You Have Your Own Brain (August)

I must say, out of all the texts we have read thus far, Gerri August’s Making Room for One Another was a text that I struggled deeply with. This wasn’t a struggle on a moral or political level, but strictly on an intellectual level; there were parts that I literally did not understand because of the highly sophisticated vocabulary. So, I apologize if my blog completely missed the mark of the excerpts we were asked to read, but I am going to try my best to make sense of the assignment. Please correct me if anyone had a different interpretation because I do not want to misrepresent the author’s ideas.

The Progressive Era

From what I gathered in the various anecdotes throughout this article, the ZK seems to be a very liberal and progressive school. (Side question- Is the Horton School in Rhode Island? I tried googling it, but couldn’t find anything. The reason I ask is because there is a reference to Pawtucket when Cody has Zeke recant the story of the doggie adoption.) I like the whole ideas of celebrating diversity in the classroom (and not in the generic “hey-let’s-throw-up-a-picture-of-kids-with-different-skin-tones-in-a-clasroom” diversity. Because, is that really and truly diversity? Check out: Viewbook Diversity v. Real Diversity)

Zeke really seems to try and foster a classroom of respect and appreciation for differences at a very early age (I mean, to read a book like “Who’s in a Family?” to kindergarteners seems like it could have it’s fair share of controversy, especially depending on what state people live in). Maybe he is taking his logic from Delpit, in the sense that the more explicit an educator is, the better student results would be. In other words, if Zeke explicitly educates children on the vast differences among one another, maybe those children will not be apt to bully or exclude others in the future based on those differences.

August used the word “otherized” (10) to describe children who are left out of the dominant culture circle. She explains that children can become otherized due to “the sexual orientation of his parents, his language, his color, or his clothing”, which can result in “disorienting powerlessness.” (10) I think the last thing we want, as educators, is for our youth to feel powerless. What if the youth of the Egyptian Revolution 2011 felt they were powerless? Would Egypt be changing the way it is today? Or what if Deamonte, the young boy who helped all those babies while emergency personnel rescued others, thought that because he was just a kid he couldn’t make a difference or act “like a hero?” Youth need have some sense of power, and the process of otherization alienates instead of empowers.

Monologicality vs. Dialogicality

Zeke seems to welcome in an intellectual discourse with his six year olds that some teachers at the middle or high school level may not even begin to discuss. However, Zeke seems to pick up on the innate curiosity of young children in the classroom. Therefore, the “dialogicality” of his classroom makes sense. To me, dialogicality has multiple layers of meaning. It could simply refer to the ability of a child to engage in a dual conversation with either classmates or an adult. However, this concept could go a step deeper in the sense that the word “logical” pops out at the reader. Not only is the child trying to engage in a discussion where there are various sides, but the child is trying to make sense of the conversation. August describes this concept as the ability to push “voices out from the normative socio-political center, promoting diversity among utterances.” (7-8) Dialogicality is an academic jump from monologicality. Monologicality, to me, seems like a one-voiced conversation in which there is no room for intellectual discourse amongst those who are listening. I hope that there are not many teachers out there who solely promote monologicality, because it seems as though this rationale of thinking does not really allow knowledge growth; it does not provide for those critical thinking skills that students need to be competitive in the 21^st century.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

The story entitled “Yes is Winning”, in which Trinity keeps track of how many children are excited about the exhibition, provides insight into the power of the dominant culture. Whether intentional or not, August was absolutely right her interpretation that, Trinity “enjoyed the security that is associated with majority status. Her social safety offered a platform for her verbal campaign to launch a competition, one that she was sure to win.” (137) So much so in our daily lives, we are comfortable with talking about scenarios in which we know there is a vast dominance of agreement. Myself in particular, I hate getting into discussions where I know I will be adamantly disagreeing with someone because I hate confrontation. But it’s interesting, because in my classroom, I actually like it when the kids don’t agree with each other because I want to see what arguments my students can create and how they provide evidence for their case (because history is all about perspective!) As Zeke put it to Cody, “You have your own brain.” (138)

I like it that each person has their own brain.