Toward Becoming A Teacher Annotated Bibliography

Cherise Fuselier February 15, 2007 Toward Becoming a Teacher Annotated Bibliography Britton, James. Vygotsky’s contribution to pedagogical theory. This article summarizes Vygotsky and his influence on Western education. In Thought and Language, he made four discoveries: word meaning evolve during childhood, nonspontaneous concepts, mastery of the written language has profound effect upon abstract thinking, and that speech in infancy is the direct antecedent of thinking in a later stage. Vygotsky accepts Piaget’s theories and adds on the idea of non-spontaneous concepts. This article and Vygotsky’s theories will be important in understanding language learning. Delpit, Lisa D. (1998). The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other people’s children”. Harvard Educational Review. 58:3. (Pp. 280-298). This article discusses issues of race in classroom settings. It begins by discussing several examples, and Delpit calls race the silenced dialogue. Five aspects of power Delpit states are: issues of power are enacted in classrooms; culture of power; the rules of the culture of power are a reflection of the rules of culture of those who have power; for those in the culture of power, being told the rules of that culture make acquiring power easier; those with power are frequently least aware of the existence of that power (Jossey-Bass 169). Delpit advocates that children of color must be taught the codes within the culture of power, and that the teaching of children of color should be in collaboration with those who share their culture (such as teachers). Duckworth, Eleanor. The Having of Wonderful Ideas. The having of wonderful ideas and other essays on teaching and learning. This article highlights different learning styles and intellectual development as well as discusses Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development. It’s important to keep in mind that children learn at different paces. Understanding Piaget’s theories is essentially (especially in teaching younger children) in education. Freire, Paulo. (1998). Reading the world/reading the word. Teachers as cultural workers: Letters to those who dare to teach. Westview Press. This article describe the interplay of teaching and learning. Freire discusses studying, reading, and codification. Freire describes the importance of fostering a love of reading and writing in children and says, “If our schools, from the earliest grades, were to devote themselves to the work of nurturing in students a taste for reading and writing and were to maintain that nurturing throughout their school lives, there would possibly by fewer graduate students who spoke of their inability to write or their insecurity about writing” (Jossey-Bass 59). Freire also says it is essential for educators to read the works of Piaget, Vygotsky, Ferreiro, Weffort, Lajolo, and da Silva. Fried, Robert L. (2001). Passionate teaching. The Passionate Teacher. Boston: Beacon Press. Fried writes that passion for teaching is essential to being a good teacher. Being a passionate teacher will inspire students and change lives. He gives several examples of passionate teachers and says that all passionate teachers “…organize and focus their

Cherise Fuselier February 15, 2007 Toward Becoming a Teacher Annotated Bibliography passionate interests by getting to the heart of their subject” (Jossey-Bass 46) and “… convey their passion to novice learners” (Jossey-Bass 46). Greene, Maxine. (1997). Teaching as possibility: A light in dark times. The journal of pedagogy, pluralism, and practice. 1:1. This article discusses how to teach and establish hope in dark times. Greene calls for what Paulo Freire calls a “pedagogy of hope”. Establishing this and nourishing the “multiple-literacies” and “diverse modes of understanding” will help students act knowledgably and reflectively in the frameworks of their lives (Jossey-Bass 64). The establishment of a poetic imagination and inner sense of language needs to be developed in students through speaking, reading, and writing. Haberman, Martin. (1991). The pedagogy of poverty versus good teaching. Phi Delta Kappan. (pp. 290-4). This article discusses why the issue of urban school reform is largely overlooked. Haberman says this is ignored because of the assumption of what teaching is, teachers cannot be change, and the assumption that urban student’s low scores are the result of socioeconomic status and not because of teaching. The urban teaching style is what Haberman calls the “pedagogy of poverty” and consists of: giving information, asking questions, giving directions, making assignments, monitoring seatwork, reviewing assignments, giving tests, assigning homework, reviewing homework, settling disputes, punishing noncompliance, marking papers, and giving grades. In contrast, some highlights of good teacher involving students include: issues they think are vital, explanations of human differences, helping to see major concepts, big ideas, and principles, applying ideas, active involvement, direct involvement in real-life experience, experience with heterogeneous groups, challenge to common ideas, redoing or perfecting work, technology, and reflection on their own lives. McLeod, Alex (1986). Critical literacy: Taking control of our own lives. Language Arts. 63:1. (Pp. 37-49). This article discusses social issues in the arena of literacy. Being literate in Western societies carries with it a certain power, as well as access to formal education. Inversely, being illiterate in Western society carries with negative consequences and limited access to formal education and thus formal prestige and economic and social power. This article describes a case study of Afro-Caribbean students in British school systems. This article is important for issues of race in the classroom, as well as the effects of institutionalized racism within Western society and formal educational systems. McWilliams, Patrick. (1991). Learning to read. The first year of teaching: Real world stories from America’s teachers. Ed. Kane, Pearl Rock. New York: Walker and Company. This article discusses an English teacher who was being too critical of his student’s writings. McWilliams rips apart a student paper full of what he thinks are clichés, but

Cherise Fuselier February 15, 2007 Toward Becoming a Teacher Annotated Bibliography later he reflects that his job is not to judge student writing at all. McWilliams concludes that his job as a teacher is not to judge but rather to, “…find the best in what my students have done and to help them see for themselves the difference between their best work and their indifferent work” (Jossey-bass 79). Paley, Vivian Gussin (1979). Excerpt from white teacher. White Teacher. (Pp. 28-37). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. This article discusses the issues of race, religion, and ethnic self-identity in a classroom of very young children. This issue also discusses multiculturalism. Paley decides to include multicultural songs in her school lessons in an ethnically-diverse classroom, as well as having all the students share from their ethnic heritages. This article is a good example of how to incorporate lessons of ethnic diversity in young classrooms. Rose, Mike. (1995). Calexico, California. Possible lives. Houghton Mifflin Company. This article discusses Calexico, a bilingual city bordering Mexico and inhabiting about 21,000 people mostly of Mexican heritage. Even though the city is largely low-income and the schools are underfunded, students perform well. Elementary schools exceed county standards for language arts, mathematics, and sciences; the high schools have the lowest district drop-out rates for Latino students in the whole state; and a significant number of students go onto to two year- and four year colleges after graduation. Rose says this success comes from unamity of goals between district administration and school board, an effective bilingual education program, and the development of teacher education with a respect for local history. Sarason, Seymour (1993). Change, resistance, and reflection. You are thinking of teaching? Opportunities, problems, realities. Jossey-Bass, Inc. Publishers. This article discusses the pressures new teachers face about change. Teachers will both internal and external pressure to change, but it’s important to be true to yourself if adapting to change in a classroom setting.