Thoughts on “The Politics of Correction”
This is just a little taste of my new post on Equality 101.
“How can I help kids gain fluency in Standard English – the language of power – without obliterating the home language which is a source of pride and personal voice?” – Linda Christensen
For a recent school improvement day, the English staff at my school was asked to read “The Politics of Correction: How We Can Nurture Students in Their Writing and Help Them Learn the Language of Power” by Linda Christensen. Now, I have read many, many articles about African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and English Language Learners and English Only legislation. I’ve read many, many articles about how students who have grown up learning Standard English – predominantly students who are white and/or middle-to-upper class – have an unfair advantage over students learning other vernaculars when it comes to taking state tests and other state standards. So much of these articles, however, were simply theory, and finally, after reading this article, I felt someone had finally written about what we, as teachers, can do to help these students.
Personally, with the way the state standards are at this time, I believe that there has to be a way to help students learn how to code switch – talk and write in their own vernacular with friends and family, but talk and write in Standard English when appropriate. In her article, Christensen posits a few solutions to this issue that made sense to me. She begins by discussing students she sees every day who are “handcuffed” by their inability to use Standard English – the language of power. She fears they will leave school and be afraid to speak up in public meetings or write letters of outrage over policies because they “talk wrong.” In this way, she justifies teaching her students Standard English; it is not just because of the state tests that they need to learn this vernacular, but because of future instances in which they may need to be able to use Standard English.
So how do we effectively help students feel comfortable about their writing and proud of their heritages while teaching them the “language of power?” …
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