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Knowledge vs. Application

Throughout my school career, I have been taught that literacy was a

combination of speaking and writing well. Each year we were given assessments

and quizzes and were assigned reading levels intended to reflect our degree of

literacy. These were the only forms of literacy that I was aware of and thus the only

means I had of defining literacy. Until the beginning of this class I had never

questioned it. Having nearly completed the course however, I can say with certainty

that my definition of literacy has expanded exponentially.

Growing up, I didn’t really understand the concept of literacy, but I did

understand the importance of reading. Some of my earliest memories involve this

activity. Every night, I would crawl into bed with my parents and we would read.

Dad would be reading a book by Louis Lamour, John Grisham, or Tom Clancy. Mom

would read a new mystery novel or, more likely, Sherlock Holmes. Again. I, however,

would be petering along in my Bob Books. This tradition continued for many years

beyond even the point where I grew out of needing any significant help. Because it

was an integral part of a time shared with my parents, I grew to love reading. When

my parents would tell me to turn out my light, I would set my alarm for 5:30 the

next morning. For years, I began and ended every day with a book. As I got older, my

elementary school was very involved with the use of the Accelerated Reading

program and I myself was always very ambitious with it. My understanding at the

time was that being a good reader meant that you were smart.

This perception, for a number of years, was never challenged. I did well in all

of my classes and never had any problems. However, this changed in the seventh

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grade when I was placed in the weaker math class. I told my parents and they began

making arrangements for me to take some assessment tests. I ended up taking two,

passing one but not the other. The more advanced math teacher, Mr. Sotka,

explained this to me and, without fully understanding what that meant, I had to go

to the bathroom and cry. The next day however, I was transferred to his “smart

class” and finished out middle school in the advanced classes. Years later I

discovered that this was largely due to the fact that my mother had gone down to

the school as an advocate on my behalf. While the whole experience ended up

resolving in my favor, it was never the less an eye opener. I realized that there were

important skills aside from reading and this was the first step I took towards

identifying separate forms of literacy.

At the time I started college and even up until the beginning of this course, I

engaged in a very traditional definition of literacy. The first day of class I wrote that

literacy was “a system of language used to communicate.” Having read several

articles and Mike Rose’s Lives on the Boundary though, that perception has

completely changed.

The first step towards this change in my viewpoint began with the very first

article that we read by Kozol and the discovery that illiteracy exists everywhere. I

was completely blown away by the statistics it produced regarding the prominence

of illiteracy in America. I’d always considered it to be a problem that was found in

other places and countries but never our own. Also, when considering illiteracy, I’ve

always assumed that it was a problem only for the very poor, backwater,

unsuccessful people who have never applied themselves to learning. I had never

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considered the fact that there could be successful members of society without the

ability to read. This article however, painted a very clear picture of a person who

hides his inability well and manages to achieve a career in spite of the challenges.

Thinking more about the Kozol article led me to the belief that the topic of

illiteracy in America is overlooked far too much by the population as a whole, myself

included. Nothing can be done about a problem if no one is aware that it exists. The

fact that Jimmy Carter, before he had even become president, pledged to eliminate

illiteracy in America is admirable. However, without any results over a decade later

one has to question our government’s dedication to truly eradicating it. The

statistics put forth by Kozol reveal a huge disparity between the number of people

needing help and the number of those who are actually receiving it. “In a single

municipal district in San Antonio, over half the adult population is illiterate in

English. Over sixty percent of the same population sample is illiterate in Spanish.

Three percent of adults in this district are at present being served.” (Kozol 3) The

programs that are currently in place are not reaching enough people to be truly

effective. The author’s purpose in writing this particular piece was to make people

aware of a specific dilemma and to inspire action towards a remedy. This specific

theme is continually reinforced by Mike Rose in Lives on the Boundary.

The first chapter of Rose’s book, like the Kozol article, really served as a

wake-up call to me. Even having nearly completed the course it is difficult for me to

wrap my mind around the fact that there are so many people in modern-day

America that are going through their lives as “illiterate.” It’s amazing to me that the

problem has been researched and speculated on and hypothesized about for over a

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hundred years and yet we have no suitable method of combating illiteracy entirely.

It was interesting to me that Rose included arguments for the rise in schooling in

America. This almost seems to indicate a rise in literacy. However, Rose also

includes several statistics concerning the continual raising of the bar in schools.

Each time student performance increased in schools, so did expectations.

Rose’s purpose in writing is clear. It’s written on the back of the book. His

goal is to encourage his readers to open their eyes to the problem around them and

to “reexamine their assumptions about the capacities of a wide range of students.”

It’s easy to look at a struggling child and simply write them off as impossible to help.

What is more challenging is to recognize the knowledge that may not be

represented in traditional methods of assessment. According to Mike Rose however,

this is exactly what must be done.

In reflecting more on what literacy is and how to define it, I was led to the

Scribner article, “Literacy in Three Metaphors.” It was interesting to me that, after

establishing the difficulties in defining literacy, Scribner then went on the add three

of her own. She even makes a point of stating that these three metaphors are

imperfect as well. Her main purpose however, seemed to be that of analyzing the

problem and presenting it in a new manner. Scribner contends that “Most efforts at

definitional determination are based on a conception of literacy as an attribute of

individuals; they aim to describe constituents of literacy in terms of individual

abilities. But the single most compelling fact about literacy is that it is a social

achievement; individuals in societies without writing systems do not become

literate.” (Scribner 2) In choosing three “metaphors,” she portrays what she feels to

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be the main aspects of literacy.

When discussing her first metaphor of adaptive literacy, Scribner makes a

point that I found myself agreeing with. Functional literacy means different things to

many different groups. However, the problem with creating criteria based on each

sub-set of society only serves to continue educational inequalities that are causing

problems today.

In her second metaphor, Scribner raises the question of the best way to

motivate a community toward literacy. She seems to favor the idea of communities

being mobilized from within and I think that I agree with her on this point. Change is

most likely to occur when a person has been pushed and challenged by those that he

or she is close to, not when some great power makes a rule. However, this could

perpetuate the dilemma brought to light in the first metaphor. If a person’s literacy

is evaluated by the immediate requirements of their community, we risk creating a

different form of that same inequality that it is our current mission to destroy.

The third metaphor, the state of grace, involves the transcending of

guidelines set by political and economic powers. A literate person finds meaning in

all of the accumulated wealth of history recorded in some form of written word. I

have a hard time with this metaphor. While, to some extent, I do agree with the idea

of being a “cultured” member of society, I also think that it is possible to be literate

even if a person does not seek out classic literature. A person who is not well

acquainted with Homer or Shakespeare is still able to function as a member of

society.

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It quickly became clear to me that literacy is not a simple study of language. It

is in fact a term that applies to a broad range of topics and several facets of life.

James Baldwin’s article “Down at the Cross” demonstrates this especially well.

Instead of literacy though, Baldwin uses the term gimmick to describe the thing that

children of the ghetto dedicate themselves to. His personal gimmick was the church

and he devoted himself to it wholeheartedly for several years. He also mentions

options taken by others though. Some “fled into the service…others fled to other

states and cities…Some went on wine or whisky or the needle, and are still on it. And

others, like me, fled into the church.” (Baldwin 30) For Baldwin, the primary literacy

of living in a ghetto is that of finding a means of escape from their situation in life.

Nawal El-Saadawi’s article “Love and Sex in the Life of the Arab” posits that there is

a global literacy that should be learned by people. To further this, she details a

particular culture that she is familiar with, that of the Arab woman. She discards

social perceptions formed by familiarity with A Thousand and One Nights saying that

they “are only a partial and one-sided reflection of a very narrow section of Arab

society, as it lived ten centuries ago.” (El-Saadawi 515) The rest of the article details

the current state of Arab culture, contributing towards a wider global literacy.

Social structures form one of the most determining factors in a child’s

development. In describing the environment in his neighborhood, Rose states that

he was most affected not by violence, but by the lack of passion around him. The

people he saw every day worked so hard that their hearts were being “rubbed

away” and caused him as a child to see life from a very negative perspective. I

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personally did not grow up in an area like this so it is hard for me to imagine how

these circumstances would have affected me.

Perhaps the most compelling story told by Rose in this chapter was that of

the boy who “just wanted to be average.” This statement is mortifying to nearly

everyone who hears it; especially in a community such as ACU where everyone is

encouraged to strive for excellence. Once we think about it though, I think we find

ourselves making the same mistake in at least some aspect of our lives. Average is a

security blanket that people hide behind. While in school Rose notes that, “Students

will float to the mark you set.” This is something I can identify with somewhat

through playing sports. My volleyball team in high school had the worst habit of

playing down to the level of a worse team. Playing against fantastic teams though,

we would perform a hundred times better. I see this same thing happening

academically, even in college. People do only what they absolutely have to do in

order to achieve a certain grade that they have in their mind.

Rose learns to combat this by forming bonds with his students in what I think

is the defining moment in his career, joining the Teacher’s Corps. His time here

makes apparent to his readers the vast obstacles in learning that are placed in front

of marginalized children. While I have never lived in a community in which I was a

minority, I have worked in one. My summer job for the past two years has been

working at a berry field back home where, aside from myself and about four others,

the workers were all from a different culture. The owners were Vietnamese, there

was one Ukrainian family, and one large extended family from Cambodia. The vast

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majority however were native Mexicans. Most of them spoke only Spanish and there

were times where I was completely lost.

The lives led by the children that Rose tutored were astonishing to me. The

way that he presents their situations leaves me as a reader thinking, “Well of course

these kids are behind. How can they not be after what they’re dealing with at

home?” I think that we have a tendency to look at kids who fall behind and think

that it is their own fault. We blame it on inattention or a lack of the desire to learn.

Rose makes it clear that that is not the case. He explores the lives of his students

outside of the classroom which provides him, and the reader, with an explanation as

to the cause of their slow progress. I think that it is important for educators to take

note of this. Without understanding children as more than just a statistically

represented type, but as individuals, it’s nearly impossible to discover exactly what

a student needs.

From the Teacher’s Corps, Rose continues his education through teaching in

the Veteran Program. The people he spotlights in this and other chapters represent

those that I overlook on a daily basis. I think that, because I have received a good

education and understand basic concepts and structures of the English language,

everyone else must be in the same situation. The point where this struck me the

most was when Mike was trying to figure out how to build his curriculum and

discussed how heavy an emphasis there is on analysis. Because I myself am required

to perform this task so often, I don’t even think about it anymore. When I am writing

an explication of a poem, I don’t really think about each step I have to take or how I

learned this rule or that one. It’s simply a skill that has been ingrained in me for as

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long as I’ve been in school and is utilized in each and every one of my higher

education classes.

Mike’s students represent a different quality though that is more important

than their lack of abilities. Even in the university setting, I don’t often see people

with their passion for learning. Each and every one of the students that he portrays

displays a desire to be involved in learning. I think that it is this element which is

lacking from the majority of students’ educational careers.

Having begun to learn the wider nature of literacy, I was faced with the

challenge of applying this in my own experiences with students as I began the

tutoring process. This was more easily sad than done however and was filled with

more examples of what not to do when teaching rather than giving me an example

of what to emulate.

My first trip to Ortiz Elementary was simply a visit to the school to meet the

Communites in Schools Campus Coordinator, Mrs. Ashford and the teacher, Ms. Hart.

I arrived right at the beginning of the school day and was directed to Mrs. Ashford’s

office. I introduced myself and she showed me the way to the classroom I’d be

working in. The class wasn’t there however and we ended up finding them in the

library. Ms. Hart looked up at me from her seat and didn’t say much. She was very

abrupt in her speech, especially with one of her students. He was walking behind

her when she barked at him to go away. He tried to tell her that he was just going to

his seat, which was just behind her. She retorted with, “No you’re not, you’re being

nosy!” We quickly established that I would work with a small group and which days

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I would come visit. I left rather unimpressed and dreading my future interactions

with Ms. Hart.

When I arrived for my first tutoring session two days later I was anticipating

meeting the children and beginning my work with them. When I walked back to the

classroom however, Ms. Hart had completely forgotten that I was coming and didn’t

have anything prepared. She ended up finding some flashcards for me to do with the

boys and sent me out into the hall to wait for them while they went through their

morning routine. The announcements were given over the P.A. system and then Ms.

Hart came out and closed the door to her classroom. Thinking that they were

finishing their classroom routine, I continued to wait.

As I sat there waiting however I was treated to quite an interesting situation

in a couple of the other classrooms. They had left their doors open so I could hear

every word being said. Apparently some of the children had not completed their

homework and their teacher was reading them the riot act. She explained the

importance of maturity and responsibility, stating that middle school teachers had

too many students to chase down each one individually and she wasn’t opposed to

keeping anyone back another year. One girl was told, “Kimberly, you are the kindest,

most helpful, responsible person I know. Except when it comes to your schoolwork.

Obviously your parents don’t ask you if you have homework. Or you lie. Did your

mom ask you about your homework?” The girl’s reply was too quiet for me to hear

and I was beginning to notice the time that had passed and wonder if my students

were ever coming.

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Finally, after waiting for half an hour, I went to the door and tried to get Ms.

Hart’s attention through the window. She eventually took notice of me and came to

the door saying, “Is there anything I can help you with?” She had completely

forgotten who I was and why I was there. I simply countered by asking if the boys

were ready to come out with me yet and she finally remembered. She apologized

and sent out three boys: Oscar, Brandon, and Alfonso.

These three boys were the redeeming quality to all of my visits. On this

particular one, the class was working with figurative language and the flashcards

Ms. Hart had given me had examples and definitions of these. After going through

the flashcards for a while I began to lose the boys so I told them to turn their backs

as I laid the cards out in a grid on the floor. For the rest of the time the boys enjoyed

playing memory with their flashcards, matching examples to definitions. They were

very easy to engage in the activity once I found a way to make it more fun.

Each visit back to the school got progressively better. The second time I went

Ms. Hart had remembered to prepare some materials for my time there and had

provided us with reading comprehension worksheets and the same flashcards over

figurative language. Once she had handed these over, I went out in the hall to wait

once again. While sitting out there, I again found myself listening in on a teacher’s

tirade. “Where’s your folder? Where’s your folder? I haven’t seen yours in a month!

Do I need to call your mom?” “Jiminy flipping Christmas you guys! You did not turn

in your papers yesterday either!”

As I was sitting there listening though, I realized that Ms. Hart had once again

forgotten about me. The announcements had finished ages ago and she had gone

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straight into teaching. I had resolved not to waste anywhere near as much time as

the previous week though so I opened the door to the classroom and asked her if the

boys were ready to come out. She had indeed forgotten again but she called their

names and the boys came to meet me. Oscar however was taking a bit too long for

her taste and she began yelling at him, “Hurry up Oscar! Hurry up! Come on, Oscar!

Get out, Oscar! Get out!” Then she turned to me from across the room and said, “If he

gives you any trouble, let me know.” All of this took place in the middle of class, at

the front of the room and before all of his peers. Despite the fact that I’m not going

to be a teacher, this incident, combined with what I had overheard earlier in the hall,

illustrated to me exactly what I don’t want to be in any position I ever hold with

children.

Unfortunately, the next week served only to further reinforce this image. We

were working in the hall on reading comprehension worksheets and the boys each

took turns reading through the passage before working individually on answering

the accompanying questions. While they worked quietly, I took the opportunity to

again listen in on what was going on in the classrooms nearby. One of them was

studying math and I could see through the open door that they were working

through simplifying fractions on the overhead. Apparently one of the students had

been called on and was unable to give an answer because the teacher had stopped

the lesson and what I heard was her saying, “this is how I know you haven’t been

listening. I’ve been really watching you. You’ve been daydreaming, looking at the

floor, looking at the wall. You need to pay attention.” She went on to discuss the

different paths that could be taken to reach the same simplified fraction and was

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explaining this to the class when she made the remark, “Or some of you just sat

there and did nothing.”

These experiences in the school setting gave me several very clear examples

of what not to do when dealing with children. These teachers, instead of following

Mike Rose’s example of forming bonds with the children and identifying with them

on a personal level, viewed students as groups. The way that they interact with them

displays the belief that if a child isn’t paying attention, he must be lazy, there’s no

other explanation for it. If he didn’t bring his folder to class, he’s disobedient. If he

walks near you during a conversation, he must be nosy. There’s no one to really

connect with the children and that is extremely important.

Mike Rose addresses the solution to this problem in the final chapter of Lives

on the Boundary. Here, he again reiterated the importance of forming relationships

with students. He states that he himself performed better for the teachers that he

knew personally rather than formally. “I worked very hard, for MacFarland had

hooked me. He tapped my old interest in reading and creating stories. He gave me a

way to feel special by using my mind.” (Rose 34) This is also true of myself. I have

always produced better work for teachers that I want to impress and these teachers

are without fail the ones that I know well and can’t bear to have thinking poorly of

me. It’s the same with several other students that I have talked to as well. This

reinforces the point that Mike Rose is making, that even more important than the

content of the teaching is the actual delivery of the teaching. It is at its most effectual

when the teacher has formed a bond with the student. Through this they are able to

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identify with the student, find out what sort of background that they might have and

relate information to them in a way they are able to understand.

At the end of the semester, having combined all of my experiences in the

school with all of my readings, my personal view of literacy has changed drastically.

What began as a common and one-dimensional view of literacy as the ability to read

and write has morphed into something completely different. I can now recognize the

other literacies in everyday life. The homeless man on the corner may not be able to

read and write, but he knows how to survive on the street, a much more important

skill for him to have. A cleaning lady may not be as well versed in Shakespeare as

those who are more highly educated but she can get any room spotless. Literacy is

not about scholarly knowledge, it’s about practical application.

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Works Cited

Rose, Mike. Lives on the Boundary. New York: Penguin, 1989. Print

Baldwin, James. “Down at the Cross.” Literacies. Ed. Terence Brunk, Suzanne

Diamond, Priscilla Perkins, and Ken Smith. New York: W.W. Norton &

Company, 2000. 27-42. Print.

El-Saadawi, Nawal. “Love and Sex in the Life of the Arab.” Literacies. Ed. Terence

Brunk, Suzanne Diamond, Priscilla Perkins, and Ken Smith. New York: W.W.

Norton & Company, 2000. 515-536. Print.

Kozol, Jonathan. Illiterate America. New York: Plume, 1986. Print

Scribner, Sylvia. “Literacy in Three Metaphors.” American Journal of Education. 93.21

(1984). Print.