[EDEQUITY]deconstruct old patterns

From: Pace@Norman
Date: Mon Mar 05 2001 - 11:01:46 EST


I am the chair of the NCTE Commission on Gender Issues in English Teacher
Education. Our commission has a web page and we are soliciting chapters for
a book on the above topic. I have found the people in the CEE section of
NCTE (those who sponsor this commission) sensitive and supportive. I engage
in this work because I am aware and committed to gender issues in teacher
education and in teaching literature and language arts. I have done
research
on the gender bias inherent in the "textbook canon," those works typically
presented in the most popular textbooks. Though I fully understand issues
of
representation in literature and the importance of role models, I also
recognize the pressure teachers face to teach canonical texts. What I have
been working toward with my students is helping them "re-vision" texts, to
use Rich's terminology. I recently co-authored a piece on Hamlet and how an
androcentric perspective kept the teacher from questioning the idea of
revenge. One of the teachers discussed in that article began to think of
the
play as the tragedy of Gertrude and Ophelia because of the conversations
that emerged in her classroom. I think that we need to have women and men
represented in the literature, but I also know that if we view them in the
same old ways, without helping students learn to deconstruct old patterns,
reading all of the female-based literature in the world will not make any
difference.
    I hope that any parent concerned about these issues might consider not
only what is being taught but how it is being taught. The process of
reading
critically, of looking at old text from new perspectives, can be
tremendously effective in helping students think more critically about
society, their roles in society, and the barriers they construct and
reinforce with one another.
Pace@Norman
<bgpace@edu15.coe.ufl.edu>

----- Original Message -----
From: Stephanie Barlow <Sabwestvir@aol.com>
Subject: [EDEQUITY]NCTE silent in equity in language arts courses....

While the NCTE has addressed gender inclusive language and diversity in
reading materials, they have remained strangely silent when it comes to
equity in language arts courses and extracurricular activities. There are
a number of articles and statements on the need for equity in math,
athletics,and technology, but when it comes to their own discipline they
seem to be
blind. However, it should be noted that the 2001 Spring Convention
contains a number of sessions on techniques to make courses "more
responsive to the
needs of boys." This may be an indication of a difference in priorities
between the leadership of NCTE and the members "in the trenches."

sabwestvir@aol.com



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