Thursday, March 11, 2010
Prompt 2: Goldenberg
The elementary school that I go to has a strongly segregated group of students. After having looked on info works it shows that 71% of the students are Hispanic, 14% are African American, 10% are White, and 4% are Asian. I notice these percentages more and more as I'm in the classroom and being much more observant. Today I could the students in my particular class, there was 1 White child, and 2 Asian children, 1 Black student, and the rest were Hispanic. This shows how greatly segregated it is and how a teacher needs to cultivate different teaching methods for all children with different cultural background.
Everyday that I am tutoring I love hearing the kids talk in different languages. Although I only took three years in Spanish in high school I do still remember some of the words. The children usually talk to each other in their first language and always will laugh because they think teachers and me as well have no idea what they are saying. I found it extremely interesting when the teacher told everyone to please be quiet, everyone giggled as people disobeyed and talked behind her back. She looked around and heard two kids speaking in Spanish, as if she didn't know what they said they began cracking some jokes about her. The teacher spoke back in Spanish and apparently knew what they were saying, it was funny because I haven't heard them say joke about her, and she got them good! I feel as though teachers like this one, need to not discourage their students’ first language but to teach them other as well. The students in this particular class bring joy to their culture, they embrace it and it encourages their teacher to learn more about it.
Claude Goldenberg talks about effective teachers and what they need to do for students when English may not be their primary language; this is exactly what I experienced today. The teacher informed me that a student came here from China, I have no idea she couldn't speak English well so I was having a conversation with her as she just starred. I was confused and finally said "Do you understand?” she quickly nodded her head to me and looked almost ashamed. Goldenberg says how we need to look beyond the genetic teaching and to work with your students at their level. Of course this young girl was not at the level of the class yet so I went over words with her, I was absolutely amazed at how fast she caught on. He says how “Teaching students to read in their first language promotes high levels of reading achievement in English". He was absolutely right in that as I pointed to a new word she spelled out the letters and 80% of the time she was saying the work in English. This student was extremely bright and by including cooperative learning she promoted the other students to build their curiosity and to help as well. By the end of the class I had two students as well as myself helping this child learn English, as Goldenberg explains that students will benefit from challenging, motivating, and active engagement it clearly showed that she did. It wasn't a task for her but she was excited and more motivated than ever to hear encouragement from the students in the class.
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Hi Alysa,
ReplyDeleteI love the video! Your blog is engaging. Thank you for your investment in this project.
You mention that Goldenberg argues that teaching a child to read and write in her first language will improve her reading and writing in English. That is true. I am not sure, however, how your pointing out English words is an illustration of that concept. Do you mean that she was literate in Chinese and, therefore, could learn English more readily?
Keep thinking on these things,
Dr. August
Alysa -
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed reading your responses to the cultural competency prompts. To expand upon your connection to Goldenberg, I'd like to look at the term "cultural capital" from the second prompt which you've just responded to and connect it to everyone's favorite educational theorist of the semester, John Dewey.
By the term cultural capital, we're looking at the metaphorical spending power that a culture has. Culture is a broad term, here in your post, you are discussing the ethnic culture that diverse students bring to a classroom, which is certainly a kind of culture.
The linguistic diversity is a gift that should not be ignore in favor of the English language, though it should be noted that proficiency in literacy will not only help a student in English literature classrooms, but will also help them preform better in science, math, history, music, and just about any other subject matter in public school, since instruction is delivered primarily in English. But Dewey also notes that "A separation into a privileged and a subject-class prevents social endosmosis. The evils thereby affecting the superior class are less material and less perceptible, but equally real. Their culture tend to be sterile, to be turned back to feed on itself; their art becomes a showy display and artificial; their wealth luxurious; their knowledge overspecialized; their manners fastidious rather than humane." (Dewey, 4)
Though this passage might be a mouthful at first (And I am understating this to a bit), one thing that is clear through this quotation is that Dewey is urging society to adapt a diverse, multicultural pedagogy where students from all cultures and backgrounds have an equitable opportunity to participate in the free exchange of knowledge within a classroom setting. He also goes on to suggest that ironically enough, the oppressor of diversity also suffers along with the oppressed. Those whom act superior to people of other races become not superior but inferior in their narrow mindedness.
I hope these connections have been useful to you and good luck in the last few weeks of class as the semester winds down.
Hi Alysa,
ReplyDeleteI think it is good that you are tutoring in a class that is so culturally diverse. Teaching diversity is often considered a difficult task among teachers because of the sensitivity of the topic. It is nice to see that she embraces it and is willing to learn about it with them while also teaching them that those differences that they share can be used to build a foundation of trust.
As I stated in my blog, by introducing the many cultures that surround them in school, where they spend much of their time during the day, you can give them an understanding and knowledge for the future so that when they go into the real world they will not be scared of what they see or have as many questions about why people are so different. Most importantly it will teach them that no matter the color of your skin, your ethnic background, your religion, your race, your disability, and anything else for that matter... you are who you are and you can’t change that! Teachers at all levels must think beyond their classroom practices. In such, it is through communication and participation that we learn to view ourselves as social human beings who can respect the differences in others. = )
Also you make a connection that Goldenberg says how “Teaching students to read in their first language promotes high levels of reading achievement in English". Like Dr. August, I am curious as to what you mean by that. From what I gather, it seems that this girl was more determined to learn because she wanted to understand, kind of like when we played the simulation game of Barnga. We went along with it trying to figure it out and when we couldn’t we were either more determined to or frustrated.
Goldenberg also discusses, in his article, how we need to support/ provide guidelines in order to break those boundaries by encouraging questions, encouraging curiosity, and encouraging participation. He says that by modifying the curriculum within the classroom students can be seen on the same level as students without linguistic differences. I think that it is nice that another student was willing to help her learn. ♥
While it may be true that schools are not as defined as they used to be it is evident that in order to succeed we have to change how we participate. We need to view things in a different perspective, that is open to the ideas of change- whether it be mental, physical, and/or social. I like being able to read about how your teacher is participatory in the idea of diversity. It gives me the confidence to know something can be done to encourage it and that students are willing to help out and befriend those with different cultures.
Alysa,
ReplyDeleteI found this post very interesting. I love the fact that your teacher is so culturally diverse that she is able to speak to the Hispanic children in the class in Spanish. This is very important because it shows that even through the age difference, the ethnic backgrounds, and the different mindsets of the students and the teacher, it shows that they are able to have something in common. Kind of a like a common interest. The fact that the teacher can relate to the children helps them see that “the teacher knows everything”. I believe this is a great thing that your teacher is doing but instead of criticizing the children, she should encourage their diversity in the classroom.
I agree with your connection to Goldenberg. He talks about how children learn better when they are using their first language and if the teacher promotes this in the classroom, there will probably be better results overall. As Americans, we all try to have the foreigners and immigrants adopt American traditions and the language. Although it is important for everyone to communicate, their first language should not be forgotten and not used. If this happens, they lose their cultural diversity that they came here with. Promoting diversity in the classroom shows that the teacher is open to new ideas and hopefully, this will be passed onto the students to accept new ideas also.
There was a child in my classroom also who had trouble speaking English. He was Puerto Rican and couldn’t understand why we use the words that we use. Because Spanish is composed differently than English, he didn’t understand the reason why some words are put next to others. So I sat down and explained it to him. After I did that he was able to have an open mind when it came to learning something new.
Maria