Monday, October 20, 2008
Am I stuck in my discourse?
Gee introduces the idea of the big "D", and its composition. A person is comprised of a primary discourse and many secondary discourses, all falling under the umbrella of the big "D." A person's primary discourse is acquired without conscious knowledge. It is natural. Gee states that a secondary discourse can never truly be taught, because it can never be truly acquired. A person has to consciously register that they are trying to enter another discourse. This is where the water gets murky, and I find myself optimistically disagreeing with Gee. Delpit, the author responding to Gee, believes dominant discourses can be learned, and further used to further oneself in the "system." This helps students work outside their primary discourse and fit into a larger culture, without the effort showing. This is the ground on which I choose to stand as a teacher. Even if it is not true, I believe it important to holster the negative and register the positive and the possibilities that can be given to students through teaching students outside of their natural discourse. I also find it important to consider Delpits "not-teaching" and "not-learning" ideas, so when teaching, I can recognize is someone is not-learning or I am making the mistake of not-teaching, that way I can correct the error. I believe that having multiple discourses is what creates a complex and intelligent person, and I plan to offer that to my students.
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2 comments:
Why do you call Delpit's response to Gee, optimistic and/or untrue? I think that Delpit has very reasonable and realistic view as well. One that may not be seen all the time, but must appear a decent amount of the time.
I agree with your statement saying that it is important to have multiple discourses, espcially as a teacher. I think we (teachers) kind of owe it to students to introduce to them various discourses whether they choose to attain them or not. I also appreciate you saying that if a student is not learning then your essentially not teaching and you would want to change that. Many teachers, I feel fail to recognize that and in doing so don't change for the better of their students.
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