As teachers, it is important for us to understand what all of our students do with their literacy skills. How do they process the information, communicate while working alone, and how do they work within a group. Our children are growing up in a much different world then we did. The need to communicate in a variety of different environments is increasing. They are growing up in “globalized, networked, culturally diverse world. Increasingly, we encounter knowledge in multiple forms - in print, in images, in video, in combinations of forms in digital contexts - and are asked to represent our knowledge in an equally complex manner (Kerr, MLP).” And then we add the burden of not understanding the language this is all being taught in. Haneda helps us to understand why connecting the home, school and community is so important.
Haneda explains how several different ethnic groups incorporate literacy practices. Latino families often engage in the kitchen, or living room with the whole family involved (pg. 338). Chinese or Korean parents, expose their children to cultural enrichment classes so they do not lose their identity. They often attend academic programs to help them succeed in school. Often religious classes are included in their week. In both of these cultures a substantial network of support is available to help the students outside of school. Haneda believes this to be critical for the children to become literate. She also talks about the idea of ‘boundary crossing’ and how it increases learning at school. Boundary crossing is to “deliberately” blur or cross the home-school boundary. Teachers should understand their students’ lives outside of the classroom in order to help them fully express themselves in it. We must also understand that the students’ interests and purposes need to become the central theme for the development of literacy curriculum.
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