"GIMME ROOM" : A CULTURAL APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF ATTITUDES AND ADMISSION TO LITERACY.

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Gilmore, Perry.

Contributor:

University of Pennsylvania.

Subjects (All):

Social sciences--Study and teaching.

Social sciences.

0534.

Local Subjects:

0534.

Physical Description:

167 pages

Contained In:

Dissertation Abstracts International 44-04A.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

The research herein sought to identify and explore school and community perceived problems concerning literacy achievement. The three year study was conducted in a predominantly low-income, black urban community and in one elementary school whose faculty was about fifty percent black and white. The data were collected in and out of school and consist of personal observations, interactions and interviews documented over a three year period.

A major problem identified and voiced repeatedly by teachers, parents and administrators in the community was "attitude". A good attitude appeared to be central to inclusion in a special high track academic program in the school. Less than a third of the population in each intermediate grade level was selected for the special program. Though participation in the program did not guarantee literacy success it certainly maximized the chances for it. The key factor for admission was something everyone called "good attitude."

Students who were viewed as having good attitudes were also viewed as being good kids. Their label became part of their constitution and indicative of the individual's worth. Yet when the behaviors subsumed under the label "attitude" were examined the data indicated that the behaviors consisted largely of a set of linguistic, paralinguistic and kinesic adornments which were associated with a particular ethnic style and socio-economic class, rather than a set of character traits reflective of the nature of individuals.

Despite the presence and demonstration of literacy competence, many of the children were never seen as possessing such skills due to the fact that performances of their competencies were contextualized and embedded in attitudinal displays that were considered inappropriate and associated with black "street behavior." Thus the study demonstrates that the underlying process involved, seems not to be the acquisition of literacy--implying a growing set of reading and writing skills. It appears instead to be an exchange to appropriate attitudes for what can be more accurately described as an admission to literacy, a gate-keeping enterprise.

Notes:

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-04, Section: A, page: 1049.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1983.

Local Notes:

School code: 0175.

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.