Poverty, Racism and Literacy. ERIC Digest.

A significant correlation between race and poverty exists, with Black and Hispanic Americans three times more likely to be impoverished than White Americans (Proctor and Dalaker 2002). The cycle of poverty and low-literacy functioning is well documented, as is the achievement gap between White students and students of color. Race is a persistent factor in employment statistics, educational attainment, and the acquisition of literacy skills, with significantly higher unemployment rates and lower educational attainment rates among Black and Hispanic Americans than among White Americans. The literature on learner attrition and on resistance to participation in adult literacy programs suggests that the current delivery system may not be meeting the needs or expectations of many adults. A small but growing body of literature questions whether cultural dissonance between instructors and learners is a factor in learner attrition, and it advocates increasing cultural relevance in literacy practices. Some of the writings also advocate helping learners move toward critical reflection and social action. This Digest explores the poverty-racism-literacy connection, specifically as it relates to adult literacy, the imperative for culturally relevant practices, and the development of critical literacy.

ALTERNATIVE DEFINITIONS OF LITERACY

Auerbach (1992) suggests that there exists a "literacy myth" in which economic mobility is touted as the result of literacy acquisition when, in reality, race and gender play a greater role in shaping an individual's economic prospects. Without the availability of jobs that pay a living wage, literacy education loses its value and appeal. Literacy alone cannot overcome the effects of class and race on access to educational and employment opportunities (D'Amico 1999).

Another perspective cited in the literature with increasing frequency suggests that literacy is more than the acquisition of reading and writing skills; it is also a social practice or social currency, and, as such, a key to social mobility (Gee 1991). Learning the hidden rules and cultural codes of the dominant culture, according to this perspective, facilitates upward mobility. To be successful in accessing educational and employment opportunities, members of minority groups must become bicultural, i.e., they must be able to function both in the culture of their identity group and in the dominant culture.

Those outside the dominant culture may find that their "different-ness" may result in unequal and limited access to education and other resources that can facilitate social or economic progress. They are marginalized in society, and their cultures, languages, and moral codes frequently dismissed as inferior social practices, even in school settings (Nieto 1992). Individuals who are relegated to marginalized social groups, consistently experiencing lack of privilege and power, often internalize this experience. Internalized oppression, or believing that the self is somehow "less than" and "less worthy," results in lowered expectations for life chances.

INSTITUTIONAL RACISM IN EDUCATION

Standardization implies that a core curriculum exists and that, to be judged successful, students must demonstrate mastery, at some predefined minimum acceptable level, of the knowledge and skill sets of the core curriculum. Because there is no room within this equation for "otherness," standardization entails injustice and the erasure of difference and diversity (Escobar 1992). In terms of mastery of the skills within a standardized curriculum and performance on standardized achievement tests, children of the affluent outperform children of the poor, and White children generally outperform children of color (Ogbu 1994).

Tracking often sorts students on the basis of race and social class, with the lower tracks predominantly filled by children of color and children from low-income families. U.S. Department of Education data (cited in Losen and Orfield 2002) show clear patterns of overrepresentation of minority children in special education and indicate that African-American students are up to four times as likely as white students to be identified as mentally retarded or emotionally disturbed. Recent efforts at detracking are politically charged, with issues of power and control being played out in struggles over the meaning of intelligence, ability, and merit (Oakes, Wells, and Jones 1997).

Hidden curricula in schooling materials are well documented (Beyer and Apple 1998). The term refers to unstated norms, values, and beliefs that are transmitted to students through underlying rules that structure the routines and social interactions in the educational setting (Giroux 1983). Recent content analyses in adult literacy education by Quigley and Holsinger (1993) and Sandlin (2000) have addressed this concept. In analyzing the content of textbooks commonly used by adult literacy programs, Quigley and Holsinger (1993) found that cultural reproduction of sexism, racism, and socioeconomic stereotypes is an everyday "hidden" presence that abounds in the popular literacy reading materials.

TEACHING CRITICAL LITERACY

Critical literacy questions the status quo, including the myth of education as the "great equalizer." It challenges inequality and makes clear the connection between knowledge and power (Aronowitz and Giroux 1993). It encourages critical reflection of individual experiences and calls for social analysis and social change (Auerbach 1992). Adult educators can teach critical literacy by (1) connecting learning to learners' lived experiences; (2) helping learners question theory relative to their own cultural experience; (3) giving voice to learners and creating forums in which they can tell their stories (Sheared 1994); (4) helping learners view knowledge as something that they can produce; and (5) giving learners the tools to critique frames of reference, ideas, information, and patterns of privilege and develop critical consciousness (Freire and Macedo 1987).

Dialogue between teacher and learner is important in helping learners see the links among literacy, context, and meaning. Shore (1998) cautions that the process of literacy as social practice is not a reflection of learners' experience unless networks of power are examined. Through critical literacy, learners come to understand not only how education affects work, but also how racism and socioeconomic status determine the jobs that are available and to whom (D'Amico 1999).

RETHINKING PRACTICE

* "Think through whiteness" and what it means to be a member of the dominant culture (Frankenberg 1993; Shore 1998)

* Acknowledge that marginalized groups have cultures, languages, and moral codes that are viable social practices (Nieto 1992)

* Recognize that literacy represents a set of practices that can provide the conditions through which people can be empowered or disempowered (Aronowitz and Giroux 1991)

* Question whether the classroom environment, curricula, and curricular materials reflect learners' histories, cultures, languages, and experiences

* Construct and maintain supportive learning environments, acknowledging and accepting diverse perspectives offered by learners and emphasizing multiple interpretations

* Provide learners with opportunities to clarify their own attitudes and values, encouraging them to take a stance on issues

* Ensure that instructional methods and processes center on shared power and responsibility between teacher and learners (Johnson-Bailey and Cervero 1996; Tisdell 1993)

* Question the ways in which texts have been constructed, considering the purpose of the texts and the motives of the authors; explore alternative readings, considering what has been included and what has been left out

* Have the "courage to teach" antiracist and anticlassist curricula

* Provide professional development for instructors to help them explore issues of poverty, racism, cultural dominance, power, and internalized oppression

These practices will not become institutionalized quickly or easily. Teaching in a culturally relevant way requires commitment to change at every level within the literacy education program, from the administration to the classroom. All of the following will be included in and affected by the change process: the learning environment, instructional methods and processes, curricular materials, classroom norms, teachers' and learners' values and assumptions, teachers' expectations of learners, and criteria for evaluation. The changes must be as deep as the assumptions that maintain the status quo. In initiating these changes, literacy programs can encourage learners from marginalized communities to counter the effects of internalized oppression and to view themselves as members of the larger society. Perhaps, then, the prevailing definition will become literacy as social action.

Mary Ann Corley is Principal Research Analyst at American Institutes for Research, Washington, DC.

REFERENCES

Aronowitz, S., and Giroux, H. "Textual Authority." In THE POLITICS OF THE TEXTBOOK, edited by M. W. Apple and L. K. Christian-Smith, pp. 213-241. New York: Routledge, 1991.

Aronowitz, S., and Giroux, H. A. EDUCATION STILL UNDER SIEGE. South Hadley, MA: Bergin-Garvey, 1993.

Auerbach, E. "Literacy and Ideology." ANNUAL REVIEW OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS 12 (1992): 71-85.

Auerbach, E. "Putting the P Back in Participatory." TESOL QUARTERLY 27, no. 3 (Fall 1993): 543-545.

Beyer, L. E., and Apple, M. W., eds. THE CURRICULUM: PROBLEMS, POLITICS, AND POSSIBILITIES. 2D ED. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998.

Bureau of Labor Statistics. A PROFILE OF THE WORKING POOR. REPORT 957. Washington, DC: BLS, U.S. Department of Labor, 2002. http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2000.htm

D'Amico, D. POLITICS, POLICY, PRACTICE AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY: ADULT EDUCATION IN AN ERA OF WELFARE REFORM. Boston, MA: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, Harvard University, 1999. (ED 440 254) http://gseweb.harvard.edu/~ncsall/research/d'amico1.pdf

Escobar, A. "Planning." In THE DEVELOPMENT DICTIONARY: A GUIDE TO KNOWLEDGE AS POWER, edited by W. Sachs. London: Zed Books, 1992.

Frankenberg, R. WHITE WOMEN, RACE MATTERS: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF WHITENESS. New York: Routledge, 1993.

Freire, P., and Macedo, D. LITERACY: READING THE WORD AND THE WORLD. South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey, 1987.

Gee, J. P. "Socio-cultural Approaches to Literacy." ANNUAL REVIEW OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS 12 (1991): 31-48.

Giroux, H. A. "Theories of Reproduction and Resistance in the New Sociology of Education: A Critical Analysis." HARVARD EDUCATIONAL REVIEW 53, no. 3 (August 1983): 257-293.

Hornbeck, D. W., and Salamon, L. M., eds. HUMAN CAPITAL AND AMERICA'S FUTURE. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991.

Howard, G. R. WE CAN'T TEACH WHAT WE DON'T KNOW: WHITE TEACHERS, MULTIRACIAL SCHOOLS. New York: Teachers College Press, 1999.

Johnson-Bailey, J., and Cervero, R. M. "An Analysis of the Educational Nar-ratives of Reentry Black Women." ADULT EDUCATION QUARTERLY 46, no. 3 (Spring 1996): 142-157.

Losen, D. J., and Orfield, G. RACIAL INEQUITY IN SPECIAL EDUCATION. Cambridge, MA: Civil Rights Project, Harvard University, 2002.

Nieto, S. AFFIRMING DIVERSITY. New York: Longman, 1992.

Oakes, J.; Wells, S.; and Jones, M. "Detracking: The Social Construction of Ability, Cultural Politics, and Resistance to Reform." Teachers College Record 98, no. 3 (Spring 1997): 482-510.

Ogbu, J. U. "Racial Stratification and Education in the United States: Why Inequality Persists." TEACHERS COLLEGE RECORD 96, no. 2 (Winter 1994): 264-298.

Proctor, B. D., and Dalaker, J. POVERTY IN THE UNITED STATES: 2001. Washington, DC: Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce, 2002. http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p60-219.pdf

Quigley, A. RETHINKING LITERACY EDUCATION: THE CRITICAL NEED FOR PRACTICE BASED CHANGE. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997.

Quigley, B. A., and Holsinger, E. "'Happy Consciousness': Ideology and Hidden Curricula in Literacy Education." ADULT EDUCATION QUARTERLY 44, no. 1 (Fall 1993): 17-33.

Sandlin, J. A. "The Politics of Consumer Education Materials Used in the Adult Literacy Classroom." ADULT EDUCATION QUARTERLY 50, no. 4 (August 2000): 289-307.

Shannon, P. READING POVERTY. Westport, CT: Heinemann, 1998.

Sheared, V. "Giving Voice: An Inclusive Model of Instruction." NEW DIRECTIONS FOR ADULT AND CONTINUING EDUCATION no. 61 (Spring 1994): 27-37.

Shore, S. "What's Whiteness Got to Do with It?" In LITERACY ON THE LINE, edited by S. Shore. Underdale, Australia: University of South Australia, 1998. (ED 430 143)

Tisdell, E. J. "Interlocking Systems of Power, Privilege, and Oppression in Adult Higher Education Classes." ADULT EDUCATION QUARTERLY 43, no. 4 (Summer 1993): 203-226.

Wilson, W. J. WHEN WORK DISAPPEARS. New York: Vintage Books, 1996.

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This project has been funded at least in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education under Contract No. ED-99-CO-0013. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Digests may be freely reproduced and are available at http://ericacve.org/digests.asp.

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