Book Club: Words at Work and Play

So I have to start off this week’s post by saying that I’m really glad that I decided to read Words at Work and Play by Shirley Brice Heath. If anyone wants to dive further into the complexity of literacy as a socially construct ideal, then this book is right up your alley. From what I’ve gathered so far, this book is a collection of stories illustrating how different sponsors, social norms, economic restrictions, and the twist of fate plays into how the book’s characters (both adults and children) build specific types of literacy and language. From book clubs to 4-H, theater groups to working on a ranch, this book gives the reader a wide variety of challenges that every day people face that either become hindrances of literacy, or motivators.

We discussed a few interesting aspects of our book on Thursday. This included the idea of how people thrive when they have attained a “multi-lingual literacy”. One story discusses Jerome, a young boy who was separated from his mother at a young age and worked his way through the system only to end up in Chicago where he was taken in by Tia Maria. It was here that Jerome not only became involved in theater and the arts, but also became fluent in Puerto Rican Spanish. This opportunity opened up a whole new world of oral literacy for Jerome, and ultimately contributed to Jerome’s career choice. Our group discussed whether or not being bilingual can open doors in terms of new opportunities for gaining a multitude of literacy’s that isn’t accessible to those who only speak one language.

Another concept that we found interesting was the idea of self-sponsorship. Jerome makes the decision to leave his current situation (a series of unsuccessful foster homes) and moves to Chicago in order to create a better life for himself. Lisa, a single mother of two boys, decided to better her life after her divorce. She started in community college, where she learned the meaning of a “syllabus”, and worked her way through school until she obtained a Master’s Degree in social work. Throughout this class, we have talked about the importance of sponsorship in terms of institutions, teachers, mentors, etc. But we have neglected to talk about the importance someone saying “I’m tired of the situation I’m in; I want to change it”.

As I navigated through the book, the following quote really stuck out to me:

“Children master the miracle of human language, so long as they are neurologically sound, their physical needs are met, and their caregivers give them modicum of consistent love and respect, as well as give-and-take talk and shared action” (66).

It’s very true that there are an infinite number of sponsors that help us shape our literacy practices, but I can’t help but feel that it is our caregivers who have the greatest influence on our literacy development. The books shows how parents who interacted with their children by asking them about their day, their activities, who their friends were, where they were going…basically the ones who engaged with their children were the studies that showed the most promising and successful literacy outcomes. It makes me think that literacy development isn’t just about engaging in social activities every day, but it’s about people who are willing to engage back with the learner.