From Problem-Solving to Celebration: Discovering and Creating Meanings through Literacy.
Author(s):
Weinstein-shr, Gail
Format:
Report
Publisher:
1989.
Language:
English
Abstract:
This article argues that the traditional classroom may provide little opportunity for English-as-a-Second-Language teachers to learn about the lives of their students. Drawing on ethnographic research in Philadelphia's Hmong community, an attempt is made to demonstrate how teachers can get a distorted picture of their students and how their students live. One teachers'experiences with three Hmong individuals illustrate how such assumptions can be challenged when the teacher has the opportunity to see these individuals in the context of their own communities. The intellectual climate is examined, Which allows a new view of literacy, where the emphasis is shifted from cognitive consequences to an interest in literacy in social context as a means through which relationships are negotiated, is examined. It is argued that the ideal classroom is one in which both teachers and students have the opportunity to learn about how the world looks through the other's eyes. Suggestions are made to teachers for creating an English-as-a-Second-Language classroom setting where they can discover more about the role of literacy in their students' lives and where students can both identify and expand the contexts in which literacy can create meanings for them. (Author/MSE) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse on Literacy Education)