Reading the World of School Literacy: Contextualizing the Experience of a Young African American Male

Abstract

In this article, Arlette Willis articulates the literacy schooling experiences of her son, Jake, as he engages in a struggle to affirm himself as both a literacy learner and an African American. Asserting that Jake's struggle has historical roots and present-day consequences for the education of culturally and linguistically diverse school children, Willis argues for a reconceptualization of literacy that builds on these children's backgrounds and knowledges. In the last section of the article, Willis provides the reader with some of the strategies and practices she has employed as a teacher-educator to assist her own students in expanding their understandings of the various cultures in U.S. society that children represent.

Living Dialogues in One Neighborhood: Moving toward Understanding across Discourses and Practices of Literacy and Schooling

“…For instance, progressive pedagogies, such as readers and writers workshops, hint at inclusiveness, yet in practice may actually exclude those whose language and literacy practices are not supported (cf. Lensmire, 1994;McCarthey, 1997;Willis, 1995).…”

“…Ariette Willis (1995) called for a new conversation about literacy instruction that reexamines theories of literacy to include issues of cultural and linguistic diversity, because, for too long, the only perspective that has been legitimized is European American. Willis (1995) questioned the assumption that holistic approaches to literacy are culturally validating for all students, given that they do not address culturally specific ways of knowing.…”

“…Willis (1995) questioned the assumption that holistic approaches to literacy are culturally validating for all students, given that they do not address culturally specific ways of knowing. Drawing on her own son's writing experiences in school, she pointed out a need to understand how children acquire language and cultural understandings, as well as their history of literacy instruction, in order to understand how they are reading the world of school literacy.…”

Learning about Culture, Language, and Power: Understanding Relationships among Personhood, Literacy Practices, and Intertextuality

“…This, I would like to suggest, is characteristic of the ways in which literacy and personhood are intertwined in many cultural discourses. (Street, 1994, p. 141) Literacy scholars in Australia, Great Britain, and the United States (e.g., Davies, 1994;Street, 1993Street, ,1994Willis, 1995) have called for examination of the identities and personhoods constituted through literacy practices. They have asked what kinds of literacy practices gain significance and whose and what purposes are served by them.…”

“…the recent interest in an examination of issues of personhood as these relate to literacy education (Street, 1994;Willis, 1995). Interestingly, analysis of the question itself highlighted the importance of the intertextual links created in framing the project by myself as teacher-researcher.…”