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| Intersectional Lens Graphic Organizer |
A large part of my adult
ESL instruction will involve the critical analysis of various texts. To
scaffold future students into thinking critically about these texts, I've
constructed a graphic organizer which details some points of inquiry upon the
consumption of media. My goal is for students begin to look at texts through
multiple perspectives and begin to construct ideas about how those perspectives
are related. The process of constructing this graphic organizer had taught me a
great deal about how I might present intersectionality in a real-world
classroom.
Before settling with the model above, I had attempted to create a Venn Diagram and a system of concentric circles to attempt to illustrate how each facet of identity intersects. I had struggled, however, with finding a way to make sure that all facets interact with each other. If the circles don't interact with each other, the relationship between the facets of identity is made less apparent. I elected to draw several models and had found that a star shape in a pentagon had provided me the space to illustrate the relationship between each facet of identity, or circle, through double-sided arrows.
Each circle is filled with text that provides students with questions to think about while reading. The questions in each circle represent a specific identity lens through which one might analyze a text. Each double-sided arrow represents the questions, "How are circle 1 and circle 2 related in the story?" and "What does this do for the story?" These questions are applied to each intersection to promote thinking about relationships.
Had the questions not been represented by these circles and arrows, the information might come off less approachable. The problem with social justice education often times is that the information and terminology are presented in ways that are inaccessible to even seasoned English speakers. Judith Butler, for example, introduces ideas of intersectionality through long-winded sentences and supercilious, inaccessible language. For example, in a verbal interview with the activist and social theorist, Butler describes,"For me, it's not so much a double consciousness ± gender and race as the two axes, as if they're determined only in relation to one another, I think that's a mistake ± but I think the unmarked character of the one very often becomes the condition of the articulation of the other" (JUDITH BUTLER - ON SPEECH, RACE AND MELANCHOLIA).
What are words like "unmarked," "double-consciousness," going to do to inform emerging bilingual students? Citing Butler directly without having properly scaffolding students leaves them in the cold with a highly complex text. We can instead approach the ideas by re-articulating the intersection of and gender and race and what it is to be oppressed by racially and culturally motivated perceptions of gender.
Further, what's more important than interpreting Butler is learning to think like a theorist. The graphic organizer has been produced to guide thinking such that students develop a system of critique to analyze literary works.
Before settling with the model above, I had attempted to create a Venn Diagram and a system of concentric circles to attempt to illustrate how each facet of identity intersects. I had struggled, however, with finding a way to make sure that all facets interact with each other. If the circles don't interact with each other, the relationship between the facets of identity is made less apparent. I elected to draw several models and had found that a star shape in a pentagon had provided me the space to illustrate the relationship between each facet of identity, or circle, through double-sided arrows.
Each circle is filled with text that provides students with questions to think about while reading. The questions in each circle represent a specific identity lens through which one might analyze a text. Each double-sided arrow represents the questions, "How are circle 1 and circle 2 related in the story?" and "What does this do for the story?" These questions are applied to each intersection to promote thinking about relationships.
Had the questions not been represented by these circles and arrows, the information might come off less approachable. The problem with social justice education often times is that the information and terminology are presented in ways that are inaccessible to even seasoned English speakers. Judith Butler, for example, introduces ideas of intersectionality through long-winded sentences and supercilious, inaccessible language. For example, in a verbal interview with the activist and social theorist, Butler describes,"For me, it's not so much a double consciousness ± gender and race as the two axes, as if they're determined only in relation to one another, I think that's a mistake ± but I think the unmarked character of the one very often becomes the condition of the articulation of the other" (JUDITH BUTLER - ON SPEECH, RACE AND MELANCHOLIA).
What are words like "unmarked," "double-consciousness," going to do to inform emerging bilingual students? Citing Butler directly without having properly scaffolding students leaves them in the cold with a highly complex text. We can instead approach the ideas by re-articulating the intersection of and gender and race and what it is to be oppressed by racially and culturally motivated perceptions of gender.
Further, what's more important than interpreting Butler is learning to think like a theorist. The graphic organizer has been produced to guide thinking such that students develop a system of critique to analyze literary works.
This weblike representation of intersectionality does a nice job of explaining the shifting movements of power at work in multi-layered social contexts. I think making this model interactive via a platform like Thinklink could make this a very powerful teaching tool.
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