Making Sense of Relationships
How are you making sense of the relationship between language, identity, race, and power? When activity is driven by one dominant language, then the activity is no longer shared and voices are silenced (Jones, 2006). Power exists within the US through the use of language from a figurative world of being “American” and hasn’t seemed to change over time. If examining language as the foundation which identity is embodied, how do we examine what it means to be American? Jones (2006) connects language to our identity as the building block from those we love. I attended a local conference and listened to a Kindergarten teacher talk about this from a five year olds perspective-when she corrects the way her students talk, she is devastating the student who hears this form of talk from the person they love the most. I am reminded of this when working with young children and the vulnerability they may feel when bridging their identity from the home to the school. Not until we allow...