I have previously read Deborah Brandt’s Sponsors of Literacy. This reread took me to an entirely different place, due mostly to the goals and aims of our Literacy Narrative assignment.
This time, I focused my attention internally. I needed to deepen my understanding by cutting into my levels of sponsorship and reveal complicated interwoven paths to my current situation. As Brandt stated, “…everybody’s literacy practices are operating in differential economies, which supply different access routes, different degrees of sponsoring power, and different scales of monetary worth to the practices in use” (Brandt 561).
I am… a critical thinker. Not by practice, but by influence.
When was in elementary school, my teachers described me as a “handful”. I would consistently question the rules and the lessons of the class. At first, this was due to necessity. Our family was moving constantly and knowing the curriculum and lesson plans early in the year would be essential to my success in a class. However, I soon realized that many of my classmates rewarded this questioning with terms like “smart-ass” and enjoyed the fact that my interruptions would lead to a break in the monotones of the teacher’s lectures. Although I would be burdensome in the classroom, my report cards would generally result in “A”s, due to my critical analysis of the standards and my ability to meet and exceed the grade requirements. This positive encouragement by my peers and praise from my teachers reinforced my literacy practices throughout my grade school career.
I am… a writer. Not by choice, but by construction.
“There once was a man/ who lived in a land/ where he could do nothing.” This was the first line to my first published poem, written during my 5th grade year.
“I see all/ I hear all/ I feel the love all around./ Yet in the shadows/ lies the evil/ creeping from the underground.” This was the first line from my first recorded song, written during my 6th grade year.
All writing that took place in between these creative works were standard preparation for the dreaded 5 paragraph essay format (book reports, article reviews, summer vacation short story…). I noticed that every piece of writing, creative or academic, drew the same set of sponsors. My parents. My teachers. A grade or prize. Or in other terms. Family, Institution, and reward. Looking back I realized that this framework began to shape my writing depending on the position that each sponsor was placed on my personal hierarchy. My personal hierarchy was based upon my beliefs at the time, and moving forward into my career, they shifted based on the external values placed upon them by society. As Brandt described, “…the course of an ordinary person’s literacy learning- it’s occasions, materials, applications, potentials -follows the transformations going on within sponsoring institutions as those institutions fight for economic and ideological position” (566). This struggling and balancing of my literacy hierarchy brought me deeper into my chosen career…
I am… a teacher. Not by definition, but by function.
I love to teach, because I love to learn. My own sponsorship of literacy is navigated by my choices within my love of language and knowledge. It is the reason why I chose to continue my education, and it is the reason why I love reading this article… Even if it is the fourth time :)