Despite these clearly defined and articulated goals and a great many
dedicated professionals who believe in the stated principles, more than 30
years have not seen much progress in terms of large-scale policies.^6
Nevertheless, the discussion continues and individuals have been working
on ways to incorporate these goals into their research and teaching
methodologies (Bruch and Marback 2005; Kinloch 2005; Katz et al. 2009;
Scott and National Council of Teachers of English 2009). Kinloch (2005)
has taken an integrative approach, encouraging her colleagues
[to] reimagine our educational commitments, our shared values, in
ways that mobilize public and professional attitudes circulating
around the education of monolingual and multilingual students. This
mobilization, I believe, needs to be grounded in linguistic and
cultural negotiation and not in a wrong language/right language
debate.
(2005: 94)Consider that every child comes to school with a home language
(sometimes, more than one). They arrive fully fluent in that language. The
child must now learn a series of concrete and abstract skills – reading and
writing as well as an understanding of how and when different varieties
are used to greatest effectiveness.^7 But it is at this point that trouble arises.
The solid and reasonable arguments for literacy are now attached to the
spoken language without discussion or pause. If Student A can learn to
read and write, this mindset seems to go, then Student A can also learn to
speak a different language variety. The two goals (mastering the
standardized written language, and replacing one spoken language with
another) have different underlying motivations, and in fact they stand in
opposition to each other. What may seem minor in the first grade
(reminding students to use a certain verb form) can mushroom into broad
exclusionary practices that go beyond issues of spelling to the silencing of
discourse, to the detriment of everybody (Gee 2007a [1996]: 221). This is
an issue that is always close to the surface in the African American
community, in part because of what Baugh has called educational
malpractice stemming from educational apartheid (1999: 4). According to
June Jordan (1989): “Black children in America must acquire competence
in white English, for the sake of self-preservation. But you will never