"Walking resumes"

I gotta say, the Shape-Shifting chapter by James Gee (Ch. 9) shows how much we end up commodifying ourselves with "tags" -- like the student who helped build houses -- in the Caribbean -- not just plain ol' Hometown, USA. As "walking resumes" we're always on the lookout to stand out. What a metaphor! Remember actually sending out paper documents for a job? And, choosing the resume paper weight (the really good stuff was heavy with fiber and expensive), and the color (ecru? snow? dove grey? or....pink?!) -- he's remarkably right on with his "tag" of our "tags". The “new economy” has written us into particular niches of identity in order to create consumer markets. We buy the stuff that reinforces our identity, then the stuff shapes our identity (p. 165)...and, eventually, we shape the stuff that then shapes us...(Sheesh). No wonder fundamentalism is on the rise -- the pressure to shape shift can be disconcerting and dizzying. A black and white/yes-no/binaried world is a far easier place in which to understand one's role, place, and expectation.
When thiking about enfranchisment and disenfranchisement the skills of the New Literacies always figure. Chapter 11 by Wilder and Dressman addresses how schools have “routinely failed to capitalize on its promises” (p. 206) and the authors ponder why that may be. They consider reproduction theory as an explanation for negatively differentiating computer tasks as a reflection of the sorting and tracking that happens in schools (rote tasks are heavily emphasized in working class schools while integrative tasks that require synthesis and evaluation are emphasized in upper middle class schools. See Jean Anyon's "Social Class and School Knowledge"). Reproduction theory speaks to teachers’ and students’ habits of engagement; and, that teachers who already face an overemphasis on coverage look at New Literacy exposure as just another thing to cover (of course...when you put it that way..how did I miss that?), rather than a means for completely revisioning and enlivening, and making relevant one’s curriculum and classroom practices (p. 209).
My thinking tends to run like this: In order to meet the status quo and businesses' increasing demand for low wage service sector jobs (e.g. burger flippers), when there's a push in learning theory, like constructivism, New Literacies, there's a push from the other side to intensify teachers' work, add tests; call for accountablility, put up a smoke screen that points to schools not doing the job. That effectively shields policy makers from allocating the funds to the folks that should have them, and instead, routes them to test makers and textbook companies; and, in an elegant turn keeps the blame on teachers, students, and schools.