First Draft

Michael John Callahan

Dr. Chandler

ENG-3029-01

Research Project Draft

This paper will discuss the validity of the appearance of economic terms in the discussion of literacy, in relation to the permanence of these terms as conceptual metaphors that describe a state of affairs within American society that is a necessary condition for that society. The question, since I have hypothesized a mutual dependency between America and its economic system, is: how do we, as Americans, reconcile the irrationality that is generated from describing not only our literacy, but also our educational system, in purely economic terms; since there are proofs of other ways—to describe what literacy and education is—by other means?

First, I will look at current educational materials and language in terms of their literacy and economic context; establishing the above mentioned appearance and permanence of conceptual metaphor, using the definitions of concept from George Lakoff and Mark Johnson's “Metaphors We Live By”. This analysis will lead me to enunciate an irrationality generated by the execution of a program of literacy that does not recognize its own irrationality and requires intervention via some other means; the conclusion of another “means” will be reached via a juxtaposition of Cynthia Selfe's examination on American belief systems in the early 1990's to their corollaries today. I will then demonstrate the terminal trajectory of this irrationality in a speech given by the current Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, but I will neither castigate him nor his audience for their propagation of this path; instead I will offer it as proof of Selfe's concept of belief, however I will redefine its evolution.

I have proposed that the faith of America is its myth of economic literacy has gone beyond the material immediate of the American; it has transcended the permanent metaphor of economy and it requires the proposal of a “hybrid” metaphor that allows for a literacy that allows Americans to interact with the reality of the irrationality of the global market, while also having the flexibility to achieve actualization within his or her own context.

The methods I will use to interrogate parts of various essays, the Department of Education instructional documents and speeches of officials in order to reach this conclusion are discourse and literary analysis. This analysis will be shaped by a post-structuralist lens, and by what will be seen by some as a strong Platonic influence. I will also dabble in a bit of causal layered analysis as pioneered by Sohail Inayatullah in my conclusion in an attempt to strive towards a literacy that is an alternative from our current state of affairs, but while maintaining the necessity of that state. My intended methodology for this work is social-constructivist, although many will initially see it as materialist or even Neo-Marxist. I have a strong distaste for Marxist theory, and it is not my intention to represent either the oppressed proletariat or the bourgeoisie within these pages. I am concerned with the language of actors involved in our current time as it is represented, not with the actors themselves, because it is the language that is the vehicle which transmits ideas; its imprecision is what concerns me, the speakers are irrelevant after the words have left the body. In writing this paper, I owe a strong debt to Barthes' Death of the Author and Plato's Meno; the ideas are spattered about this work, so let it be my footnote.

II. The appearance of economic analogy to an educator and the permanence of that analogy to an economist.

K.J Saltman, an educator and author of the essay, 'Corporatization and the control of schools' gives an example of the metaphor of economy by using the word “Neoliberalism” in the following:

1}“Neoliberalism appears in the now commonsense framing of 2}education exclusively through presumed ideals of upward 3}individual economic mobility and the social ideals of global 4}economic competition...” (Saltman 55-6)

This excerpt shows Neoliberalism—an economic ideology—as something capable of “appearing” in line 1. I must assume then, that since Neoliberalism must also have the quality of able to disappear; according to this text permanent. Further in line 1, Neoliberalism acquires another attribute attached to its appearance, a dependence on “commonsense framing of education” for its existence within an educational paradigm. This dependency of Neoliberalism within the model is further delineated by the text in line 2 with the word “through” with the text stating that the state of affairs must be: “ ideals of upward individual economic mobility and the social ideals of global economic competition”. The state of affairs is not assigned a constant validity by the text however; this can be inferred from the word “presumed” in line 2—it is a worldview to this text. Thus the analysis of Neoliberalism as described from this vantage of education yields: A thing whose appearance in the paradigm this text operates from (education) is dependent wholly upon the perceptions of a group looking from the outside into it; the instance is also dependent on a state of affairs, the validity of which has not been confirmed by this text. This construction, while obviously biased, is perfectly grounded within that great faculty of doubt which we use to test the ideas we perceive as foreign to ourselves, and of which scholarship assumes: the existence of other paths.

Let us now compare education from within another context of the metaphor of economy. This is an excerpt from Milton Friedman's essay, “The Role of Government in Education”:

1}Most general education adds to the economic value of the 2}student--indeed it is only in modern times and in a few 3}countries that literacy has ceased to have a marketable value.

(Friedman)

(By “general education”, the text is referring to an education encompassing literacy and basic mathematics not vocational training)

This text brings to the forefront of its text a conceptual metaphor in line 1: “general education adds to the economic value” To decipher this metaphor requires deference to the methodology of George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s celebrated work, “Metaphors We Live By”. In the objective frame or state of affairs, if such a thing can be perceived without the aid of irony, general education is general education, it is a thing wholly unto itself. However, when put into terms of metaphorical analogy, general education takes upon the properties of the paradigm of its analogue in order to relate the idea withing the boundaries of that ideology: in this case, an economic one in adds to the economic value. General education is a concept unequal to value itself, but because of the dictates of the ideology of economics—where everything is described in relationships of value—it is forced to take on a value to make itself functionary within the system; this value of general education is now permanent. (Johnson and Lakoff: 1980)

Therefore the difference between the short excerpt from Saltman’s essay and Friedman’s, is that the state of affairs the metaphor operates in is transitory in Saltman’s, while in Friedman’s it is very permanent. This creates a tension between the zero-sum game of economics and the pluralistic reality of literacy and educational discourse; we must be able to use language that is inclusive of both these worldviews, since both realities are parts of our world.

III. Effects of the permanence: STEM, redundancy and a literacy guide

Fig.1

1}“The overall Federal investment in STEM education for fiscal 2}year 2010 was $3.4 billion, or about 0.3 percent of the Nation’s 3}total education budget of $1.1 trillion. About one-third of that 4}$3.4 billion directly benefits students from groups currently 5}underrepresented in STEM, addressing a major Obama 6}Administration goal to develop a STEM workforce that reflects 7}the full diversity of the Nation.”

(White House, Office of Science and Technology Policy: 2011/emphasis authors)

Fig.2

1}“69% of 8^th Grade students fall below the proficient level in 2}their ability to comprehend the meaning of text. Reading

3}ability is a key predictor of achievement 5}in mathematics and 4}science.” (Dept. Of Education Poster: 2010)

I have added emphasis to certain text in Figure 1. It is important to note that this text did not come from the website of the White House's Office of Economic Advisers, but from the Office of Science and Technology Policy. The permanent metaphor of education adds to the economic value has transcended the boundary of economics, and moved into the sphere of science and technology. This is apparent in such language as: Federal Investment in STEM education leading to the stated goal at the end of the text-- Administration goal to develop a STEM workforce. (White House) The endstate is completely compatible with the paradigm of the general education equals added value—STEM education = STEM workforce—but it creates a redundancy in bureaucracy. If things are to be cast in an economic light? Why was this not released through the Office of Economic Advisors.

Which leads us to the Literacy Guide from the Department of Education in figure 2: in line 1 we begin our sentence with a dualistic quantity, a percentage—something that contains both value and operator—to divide to the subject of the sentence--“8^th grade students.” For what force are we creating this division? As we move further down line 1 we find that the students “fall below the proficient level”. The text’s use of this diction is a key marker of economic influence; it is a buzzword of quality control textbooks, MBA-speak and the business vernacular. The text just as easily could have said: are not proficient; but once again we have a confluence with the economic world and education. There is a metaphorical analogy established between business and education. This concept is extended with the prepositional phrase “in their ability/ to comprehend the meaning / of text.” The nature of a preposition allows extraneous objects having to do with the things and actions of a subject and actions o be related to it; to be “tacked on” in space and time. They are very convenient when a person or text wants to tie disparate objects or things to an already accepted analogous concept within our world. (Lakoff and Johnson 1980) Thus we can infer from line 2 that “reading comprehension” has an economic meaning vis-à-vis the proficiency level metaphor.

Just as there was with the White House statement, there is also a problematic end state implicated by this poster: “achievement in science and mathematics” in line 4. The language of the poster establishes an economic paradigm, and not only is the concept of reading tied to it, but now so are math and science. The ideas of the market trails “Reading ability” in line 3; a new conceptual metaphor is established: reading ability is a key predictor. Professional forecasts and outcomes are the realm of the astrologer, economist and weatherman; not the young pupil. We find the same pattern as outlined above—attached prepositional phrases to the conceptual metaphor—to reach the end state of reading + economic paradigm to = math & science.

IV. Redundancy, contradiction and belief.

The redundancy of our society's understanding—or at least the government's understanding—of putting things within the terms of economy came to a great test recently in the crash of 2008. The alchemists that run our entire economic system said the kool-aid was too sweet; everyone ran to try and find their sugar, and almost no one got any. This has created a curious singularity because as we can see from the texts and discourse of our policy makers, they are still defining things via the myopic metaphors of economy. How can this be when, as stocks crashed, people saw their reality melt before them, and forced a new one on them. Later I will argue that the reason this reality was not replaced with another one, is because there was no previous literacy in the psyche of the American populace at large to construct a new permanent metaphor system for America outside of the one that had failed them, which their own literacy was tied to; but for now I will digress to the belief in the system that continues to propagate today.

Cynthia Selfe outlines this certain irrationality with amazing precision: Americans have always tended to either invest economically or ideologically in literacy projects that articulate their worldviews. Selfe uses as an example the literacy portions of the National Infrastructure Initiative of the late 1990’s spearheaded by the Clinton administration as an ideological driven project with clear economic intent, perceived among the populace in many disparate ways. (Selfe 127)

Arguably, the dominant discourse within both education and society in our current age is employment related and it will continue to be until the permanent metaphor for American success is changed within a national context or discourse. One must only look to the historical myths of America and their prominence in modern political discourse I have already outlined for the road to success (when that itself is a paradox, moving forward, by looking behind you on a straight vector is impossible—go ahead try to do it). One of Franklin's aphorisms in “The Way to Wealth”, “he that hath a trade hath an estate; and he that hath a calling, hath an office of profit and honor.” (Franklin 221) Fraknlin ties employment in American society to wealth and honor; this idea has had 230 years to percolate in its American flavor, no wonder it has a permanence within our society; economic metaphors are not akin to belief, because belief implies ideology. They are attached to American faith; a faith born of itself. And this is why the permanent metaphor, redundant and irrational as it is( if in our world, where a=a b=b , like things can only equal like things, a like thing cannot equal an unlike thing, and unlike things cannot equal unlike things then literacy = literacy, literacy =/= economy and economy = economy) is to subscribe to a view of the suspension of the rational, and thus take a leap of faith into the mythology of Franklin, where the end state is profit and a trade, which will award honor.

But this Faith, is of necessity. I have stated above and enumerated examples of literacy tied to the economic metaphor, if there is no construction, or paradigm for them to go to, like the one Saltman enjoys in his essay, it still does not remove the reality that people still need a way to put a meal on their table, and to have a table, and a roof etc. Theory does nothing if it does not accomplish this. This requires dancing with that devil that is the permanent economic metaphor.

This waltz will have to coincide with current trend of this nation, sponsored by the administration is to invest in the arena of STEM and apply literacy in economic terms in a relation to STEM. The remainder of the essay will focus on what I call the “hybrid” method of literacy, which recognizes the importance of future job availability, while also incorporating more traditional literacy practices that have borne the transmission of our culture for eons.

V. Working towards an answer

Stump speeches and rhetoric are not going to marry a literate, actualized populace and the market; but they show us another portion of the puzzle. Here is a portion of US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s speech on

1}“Just this week, Mark Edwards, the visionary superintendent from Mooresville, North 2}Carolina came to our department to meet with our management team. Three years ago, 3}he gave every student in 4th through 12th grade a laptop. Almost overnight they saw 4}gains in school attendance—new forms of collaboration between teachers and students5—and ultimately gains in reading, math and graduation rates.” (Arne Duncan)

This portion of the speech, given to an audience of media executives at South by Southwest, highlights the quantifiable data to of the speech “the gains in school attendance” in line 4 and the “ultimately gains in reading, math and graduation rates.” In line 5. The conceptual metaphors of economics are transmitted unilaterally: the concepts of education have been reduced to a risk/reward strategy forced upon it, instead of an attempt by the Secretary to act as translator for educational concepts which exist: such as the use of technological literacy (even though the term is problematic etc.).

We must build redundancy into the system of our conceptual metaphors at the point of an individuals obtaining of literacy to facilitate bilateral or even multilateral communication with disparate concepts and peoples; so that the ideas of conceptual metaphors can diffuse in any spatial direction they have need, having multiple options and paradigms with which to join concepts to. This is not a new idea. The most complicated machine ever built by man, the space shuttle, was built with one guiding principle: redundancy. Not a redundancy of the system itself, but a redundancy of backups.

VI. The tenets of a “Possible” Hybrid

I am without authority, but since I haven’t found an example of a literacy model that I liked, or that I felt met the condition—as outlined above. I propose the following:

The American literacy

1/ The idea of what is literacy must be fundamentally sound and true, viz. it must serve the totality of Americans.

2/ This new literacy must be both economically and pedagogically feasible for all educational systems in America to implement. If they cannot support the curriculum, then it is not feasible. We must work with the disparate resources, people and ideologies that constitute our communities instead of against them. This requires the intervention of government as a guarantor of the public interest; the public as the actualizing force of ideas in America and the guarantor of its government; the private sector the place for Americans to actualize those ideas and to secure its country's economic environment for future prosperity.

3/ The new literacy must be socially responsible. The purpose of this literacy must be to facilitate ideas and communication; it is not a force for stratification. By creating and maintaining a common base for a literacy that serves all Americans, this system will encourage opportunity without the need for external motivators or historical mythologies. It will be an organic literacy that is becoming like the citizenry it serves.

VII. Conclusion

The ideal of a literacy and its implementation are two different animals; I have tried not to paint too many happy trees in the attempt. The inspiration for this paper came from a memorable comment on a freshman composition essay of mine: “things don't always have to be valued”. It took a professor to metaphorically smack me out of the my reality to get me to stop subconsciously using the permanent conceptual metaphors of economics. They serve a purpose—utility is a very economic concept—but they are limiting. I do not think that we should have to have faith in our education, or our literacy; I think these things are concepts that should be and are becoming to be—limiting them, limits ourselves by tieing the concepts prepositionally to things in time: people, ideologies etc. We need to move beyond this.

Works Cited

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"OSTP Releases Federal STEM Education Portfolio." The White House. Web. 29 Apr. 2012. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/12/09/ostp-releases-federal-stem-education-portfolio>.

Saltman, Kenneth J., and David Gabbard. Education as Enforcement: The Militarization and Corporatization of Schools. New York: RoutledgeFalmer, 2003. Print.

Selfe, Cynthia L. Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-first Century: The Importance of Paying Attention. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois UP, 1999. Print.

"The New Platform for Learning." U.S. Department of Education. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/new-platform-learning>.