surrounds it can be a fun ride; I also realize that I may always be in this Discourse's passenger seat.

Sit and Get

I’ve been doing some reading, and an odd coincidence occurred.  I wasn’t an educator today.  Today I became a "hub worker". 

First my NEA Today magazine came in the mail today.  Although the website does provide interesting reading the site is not updated yet with the magazine’s cover story “An End to ‘Sit and Get’ Workshops”.  Essentially the article describes educators as being low on morale and tired of professional development calling sessions “Spray and Pray”, “Drive By,” or “Sit and Get”.  Worthwhile professional development is considered indispensable, yet the time is “wasted listening to a so-called expert who hasn’t spent a day in the classroom, with participants in a windowless hotel conference room filled with an endless parade of PowerPoint slides.”  (Ah, I’ve see many a deck!)  The experiences are described as ending with “We’re done.  Now, go ahead and successfully replicate what you’ve learned in your classroom.  Good luck?  Follow-up training?  Don’t count on it.  Collaborative time with colleagues?  Hmmm… no.”  The conclusion is so accurate that I cringed from experience. 

Second I picked up Belfiore and Folinsebee and suddenly I was comparing the two discussions.  The similar practices observed included “Sign-off procedures”, “Lecture-style teaching”, “Print materials with dense text”, “Long stretches of reading aloud by the trainer,” and “Written tests”.  Although I don’t want the educational system to be treated as a business, the comparisons in training are huge.  Enter an expert (trainer), leave the work environment (for some office) and enter the deck (training manual – read aloud time).  Although Bozena seemed a little more oriented toward the workers, Janet, for all the wisdom she displayed in reflection, was definitely spraying her employees and praying it would take.  She seemed to have blind faith that they got it, because she was so good at her job I wonder?? 

So if professional learning is to change, regardless of the field, be it business or education, we must “get through to them” as Janet states.  As one of the “them” in the education field, I think Janet is spot on.  In public education I want to get it, I hope to get it, but quite often the administration’s message is lost in test scores, bureaucracy, and a trail of paperwork that proved I performed as one of “them”.  Did I learn as I went along, or did I just check another thing off my list? 

To again reference the NEA article they state that “professional learning needs to be conducted – continuously, collaboratively, and with a focus on teaching specific content to particular learners.”  A remarkably similar quote ends chapter 5 of Belfiore, “Educators’ effectiveness then is greatly dependent on the extent to which they can work collaboratively and strategically with a number of different others in a role that facilitates learning, rather than delivers teaching.”  So maybe today, as I was reading the text, I was framing myself as one of the “hub workers” just trying to do my job with a lack of trainer collaboration. 

Deciding that “collaborate” was a key word in both texts, I looked for a definition and again coincidence struck me.
Collaborate –

: to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor

: to cooperate with or willingly assist an enemy of one's country and especially an occupying force

: to cooperate with an agency or instrumentality with which one is not immediately connected

 

Although “enemy” in definition number two is a strong word, definition number three is the one that fits both of my readings today.  I didn't feel connected to my training, and I couldn't even begin to credit Janet with any wisdom when I have suffered through her "Sit and Get" practices myself.

Music as literacy

We've studied so many different literacies this semester, and I seem to find them everywhere now. Last night I had the opportunity to spend the night with Barry Manilow. Before everyone sighs, I wanted to share with you my literacy view of the concert. I've been a Fanilow for many years. He was very much a voice in my adult formative years. He was part of my time in the Army, my early marriage, my initial foray into motherhood. Last night I felt like I didn't have to apologize for enjoying and sharing the music of that time with others. Yes, most of the audience was my age or older, but we sang along and clapped, and waved the little glow sticks we were given. The music of that time and that artist had a feeling to it, and there was, in my mind, a literacy that we shared. The music was strong, fun, not angry, and didn't hurt anyone. We miss that in a lot of today's music. In that time period, people enjoyed music for the music and the lyrics, not the underlying themes or dark passages. So today I wear my Manilow Copacabana shirt, and for a little while, I'm young again.

Themes in my research project-1-power relationship

Due to my poor time management, I was not able to present my discussion about the findings and how I may deal with the blog assignment in the future. Although we have got a lot of great discoveries in our discussion, I would like to share with you my ideas as an insider in the program, and hope that you can give me some feedback. Thanks!

The first and most obvious theme I see in the assignment is Power. Both in the written blog and in the interviews, all the stakeholders show how power relationship, to some degree, decide what they do and how they feel about the blog. As pointed out by many educators, including Freire, and discussed in our class, not literacy is neutral. Power is always embedded in literacy, and affect how people react to it. Usually, the party who has to power tailors the goal and the process of the literacy to match with their beliefs, while those who lack power receive the literacy as it is and try to work with it. Here, the knowledge of the powerful counts. They know what is right what is necessary, and they direct others to  do what they believe will make their life better. 

The power relationship in my study is very apparent, where the instructors are in the high level and the students are the dominated, whether they agree with the system or not. Some students are very direct about their subordination to the instructor when they say they "should" do it or they "have to" post because it is required by the instructor. But some others, such as student O, who says that he does like the rules created by the instructor, but still wants the instrutor to tell him what is the goal of learning and if he has reached it or not. Subconsciously, he still respect and agree with the power of the instructor. In term of the instructors, the apparent symptoms of their dominant power is that they decide the rules. They choose the assignment, design the goal and the guidelines of it, and grade students based on how well they follow the instruction. FI is a learner-centered program, so that the instructors are relatively cautious about they domination of the classroom. Although they have done a lot to empower the students, they still have the power over them because they are rule-setter and evaluators. 

This makes me think to what degree a instructor should intervene in a learner's learning process. Surely we do not want the banking model of education, where students follows the rigid rules and becomes the results of mass production. However, we should not devaluate the guidance from instructors in one's learning experience. Instructors are usually those who have expertise in the area and can help students achieve their goals by sharing knowledge with them. It is crucial to keep the balance between the two parties. I think that one solution is to always incorporate students' voice in the decision-making process and promote commitment to the final decision. Since students may be ignorant in certain areas and may make bad choice, it is instructors job to bridge students with the new knowledge and present them the whole picture of different choices they have. Eventually, it should students' well-informed free choices.

Learning languages

So this week I'm helping David figure out what class to take this fall; he's been accepted as a non-program graduate student at Virginia Tech. When we learn a language, we learn code. There is so much more socio-culturally to a language, but the base element is translation, initially literal translation. David has trouble with social cues, which are a language all their own. And yet, he speaks English, French, German, Russian, Italian, and Hebrew. People are always impressed that he is so skilled, but what I see is code. He can convert code, and if language is code, which I believe it is, he is able to convert. So he is literate in one way but illiterate in another. Neither has more importance, but in our society, his illiteracy makes it difficult for him to maintain relationships. I think people would be surprised at how much literacy is non-verbal. David's going to take a Comp Sci class in September. He is going to be trying to prove that he is capable of graduate work in order to apply to the Comp Sci department for his major. Comp Sci is probably the best place for him to start, but it will be interesting to see if he ventures into a more cultural environment as well.

Levels of literacy

Yesterday I taught an introduction class. Two of my students had originally signed up for the intermediate class (called "Getting More") and after the first fifteen minutes decided they were in too advanced a class and left. During the day they indicated that they were very glad they had moved back a level, and one student is going to be taking another introduction class rather than a "Getting More" class for a different program. My classes are different than many literacy classes in that my students are expected to have certain literacy skills, and we only have one day to 'learn' the software. I think often of the more knowledgeable other I become in the front of the room. My students are anywhere from 18 to 70 years old, and come in with their own history and skills. I have to kind of corral those skills into a common area and begin to work with the group to bring them up to a common skill level. In the Getting More classes, the zone of proximal development becomes more important. I scaffold the students to become more proficient in software that helps them in their jobs, which is the primary reason people take these classes. Ms. Coiro (got it this time, Dr. M.) discusses literacy in a way that pertains to my work. Eymann's discussion of digital literacy resonated with me, because as I've written in previous posts, the literacy in computers is not the skills to perform the tasks, but the ability to use the skills to acquire knowledge. Everyone used Presi last week, which I've never seen before, but is evidently common in the academic world. So now I am once again illiterate; I will be working on my own to explore the software and see if it is something I can learn without instruction. I am self-taught in most of the software I teach, and students are sometimes amazed (their word) that I can learn software on my own. It's only recently that I realize that other people don't understand software the way I do - I always say it just makes sense to me. And yet there has been so much this semester that everyone understands that I struggle with. Another example of different literacies, the basis for this class. Off to school.

Earth day and the abolition movement

Zinn Education Project

Classmates: since we have all come to "read" the world differently, I wanted to share something with you about Earth Day. This article was in my Facebook feed, and I must admit, I would never have compared Earth Day to the Abolition movement. Curiosity got the best of me; I had to read more and share it with you.   Forgive me for over-posting this week!

To begin, the Zinn Education Project is connected to Teaching For Change.  You can find more on TFC by clicking on their icon in the upper right of our blog.  TFC/Zinn challenge us to dig  a little deeper into what we teach our kids today, question the assumptions we promote, and provide a more balanced, historical perspective.  Hmm, that sounds familiar!  So, by digging a little deeper into the Earth Day/global warming movement, Zinn compares it to the struggles faced by Abolitionists in 19th century America.

Susangale wrote in her blog post about the ways we don't challenge the truths and assumptions that comprise our worlds.  I  am certainly guilty of that.  While I don't know how I feel about global warming, I believe that, in order to take a stand on an  issue, it is necessary to question the many truths, assumptions, and science that surround it.  How else can we be fully informed?  Furthermore, if we propose to teach these "facts" to our children (and adult learners!), we owe it to them to provide a more balanced approach. OK, sorry to be so preach-y.

I hope this post leaves you curious enough to check out the Zinn Ed Project.  It's worth a quick read.  Thanks for taking the time to read this post, "the other Susan."

Take Away Points: Mass Campaigns or One-to-one Empowerment?

As we are coming to the end of – wait, I don’t like that word, “end” – doesn’t seem right. Rather, I think I want to reflect a bit on the things that I will carry forward. As I was going over our generative lists, the questions I will continue to ask with the new lens of my understanding kept landing on two themes. Interestingly, I was struck by the dualistic nature of two.

As I have previously noted, the use of texts in the colonization of nations and peoples is something I have never given much thought to. I don’t know why.  I guess my “eyes” had just never really been opened to the role of written words in codifying the “shared exterior” of my realities – the things I accept as true and right and, well, “normal.” These have all been constructed by “texts” and are not just the “norms” I have taken for granted. I am not sure how I thought “norms” developed, but childlike, I apparently have just accepted the veracity of the social claims of many, many, norms in my lifetime. The longer I live, though, and the more I learn, the more I am struck by how little we (I) question how big T truths have been constructed.   Learning about the role of texts in history by colonizers to promote favored ideologies, justify acts of suppression, even campaigns of war and genocide, will never allow me to “read” a text again without questioning the motives and the message. That is something I will carry forward. 

On the other hand, though, the ability of one educator to empower those they “learn” with will never leave me, either.  I don’t think we can “measure” the outcomes – the potentially far-reaching effects – that helping just one person to find their voice can have. By voice, I mean giving a person, an adult in our case, the tools with which to make sense of their world and to take action in their lives. Even the simple action of understanding how to fill out a form, perhaps, or write a letter, changes a life. And adult educators get to do this again and again. That is more than an occupation, that is a calling. Thank you. Susan

Being an Adult Learner

      We have expectations, we register for a class, we work and we learn.  As an adult our expectations are different than those of the K-12 learners who are essentially forced into education.  We possess some control.  We are paying for academic freedom.  We weigh what we will learn and what we are willing to invest time in learning.  We bring our own backgrounds into the classroom, much broader and more diverse because of our years.  When education happens it is often because our choices as adult learners lead us to question our assumptions about the education we expected and the education we discover.  Preconceived notions about what we’ll learn are often shattered as we make the choice to experience our own education. 

       We may enter into a classroom looking for that formal education.  Yet quite often what happens is the informal learning.  It’s providence that we are led through the educational information (Thank you Bill).  What we discover along the way broadens our horizons more and education happens.  It’s exciting, it’s enriching, and it’s revitalizing no matter our age.

      To make this education happen all of us juggle something.  Maybe we’ve put spouses on hold, or shifted our children’s needs to someone else.  Maybe we take the stairs on Tuesdays because we can’t fit exercise into our day any other way.  We might eat on the run and still feed others.  Our time and our energy may be spread thin, our careers demanding of us.  Yet in my case I knew I had reached a learning plateau in my current field and I was ready for the next step.  It was time to get off that plateau and climb the next mountain.  I needed more.

      Within this program I started with a plan in mind and I’ve already learned that every moment is more.  My experiences and what I’ve learned in class, in my studies and with my colleagues shapes how my plan will evolve.  No matter the challenges of being here, I appreciate every moment of this personal growth that I have chosen to embark on.  Maybe this is just a feel good post, but as the semester winds down I found myself would up.  It’s a journey and it has just begun.  Thank you for joining me.

Big Data

"We now generate more data every two days than we did in aggregate from the dawn of early civilization through the beginning of the 21st century...this is called the 'Big Data Revolution'" (Gerencser, 2008).  The words big data revolution  have a frightening overtone, but I don't have a context for what they really mean.  Gerencser (2008) gives a business and security perspective on the meaning; it is disturbing to read about the vulnerabilities of  intellectual property, and our national security, to hackers with criminal intentions.  For some background, Mark Gerencser is a managing partner in a large, defense contracting firm in Northern VA.

I suppose I'm in denial about the ways Google, Facebook, Yahoo, this blog, etc. continually collect information from every key stroke I make.  I'm forced to ask myself if it is a coincidence that I receive marketing ads about specific things I look at while surfing the Internet.  Denial, denial, denial.  Technology is good for us.  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it! 

I recently came across a publication from the U.S. Dept. of Education, Outreach and Technical Assistance Network (OTAN)  Expanding evidence approaches for learning in a digital world (2012) that once again made me face big data.  "This report discusses the promise of sophisticated digital learning systems for collecting and analyzing very large amounts of fine-grained data ("big data") as users interact with systems" (OTAN, 2012).  This is something called education data mining.  To be clear, the "users" who "interact with systems" are our children sitting at their school computers doing their assignments and taking tests.  "Various stakeholders in the education community have different perspectives and needs, but all share an interest in understanding how to use digital learning systems, the data they generate, information, and evidence to address specific challenges in the U.S. education system.  The opportunities digital learning resources create and the data they produce have important implications for each stakeholder group"  (OTAN 2012).  Now I have a vision of children chained to computers that capture every keystroke they make. 

Given my recent discovery of the way literacy is treated as an independent variable that can be quantified and studied, the concept of education data mining gives me pause.  I implied the adult education system could be better run as a business model, however, education data mining points me in a very different direction.  Who are the stakeholders and what is at stake with our education system? 

Education data mining allows for something called design-based implementation research (DBIR).  This is a different way to conduct education research, one that systematically assigns "users" (our children) to random test groups and collects data as it happens (as our children are sitting at their computers in the classroom).   Called "rapid A/B testing," its results  allow digital learning systems (the computers in our children's classrooms) to be enhanced based on the user's input.  I'm over simplifying this because I can't begin to fully understand it, but I think it means the software on the child's computer would adapt based on the way the child responds to prompts.

I'm not able to hide my fear and apprehension about big data, DBIR, and its implications for the future of education.  I read the words "address specific challenges in the U.S. education system" (OTAN, 2012) and I can't help but think it's a challenge we created because we're trying to quantify knowledge and measure it in a way that is self-promoting.  Furthermore, the "specific challenges" include some human elements that are completely overlooked by classroom "learning systems." For one thing, the student must be present to input data.  How does DBIR address the drop out rate?

My naive idea about running adult education as a business seems comforting compared to a big data/DBIR  model in which we can engineer learning (and learners?).  Adult education is going digital with GED testing in 2014.  I think we need to be on the look-out for new "challenges" we will create from that data.  I need to remind myself to question the Truth, question the ideology, and question what is at stake. 

Thank, Susan.






 

Should There Be an ‘Other’ Language? Or Is There More Power to be Found in the Multilingual?

With thanks to Lisa and her post, my mind is overflowing with thoughts of an international language.  A language that is decided by factors that are often beyond us; and yet resisted perhaps by those that are just like us.  Resisted for reasons that we seek to understand.  I loved Annie’s comments regarding the complexity also possibly playing a part.  I appreciated Dr. Muth’s points regarding presentation in a language understood by many as opposed to few; and yet the resentment that may be felt by others because the speaker isn’t required to know the ‘other’ cultures, traditions, languages, etc.  I have always been interested in other cultures, traditions, experiences and language.  This post and all of its comments truly caused me to consider my own lingual abilities and perhaps the literary and educational limits I may have created for myself as a result.

As a true melting pot, our country prides itself on being a nation of diversity and inclusion.  There are policies and procedures in our work life, rules and laws for the everyday as well as social expectations regarding topics such as microaggression.  But does true appreciation of the value that can be found in our diversity and various Discourses truly provide enough opportunity or drive to really appreciate this idea of ‘all’?

I consider all of the recent articles that we’ve read of late that talk of education in other countries and their opportunities (often requirements) to promote an educational tradition of bi- or multilingualism. I also ponder that while we have options in the U.S. for learning other languages, I wonder why so many (and how many?) in our country (including myself) still stand as monolinguals?    I myself have always wanted to learn to speak and read another language, but recognize that my desire has never been fueled by necessity due to travel or any set requirement.  I did elect once to give it a run when I was in high school; but, much like Lisa perhaps, gained more skill in memorization than true understanding of the language.   This realization now also causes a new sort of perspective on what bi- or multilingualism may provide an individual as well.

Over this past school year, my family and I have gotten to know another family from my son’s class.  They are a lovely couple with similar interests and we have a fantastic time (don’t you love it when the kid’s play dates turn into grown up ones too??).  This past weekend we had an opportunity to visit their home and enjoy some much needed ‘friend’ time.  As we toured their home, I was intrigued by the various artifacts that she had received from family and friends in Cuba.  She proudly, and patiently at times, told each one’s stories and answered our eager questions.  I learned a lot in just a few hours about values, the country, her culture, the difference between Mexican and Cuban food as well as how much I apparently ADORE Cuban coffee.  Now I will be the first to admit that this short education in no way makes me a new found expert.  I also recognize that their Discourse could provide a different perspective than someone from the same country, but differing Discourse.   But the brief open window to her experiences and culture made for such an amazing opportunity for me; an opportunity that was enriched even more by a brief parental moment during my ‘education’ session.  

Her son was acting up a bit at one time during our conversation and, as she later advised she often does, she turned to him and began fussing/correcting him in Spanish.  My son, who was standing near him, watched her completely intrigued and yet perplexed.  After she’d finished speaking with her son, my son, never shy, asked her “what language were you just speaking?”  At her reply, he stated very matter-of-factly, “Oh, I had absolutely no idea what you were saying.”  And with that, ran off to finish playing.  This somewhat hysterical, and yet slightly enlightening, moment gave me a new appreciation for what the knowledge of many languages can provide.  Upon further discussion, I discovered that she often choses to use her primary language with her family or friends (even when able to say the same things in English) because it provides her an additional level of privacy when in public.  At times, like when she speaks with her mother, she also choses Spanish over English when it is more comfortable for the receiver to use and/or understand.   

So as I consider these few examples, I cannot help but wonder if taking time to learn other languages could not only provide monolinguals such as myself flexibility in communication for instances needing more privacy; but I wonder too if it would also provide opportunities that we have not yet considered? Like being able to communicate with someone else that we may not have been able to before.  Would it also allow us to have some insight into other cultures and traditions that we have not before been privy too; as we’ve previously been depending instead on someone else’s interpretations.  An empowering position perhaps; one that may cause pause in considering one’s definition of power when it comes to our world….could proposing a nation of multilingualism provide more power than this push for an international language?  Imagine how much more insight and appreciation we could have for another culture if we were able to read books, magazines, websites, etc. that we normally may not have access to due to our limited language abilities? 

As I end my ramblings, at least here in the blog, please understand that I am not attempting to pose an argument against finding a language perhaps that can speak to many, at least in the regard that similar educational opportunities can be understood by ‘all’ or more.  I am instead asking if we should consider the possibilities that an enlarged literacy and language lens could provide for an individual as we seek to enrich our own lives.  Consider how much we’ve learned in just one semester by reading wonderful (sometimes provocative) articles and texts available to those that speak the English language?  Now imagine just how many more we could discover should we arm ourselves with the language that allows us to see them.

Literacy for its own sake

So after a weekend progressive dinner in our community, I find that some people don't really care how literate they are in some respects. I consider myself fortunate to be in an academic community (in this department) where there is not necessarily a right or wrong answer, and no one literacy to learn. There's so much 'world' out there to learn. From Susan Watson I've learned a lot about teaching English. From Susan - I'm sorry - I keep thinking of you as Susan Gale, and I know I'm wrong - I've learned how much I still have to learn to consider myself educated. From Holly I see how to listen more. From Lisa I learn I have memories to share. From Annie - eventually I'll learn to pronounce your correct name - I learn how much there is in the world that affects so many populations and I see a very different perspective. From Dr. Muth I've learned that my energy is sometimes a good thing. So my generative blog for today is simply to say thank you for opening me up to a new literacy.



Joyce M.

A bit of self-criticism

Bitcoin model

I recently learned about something called Bitcoin, a virtual currency described as "one of the first implementations of a concept called crypto-currency, which was first described in 1998 by Wei Dai on the cypherpunks mailing list. Building upon the notion that money is any object, or any sort of record, accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context, Bitcoin is designed around the idea of a new form of money that uses cryptography to control its creation and transactions, rather than relying on central authorities" (bitcoin.org).

At first, I thought the Bitcoin model was something like Paypal, a secure system of online payment transactions.  I  thought bitcoins were something like Euros, a currency backed by, and used within, a system of governments.  I also considered Bitcoin to be some kind of credit system.  All in all, my narrow, linear thinking was once again completely off-base.  I had to climb out of my ideological model to question what money actually is, and from where it derives its inherent value and security.  I had to let go of the image of gold bars sitting in a steel vault in Fort Knox, KY.  I had to let go of the notion that, somehow, those gold bars guaranteed my concept of security and value.  "In God we trust" really means the paper (or coin or credit card) I give you is valued and secured by our mutual assumption of what those gold bars represent.  I suspect danah boyd would describe this model as atom-ic. 

Bitcoin is a new model that invites us to take a completely different view on the creation and security of an economic system whose "rules are enforced collectively by the network."  It creates and secures "money" with technology (bits) rather than steel and gold (atoms).  The fundamentals of the Bitcoin system are laid out on its web site, however,  I don't think the basic economic principles are what frightens me.  I think there are 2 basic threats that this new Bitcoin system brings: 1) it challenges my assumptions of security by guaranteeing value with bits rather than atoms, 2) it creates a new power structure that challenges my assumption of the status quo.

It's a revelation for me to recognize myself as the one who feels threatened by Bitcoin; in this scenario, I am the one whose assumptions seek to maintain the status quo!  Gulp.   I want to be the rebel, but I can't be the one who advocates change without first recognizing my own, threatened position.  I suppose this blog post is a preview of my presentation this week.  Hopefully, I will be able to show you how my espoused theories were in conflict with my theories in action.   It was both wonderful and awful to recognize this in myself. 

By the way, Bitcoin has come under attack in the news this week.  I am neither for nor against Bitcoin, I used it as an example to make my point.  It is interesting, however, to dissect the challenges to Bitcoin.  Valid or otherwise, I can see the threatened powers-that-be behind these attacks.   

I hope I haven't convinced you I'm crazy.  This has been a very interesting week for me.  Thanks for listening to my madness.  Susan

   

A Speaker of English

    I am a speaker of English.  This was not by choice; it was simply native.  In high school my choice was Russian.  The teacher was dynamic, lively and spoke the languages of the cold war; after six months a new teacher came in, rigid and uninspiring and I needed a tutor to survive the three required years.  Since then it is more of a novelty to tell people that I was going to save "us" during the cold war and a Russian tutor had to save me instead.  What I remember of the language is minimal; what I learned from the language is a great deal of respect.

    My recent experience with Spanish was more painful.  Maybe the high school pain of sitting with a tutor has faded over the years, but since then I have developed a fiercely competitive spirit to do my best at everything and in Spanish I had found an insurmountable challenge.  Two semesters later I finished with eight credits and a B average.  I’d never worked harder at anything in my life and I couldn’t speak Spanish now, five months later, to save my life.  I survived by memorizing, deleting and memorizing again.  It didn’t stick; I wasn’t truly committed to the language to save my life.  I wonder if I needed Spanish for my livelihood if I would have learned more, but then it’s not an experience I can fathom for I have English.  I have what many think may someday be the “common language”.

    I take a great deal for granted; English being one.  Many native English speakers do.  I understand English is the second most popular language (behind Mandarin) if we are looking at populations of native speakers, but many countries encourage their children to learn English as a secondary language which I imagine distorts the statistics, putting English near the top of the list of spoken languages.  How many international English conversations truly involve an English native I wonder?  Yet, with Spanish on the rise, will English survive as the common language?  I don’t know the ever-changing statistics.

     Why does the world consider being an English speaker so powerful?  Are great thoughts not thought in other languages?  Are we trying to separate cultures and language with the growth of English as a common language?  Are "we", the native English speaker trying to take some sort of control?  A person’s language is an integral part of who they are as a human.   Who gets to decide what common language gets used?  If we create a mainstream sort of society have we not lost many great thoughts across the language barriers?  Don’t we always lose something in a translation?

     Perhaps a common language is necessary to share knowledge, but with it so much is also lost.  I am jealous of those that can think/speak successfully in multiple languages.  They have the abilities which allow them to translate ideas to more people.  They also have the abilities to learn more from others.   I remain just a speaker of English.

Health Literacy Toolkit

Health Literacy Toolkit can be found on the VALRC website

Thank you for your patience and consideration of one more  promotion: the VA Adult ESOL Health Literacy Toolkit .  This project is the result of a lot of hard work by my colleague, Kate Singleton.  It's a wonderful resource for anyone teachng ABE-ESOL. 

We could certainly take a critical socio-cultural perspective to healthcare and health literacy.  People who are not full citizens will not be included in the Affordable Care Act in Virginia, at least that's how it looks right now.  It seems Virginia is not treating immigrants as human beings, rather, as lesser beings defined by a piece of paper (or lack thereof).   I'll leave this issue dangling, and make my exit  My intent is to advertise the Toolkit...but I'll engage if anyone has a thought or two on the subject.

Thank you.  Susan

Progress Newsletter

Winter-Spring 2013 Issue

Given everything we've covered in class, I found this issue of  Progress, the newsletter published by our friends and colleagues at the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center, a good read.  The theme is multiple literacies.

If you're interested, you can subscribe to Progress by visiting the VALRC website .

Pushing Literacy

At the risk of raising a discussion that I’ve already covered, I’d like to consider the power that text can hold with some freshly colored perspectives.  While I know that the conceptual relationship of power and the written word is not something new to all of us at this point in the semester, I am amazed and inspired at every turn in just how many ways one can find this to be so.  Since this semester began, I have discovered the power that text can have over our assumptions, beliefs, perceptions, understandings, desires, emotions, convictions, resistance, decisions, inspirations….I am constantly amazed at how often we have uncovered the use of text to influence an entire nation of people, or even just one.    

Consider first Push, and the POWERFUL story of Precious’s life.  In the pages of this book I found myself becoming lost in grief and hope.  I cried for a fictional character, wondering how a parent could treat a child in such a way.  Yet the text also told another story for me as well; how many others live in the world around us-perhaps even at times shares the same space-and have similar stories?  My heart breaks at the thought…as the mother of a daughter, someone else’s child and a tremendous believer in the power and right one has to their own education.  So many sufferings this character faced were unnecessary; sufferings that were written in such a way that it is not a story that I will soon forget.

Pondering this, I also consider the text Sapphire chose to tell such a story.  The vulgarity repeatedly used to describe even simple things…yet a Discourse that I perhaps am just not familiar with.  Were the words chosen meant to convey the emotions that resulted for me?  Or did I take away unintended meaning because of the experiences that I lay upon her story?    Such a realization did not even occur to me until our class discussion and the discovery that Sapphire had herself experienced her own injustices as a child.   Forcing myself to look at the text more critically, I wonder how much of her own story is a part of the painting of Precious’s world.    Is this instead a story that is meant to stay with the reader in hopes that we will always consider the possibility that education can provide?  While Precious’s experiences can never be erased, she does seem to discover herself through the use of literacy practice-uncovering perhaps even a hidden power within.

I would be remiss to not also consider our readings from this week, most notably Mazak’s study of the literacy practices of Puerto Rican Farmers.  While the push to adopt the English language was a clear power move, the resistance that came from it can be seen as one as well.  The teacher’s that resisted teaching the English language when no one was looking; the adults that chose not to speak it; the farmers that still to this day chose to go to Chucho for translations instead of ‘giving in’ and learning it for themselves.  Some may argue that they are simply delaying the inevitable, but consider Chucho’s interpretation of his position of community leader.  Although “English literacy, in and of itself, gives them prestige.  It is because of the way that other farmers can access information in English through them, and thus can bypass the English language struggle themselves.”  Now who can deny the power in that?  But then, one may also wonder, do they resist only to the avoidance of seeing the push a helpful one? 

One thing is certain, what you read and understand is colored by the experiences and stories that make you who you are.  Whether it fuels your resistance or your desire, text and the way it is used can truly be a vehicle of power.    ”Written texts get their meanings in the way speakers do-by embedding their words within the contexts, conditions, and constraints of experiences one has had in the world.” (Gee, pg 4)

Close captioned

I've begun seeing different literacies in my life, as my posts have shown. Now there's another. I watch (too much) television with the sound off most of the time (in part because our televisions don't receive sound at the same rate, so there's an echo). I find that I almost enjoy 'reading' the text more than hearing the words. Sometimes I put the sound on and still have the closed captioning. It's interesting when part of the 'text' is left out of the captioning. Depending on the program, there are often way too many [bleep]s (that's how it displays) and so much conversation that doesn't make it into the captioning. One of my issues is names. So someone is named Vito; he's not Italian, and I'm okay with that. Then it turns out that his mother spelled it Veto. What?

In my community I speak a different 'language' than most of our friends, in part from school and in part from things I hear (my husband's friend says I have a musical ear) and read (and learn). I spent five minutes explaining to three women what baby mama drama is. Am I street literate? No way. But am I reading a different world? I think so. I read my world. My world is larger for my reading. I think all of us are fortunate that we have the desire and ability to read more of our worlds. So many worlds, so little time.

Viewing My Teaching

I teach computers. That's what I tell people I do for a living. In the past I've defined myself as a trainer, because that's what job descriptions called what I do. Years ago I took career counseling and one of the main recommendations was that I teach people to do their jobs. Twenty five years later, that's what I do. I think I do it well, although I always question my abilities after a difficult class (don't we all?). Now my sense of self sees a teacher. I thought I taught computer literacy, but Coiro points out that the digital literacy is so much more. In interviewing supervisors and managers, digital literacy was being able 'to tell a story with the software'. I actually heard that twice, in reference to Microsoft Excel. He writes, "Reading purposefully to solve problems using the Internet also means knowing what to pay attention to while being aware of the increasing range of digital techniques . . ." So now I can't even say someone is computer literate if they can work on the computer - they have to be able to understand how to use the computer to learn.

I teach Introduction to Computers and the Internet. I think everyone would be surprised at how difficult it is to teach someone what the internet is. For adults, it's teaching them that they can go somewhere that doesn't exist, get something that doesn't exist, and move it to somewhere that doesn't exist.

And for the record, I spelled reassurance incorrectly on a previous post. I know it's nothing, but it's been bothering me. My bad.


Joyce M.

English in China

Thank you Susan for upgrading our blog! It's even fancier now ~~~You are so good!

The reading this week is so interesting. It is definitely one of my top three favorites through out the semester.  I can connect with it so much, and it makes me reflect on my own experience. The status of English in China has also been a controversial topic for a long time. Different from the two cases discussed in the readings, English is neither an official language nor a national language, but it cannot be over emphasized in the educational system.

In the first piece, there is an idea that the pride of learning English is not laid in the language itself, but the information one can get via English. I never though in this way before, but it makes me ponder the reason why we spend so much time and energy in learning English in China. Generally, I think there are three reasons for it. First one is about self-actualization. For example, personally, I like English a lot, and chose it as my major. I feel good about myself when I can speak fluently and be understood. It is an skill set which makes me feel competent, just as being able to swim or to cook well. It adds to my personal identity and helps shape who I am. I may not use it often, but I can choose to use it when I want to. Having this choice is very empowering. In this perspective, learning English is not about how others see me, but about my value and how I see myself. 

Honestly, not everyone likes English as much as I do and is willing to devote to it. For these people, there are more practical reasons for learning English, one of which is to access information in English. China has participated in the global market for three decades. There is an incredible amount of information available only in English. To be the first one to get those original information is to have the greatest opportunity to win in the competition. In this case, the significance of English lays in the importance of the information. English is more a tool to obtain the value than the value itself. This is very similar to the situation described in our reading, where the brothers read in English only when the information is not available in their mother tongue. 

There is another reason for learning English in China which I didn't see in the first piece, but in the second one. Because of educational and economic policies, English has been promoted as a label of the elite class. In the article, parents send their children to private school to learn English so that they will have a bigger chance to succeed. In China, many elementary students are learning English, which are not compulsory until the middle school, to build a solid foundation for the English class later. For these children, the competency of English is a source of respect. They will be highly valued and preferred by their teachers and peers because they are good at English. Also, being able to use English is a sign of the well educated. Celebrities choose themselves English names and put them in their online profiles. Companies create their logos in English. No matter how wrong the grammar is, using English seems to bring a product to a higher level. 

With the increasing popularity of English, it has begun to influence Chinese and become a vent for the new generation to voice their questions to the social problems. In the recent decade, a number of new words are created by combining Chinese with English. For example, in Chinese, there is a word “Gei Li" which means "powerful" or "successful". With English suffix"-able", it is transformed into "geilivable". Also, the word "Niu Bi", which means "competent" or "impressive", is transformed into "Nuibility". Some others words are transformed in a more sarcastic way, which indicates the anger and helplessness of the people toward the problematic political system. "Citizen" becomes "Shitizen". "Freedom" becomes "Freedamn". "Democracy" becomes "Democrazy". "Internet" becomes "Innernet". Although none of these words has not been officially acknowledged, they are widely used on the Internet. 

Although these linguistic phenomenon can be regarded as a cry for political reform, some people believe that it polluts the purity of Chinese. There are reasons for their concern. The emphasis on English has heavily threatened and undermined the inheritance of the traditional Chinese literacy and culture, just as what it has done to many other languages and cultures. Then to what degree should we embrace English? How to balance the states of our own language and English? How to maintain our own culture while learn the essence of the western culture? These are questions that all the non-English-Speaking countries need to think about in the process of globalization.  There is a piece of TED Talk about the mania of learning English. I am not sure if I agree with the speaker’s opinion, but it is definitely an interesting one. Hope you will like it.