ERIC ED365999: Global Voices: Culture and Identity in the Teaching of English.

238 Pages·1994·4.2 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 365 999
CS 214 180
AUTHOR
Milner, Joseph 0., Ed.; Pope, Carol A., Ed.
'ITLE
Global Voices: Culture and Identity in the Teaching
of English.
INSTITUTION
National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana,
REPORT NO
ISBN-0-8141-1855-0
PUB DATE
94
NOTE
238p.
AVAILABLE FROM
National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W.
Kenyon Rd., Urbana, IL 61801-1096 (Stock No.
18550-0015; $16.95 members, $22.95 nonmembers).
PUB TYPE
Collected Works
General (020)
EDRS PRICE
MF01/PC10 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
Cultural Context; *Cultural Differences; Curriculum
Development; Elementary Secondary Education; English
(Second Language); *English Curriculum; *English
Instruction; *Global Approach; Higher Education;
Whole Language Approach
IDENTIFIERS
Curriculum Emphases; *Educational Issues; English
Teachers; Identity (Psychological); *National
Curriculum
ABSTRACT
This book presents essays that reflect the dialogue
and the spirit of conversation of the 1990 International Federation
for the Teaching of English (IFTE) Conference in Auckland, New
Zealand. The book begins with some of the impressions of the IFTE
conference held by the classroom teachers, school administrators,
writers, and scholars who attended it. Language diversity in the
classroom is the focus of several essays in the second part of the
book. Each essay in the second part of the book is followed by
a
response. The pairing of essays continues in the third section of the
book, where issues such as who controls curricula and who sets the
standards for curricula are addressed. The third part of the book
also discuses national curriculum movements in New Zealand and the
United Kingdom; English as a Second Language pedagogies; and
international underpinnings of the whole language movement. The
initial essay in each set is a response to
a paper presented at the
conference; the second is the original presenter's reply to the
author of the first essay. The fourth part of the book presents
essays about the history and future of IFTE conferences, looking
forward especially to the 1995 conference to be held in New York
City. (RS)
***********************************************************************
*
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that
can be made
from the original document.
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NCTE Editorial Board: Keith Gilyard, Ronald Jobe, Joyce Kinkead, Louise
Phelps, Gladys Veidernanis, Charles Suhor, chair, ex officio, Michael Spooner,
ex officio.
:3
Global Voices
Culture and Identity in the Teaching of English
Edited by
Joseph 0. Milner
Wake Forest University
Carol A. Pope
North Carolina State University
National Council of Teachers of English
1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801-1096
4
ABOUT THE COVER: Our cover art was acquired from the Manu Kopere
Society, Inc., of Wellington, Aotearoa, New Zealand, which specializes in
contemporary and traditional Maori artwork and design. The two figures in
the design represent carved poupoumale and femalewhich are featured in
traditional stance with legs apart and arms raised, conveying the act of com-
munication. The intricate background pattern is based on the art of tukutuku,
which involves the weaving of fiber strands onto slats in a crisscross fashion
and is largely done by women. The tukutuku panel and the carved poupou
are traditionally found side by side, lining the walls of meeting houses.
Staff Editor: David A. Hamburg
Staff Designer: Jim Proefrock
Cover Artwork and Design: Manu Kopere © 1993
Interior Design: Doug Burnett
NCTE Stock Number: 18550-3050
1994 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and other publications to provide a
forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teach-
ing of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular
point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the
Board of Directors, or the membership at large, except in the announcements
of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Global voices : culture and identity in the teaching of English /
edited by Joseph 0. Milner, Carol A. Pope.
cm.
p.
"NCTE stock number 18550-3050"--T.p. verso.
Papers originally presented at the 1990 IFTE Conference held in
Auckland, N.Z.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-8141-1855-0
1. English languageStudy and teachingForeign countries
Congresses. 2. English languageStudy and teachingForeign
speakersCongresses. 3. Identity (Psychology)Congresses.
4. Language and cultureCongresses.
I. Milner, Joseph O'Beirne,
II. Pope, Carol Ann.
III. IFTE Conference (1990 :
1937-
.
Auckland, N.Z.)
PE1128.A2G56
1994
428'.007dc20
93-41342
CIP
5
Contents
Kia Ora (Greetings): Preface
ix
I. Powhiri (A Call): Initial Impressions
1. Finding Strength in Diversity
Carol A. Pope and N. Andrew Overstreet
3
2. Tracing a Teacher's Voice
Edward W. Milner
9
3. Different Voices, Different Dances
Rita S. Brause
16
4. Moving beyond Babel: Toward a Global Song line
Natalie White
19
II. Hui (General Meeting): Centerpieces
5. Divergence and Convergence in English:
A Creative Tension?
Katharine Perera
25
6. Keeping English Alive and Well:
A Response to Katharine Perera
Denny Wolfe
42
7. From the Dominant Voice to Different Voices:
Issues of Language, Culture, and Power
Gerald Grace
47
8. A Response to Gerald Grace
R. Baird Shuman
63
9. Insight from the Inside: A New Perspective
on Family Influences over Children's Television
Viewing and Its Implications for Teachers
of English
Patricia Gil lard
68
10. A Response to Patricia Gil lard
Bruce C. Appleby
84
6
Contents
vi
11. Effecting Change in Schools
Mary K. Healy
88
12. Teachers as Agents of Change:
A Response to Mary K. Healy
Ruie Jane Pritchard
101
Waita (Song): Classroom Practices
13. Cultural Interpretations of Language Acquisition/The
Culture of Power: ESL Traditions, Mayan Resistance
Response by Wendy Strachan
111
Reply by Janet Giltrow
115
14. Sources of the Whole Language Movement
Response by Patsy M. Ginns
118
120
Reply by Robert E. Shafer
15. The National Curriculum for English in the United
Kingdom: The Case Against
124
Response by Joan (Mittelstaedt) Steiner
125
Reply by Wmifred Crombie
16. Scented Gardens for the Bland: Curriculum, Culture,
and Controversy in the Proposed New Syllabus for
Senior English in New Zealand Secondary Schools
127
Response by Nancy S. Thompson
Reply by Jenny Buist
133
17. The Errors of Our Expectations: An Ethnographic
Study of Basic and Honors College Writers
136
Response by Ann Buhman Renninger
Reply by Deborah James and P. B. Parris
139
Organizing a Whole Language Program through the
18.
Use of a Loose-Leaf Notebook
Response by Merle Yvonne Williams-Price
143
Reply by Stella D. Holmes
145
Teaching Resistance
19.
Response by Nancy B. Lester
148
Reply by Catherine Beavis
149
7
41
vii
Contents
20. New Zealand Book-Based Resources: Positive Female
Role Models, Maori Perspective
Response by P. B. Parris
153
Reply by Noe line Wright
156
21. Cultural Bonding through Literature
Response by Helga M. Lewis
159
Reply by Claire Lacattiva
160
22. Responding to Writing: Findings of a Recent Research
Project
Response by Dennise M. Bartelo
162
Response by Bertadean Baker
164
Reply by David Philips
168
23. Humane Literacy: Literary Competence and the Ways
of Knowing
Response by Carole Bencich
174
Reply by Sheridan Blau
178
24. Building on Students' Strengths: Voices in the Writing
Class
Response by Marian Bryan
183
Reply by William Boswell
187
IV. Poroporoaki (Farewell): Global Futures
25. Voices and Visions
Natalie White
193
26. Different Voices, Aotearoa 1990:
The Memories and the Messages
Elody Rathgen
204
27. From Auckland to New York:
A Look Ahead to 1995
John S. Mayher
208
Editors
219
Contributors
221
s
Kia Ora (Greetings)
Preface
Ko te kai o te r.-agitira he korero.
The food of a chief is conversation.
As part of her opening welcome, Elody Rathgen, president of the
International Federation for the Teaching of English and a
teacher educator in New Zealand, invited those at the 1990
International Conference in Auckland, New Zealand, to dine and feast
on conversation in the coming days. And feast we did! Taking as its
theme "Different Voices: Language, Culture, Identity" the conference
offered numerous opportunities for participants from around the
world to speak, to listen, to learn, and to envision a world in which
voices are not silenced but honored.
The surrendering of ourselves to the process of listening, talk-
ing, thinking, and exploring resulted in a rich professional experience
which mirrored the value of learning by listening, talking, exploring
with our students. Consumed by the global voices of teachers, stu-
dents, teacher educators, and international leaders, we spoke often of
how valuable an experience attending such a conference would be for
English language arts teachers everywhere. Thus we decided to recon-
struct the conference in a text which would reflect the dialogue, the
spirit of conversation that was established in Auckland. We wish
through this volume to give you a sense of the stimulating exchanges
that occurred at the conference and have continued across and within
continents since that time.
In an attempt to universalize the themes and messages of the
1990 IFTE Conference while simultaneously not forsaking the particu-
larity of the event, we include here an interspersing of participants'
descriptions of their experiences at the conference as well as the impli-
cations which they drew from the sessions they attended. Throughout
the text there are also allusions to New Zealand and its indigenous
Maori culture. This melding first occurs in the table of contents and the
arrangement of the text. Because we endeavored to honor the Maori
culture as part of the conference, we chose to use the Maori language
9
Preface
for the major divisions in the text. Therefore, the preface becomes the
Kia Ora (greetings); the introductory essays, the Powhiri (the call, the
invitation); the keynote speeches of the conference, the Hui (general
meetings); the classroom practices discussions, the Waiata (song); and
the essays about the history and future of IFTE conferences, the Poro-
poroaki (farewell). These are terms often used at the IFTE Conference
and seem appropriate to what we attempt here. We trust that we are
not taking too many liberties with the translations.
Even though this text by necessity represents the spirit and the
content of the 1990 LFTE Conference through writing and reading, it
also enables us to reinforce the value of speaking, listening, and view-
ing that was emphasized at the conference. Besides honoring the value
of talking, acknowledging the importance of listening to students'
voices, and emphasizing the significance of viewing, we also had
ample opportunity at the conference to experience films that focused
on New Zealand writers and their writing and to read poetry, hear
writers read and/or recite their own or others' work, and exchange
and explore ideas in numerous informal settings.
We would also be remiss if we did not mention the pervasive
influence of Rose Perea Maori educator, leader, visionarywho
guided the initial Powhiri, where everyone was called together, invited
to join the culture of the conference, and asked to share the feast of
conversation. Her message, which goes beyond the limitations of this
text, was grounded in the power of language, the importance of talk
as she shared the ancient Maori teachings. Urged to honor our own
and others' uniqueness ("Each of us is perfect"), we were reminded
that we are all related, that the most important component of the
universe is People, and that we must share responsibility for other
people and for Nature. From Tili Afamasaga (Western Samoa), Keri
Kaa (New Zealand), and Rex Horoi (Solomon Islands), we heard simi-
lar messages about the value and importance of strong oral traditions
and were warned that we invalidate a language by ignoring it. Keri
Kaa's admonition, "Poets ought to be responsible for language
change," provoked much thought and consideration. Even though
these persons and their emphases on oral tradition are not explicitly
represented here, their collective message and the spirit of their signifi-
cant voices undergird this entire volume. Every section which follows
reinforces the vaiue of individual learners and teachers, each of whom
brings a unique persona and language to his or her interactions.
This book contains offerings for numerous audiencesclass-
room teachers, supervising teachers, field evaluators, historians, uni-
I 0