Giving Voice to the Voiceless

I have continued reading around the concept of the democratic classroom: two young adult novels: Nothing But the Truth by Avi, and Monster by Walter Dean Myers, and articles from the May, 2011 issue of NCTE's journal Voices from the Middle. Three separate, but interconnected, issues emerged from these readings. First there is the issue of students having the right to free speech in a safe, democratic classroom. Second, the issue that there are populations in our classes and society that are marginalized or silent. And third, the issue of how biased media contributes to the silence and fear of speaking out about unpopular beliefs.

Certainly these are not new or unfamiliar issues, but I must consider how to address them in a classroom of diverse middle school students. Creating a safe, democratic classroom is the first step. Reading books like Avi's Nothing But the Truth as a read-aloud brings forward the issue of a student's right to practice his/her beliefs, but also raises the issue that others in the class have the right to not have their learning environment disrupted by those practices. Rich classroom discussions can result in a Student's Bill of Rights, a more meaningful form of the standard Classroom Rules generated by the teacher.

Read-aloud can also bring forward discussions of marginalized or silent members of a community. Books such as Monster--about an imprisoned African-American teenage boy, James Howe's Totally Joe-- about a gay middle schooler, or The Acorn People by Ron Jones-- about physically disabled campers, humanize those who are otherwise stereotyped, bullied, or ignored. Although there may not be any members of those groups in my class, reading and discussing books with such characters can bring out empathetic feelings for others who may be socially marginalized, such as the extremely shy or socially awkward child. These empathetic discussions could lead a student to feel safer and more comfortable to share their own experiences of being

marginalized or bullied.

Discussions about a person's right to tell the truth as s/he sees it, to share uncomfortable or awkward experiences, and to examine commonly held stereotypes can also turn to why people feel so afraid to be themselves. Social norms are shaped by family values, friends, and media. Nothing But the Truth includes several scenes in which the newspaper slants a story to create greater "shock value" and a politician exaggerates that same story even further for his own gain. Talking through character motivations and cause and effect within this story can lead to connections in our world today. Students can grapple with questions such as "Why do kids feel afraid to voice an opinion that might be unpopular?", "Why do we label others?", and "Who decides what is right, wrong, or popular?"

This is what I want to do in September: I want to create a space where young adolescents can wrestle with big social issues and, as an extension, make all students feel included. Reading and discussing engaging texts about difficult issues creates those opportunities.

Bibliography

Avi. Nothing But the Truth: A Documentary Novel. New York: Avon Books, 1991. Photo of cover taken from betterworldbooks.com

Howe, James. Totally Joe. Atheneum Publishers, 2007.

Jones, Ron. The Acorn People. Laurel Leaf Publishers, 1996.

Myers, Walter Dean. Monster. New York: HarperCollins Children's Books, 1999.

NCTE. Voices From the Middle. May, 2011. Photo of cover taken from ncte.org

Switching Gears

Today is the first day of summer vacation, which means switching gears: going from the hectic fast pace of the classroom to the more leisurely days of summer; going from full-time worker to no-time worker; going from teacher to researcher-reader-writer-learner-traveler-relative-mother-wife-friend; and switching gears from sixth grade to eighth grade. Yes, eighth grade. And so my research question for the summer, what I have already begun pondering, is: How can I create a community of engaged, supportive, enthusiastic 13-year-old learners instead of having a group of apathetic, negative, eye-rolling, bored young adolescents?

I do not believe that 13 is an age predestined for unpleasantness. Therefore, my search begins with community-building. I have begun reading a book I have had on my shelf for several years now, but had yet to read: "It's Our World Too": Socially Responsive Learners in Middle School Language Arts by Beverly Busching & Betty Ann Slesigner. They advocate setting up a "democratic classroom" in which students will value and respect themselves and others, become active in their learning and in aspects of running the classroom, and in which they connect themselves, literature, and the world to become more socially responsive. The latter goal sounds much like Friere's critical literacy theory, popular in Australia. The previous goals sound very much like the Workshop approach.

I have only read two chapters so far. But I am excited by the possibility that this approach opens: empowering students to make real decisions that affect their daily lives. This sounds like just the ticket for engaging the 13-year-old mind.