Do The Right Thing

One thing about "Reading Don't Fix No Chevys" that I have grown to really enjoy is that the authors begin each chapter with a personal view that leads you into their work. In chapter two it was Michael's experience of being woken by the boys in his neighborhood skating in the street, he drops a Tony Hawk reference which dates him (and me too) and then leads into the discussion about the concept of "Flow". In the next chapter, where they take a look at the instrumental value of school and reading, they begin as follows--"Every night, both of us engage in the same ritual with our daughters. 'So, how was school today?' we'll ask. And the wealth of information we hope for never materializes. To find out about our kids' experience in school, we have to piece together an understanding from a variety of sources: watching them do homework, looking over the assignment, reading with them, talking to them about their report cards, going to Parents' Night, and looking for patterns in the very short answers we typically receive from them when we ask them about school directly." (Smith & Wilhelm, 2002) They go on to relate the boys that they have taught and the boys in their study to being like their daughters. They wanted to find out more about boys feelings about school. In order to get an understanding they created a series of fictitious profiles and then worked with the boys individually and posed three questions.

1. What, if anything do you admire about the character in the profile?
2. What, if anything don't you admire about the character in the profile?
3. Where, if anywhere do you see yourself in the profile.

They divided this study into three focus areas.

1. The Instrumental verses the immediate.
2.What is the price of success? The conflict between being competent and being social.
3. The Impact of Race and Class.

There was a lot of information packed in these three sections of this chapter, not to mention the fictitious profiles that the created played an important role but what was so surprising to me was the fact nearly all of the boys in the interview believed in the instrumental value of school. When it came to the first of the three focus areas, instrumental v. immediate the majority of the boys saw school and reading as future-directed. More or less as a means to an end, but they recognized the necessity of it. When they addressed the second focus area, the boys again pointed out that, yes school is important but there was a focus on well-roundedness. There needed to be balance. And when they addressed race, none of the boys really saw race as an issue, class on the other hand was a bit different. The wealthier kids in the study that came from more educated families seemed to have a sense of entitlement. Wilhelm and Smith say it best--

"In summary, like the activity interviews, the profile interviews offer both hope and a challenge. The boys' profound believe in the importance of school is something that we ought to be able to tap, as is their recognition of the importance of reading. The fact that they did not see reading as a feminized activity is encouraging. But their view of reading as schoolish appears to have negative consequences. And it poses a dilemma: How can schools make reading seem less schoolish?" (Smith & Wilhelm, 2002)