“Gentle Doses of Racism”: Racist Discourses in the Construction of Scientific Literacy, Mathematical Literacy, and Print-Based Literacies in Children’s Basal Readers by Leah Allison van Belle A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy (Education) in The University of Michigan 2010 Dissertation Committee: Professor Lesley A. Rex, Chair Associate Professor Kai Schnabel Cortina Clinical Associate Professor Catherine H. Reischl Outreach Director Laura J. Roop “Knowledge linked to power, not only assumes the authority of 'the truth' but has the power to make itself true. All knowledge, once applied in the real world, has effects, and in that sense at least, 'becomes true.' Knowledge, once used to regulate the conduct of others, entails constraint, regulation and the disciplining of practice. Thus, there is no power relation without the correlative constitution of a field of knowledge, nor any knowledge that does not presuppose and constitute at the same time, power relations.” -Michel Foucault (1995, p. 27) “The harder it is to exercise direct domination, and the more it is disapproved of, the more likely it is that gentle, disguised forms of domination will be seen as the only possible way of exercising domination and exploitation.” -Pierre Bourdieu (1990, p. 128) © Leah Allison van Belle 2010 To Brother, because you bought me the old typewriter so many years ago and lugged its clunky heft home for me through the crowded street fair simply because you believed that I could write. Your belief in me is one of the greatest blessings of my life. Right hand, left hand. To Dearest, Alan, and Ethan, because you sustained me throughout this adventure with love, empathy, and laughter. I could never have done this without you. It’s a beautiful thing to be in the inner circle. Je vous aime! ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Lesley Rex for her scholarly expertise and the many ways in which she generously shared her time and talents with me. Lesley introduced me to discourse analysis, critical theory, Bourdieu, Foucault, Jim Gee, and Alan Luke: the way I view and make meaning of the world are forever changed because of her. I am profoundly grateful for having had the opportunity to work with Cathy Reischl during my time at The University of Michigan. Cathy allowed me to learn from her amazing example as a teacher educator, and continues to inspire me to engage in this work in ways that are deeply meaningful and personal. If I can one day be even a fraction of the teacher educator that Cathy is, I will feel I have accomplished something truly great. Kai Schnabel Cortina and Laura Roop provided invaluable insights and feedback on numerous drafts and revisions. Laura’s deep kindness and Kai’s lively humor made for engaging meetings with my committee—I am doubly thankful. When I was an undergraduate student at Oakland University, Linda Pavonetti first inspired me to care deeply and passionately about making wonderful books available to children. She supervised my Master’s project and graciously mentored me long afterwards. To express my admiration for Linda’s work in children’s literature, I turn to the brilliant classic Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse: “’Wow!’ was just about all she could say, ‘Wow.’” Karen Obsniuk gave me the chance to roll up my sleeves and grow my university teaching practice in a context serving other first generation college students. As my department char and then my dean, she always had an open door and a word of encouragement. She continues to listen to my ambitious dreams for teacher education and helps me realize them. Heartfelt thanks to Lynford Morton who supported me with late night phone calls and much needed laughter. Not only did he show a genuine interest in my work at times when I really needed to share ideas, he also never hesitated to challenge my thinking. I am a better scholar for it. And I cannot end without expressing thanks to Denise McLurkin, whose best advice ever was simply, "Follow your joy." She was right, of course. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication………………………………………………………………………………..ii Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………………...….iii List of Tables……………………………………………………...……………………..v List of Appendices………………………………………………………………………vi Abstract……………………………………………………………………………….…vii Chapter 1: Introduction: Teaching the Teacher……………………………………..1 Chapter 2: Children’s Texts as Tools of Reproduction…………………………….27 Chapter 3: Reproduction and Resistance: Critical Paradigms and Lenses……..46 Chapter 4: Bricolage: Design and Methods…………………………………………67 Chapter 5: Print-Based Literacy and Forms of Capital…………………………….85 Chapter 6: Scientific Literacy and Forms of Capital………………………………112 Chapter 7: Mathematical Literacy and Forms of Capital…………………………129 Chapter 8: Conclusion: “Teaching to Transgress”………………………………..150 Appendices……………………………………………………………………………179 Bibliography………………...………………………………………………………...283 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1: Evolution of Research Questions………………………………………..25 Table 4.1: Preliminary Content Analysis of Stories by Characters……………….70 Table 4.2: Sample Recursive Microanalysis Coding and Theoretical Memos….79 Table 5.1: Axial Coding for Theme of Print-Based Literacy and Access to Print.90 Table 5.2: Axial Coding for Theme of Oral Literacy………………………………104 Table 6.1: Axial Coding for Theme of Scientific Literacy………………………...114 Table 7.1: Axial Coding for Theme of Mathematical Literacy……………………133 Table 8.1: Suggested Heuristic to Guide the Analysis of Discourses Representation in a Children’s Text…………………………………...161 Table 8.2: Suggested Heuristic to Guide Conclusions Drawn from the Critical Analysis of Multiple Children’s Texts…………………………………..163 Table 8.3: Suggested Heuristic to Guide Teaching As Resistance to Racist Discourses in Children’s Texts…………………………………………164 v LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A: Positioning Myself as a Critical Researcher………………………..179 Appendix B: Recursive Microanalysis Coding and Theoretical Memos………..188 Appendix C: Axial Coding Themes…………………………………………………277 vi ABSTRACT Basal readers have long been problematized for a lack of diversity among the characters and experiences represented in the text selections. Building on this, and informed by critical theory, critical race theory, and Bourdieuian perspectives, this dissertation examines racist discourses in a set of third grade basal readers. In order to explore the guiding research question of How are African American represented in literacy curriculum materials?, I engaged in a critical discourse analysis of the 119 stories and informational text selections contained in the basal readers. The results of this research illustrate the ways in which these basal readers present discourses that reproduce White, middle-class privilege, while marginalizing people of color, particularly working-class African Americans. These racist discourses, persistent across the textbook selections, present ethnic and class-based differences in school based forms of knowledge and capital: cultural, symbolic, social, and economic. These forms of capital are linked to literacy competencies constructed in school contexts: print-based literacy, scientific literacy, and mathematical literacy. In sum, Whites are presented as largely academically successfully, print-literate, scientifically literate, mathematically literate, financially savvy, and middle-class. This contrasts with the representation of African Americans as largely working-class individuals who vii engage in labor that does not require or build these multiple literacies. Furthermore, Whites are positioned as gatekeepers to institutions and knowledge related to print-based literacy, science, mathematics, and money. Following these findings, I provide heuristics that I developed as frameworks to guide the critical analysis of children’s texts; the goal is for these to serve as tools not only for teachers themselves, but also for teachers to support children in developing critical literacy skills. Furthermore, I provide suggestions for how a multiliteracies perspective can challenge the authority granted racist classroom materials. viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION: TEACHING THE TEACHER Impetus for This Research It was almost fifteen years ago that it happened. I was a beginning elementary school educator in the Metro-Detroit area, working as a reading teacher. The students had been reading a lot of fairy tales that year and the classroom bookshelf was filled with beautifully illustrated picture storybooks1, including the, then newly published, fairy tale retellings of Rumpelstiltskin and Rapunzel illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky (1996, 1997). These were among the children‘s favorites. How could they not be, with their award-winning, lushly painted illustrations that conveyed the drama and emotion of good triumphing over evil? Yet the question of what else the books were conveying didn‘t even occur to me. That is until after recess one day, when I saw the books that Whitney pulled from her backpack to read during independent reading time. They were fairy tale picture storybooks. Books that her mother bought for her, books her mother had sought out and purchased by special order for her daughter. Books that opened to stories of African American2 princesses that were as beautiful as Whitney, with her rich mahogany skin, sparkling eyes, and long hair twists decorated with bright hair ties. Looking at the illustrations in Whitney‘s books, the realization suddenly dawned on me that almost every single book in our classroom library featured characters