Thus far, we have read three articles that make distinctive arguments
about the influence of discourse communities on communication. Your task
is to use one or more of the arguments presented by Gee or Wardle as a
theoretical lens to help you make an argument about a community you are
currently in. Earlier this term we did an activity where I called
students to use a theory you learned from another class and apply it to
your own life. This prompt is quite similar. You are taking a theory
presented by either Wardle or Gee and using that theory to help you say
something new about a community you are currently involved in. If you
want to see an example of how to use a theoretical lens as a framing
mechanism, have a look at this piece by Richard Rodriguez who uses the
idea of 'scholarship boy' to frame his experiences between his primary
and secondary school discourses:
http://myweb.cwpost.liu.edu/lbai/Data/English%201F--Materials/Open%20Questions/The%20Achievement%20of%20Desire.pdf
As we dive into our final ethnography project, you will want to have an
ability to use outside theories to help you better understand the
community you are investigating. Consider the readings for this unit as a
jumping off point for some potential ways you might analyze the
discourse community you are investigating.
There isn't a length requirement for this assignment, but anything that
doesn't exceed two paragraphs is certainly an underachievement.
This posing is due before 11:59pm on 3/17/2013.
As I began to read Wardle’s paper, my initial thought was, “Oh Lord, another boring paper.” Then I got to the part that illustrates Alan and the mistakes he made in his job at the humanities department. Alan’s experience took me to a time when I hired a woman to teach at my school. We’ll call her Emelita.
ReplyDeleteEmelita came looking for employment one summer with a folder full of credentials. She had a BA in Family Services with a specialty in children with disabilities. She had taken all of her state required training and then some. She had completed her training as an Early Intervention Specialist and even had her Director’s Credentials from another state. I was happy to have her on board as part of my staff, but the honeymoon was short lived. Once she got “comfortable” with the staff, we began to see another side of her, one that was not well embraced.
She referred to her peers as “teacher”, and most of her comments were negative ones. She often made rude comments to teachers whose styles varied from her own “old school” ways. One teacher in particular was a “free spirit” and encouraged her students to converse with each other, even during lunch time and times when Emelita felt children should be quiet. Her classroom was next door to the “free spirit”. Emelita would open the adjoining door and tell Free to control her kids. It didn’t take long to find out that Emelita lacked the social graces so necessary for a little school like ours to operate successfully and peacefully.
Teachers began to ignore Emelita and Free let her children talk even louder, out of spite. The authority Emelita could have enjoyed was shattered by her own actions. She had the training to be a great lead teacher, but her inability to share her thoughts in a civil manner made her an outsider with the rest of the staff that considered one another as family. Then one day, she had to write an accident report. I was appalled at her grammar and sentence structure. Although English was not her first language, I wondered which college in New York would allow one to graduate knowing this person would represent that school forevermore. I often had to rewrite her reports and letters to parents. After three grueling years, she left to go back to New York.
As I study the Paul Mitchell school, I will pay close attention to the students and how they interact with their clientele. It does not matter how much education a person has if they have no rapport with people. You become the clanging cymbal in a well orchestrated symphony.
Elizabeth Wardle focuses on identity, authority, and learning to write in new workplaces. In this paper Wardle explains all three of these ideas and gives an example of a young adult named Alan. The theories that I can identify with are identity and authority.
ReplyDeleteIn my church’s nursery there are always new people trying to see if they want to work with the kids. The new workers have to identify with all the other volunteers as well as children and figure out the genre. Engagement is an aspect of identity because the newcomers must interact with everyone and try to become familiar and gain the respect of others. Imagination allows the new volunteers to really see themselves involved and maybe even making a difference.
Furthermore, in the nursery, people really have to gain respect for others to know who is capable of what and be able to cooperate. New comers are definitely not initially accepted and if they come in with the thought of being the top authority, like Alan, then they do become the outsider and gain the respect of no other volunteers.
Authority is only giving to those that the adult volunteers trust and respect. The authority figures would be the head of nursery, Mrs. Pauline, my best friend, and I. These are some of the authority figures because they are the most responsible and trustworthy people to watch the kids. Because it is a church and people volunteer, nobody has to have any certification.
Regardless of having authority, many other volunteers view themselves as the authority which then makes no one want to work with them. (When volunteers think they are the authority they try to tell the others what to do and be in charge, but this is when people appoint themselves as being an authority.)The authority speaks to all the other volunteers in a concerned voice because of the job that needs to get done as well as care for the children. Authority knows how to speak and scold others without being too harsh. When certain situations arise, the authority raises their voice to show the seriousness of the situation. For example, if there are kids playing and they push each other making one fall and hurt themselves badly then the volunteers are supposed to react but if they just yell across the room, “No”; then the authority must inform the slacking volunteers that yelling does not work.
Identity and authority play a key role in the community I am involved in. These theories hold to be very true.
The community that I am in is the United Stated Army. I can relate with Wardle very well in this community. There is always changing identities and authority in the army that sometimes things can get confusing. An example of this would be someone getting a promotion in the military. When someone is a Private they never really get any say on how things go in the military. All they do is just what they are told to do. The authority level is easy for them because all they do is just what their team leader tells them to do. Now a team leader is usually the rank of Sergeant but at times it can be a Specialist. This is where problems tend to come in.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a Private I would have tons of fun and hang out with all the other Privates. When I was promoted it was awesome I made it to Specialist. Now this is a situation where identity plays a problem because as a Specialist you are in charge of the Privates but still have to do all of the same work that they do. Now during all of this I was in training to become a Sergeant, so I didn’t know if I should stay the fun going guy who hangs out with Privates or serious and responsible Sergeant in training. I chose going for the promotion. Seeing how I wanted to get promoted again I had to take on more authority with getting into a team leader position as a Specialist. Now a lot of the people in the community stopped being my friend when I reached this position but they did respect me because of how I showed my authority in the training we did.
In this new position of authority that I gain made me have the same job as people that were higher rank than me. At this point I wasn’t sure if I had the authority to tell them what to do and if I should treat them as an equal or not. The problem with this was some Sergeants want you to treat them as if they are your equal but some don’t. This is where my problems started to happen. Now that I took on the identity as a leader I lost the lower community in the Army. I only gained a few people that were in my new position as friends but for the most part they were also Specialist. My argument in this story is that no matter how long you are in a community or just brand new your authority and identity will be forever changing. Sometimes it goes bad for a while and can turn good, or it can go the exact opposite. No matter what though, things seem to change to give you a position of identity and authority.
Throughout Wardle’s article he brought up some very good points. When you get involved in a new community you have to adapt and change your writing in order to become a member in a community. In my discourse community at the Husky Pup Preschool it is important to learn the language especially with the observations we have to do throughout the year. In my community if you do not learn the ways to write certain observations, it won’t make you be ignored in the community like Alan, but you won’t receive the best grade on them. For example, we have to do anecdotal in where you observe a kid for about five minutes and you write every thing they do. Well in these anecdotal you are not allowed to assume how they feel or why they are doing something. Like if one of the children started crying after they spilt their drink, we couldn’t say that they started crying because they spilt their drink, we would have to say they spilt their drink and then they started crying. Or in our other observation worksheets we have to write which guidance techniques will help the child improve on doing something. So we have to learn all guidance terms to use them in our observations like I-message, redirecting, modeling, etc. In my community it is important to learn the language of the community to receive a good grade.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that Wardle brought up in his article was authority. In my community no one has true authority over anyone else; everyone is equal besides our teacher. At the preschool there are about 36 teachers at a time so it is important for you not to believe that you have authority over anyone else. When people act like they have more authority over the other teachers especially if you are a newcomer, many people tend to dislike you and they will not listen to what you say or help you out. All the teachers are there to teach the kids and keep them safe. The only time really that you have authority over your peers is if you are a higher level then them since there are five different levels to this class. Though even when you are a higher level you really do not have more authority over the others you are just more experienced and know more about what you need to do and how things work.
As a newcomer at the preschool as long as you do what you are suppose to, and not try to assume higher authority than the other teachers then you are identified as an insider and you will have equal authority to the rest of the teachers and be included in the community.
The community that I plan to be in is the health community and under that I plan to become a Physical Therapist Assistant. Me planning to become one means that I would have to go through a lot to be apart of the health community. I would have to get my feet wet to understand what it means to be apart of the community, I would need to follow directions and understand the basics and I have already begun making my way to joining the community. Two years from now I plan to apply for this PTA program where I would be able to learn more. One of the requirements was to visit a health community and observe for about 50 hours so I would have to visit more often. Last year i did get my feet wet by visiting this Physical Therapist clinic. The RPT's that took me in were my uncle and aunt and they allowed me to observe them of their roles. I took notes as they worked and most of their patients were really old citizens and the PT's we really careful when giving the elders the treatment. There was also a PTA that they had and I had asked her questions on her journey to becoming a PTA. She went threw a lot and she got her feet wet a lot of times and she said that everyone starts out fresh, they start a new. It reminded me a lot of the the article from Wardle. Those who have become who they are today have gone threw a lot, they have been in our shoes before and it takes a lot to reach the community you wish to be apart of. The Health community is just about Physical Therapy, the health community also includes the nursing community, the doctors, occupational therapists, etc. Every one who are currently in the community have done their part and are still continuing to do more. Newcomers need to comfortable in the community and have the ability to adapt and get a long with others, gain a bit of reputation to let others know that you are a part of the community. Gain more experience and in a way where they wont take control of your peers. Take advantage in the community and maybe someday you maybe be at a higher level then them. I plan to work my way to becoming a PT but first I need to get comfortable becoming an assistant that way I would learn more and what it takes join the community.
ReplyDeleteOne of Wardle's main points was authority, one that is very easily used in ways that can harm one in a community as easy as it can help. In my work experience in a retail store, I learned that people with authority can sometimes take advantage of the fact. Newcomers, especially, who have recently been given a little more authority, will let it get to their heads and start to make enemies with people around them.
ReplyDeleteWhen I started out I had no intentions of getting a higher position than what I applied for. I just needed a job to show my dad that I was responsible enough to have my own car. It was nothing I had a passion for or nothing I enjoyed doing on my spare time. I went about my shifts doing what I had to do and as soon as I clocked out I didn’t think about it not once.
I was obviously doing a very good job at what I was doing when the new store General Manager asked if I was interested in a higher position. I wasn’t too fond of it at first being that I was very shy, and didn’t talk much to anyone. I had to think about it for a couple of weeks until I finally made my decision and I took the offer. I had to prove that I could be outspoken and take people under my wing and run things.
I came to realize that having no experience ever being in a manager type position, and having to put everything a manager would do to my actual every day performance became a little difficult. I had to learn how to talk to these people that were once on the same level I was. Communication is very important because people can take things you say and misinterpret them in wrong ways.
The field I want to look into is the medical field. I feel as though in that field other than the Drs. final say, there is no authority. Everyone is entitled to their opinion as to what to do in different cases. I am hopeful to find out in the upcoming weeks.
In Literacy ,Discourse,and Linguistics:Introduction by James Gee he made a very real observation that I can truly see in one of my communities at work. The statement in [JOURNAL OF EDUCATION,Volume 171 number 1,1989 pg.9] James states "Discourses,primary and secondary, can be studied, in some ways, like languages. And, In fact, some of what we know about second language acquisition is relevant to them,if only in a metaphorical way." He gives a example of business and school language affecting middle class homes discourses while church secondary discourses being more effective in influencing lower socio-economic black homes. This I see very clearly as being true. One of my social communities is my church which can be considered a black church. Being raised in the black church all my life I can see how the discourse at church definately influences the discourse at the homes of the members. Church has its own language that repeated week after week rubs off on your own personal vocabulary. Especially the black seventh day adventist church. An example of this is in the church very often the phrase after a good report is God is good and the persons hearing will reply instinctively "all the time" while the original speaker will end by saying "and all the time", the hearers reply "God is good." It is a instinctive phrase or verbal response that is commonly used in the homes of most black church members everywhere. For adventist another common phrase "Happy Sabbath" as a greeting to fellow adventist on the sabbath or saturday. This phrase is just apart of all seventh day adventist in and out the church on saturday. Many church members are uneducated or have very little education and as from the beginning usually the leaders of the church are educated and speak using discourse from school or business but mixed with church lingo and slang to effectively relate to the people. This for many is a great influence on their literacy. Blacks have used the church for many years to educate the less educated in our community. many people have learned to read in their church reading the Bible or studying from the Bible. Using this idea from james it definately brings to my attention the affect of the church's discourse on its members personal main discourse. And a true statement is that to understand many black peoples discourse and literacy you should understand their secondary discourse through the church.....
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