Pens on the Prize: Linking School and Community Through Contest-Inspired Literacy
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Innovative Practices Pens on the Prize: Linking School and Community through Contest-Inspired Literacy Korina Jocson, Sherdren Burnside, & Mualimu Collins It was eight o’clock on a Friday morn- describe here was inspired by our on-going in ways that urban youth interpret and ing. The sun was peeking through cirrus exchange of ideas about how to innovate produce poetry as a literacy practice as clouds, and traffi c on downtown interstate teaching practices in urban multicultural well as a medium for becoming empowered freeways was minimal. A high school classrooms. These exchanges eventually writers in challenging different forms of teacher was at home awaiting the arrival of moved us towards collective action—that social inequalities. two colleagues, one a university researcher is, to work together, build on each other’s Current research in literacy studies and the other an independent fi lmmaker. strengths, and maximize the use of avail- indicate that the (re)emergence of spoken Her house in East Oakland served as the able resources to serve the needs of students word and the proliferation of Hip Hop central meeting place of what was to be attending what has been identifi ed as a culture has served as a backdrop for the in- a delightful day of critical work. After a low-performing high school in the East Bay creased interest in poetry in schools (Fisher, quick but thorough debriefi ng for a 10:30 Area. Before we turn to our story, we fi rst 2003; Meacham, 2003; Mahiri & Sablo, a.m. panel presentation, we packed our offer a theoretical framework on literacy 1996; Morrell & Duncan-Andrade, 2002; equipment bags and carpooled to San Jose from which we operated. Sablo Sutton, 2004). Many youth today to participate in the California Council on are involved in youth poetry slams, writ- Teacher Education’s (CCTE) spring confer- Literacy in the Lives ing workshops, and performances through ence. The theme was “Artful Teaching for of Urban Youth organizations such as Youth Speaks in San Testy Times.” That Friday morning was Francisco and UrbanWord in New York. hardly the start of a typical day, at least Literacy is more than one’s ability to Their words, often drawing from per- for us, in the San Francisco Bay Area. read and write; it is tied to the ways in sonal experiences and critiques of society, This article is partly based on what which people live their everyday lives. In make evident the potential power and pos- transpired that day. What we attempted recent decades, the focus on sociocultural sibilities of using poetry in the classroom to do at CCTE was new to all of us and perspectives in literacy research has led (Jewell, 2004; McCormick, 2003; Somers, forced us to see our role(s) in education a to broader conceptualizations of what is 1999; Weis & Herndon, 2000). For example, little differently. However, our story is not and what constitutes literacy. Within New Morrell and Duncan-Andrade (2002) con- about that presentation, but about the Literacy Studies, Street (1984) advances tend that poetry, rap, and other elements context that led to it, a context which, we our understanding of literacy as a social of Hip Hop culture can be used as a bridge believe, tapped into and linked school and practice mediated and produced by the to assist students in engaging traditional community resources to create a unique very contexts it occupies. He extends the “canonical” texts. They point out the peda- learning opportunity for high school notion of literacy events (Heath, 1983), gogical disconnect present in many urban students. It was also a context that built or occasions in which written language classrooms, how teachers often overlook the upon the pedagogical beliefs of three adult is integral to one’s interaction with texts. abilities of students to memorize, analyze, collaborators to engage students in critical He asserts that literacy involves “power, interpret, and create texts. poetry and digital media production. authority, and social differentiation” and If students already had these strengths The collaborative work as we will exists within sites of tension between them and skills, they argued, then there must be (Street, 1995). It is neither neutral nor a way to use them to make better connec- technical. tions in students’ learning process. Particu- Korina Jocson is an AERA/IES postdoctoral fellow In other words, literacy has the poten- larly, they tapped into students’ knowledge in the School of Education at Stanford University, tial to reproduce and challenge structures through infl uences of popular and youth Stanford, California; of domination. More importantly for the culture to invigorate their classroom teach- Sherdren Burnside is a former high school teacher latter, literacy can become a tool for gain- ing. During one of their poetry units, they in the Oakland Unifi ed School District, ing and tapping into available resources for carefully paired a number of “canonical” Oakland, California; self- and social-empowerment. Building on poems with rap songs—each pair consisted and Mualimu Collins is an independent fi lmmaker this conceptualization of literacy, poetry as of similar literary themes, styles, and with the Digital Education Foundation a genre of writing is a site for understand- devices—for students to deconstruct and in Oakland, California. ing critical youth work, in particular for us make sense of and, later, share through MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION 28 Contest-Inspired Literacy various types of presentations. This kind students multiple ways of interacting with The Contest of innovative teaching and learning shows texts (Kress, 2003). More than a medium Poetry for the People, a university the potential power of ideas and collective for intertextuality, however, digital media program in Northern California, offers action inside urban classrooms. production can also serve as a tool for criti- unique learning and teaching opportuni- Another example is Weiss and Hern- cal literacy. As Goodman (2003) found in ties to use poetry as a medium for artistic don’s (2000) five-week guide to assist his work through the Educational Video and political empowerment for and by English/language arts teachers in expos- Center in New York, youth as producers historically denied populations. According ing students to and using spoken word develop sophisticated filmmaking skills to Muller and the Poetry for the People poetry in the classroom. Based on their while offering critiques to dominant forms Blueprint Collective (1995), the program work with after-school workshops through of culture. These youth employed critical lit- was crafted with three guiding principles Youth Speaks in New York (now named eracy in making video documentaries about in mind, that (1) “students will not take Urban Word), they suggest various ways of larger social issues informed by various themselves seriously unless we who teach interweaving creative expression, writing, media, media that they too were informing them honor and respect them,” (2) words and performance—from mapping a kind through their work as producers. can change the world and save our lives,” of pedagogical space, to crafting thematic Reading the world and reading the and (3) “poetry is the highest art and the poems, to delivering them in a culminating word, as Freire’s (1998) letters remind most exacting service devoted to our most public event. us, are key elements to any social action. serious, and our most imaginative, deploy- Most useful to teachers are the prac- The challenge to educators is to imagine ment of verbs and nouns.” tical exercises they provide to illustrate praxis, one that is based on dialogue and The late professor, activist, and poet the application of poetic techniques and problem-posing approaches, one that rep- June Jordan initiated the Poetry for the literary devices in developing as well as resents refl ection and action to transform People program at the University of Cali- enhancing students’ production of poetry. the world. We as collaborators believed in fornia, Berkeley in 1991 and with much Weiss and Herndon’s guide is a spring- this kind of pedagogy and took advantage success on the university campus began board to innovate the teaching of poetry of an opportunity to explore new ideas and a partnership with a nearby high school and offers an introductory understanding technologies when we came together in in 1996. This partnership utilized college of the complexities of creating a dynamic 2004. It was then when we set ourselves student-teacher-poets (STPs) to facilitate learning environment while enabling up to innovate current classroom practices poetry discussions and writing workshops young people to grow as writers/artists. around poetry and digital production. In the March 2005 issue of the Council inside English classrooms. In this “collab- orative intervention” between STPs, high Chronicle, the National Council for Teach- Research Questions ers of English declared “Celebrate Poetry!” school teachers, and students (Jocson, and “Free Student Voices” in April to pre- This article looks closely at one in- 2005), the emphasis was on the construc- pare for the 10th year anniversary of Na- stantiation of a poetry-centered practice tion of well-crafted written poems, followed tional Poetry Month. Several authors and as supported by June Jordan’s Poetry for by performance or public reading. poets had encouraging words to share in the People, specifi cally in the context of an In 2004, Poetry for the People in as- the issue’s centerfold. In Pat Mora’s words, inaugural poetry contest. It builds on an sociation with author Alice Walker and the “[Writing poetry] allows me slowly to sink earlier empirical study, which investigated Oakland Unifi ed School District launched into the pool of languages…I discover what the partnership between Poetry for the a new(er) movement in response to and rises on the page.