The Importance of Orature

Back in December, I read this article from Latino Rebels, in which Charlie Vázquez mourns the loss of family stories that have been passed down orally for years.  As his older relatives have passed on, he laments, their stories have died with them, inspiring him to preserve his "family folklore" by writing it down.  While I understand Vázquez' decision to record these oral tales and histories in print, this article makes me wonder: Why aren't we doing more to keep the practice of oral storytelling alive?

I love books.  You love books.  We understand that reading can be a beautiful, edifying experience and that the written word holds immense power.  However, by privileging print in our culture, we run the risk of marginalizing and losing the art of oral storytelling, another powerful form of sharing ideas.  Yes, writing down orature and oral history is probably prudent in parts of the world where print dominates, but I believe that we should continue telling those stories aloud as long as we can.

Promoting oral storytelling has several benefits.  First, it keeps cultures and knowledge alive.  Second, valuing this form of communication values the people who practice it.

A Jali (storyteller and oral historian) in Bussi, Uganda

A WhiteMountain Apache woman telling stories to her grandchildren

A Kyrgyz man sharing an epic poem

Spoken word artist Zena Edwards in the UK

A poet in old-timey Greece

Additionally, providing children with lots of chances to hear and tell diverse stories at school and at home can:

• improve their listening, speaking, and memorization skills (Berkowitz, 2011; Pompano, 2005);
• help culturally sustain students who come from homes and communities with rich oral traditions (McKeough, Bird, Tourigny, Romaine, Graham, Ottman, & Jeary, 2008);
• allow children of all backgrounds to learn about different cultures, worldviews, loves, ideas, and ways of structuring narratives.

Don't know where to begin?  Teachers, you can invite parents or professional storytellers to visit schools, or give students opportunities to share tales (historical, folkloric, or imaginary) aloud.  Parents, check out your local library for storytelling events, or head to YouTube -- there are tons of great storytelling videos online (like this one).

(Personal testimony time: I have to confess that I didn't fully recognize the value of orature when I was teaching, but when I did tell stories to my kids sans picture book and took them to see storytellers at a local theater, they loooooooved it.)

Have you experienced oral storytelling or welcomed it into your classroom?  Tell me about it!

Another Columbus Day Post

I am The Best Artist.

For a different type of Columbus Day critical literacy activity, take a couple of minutes to look through this infographic from Matthew Inman, creator of The Oatmeal.

Done?  OK.

I love infographics, or visual -- almost comic-like -- representations of data or information.  They're fun, easy to process, and a nice break from reading big chunks of text.  Because of their visual nature, they can be very appealing to kids.  Therefore, analyzing infographics can be an interesting, motivating way for students to engage in critical literacy.

Since Columbus Day is upon us, reading and critiquing Matthew Inman's infographic about Christopher Columbus could be a great activity for middle and/or high school students during the coming week.  Teachers and students can tease apart Inman's argument against celebrating Columbus day and discuss how they agree or disagree with his points.

For example, I definitely agree with his argument that Christopher Columbus is not a person worthy of celebration -- he brought a wave of terror to the Americas that still lingers today, and I refuse to honor him and his legacy.

Jerkface

However, I'm not in agreement with Inman's idea to switch the second Monday in October to "Bartolomé Day."  Yes, we should pay more attention to Bartolomé de las Casas and his deeds in history classes, but why should we shift our focus from one European to another?  

Why not focus on indigenous Americans and their history, current events, accomplishments, and diversity -- not just in October but year-round?  (Inman does reference Seattle's Indigenous People's Day, which is not without its own critics, in an update at the bottom of the page.  But it's an afterthought.)

Teachers, how invigorating it would be for students to explore different perspectives on Columbus Day and share their opinions about the holiday and Inman's piece?  Then they might create their own infographics (digital literacy woooo!) to share with each other, their school, and the internet community.

The kids I work with aren't quite old enough to read The Oatmeal, but I'm looking forward to having a nice dialog about Columbus Day with them this week.  But if you have attempted / want to attempt an infographic critical literacy activity like this with your kids, let me know about it!

The World Cup: Enjoying the Good, Confronting the Bad

I love the World Cup.  No, I don't think you understand.  I LOVE IT.

From June 12th to July 13th, I'll be watching as many games as possible while still trying to function in other areas of my life.  There's a lot to love about this tournament: the soccer itself, the sportsmanship, and the way it brings the world together in celebration.

One of my favorite positive moments was when, in 2006, the Iranian team presented Oswaldo Sanchez, the Mexican goalie, with flowers before their match because his father had suddenly passed away a few days before.  I cried a little.

Then there was the time when the Ivorian national team helped negotiate a ceasefire during their country's civil war when they qualified for the tournament.  And that's not the first time soccer has helped ease political conflicts.

2006 Ivorian (Côte D'Ivoire) national football team

However, beneath all the World Cup's fanfare lurk some disturbing problems.

At the forefront is the issue of racism in soccer at local, national, and international levels.  Sadly, players of color are often racially harassed by fans, other teams, and even their own teammates.  One especially notorious type of harassment involves fans making monkey noises at black players and throwing bananas on the field.  Yes, that kind of thing still happens.

Fortunately, many players have taken a stand against racism by chastising fans or joining anti-racism organizations.  FIFA (the governing body of international soccer) also has its own anti-racism rules.

Dani Alves eating a banana thrown onto the field --

in your face, racist fan.

Unfortunately, though, these measures don't always stop racist actions.  Brazil, this Cup's host country, has its own "We Are Equal" campaign, but this message of tolerance and diversity has not made a dent in the problem.

And that's just one challenge.  Additionally, there's a lot of corruption in Brazil related to the World Cup -- squandering funds, anti-protest laws, military occupation of the favelas (slums), sex tourism.  Really rough stuff.

So what does this have to do with kids and education?

In The Land of Teaching, it's a well known fact that incorporating students' personal interests into the curriculum can help them become more engaged in learning.  Do you have any students who love soccer?  Then appealing to that interest and helping them develop critical thinking skills by examining these soccer-related problems might result in their finding a social justice cause that really appeals to them.

For example, younger kids could discuss racism in soccer, since that's a concept they can wrap their heads around -- disliking and harassing people because of their skin color and/or ethnicity is wrong.  Then they could come up with ways to address the problem, like starting their own anti-racism club at school or camp, or writing letters of support to players who have taken a stand against racism.

Meanwhile, high schoolers could also focus on racism or, if they're up for it, tackle some of the other challenges Brazil has been facing while preparing for this World Cup.  I wonder what kinds of great ideas they might come up with.

Long story short:

Enjoy the World Cup, but take the time to learn about the darker side of soccer that The Powers That Be so often try to cover up.  Confront problems.  If possible, support kids in doing the same.  Only then can we truly celebrate.

Getting Critical with Advertising

Recently, a McDonald's commercial about their coffee started popping up at the beginning of videos on a YouTube channel I'm subscribed to.  At first, I ignored the content of the ad as I impatiently waited for it to finish and the real videos to begin, but eventually, I started paying attention.  What I saw definitely bothered me.

The description of the video says that the ad is "shedding light on the process" of coffee growing and harvesting that leads to each individual cup of McDonald's coffee.  While I didn't really learn much about the process from watching, the ad definitely shed light on something.  Take a look:

Now watch it again with this question in mind: Whose faces do I see in this commercial?

The truth is, we don't see anyone's faces until we're shown the (probably rich) dude tasting the coffee at the end.  But all of the (probably not so rich) workers who grow, harvest, and prepare the coffee beans remain faceless.

We need to ask ourselves why that is.  Does McDonald's want us to think that the people who make our coffee aren't important?  On a broader note, does this commercial reflect our desire -- as affluent, privileged people -- to ignore people living in poverty?

People who work on coffee farms do, in fact, have faces.

If you're a teacher or parent, watching and analyzing this ad with your kids can be a great critical literacy exercise.  As I've mentioned before, critical literacy is more than just reading.  We can turn our critical eyes on anything we consume visually and mentally: television, movies, books, posters, paintings, graffiti, etc.

Companies are constantly barraging us with advertising in our society, and kids need to become critical consumers so they don't fall for every marketing ploy they encounter.  Therefore, it's incredibly important for us to teach our children how to question what they see and hear in the media.

So have you seen this commercial?  How could you work critical analysis of advertising into your lesson plans?  How could you take action to address the problematic elements of commercials?  Let me know what you think!

Related Posts:

Critical Literacy Isn't Just about Books

Farmworker Awareness

Critical Literacy Isn't Just about Books

Well, the controversial Sochi Winter Olympics end tomorrow.  And I don't know about you, but when I think "Winter Olympics," I think "Jamaican bobsled team."

I LOVED this movie when I was a kid.  (Here's a summary if you haven't seen it.  The main gist is that four failed Jamaican sprinters are introduced to bobsledding by a white American coach, and hijinks ensue.)  During class the other day, it came up in conversation, and a friend admitted that she had liked it too, but, "It's probably pretty... problematic."

Truth.  Looking back, I realize that the movie is full of Jamaican stereotypes and caricatures, and it deserves a closer critical inspection.

My friend's comment reminded me that when we teach our kids about critical literacy, we need to teach them to examine everything critically -- not just books.  They need to question, analyze, and evaluate anything and everything they consume: advertising, music, television, and, of course, movies.

And if we don't teach kids these skills, there's a possibility that they can wind up dressing like this for Halloween (warning: extreme example, so absurdly offensive that I'm seriously wondering whether it might be a lame attempt at satire).

So in honor of the Winter Games, here are a couple of articles presenting two writers' differing opinions on Cool Runnings.  The first article points out many American sports films' stereotypical portrayals of black athletes being "rescued" by white people.  Meanwhile, the author of the second article (who is black, just FYI) argues that Cool Runnings contains "one of the best messages ever about race and identity."

What do you think?