After reading studies on the dialect of the Appalachian student it is apparent that there is a problem in which schools and teachers instruct their students. It is believed that those students that come from low income homes often fail to do well in school because of a teachers preconceived philosophy; a cultural deficit perspective. A cultural deficit perspective is detrimental to society, because if students are overlooked simply because of where they came from, the cycle of illiteracy and poverty continues. Teaching students that the language that they learn at home is incorrect and forced to speak differently when reading and writing, the student is in effect being closed off, or at least seriously impeded from accessing the world of print (Purcell Gates, 2002). The belief that the families of students of the socioeconomically disadvantaged do not value education and often fail is a direct result of the culture deficit perspective; which has devastating results; such as, poor grades, a high dropout rate, and an over-representation in special education.
“First, and most obvious, teachers and schools must accept, believe and act upon the belief that children of poverty are learners, have been learning since birth, and are ready to learn at any time, and will learn” (Purcell-Gates, 2002).
Most teachers believe students need to learn Standard English so that they will have the communication skills which will enable them more opportunities in the future. It is from this belief that many teachers have developed a negative attitude toward minority dialects as forms of incorrect English; a cultural difference perspective. When teachers use corrective measures to teach Standard English, there is an automatic implication of wrongness in the student’s own dialect which sets those children up to feel inferior and creates a dynamic resistance to the school experience, (Rowland, & Marrow, 2010). For example, the "habitual be." When speakers of standard American English hear the statement "He be reading," they generally take it to mean "He is reading." But that's not what it means to a speaker of Black English, for whom "He is reading" refers to what the reader is doing at this moment. "He be reading" refers to what he does habitually, whether or not he's doing it right now. While a teacher’s intention in teaching their students Standard English, it is possible that their corrective attitude toward non-standard variations has actually been impeding their chances for academic progress, which creates a barrier between the values of home and school.
“The challenges for our schools and educational institutions- to teach kids to speak the language of education without denigrating the speaker.” “Language not only communicates what we are thinking, language also communicates who we are. Language is a reflection of a people” (Rowland, & Marrow, 2010)
Teachers who practice cultural deficit perspective often fail to pay attention to those aspects of the student’s life experience and family that make him/her unique and resilient. Avoiding deficit thinking requires a willingness to take the time to learn more about the lives of individual students outside of school and celebrating their uniqueness. Luis Moll, a professor at the University of Arizona, has done work with school teachers using an approach called "funds of knowledge." This approach involves teachers forming research teams, going out into the communities where their students live and doing ethnographic research to find the funds of knowledge the people in those communities collectively possess. The families shared what they knew (Moll, 1992). Teachers then return back to their schools, share their findings and incorporate them into the structure and content of lessons they teach in their classes. This is a commitment of time and effort, but it makes teachers more knowledgeable about their students. Schools are then reshaped by the presence and participation of families from diverse social and economic backgrounds. Teachers can avoid a cultural deficit perspective, by considering what’s right with the children they teach and building on what they already know, rather than what’s wrong and needs to be fixed.
“The secret to literacy instruction is for schools to investigate and tap into the “hidden” home and community resources of their students. And he points out that his research calls the “deficit model” of student assessment into serious question" (Gonzalez, Greenberg & Velex, 1994).
A Strategy that can improve literacy instruction for speakers of non-standard English is to let students use their informal speech in the classroom and acknowledge it as a valid language which does not have to be corrected and is not wrong (Epstien & Herring-Harris, 2011). Teachers that work to teach students the structural differences and similarities of non-standard English and Standard English help students to “code switch,” moving back and forth between the students dialect and Standard English. “By using their own words to describe these patterns, students move from what they intuitively know about language (cultural capital), to an understanding of language variation and how it works in different settings and with different audiences” (Epstein & Herring-Harris, 2011).
Mainstream America’s intolerance of language varieties extends to the classroom, where dialect is pitted against Standard English. The classroom creates a dichotomy of good and bad, poor and proper, and correct and incorrect with home voices always falling short of the standard. But research shows that nothing could be further from the linguistic truth (Epstein & Herring-Harris, 2011).
The “Where I’m From,” project supports and acknowledges the legitimacy of the cultural heritages as worthy content to be taught in the formal curriculum. It is with this project that a student can learn more about themselves, their families, what is important to them and about others in their classroom. It builds bridges of meaningfulness between home and school experience. It creates a sense of community, and a place of belonging. Our culture is central to learning. It plays a role not only in communicating and receiving information, but also in shaping the thinking process of groups and individuals (Education Alliance, 2006).
Speakers of non-standard English would be welcome in my classroom. I would shape my curriculum with the characteristics of culturally responsive teaching. I will do this by creating a safe place in my classroom in which everyone feels comfortable. I will engage in dialogue with the parents of my students and invite parents to participate in their child's education. I will explore the cultures represented in my classroom and adapt lessons so that they reflect ways of communicating and learning that are familiar to the students. And finally, I will teach my students to build on their own literacy experiences and acknowledge their cultural differences, while teaching respect for each other’s values.
Works Cited:
Gonzales, N., Greenberg, J. & Velez, C. Thanks Funds of Knowledge: A Look at Luis Moll’s Research Into Hidden Family Resources, CITYSCHOOLS, 1 (1), 19-21, 1994.
Mull, l. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. (1992). Theory into Practice, 31(2), 132-41.
Purcell-Gates, V. (2002). “…As soon as she opened her mouth!” In L. Delpit & J.K. Dowdy (Eds.), The skin that we speak: An anthology of essays on language, culture and power.
Rowland, J. & Marrow, D. (2010). Dialect Awareness Education: The importance of Watching Our Words. USC Undergraduate Research Journal Vol 3.
