In Gee's "Opportunity to Learn", we are exposed to the fact that not all students come to the classroom with the same background. Even though they all graduated from the same previous grade level, their knowledge level, and more importantly, their experience with that knowledge, is all different. Assessing all children on the same level, assuming they have had the same experiences to all of the same material, according to Gee, is "invalid and unethical" (28).
At the same time, we can not expect that all students will "want" to interact with material at the same level. All students have different interests. Some are fonder of math over literature, history over biology, Spanish over economics. Gee calls the different learning levels "active" and "critical" (32). Active learning allows you to experience something new, form new affiliations, and prepare to learn more on the topic (32). Critical learning allows you to innovate in the domain, and come up with something novel or unpredictable (33). Typically, critical learning will occur in those areas the student has a fondness for, but not always.
Critical learning was very evident in Mahiri's piece "Street Scripts". The pieces of work and art created by these low-income African American students were "powerful lenses" into their lives and their struggles in their community (24). Their focus was not on getting a better job, or buying a house, or participating in the stock market. These educational topics would be of little interest to them, since they are focusing on survival at the moment. Allowing the students to explore these topics by their own choosing allows us as educators to "step back" and let them express themselves, instead of us reinforcing negative stereotypes of their race and socioeconomic status (22). They know the situation they are in; they don't need us to lecture them about poverty and the importance of finding a good job in the hopes of "getting out". If we let them express their frustration and anxiety over their condition, only then will they begin to listen to us about topics such as buying a house or participating in the stock market, because only then will they see those things as potential opportunities for them in the future.
This was the focus of Tatum's work with Quincy in his piece "Toward a More Anatomically Complete Model of Literacy Instruction". Tatum tells us we need to "address both the literacy needs and life outcomes of African American male adolescents in order to improve the conditions of these young men in school and society" (156). These children need to experience "psychosocial membership" (160), feeling that "they are in the presence of an adult advocate who is not going to give up on them" (160). By finding texts that engage African American adolescents (163) that discuss the typically taboo topics of a social, cultural, political, spiritual and/or economic focus (164), we can create interest in the text. THIS is real life! Real life is not a clean slate where everyone is equal and has equal opportunities and equal value. If we stop pretending this is the case, and deliberate in the actual, the interest level of the students skyrockets. This was shown with Quincy in the texts Tatum assigned him.
Stanley, however, shows us that we also must be careful with texts that the students show interest in. In "Practicing for Romance", Stanley shows us that sometimes the texts chosen "had the effect of undermining their own interests, and of preserving the dominant ideology" (178). These texts can not be considered in a vacuum. They must be discussed and evaluated. In the case of romance novels, we need to question the character's actions, and have the readers wonder if they could do more, or if they could have taken the story into a different direction if they acted differently.
Maher and Hill's pieces show us just how differently the world can be viewed. Life is not A or B, black or white, yes or no. Feminists views in Maher's piece range from conservative to liberal-progressive, and "woman-centered" to social reconstructionist. Some believe schools should focus on academic achievement, but instead "have fallen victim to a series of foolish gender and culture wars (268). Others believe single-sex classrooms might be the answer (270). In Hill's piece, what would seem to some to be one of the most "basic" binary choices in life, sex and gender, involves a lot of "gray" area. Maher sums up these concepts very succinctly: "Teachers ought to engage with the whole child ... and confront societal inequalities" (270). As teachers, will we always say the right thing? Will we always do the right thing? Will we always value every difference displayed by our students in the classroom? If we answer yes, we are fooling ourselves. We have been brought up by society to conform, and when we struggle, that is the education we will fall back to. In our attempt to recognize that and combat it, that is where the true education of our children lies.
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