Readings on the Continuum

There seems to be some confusion as to what we are blogging about this week. I noted on my schedule that because Brad could not make it for facilitation 5 a couple of weeks ago, we were to read L & A's "Prediction and Classification Studies" and Brodkey's "On the Subject of Class and Gender in 'The Literacy Letters'" for March 19. I will assume that is the case and proceed to discuss a little L & A and more on Brodkey.

Not that I waited my whole life for this very moment, but this chapter in L & A provided some interesting insight as to how some colleges make predictions of success. I never considered it could be so quantitative. I will readily admit I didn't understand the nuts and bolts of the operations (I got lost in the sea of statistical nomenclature), but I do see where using particular equations can provide some correlation and prediction data. And just as these researchers have to be careful with redoing prediction studies to avoid shrinkage (it's amazing that a word like this can provide so many different meanings depending upon the subject matter at hand), as teachers we need to continue to stay abreast of the latest developments in composition research; what worked in the past may not prove successful now or in the future "because of changes in the nature of student bodies, curricula, and grading standards" (121).

The moment I saw Brodkey's name on the schedule I knew I was in for a tough academic read. Those of you who were not in Literacy Studies must forgive me, but I couldn't help taking the What is literacy? approach while reading this article, and specifically the pedogogy of Paulo Friere when Brodkey discusses the teacher and student roles and relationship. Brodkey introduces some interesting perspective on her research,

I have tried to type and post, but I keep losing what I have typed. I think something is wrong with the website. I will try to write more later.

Here's more--I saved a word document as a web document and am pasting the contents below as of Wednesday, 2:42 p.m.:
Let’s see. . . where was I? I apologize for any redundancy. I think I was getting ready to discuss Brodkey from a literacy perspective first rather than from a research perspective. She discusses the role of the subjects—was she looking for a deliberate role reversal from both parties? Or, was she more interested in whether the roles would reverse as the result of the teachers taking the initiative? The whole idea of “reading” class and gender in personal correspondence or any text for that matter seems to be automatic, but more from the standpoint of vernacular and command of the language rather than conclusions made from the subject matter or narrative itself. Brodkey’s warning against “reducing text to its errors” reminded me of a poignant moment in Dr. Wilson’s class a couple of years ago when he asked us to read an essay written by a student in his freshman seminar. Sadly, too many of us focused on the glaring errors when we really should have been moved by this student’s account of his sister’s forced female circumcision in his native country. I left class that day feeling guilty about my bourgeois attitude.

It was only after I digested the article from a literacy standpoint that I considered it from a research standpoint. First, I applaud Brodkey’s continued emphasis on the importance of qualitative evaluation and study. Measuring writing from only a quantitative stance can restrict our appreciation of the discourse itself. I do question, however, how Brodkey can claim that her study and the subsequent conclusions would not be influenced by the fact that the letters being written would indeed be read and analyzed. We know how important audience is, even if it means that personal correspondence will be made “public”—if I am writing to a particular person, but know that someone else will be reading and analyzing my composition, what and how I write will decidedly different. As a “teacher,” I would be guarded as to topic and tone, not just grammar and mechanics. Finally, what was the begging question that Brodkey needed answered with this study?