Education s27
Literacy in the Community
Short Term ‘10
Tuesday and Thursday 1-4
Dana Hall 119
Patricia Buck, PhD
pbuck@bates.edu
786-6282
Office Hours by Appointment
Departmental Mission
The Bates College Department of Education seeks to foster the democratic possibilities of
schooling through the study of American public education and other comparable systems. The aim of
the department is to create an environment in which students and faculty together analyze the complex
dynamics between the purposes and products of schooling, and the social structures and cultural
processes that constitute the broader context for education. In particular, the department works to
nurture in students the development of these qualities:
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Critical action and civic responsibility: The department wants students to develop a
sense of social responsibility and concern for the common good, and so encourages
them to become involved in the local community and beyond through fieldwork,
service-learning projects, policy analysis, student teaching, and empirical research.
Reflection and engagement: In the department's vision of education, reflection and
engagement work together to deepen students' understanding and foster their personal
growth.
Imagination and a passion for learning: With imagination, a passion for learning, and the
skills and knowledge they develop, students are well-prepared to pursue their interests
in education.
Commitment to social justice: Throughout the program, students are encouraged to
recognize and address the influence of social context on the democratic possibilities of
schooling.
Because education is an interdisciplinary area of study, the education department offers courses
that attract students with a variety of interests. Some pursue educational studies as part of their
exploration of liberal arts at Bates. Some want to teach immediately after they graduate from Bates or
complete graduate study. Others link their interest in social institutions, public policy, community, or
families and children to a direct and deeper understanding of American schools. Many students simply
want to know more about education so that they can be better prepared to fulfill future roles as citizens
and parents.
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Course Description:
Contemporary understanding of literacy and language acquisition processes call into question
the traditional emphasis on what Brian Street refers to as “autonomous” reading and writing skills. In
their expanded definition scholars place literacy and language development within anthropological and
cross-cultural frameworks that attend to the embeddedness of oral, reading, and writing practices
within families, communities and cultures. This course introduces students to new literacy and language
studies with a particular emphasis on English Language Learning pedagogy. With attention to theory
and hands-on learning students consider the impact culturally and historically informed knowledge and
experience have upon the literacy practices of those community members with whom they work closely
over the course of the term. Students are required to complete a thirty-hour service-learning placement
in classrooms and/or local after school programs.
Essential Questions of the Course:
How do differentials in power emerge as salient in literacy and language acquisition?
What sorts of knowledge and skill are valued in literacy and language acquisition?
Which knowledge and skills are marginalized or devalued?
How do cultural difference and cultural normativity shape the language and literacy acquisition process?
How do the particulars of place and people matter in the process of literacy and language acquisition?
Course Expectations:
Students are expected to actively participate both in class and the required thirty hour field
placement. Because class time is designed to be participatory, it is crucial that students attend all
classes having completed assigned readings. Grades will be based upon participation, field placement
evaluation, and assignments. Students final grade will be impacted by more than one absence.
Assignments
1. Students will complete at least 30 field placement hours in a local classroom and/or after school
programs in the Lewiston community. In the final portfolio students will turn in a log sheet in which
they have documented these hours as well as a completed evaluation by their host teacher.
2. Students will keep a journal in which they address the following questions: What did you observe and
do in your field placement this week? What were course readings about this week and how do they
speak to essential questions of the course? What are the areas of connection and disconnect between
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approaches to literacy and language acquisition practiced in the community placement setting and the
issues broached in class readings, activities, and discussions? Entries are due in class on Tuesdays,
should be roughly 3-4 pages, and must include discussion of that week’s readings. Students will be
paired with a classmate who will read and provide feedback on the entry in class every Tuesday.
3. As members of an assigned small group, students must plan and lead an activity and/or class
discussion pertaining to that week’s reading. These lessons MUST explore the ways in which the reading
in question speaks to essential questions of the course.
4. On the final day of class, students will turn in a portfolio of their work from the semester. This
portfolio should include:
a.
A narrative (3-4 pages) describing your experience of the course: what have you
learned? In what ways have you been challenged? How did you address challenges and
insights? What questions have been raised that you will continue to grapple with beyond the
semester?
b.
All journal entries. Each entry should also include a response to feedback received from
the journal partner. The length of these responses depends on the nature of the feedback but
need not exceed 2 pages for each entry
c.
A final paper in which you examine how course readings and your field experience
address essential questions of the course (8-10 pages)
Grading:
Preparation and Class Participation
Service Learning
Introductory Narrative
Journals
Final Paper
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15%
10%
5%
35%
35%
Class Schedule:
Class Meetings
Class Topic
Tuesday 4/27
Course Introduction
Readings
Assignments Due
Visit from Ellen Alcorn
Video: The Letter
Thursday 4/29
Workshop on ELL
Buck And Silver.
‘They Were Very
Beautiful.’
Out-of-School
Literacies
School's out:
Bridging out-ofschool literacies with
classroom practice
Journal Entry One
Unequal Childhoods:
Class, race, and
family life
Journal Entry Two
Reading families: The
literate lives of urban
children
Journal Entry Three
Rewriting Literacy:
Culture and the
Discourse of the
Other
Journal Entry Four
Guest Lecturer: Ellen
Alcorn
Tuesday 5/4
Thursday 5/6
Day in the Field
Tuesday 5/11
Literacy, Race, Class,
and Family
Thursday 5/13
Day-in-the-Field
Tuesday 5/18
Literate Lives of Urban
Children
Thursday 5/20
Day-in-the-Field: Field
trip to Auburn Library
Tuesday 5/25
Rewriting Literacy
Thursday 5/27
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Course Wrap-Up
Groups One & Two
Lead Discussion
Groups Three &
Four Lead Discussion
Groups Five & Six
Lead Discussion
Groups Seven &
Eight Lead
Discussion
Final Portfolio
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