NWP Article Reflection

I was searching for articles that would incorporate “art” into their literary expression either through making an image of what was just read or creating many images to reflect a storyline.  If a student has difficulty expressing themselves in writing, I believe this is another alternative for a student documenting what they just read. 

I found this article Language and Power: Uncovering the Legacy of Language and Power, (Chapter 5) in the book Teaching for Joy and Justice by Linda Christensen which focuses on the history of children from diverse backgrounds who are forced into assimilation by giving up their languages and culture.  

I chose this article because it related to me personally, as my mother, Ruth Barry, lived in a boarding school in her high school years, the Albuquerque Indian School.  My grandfather, Frank Barry (his real name was changed), went to school at Carlisle Institute in Pennsylvania as a small child and never returned home after he graduated.  I recall many stories my mother spoke of when she was punished for speaking her Keresan language or how abusive it was living in the boarding school.  I can only imagine what my grandfather had to endure at Carlisle Institute as many children were abused, tortured, and killed while under the government’s care.  

In the article, I particularly enjoyed how the students chose to express themselves about Language and Power through the drawings they chose to make.  “Lamon’s sketch was a stick-figure simple: A red schoolhouse with brown students entering one door and exiting as white students at the other end of the building.  Kahlia’s illustration depicted a more elaborate metaphor: She drew a map of Africa hanging from a tree; tightly closed red lips cover the heart of the map.  A U.S. map flies over the tree, and sentences swirl around it: “I cannot speak my language.  My identity is gone.  My African language is gone.  The language I grew up with has been taken from me.”  Wow, those are strong visual examples of how these students are feeling.  I’m sure my mother and her father felt the same way but never had the opportunity to express it, too.  The drawings of these students depicted over and over in a variety of ways, how schools and societies erase their language and culture.

“In the classroom, according to my students who study the linguistic history of the colonized, too often the job of the teacher is to ‘whitewash’ students of color or students who are linguistically diverse,” as stated by Linda Christensen.  Native American languages were decimated in boarding schools during a time when “Kill the Indian, Save the Man” directives gave straightforward instructions to teachers.”  Reading the school stories of these children will help us as teachers to recognize these language barriers and help the students use their Native languages to help them become better students.

Koshare w/ Flute