Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id h8NKEYV08309; Tue, 23 Sep 2003 16:14:34 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 16:14:34 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <20030923201318.70611.qmail@web11206.mail.yahoo.com> Errors-To: alcrsb@langate.gsu.edu Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Bertha Mo <bertiemo@yahoo.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:2702] Re: Appropriate books? X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Status: O Content-Length: 8358 Lines: 227 Daphne: Please don't shield your students from life. Provide a safe space for them to share their feelings and experiences as well as obtain resources (counseling, support group, information) to deal with those experiences and feelings. We want students to respond to reading material...we'd be concerned if they didn't. They just need us to take another step and help them make that connection to real life ...where and how to get help for what the literature has stirred up. We're missing out on that magically "teachable moment" if we respond to emotion and upheaval in our students by avoiding these topics. I served as a TA in Asian American Studies classes when I was at UC Berkeley. Dr. Ron Takaki, the major professor encouraged the use of Asian American literature to illuminate the Asian American experience. I can't forget the young students who came up to me and thanked me for giving them the space to think about, talk about, write about their journey as a boat person/refugee to the US or the story of a Korean-American adoptee who shared her horrific story of her mistaken identity as an orphan and about her journey to reunite with her family. As a former mental health outreach and education director, I would have loved to work with you. An appropriate question could be how can one use literacy classes to build a healthy, healing community? Bertie Mo, Ph.D., MPH --- Daphne Greenberg <ALCDGG@langate.gsu.edu> wrote: > Thanks to all who have responded regarding my > queries. I think that I have created a > misimpression. We are not purposely selecting books > with themes of violence or incest. In fact, we are > actively avoiding books with incest themes. However, > books written for adults often do have scenes in > them that refer to abuse. We are careful to screen > all books to make sure that scenes of incest are not > in them. The reason for this is that descriptions of > incest and subsequent discussions about them can be > triggering for students and teachers and given that > this is a research project, we don't have the > expertise or the luxury of spending as much time as > might be needed on the consequences of reading and > discussing incest. > My question stems from the fact, that as mentioned > above, books for adults often do have references to > violence/abuse-even if the book is not focused on > these topics. We have been extremely careful not to > select books to read out loud that have references > to incest. However, we have not been as careful > about domestic violence. So, although we are not > selecting books that include graphic scenes of > domestic violence, there are books that may include > abstract descriptions-i.e. the reader knows what is > happening without graphic details. These books are > not focused on domestic violence, so for example, > out of 100 pages, there might be a few pages that > have vague descriptions. > Maybe it would help to explain this a different way: > For incest survivors, reading a few vague > descriptions of incest within a context of a book > can be triggering. We have decided therefore to try > to avoid reading books which include these > descriptions. However we have not been as strict > with a few pages of vague descriptions of domestic > violence in our read aloud books. And now I am > wondering: > Is it your experience that reading a few vague > descriptions of domestic violence within a context > of a book that does NOT focus on domestic violence > (except for a few pages) can be as triggering from > students/teachers as vague incest descriptions? In > other words, should we be treating domestic violence > issues in the same way we are treating incest > issues? > Daphne > > >>> mfbir@hotmail.com 09/22/03 08:12AM >>> > I am a little confused as to why the books that are > read aloud have to > surround topics of violence and/or incest. Is the > grant in someway related > to those issues? If not, then why are they being > considered? > > > >From: AWilder106@aol.com > >Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@nifl.gov > >To: Multiple recipients of list > <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> > >Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:2689] Re: Appropriate > books? > >Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 21:26:20 -0400 (EDT) > > > >Gosh, Daphne, what questions! My life experience > includes both topics you > >raise, and there is no way I would listen to or > participate in reading > >about these topics, in a class or by myself. I > also don't go to violent > >movies which feature sexual assault for the same > reason, just don't want to > >get near these topics. I can't imagine bringing > these topics up except in > >the safest circumstances, and I have had 30+ years > of therapy, so no one > >can say I haven't examined the issues. Don't go > there.... I'd be > >interested to hear what others have to say, though. > > > >Andrea > > > > > >>> bertiemo@yahoo.com 09/17/03 06:19PM >>> > Thank you very much for the opportunity to respond > to > these questions. > > First of all, I would be concerned about > sexual/violent content of any literature. This > includes newspaper reports of assaults of any type. > There should be an expressed reason why the article > or > story was chosen. > > Second, providing insufficient time for discussion > in > any course results in a poor learning environment. > It > doesn't matter what the topic might concern. > Students > need to realize that literacy is not just about > reading, but is about reading, discussion and > forming > an opinion. Not to teach in a comprehensive manner > is > an insult to students and doesn't teach them "how to > learn." > > Finally, as a trained health educator/social > scientist, I have always felt that health education > should be everyone's responsibility and a "teachable > moment" can occur at anytime. Telling students not > to > feel, not to ask questions, that the purpose of the > class is "learning to read" defeats the real purpose > which is teaching people that reading is important > for > many reasons including; learning new information, > getting in touch with your feelings, creation of > relationships between people etc. > > Best Regards, > > Bertie Mo, Ph.D., MPH > --- Daphne Greenberg <alcdgg@langate.gsu.edu> wrote: > > Two questions have come up in my research project > > and I am curious about what people think about > these > > issues. To remind everyone, I received a grant to > > study different instructional approaches to > teaching > > reading to adults reading at the 3-5th grade > levels. > > One of the approaches involves exposure to > > literature. In this approach, students read > silently > > books that are of high interest (we hope) and low > > vocabulary. They also follow along as the teacher > > reads out loud a novel written for adult expert > > readers that our students could not have read on > > their own. Here are three issues that have come up > > regarding the selection of the read aloud books: > > 1. The teachers select read aloud books that do > not > > have explicit incest descriptions. We do this > > because we do not have time, nor the expertise to > > deal with issues that get raised for many of us > when > > descriptions such as these are read aloud. Do you > > agree with this? > > 2. We do not follow the abovementioned policy when > > it comes to descriptions of domestic violence > > between two adult partners. Should we? > > 3. In our research project, an adult is anyone 16 > > and older. Therefore in any given class, as is > > common in many adult literacy classes, we can have > > students who are 16 sitting next to students who > are > > 54. This challenges the teacher to find a book > that > > will interest all the age groups in the class. Do > > you think that we have to be careful about sexual > > content in classes where we have 16, 17, 18 year > > olds? > > Any thoughts on any of the above will be much > > appreciated! > > Daphne > > > > Daphne Greenberg > > Associate Director > > Center for the Study of Adult Literacy > > MSC 6A0360 > > Georgia State University > > 33 Gilmer Street SE Unit 6 > > Atlanta, GA 30303-3086 > > phone: 404-651-0127 > > fax:404-651-4901 > > dgreenberg@gsu.edu > > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! 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