Can Culturally Responsive Teaching Create Opera Singers Too?

Delpit wrote about the importance of knowing the rules of the culture of power.  Equity among all students can only be reached if they are taught these rules in school as they are prepared for life in "the real world".  But does learning the rules come at a price?   Can becoming privy to rules for success in public life be disastrous for one's private life?  Carter would say that kids can balance their cultural capital as "cultural straddlers", they can have the best of both worlds if they do it right.  But what happens when the person is so eager to change his public image?  and what happens when the person is a six year old who may not be able to weigh the costs and benefits of his decisions?

Richard Rodriguez (no longer Ricardo) wrote "Today I hear bilingual educators say that children lose a degree of "individuality' by becoming assimilated into public society....but the bilingualists simplistically scorn the value and necessity of assimilation.  They do not seem to realize that there are two ways a person is individualized.  So they do not realize that while one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by becoming assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality. "  

The title "Aria" is apropos of the authors struggle for public individuality.  I can see Rodriguez lost in the crowd as a child, embarrassed and not confident, avoiding the spotlight.  But as he learned the public language, he emerged from the shadows and became a confident young person--ready to have a voice, ready to sing his aria.  Still, I'm surprised at Rodriguez's opinion on all this considering what he gave up in order to achieve his public individuality.  He expresses obvious nostalgia on page 38 "..so many of the Spanish voices I'd hear in public recalled the golden age of my youth."  

   

Collier reminds me of  Bartolome, when she writes, A bilingual teacher..." must affirm the cultural values of both home and school..." (p222).    She is describing culturally responsive teaching here (I think).  She is not saying that teachers should not teach the language of the culture of power --English--to studnts, but that there is a way to do it that "acknowledges the legitimacy of the cultural heritages of different ethnic groups" (quote from this website on culturally responsive teaching).   Collier emphasizes this opinion a number of times including in guideline #6 where she writes, "Once a child becomes literate in the home language, literacy skills swiftly transfer to second language settings."  So, not only is culturally responsive teaching the "right thing to do", but it is also effective--Collier presents evidence for it.  The editors note on the bottom of page 235 states, "Collier points out that a rich but underutilized resource for literacy development is the "funds of knowledge" from language minority home and community that students can share."

I wonder if Richard Rodriguez might still be Ricardo Rodriguez if his nuns shared Collier's perspective.  He might sing a slightly different public aria, and might not think so longingly of the "golden age" of his youth. 

I may be way off with all of this, and not sure if I even made any sense.  It gets trickier to think of this stuff as we add author after author to our arsenal.  Just when things seem clear to me, they quickly blur.  Look forward to discussing tomorrow.  By the way, am I on snacks?  GK