You may have misunderstood, I am not sure. My argument was more or less
appropriation, emphasis on every day knowledge, interests, etc. can be
internilation in disguise or worse yet internalization that is more
successful -cultural reproduction. The author I was referring to was Nick
Rose in his Death of the Social. Particularily the emphasis on community
etc as being in opposition to the social state. His argument or my
interpretation of it was the danger of this perception that community etc
as necessarily being oppositional. For class we read House's article as an
example of community being put into that oppositional space.
My point on resistance was more or less COL has the potential of making the
relationship between school and students to cozy in which resistance is
less likely. For me, its a warning to myself , because I like the
community of learning stuff, that it doesn't become a wolf in sheeps
clothing. I don't think this is in contradiction of your critique of
appropriation, but I may be wrong.
Nate
----- Original Message -----
From: Eugene Matusov <ematusov who-is-at UDel.Edu>
To: XMCA <xmca who-is-at weber.ucsd.edu>
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 1999 1:29 PM
Subject: Re: some joint activity re contextless reading?
> Hi Ilda, Nate, Ken, and everybody--
>
> Ilda asked,
> >As for your view as a parent, I am not certain I have understood the
part
> about
> >Diary of Anne Frank, did you mean that your child hates Anne Frank for
some
> >reason?
>
> My son studied the Diary of Anne Frank twice in California public
schools.
> Once in an innovative elementary public elementary school (5th grade)
where
> whole language was wholehearted educational philosophy of the teacher.
Then
> he studied it in a traditional public Junior High school where whole
> language was mandated. I don't know how and what exactly the teachers
from
> did in the classrooms but I observed and experienced my son's reaction to
> these two instructions.
>
> Whole language as wholehearted teacher's philosophy with genuine
> institutional support from the school (e.g., no grades, no homework).
> It was time of discussion of the antiimmigrant California Proposition
187.
> My son asked my wife and me, "If a family of illegal Mexican immigrants
asks
> us as for refuge, will we allow them to live in our car garage?" We
replied
> with a question of asking him how we should act and what he expected from
> us. He said that he thought we would accept the family. He added that he
> would play with the Mexican kids and would not tell about the refuges
even
> to his closest friends. I asked him why he wanted to put people in the
car
> garage -- would it be better to put them in one of our rooms? He replied
> that it would be more dangerous for them because our neighbors might
report
> on them to police like in the Diary of Anne Frank book. (It was
interesting
> that my son identified himself and us -- US legal immigrants, Jews from
> Russia -- with Dutch and not with Anne Frank's family).
>
> Whole language as mandate.
> Once I asked what they did in school and my son replied that they studied
> fractions and the Diary of Anne Frank book to death. I expressed my
> surprise because I knew that he used to like that book in the other
school.
> "Not anymore. I'm sick and tired listening about how brave Anne Frank
was
> while the only thing she did was hiding and writing a stupid diary." I
> asked him why he didn't share his opinion in the class that he didn't
think
> that Anne was brave. He looked at me as if I came from another planet
and
> said that he did not want to get "F." Ken's message below reminded my
son's
> reaction.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Ken Goodman <kgoodman who-is-at u.arizona.edu>
> To: Eugene Matusov <ematusov who-is-at UDel.Edu>
> Sent: Thursday, March 25, 1999 1:01 PM
> Subject: Re: some joint activity re contextless reading?
>
>
> > Here's a story to confirm Eugene's fear;
> > A teacher meets a girl on the playground who was in her fifth grade
> > class the year earlier. "what are you reading now", she says. "We're
all
> > reading the Diary of Anne Frank" says the girl- "and we all wish she'd
> > die already".
> >
> > Mandated whole language is and was an oxymoron.
> > --
> > Kenneth S. Goodman, Professor, Language, Reading & Culture
> > 504 College of Education, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
> > fax 520 7456895 phone 520 6217868
> >
> > These are mean times- and in the mean time
> > We need to Learn to Live Under Water
>
> Nate wrote,
> > Your comment reminded me of what Vygotsky said of teaching literature.
It
> > was something to the fact that if we want children to appreciate
> literature
> > to worst thing we can do is explicit teach it. If school is as much
> about
> > resistance as it is about appropriation/internalization then what we
teach
> > is also about what a child resists or appropriates. Some of the
> literature
> > I have been reading questions some of the more contextual-local
approaches
> > for its lack of resistance. At a certain level I like resistance which
is
> > part of my attraction to the Vygotsky sig. In a more contextual -
> > community of learners approach the insider/outsider is more difficult
to
> > distinguish which in turn makes resistance less likely. Don't get me
wrong
> > I like the more contextualist-local approach as in COL but it does
bring
> up
> > the question if its assimilation that works.
>
> I think that the innovative school that I briefly described above
promotes
> much more critical thinking in kids that resistance promoting traditional
> school because it focuses on critical negotiation of meaning (rather than
> "appropriation/internalization"). I'm absolutely sure that the teacher
from
> the innovative school would support kids challenging the idea that Anne
> Frank is not brave. I respectfully disagree with Nate that, "If school
is
> as much about
> resistance as it is about appropriation/internalization then what we
teach
> is also about what a child resists or appropriates" only choices
available
> (Nate, if misunderstand your position, I'm sorry). I think with all this
> focus on "appropriation/internalization" there is too much interest in
> culture reproduction.
>
> What do you think?
>
> Eugene
> ----------------------------
> Eugene Matusov
> School of Education
> University of Delaware
> Newark, DE 19716
> office: (302) 831-1266
> fax: (302) 831-4445
> email: ematusov who-is-at udel.edu
> WWW: http://ematusov.eds.udel.edu
> -------------------------------------
>
>
>