The Contact Zone

We live and teach in a multicultural area. In our classrooms, our students come from various ethnicities, cultures, family values and conventions. As Lu states, we should attempt to have a multicultural approach to student writing. Since our classrooms become a “contact zone,” we need to create a space where various cultures “clash, and grapple with each other.” In our discussion last week, many of us respect and allow differences in opinions and ideas; but how do we create a “contact zone” where we induce and trigger the classes (constructively, of course)? According to Lu, we must teach students to question and conflict with ideas found in writing. We must begin by guiding a classroom in discussions which “enable students to hear discursive voices…negotiate a position…consider their choice of opinion.” Easy enough, right? But how do we incorporate these into writing? Is content more important than convention? Or is this “contact zone” only for brainstorming and discussion? Maybe a first draft? My fear is often that students cannot code switch (I hope that is the right term), in which they fossilize their errors, whether it be in thinking or writing. Although I understand the need to negotiate and provide more choices for students, when is the line crossed when we may be hindering the future of our students because there is a right and wrong, isn’t there?