Response to M and G's reading

Literacy and Minority Children

                  I found the article to be a little interesting, especially the different studies of how literacy is used in the households and school. First off, I feel it’s important for a person to have “street” smarts and “book” smarts. Street smarts is being educated in your home environment and from your neighborhood, which can be from family, friends, strangers, experiences, trials, tribulations, and many others. Book smarts is learning from school and books. To me, by having both you are able to deal with all kinds of life experiences and anything that can come your way because you will be able to adapt to the situation due to your well-rounded background. It makes you a more secure person and able to know how to handle a situation whether it’s dealing with something you learned about in school or in a different environment. For example, “ …Teachers have drawn on the insights gained from household visits and analysis in a number of ways” (162). Home life experiences help in shaping your life and you as a person, without these experiences you wont be able to understand life and your purpose in it. The teachers saw the importance of home life and how this contributes to their learning and work trades or experiences.

A good example of this transition from learning street smarts to book smarts is seen in the following quote: “As the children read the books and discussed them among themselves and with the teacher, they struggled in understanding…” (156). Even though the transition is difficult, learning and knowing both ways of smarts are vital to living a healthy life and being able to adapt in society.

                  The importance of both smarts can also be seen in the movie, The Freedom Writers. Majority of the kids from the classroom were from the ghetto and each had their own trials they had to overcome. By going to class and learning from books and lectures, majority of them were able to turn their negative experiences into positivity and turn their lives around. No one has a perfect life and I believe everything you go through is for a reason, whether negative or positive. They learned this by writing in their journals and using literacy as an outlet and a way to express themselves. This was difficult for them because many of them weren’t interested in reading, writing, and learning (i.e., book smarts). This was something they had to learn and adapt to, but realized it was good for them and will help in turning their life around. Thus, “…None of these innovations will last unless teachers are able to overcome the intellectual limits of traditional schooling for these children…” (168).  This stresses the importance of working with the children and their lifestyles instead of stripping away their culture. Teachers must be willing to experiment and test boundaries and go outside of the standards set for them, if they want to reach students and make a difference.

                  In conclusion, family life plays a critical role in the student’s learning. This is something that teachers should be willing to work around instead of trying to take it away from them. At the same account, parents must be willing and involved in their child’s learning and helping them with their schooling and educational learning. The child must also be open to accepting both forms of learning and being able to adapt to school and not forget their family values. It’s a three way street and everyone needs to take action for their roles.