Literacy In Action: North Providence, RI

 

In her article “Critical Literacy Finds a ‘Place’”, Barbara Comber describes ways to get children involved in the community by using critical literacy teaching techniques. Following teacher Marge Wells at a low-income school in Australia, Comber documents the various ways that Wells uses events in the community to influence what is done in the classroom. Children in Wells’ class were in the middle of a development project led by the Australian government with the goal of having “private companies demolish, renovate, and redesign neighborhood environments so that finally there is a blend of public and privately owned dwellings” (Comber 455).  

Using Comber’s article for inspiration I looked in my town for local politics/events that can be used for developing critical literacy skills. Similar to The Parks in Australia, the town of North Providence, (specifically the areas surrounding Centredale) is classified by the state health department as having a social vulnerability index (SVI) score of .5145 indicating a moderate to high level of vulnerability in this particular area. Unfortunately, this score was calculated in 2016. I can only assume that the SVI is higher now due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

There are a few low-income housing complexes in North Providence. One of which is located in the middle of Centredale down the street from the town hall. The name of this particular development is called BrookVillage which caters to low-income and senior housing.  

Recently there has been an effort on the part of a few small businesses to clean up Centredale and make it a more desirable place. Just last week there was a town-endorsed event called the Village Festival hosted by the Centredale Revival restaurant. Additionally, across the street from the Revival is a school being converted into apartments meant for college-age renters by a company called STRIVE. By observing all of these small changes in the community, it is clear that Centredale may be on the cusp of a major cultural shift.

In my place-based literacy project, I would have students grades 9-12 address questions similar to the ones posed in Comber’s article: “What would you change about your neighborhood, school, and world?”, What change can young people make? What happens when an area becomes too expensive for its residents to live in? First, students will have a general discussion as to whether the changes to the community are good or bad and if there are long term effects of businesses/housing developments being built in a community. Then, students write letters to business (building formal writing skills) leaders, town council, etc., with questions and comments that might have come up during discussion. Finally, students will take a field trip to a town council meeting and observe (or even ask a few questions!).