Out of School Literacies

Traditionally, literacy practices in schools are those established by the culture of power which views literacy as the ability to read and write English. These views trickle down to institutions like schools. At present there is a new movement known as “The New Literacy Studies” that denies this general view of literacy and considers other factors that contribute to various forms of literacy within a culture. People in a particular culture adopt different literacy practices and rituals they part-take in. They are often are shunned and viewed as illiterate by others because their way is not part of the culture of powers “correctness”. Often times, values of out-of-school literacies are over looked as bad. The lowrider culture in particular was a movement that emerged in the 80s in Bayside, California, as a way to resist the norm. The norm is the high ride fast cars driven by white Americans at the time. Many view the lowrider as well as the cholo/a with a “negative connotation” with gangs. But in fact when we look pass these portrayals; we being to understand that it has served as a haven for many to identify with and oppose the assimilation from the culture of power and their standards. In lowrider culture, they have developed distinct ways to become literate on visual interpretations. The visual representation in the customization of the cars and literacy as defined by Mahiri and Sablo can be seen as “skills applied to the production of meaning in or from texts in a context.” These drawings not only promote cultural pride and tradition but a sense of identity to many Latinos. The above image contains a mixture of themes that are important and or surround the lowrider community like the Virgen de Guadalupe, Jesus Christ, Aztec culture, chola, an artistic cholo, and solider with a rosary bead on his helmet. a A literate member of lowrider community begins with “seeing and admiring and learning aesthetics to learn to build and maintain them”. Many who are viewed as MINORities (not part of the culture of power) and demonstrate some sort of “gang related” appeal, their talents are invisible by schools and society as a whole. If schools and teachers learn from out-of-school literacies like the lowrider culture, and are empathetic to their struggle, maybe then it will make sense why many urban youths associate themselves more with out-of-school literacies as opposed to in-school. When taking the time to learn about urban youth one might find that as Jabarui Mahiri states, they “search for allies to assist them in finding ways to beat the odds and overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of fully realizing their individual potential and the well-being of their families and communities” (45).

The above information and facts were provided from Jabari Mahiri's text, What They Don't Learn in School. This book is highly recommended for many educators to read because it provides one of the many perspectives supported by "The New Literacy Study".