Evidence:   Email Correspondence with Dr. Hirtle

[Part of Dr. Hirtles’ Article Response]

Shannon in "Critical Literacy in Everyday Life"

"Critical Literacy in Everyday Life"  (Shannon, 2002) Shannon through the lens of his family's literacy project discusses the impact that literacy can have on every day life and in changing society. He looks at uses of literacy in three ways: at home, at school and "on the street."

Shannon observes that at school, literacy can be used to "struggle against the imposition of standards and high stakes testing;" at home we are faced with resisting technologies "of a society of control that invite us to consume constantly, to rationalize our private lives and to avoid engagement in civic life"  (p. 415) On the street, Shannon observes that we use literacy to "represent ourselves to others in order to participate with them to make history and culture" (p. 415). He describes his family's literacy projects " to explain how critical literacy might become part of our everyday lives, exhibiting critique, hope, empowerment, praxis and pedagogy" (p. 415). Shannon notes that there is a strong social component to the literacy projects he will analyze. He categorizes them as follows:

Family members engage in topics that are not of their individual invention They use and adapt the socially constructed structures of the media they select Each works within the interactions of the family. (p 416)

Family Case Studies

Shannon examines his wife's and children's projects. His wife, Kathleen, is a first and second grade teacher who teaches all boys in a rural Minnesota school district. Kathleen uses reading and writing workshop, has her students compose in multiple genres and in a variety of media for multiple purposes (Berghoff, Egawa, Harste & Hoonan, 2000). Kathleen draws on the themes of their rural community. For example she has used farms, farming and farmers, and will use horses and homes.

Jeannine St. Pierre Hirtle Ed.D.

416 Hammond Hall

The University of Texas at Arlington

Arlington, Texas

[My response to Dr. Hirtle]

Dr. Hirtle,

Thank you....This helped.

So basically Shannon was just saying that Literacy affects so many parts of our lives and we use it, in turn, to affect society.  We, as educators, need to be sensitive to these many facets of literacy and encourage all. 

(I'm just doing a little Reflective Listening :-) )

Kimberly

[Dr. Hirtles’ response to me]

Kim,