"She also spoke with sharp discernment of the race-specific emphasis of the curriculum. 'If we were not a segregated school,' she said, 'if there were middle-class white children here, the parents would rebel at this curriculum and they would stop it cold - like that!'" (Kozol 75)
I tend to disagree with this quote based on personal experience. During middle school, I was always part of the honors level group - those children who were the highest achievers. Not surprisingly, this was a segregated group of almost entirely white students. But when a new teaching technique came along, it was forced upon us the same as it was lower groups. I remember the specific example of M6D - a method of writing a formulaic paragraph that, while constructed properly, was boring as all hell. The students in my group understood the problems with this approach being forced upon us, but still every teacher tried to utilize it. And while my parents didn't like this newest fad from an educational consultant, they never went to board of education meetings or spoke out against it. Kozol's point is that much more of this rigid, rote learning goes on in segregated schools, which I don't doubt. But to say it doesn't occur in non-segregated schools is basically saying that bad teaching doesn't happen in white schools - it does!
"She therefore had developed what she called 'the MultiModal Pumpkin Unit' to teach science (seeds), arithmetic (the size and shape of pumpkins, I believe - this detail wasn't clear), and certain items she had adapted out of language arts, in order to position "pumpkins" in a frame of state proficiencies." (Kozol 80)
Maybe we don't have all the details, but what Kozol describes here is, in my opinion, good teaching! This teacher made connections to the topics using an example. The pumpkin basically provides an excuse to branch off into science, geometry, and cultural studies. I'm not saying everything a teacher brings into the classroom needs to be connected, but a good teacher can find those tangential connections and make them come alive for the students. That this teacher was afraid of it not meeting standards seems to speak to a lack of confidence in her own abilities. Standards can be troublesome, but like them or not teachers need to work with them for the time being. This strikes me as an excellent example of being creative within the framework of state standards and not letting it limit the lessons.
"Completely revising the educational justification for segregation, the judge argued that 'evidence clearly shows that Spanish-speaking children are retarded in learning English by lack of exposure to its use by segregation.'" (Spring 91)
I find this comment from as early as 1946 interesting, as it hints at the later findings that exposure to a language facilitates learning it and that students exposed to two languages fair better than those who speak just one. It's sad, therefore, that much segregation still occurs even within supposedly non-segregated schools. In my hometown, ELL students are often placed in seperate classes for most of the day. Placing ELL students in special classes is not necessarily a problem, but it becomes a problem when the classes are segregated from the larger student population. The point of having them be in schools with English-speaking students should be to immerse them in the language. When their only interactions with English are in passing in the halls, I fail to see the benefit. In addition, ELL programs seem to have the wrong approach in mind. They often focus solely on teaching the students English. The programs should allow ELL students to bring their language into a predominantly English classroom. Language is not merely about words, but ideas. Bringing a second language into a classroom allows students to understand how ideas are conveyed between languages, to understand differences between the cultures that the languages come from, and to therefore actually know the language as opposed to simply knowing words.
I agree with the pumpkin as being a good tool to use in class; I think that as teachers we will get many regulations and guidelines but we can still be great teachers. We have to find a way to be creative and engaging within the establishment's rules and the pumpkin was an interesting jump off point for discussion. I just was sad that she was literally afraid of getting in trouble for not having it mesh perfectly in the curriculum. Regarding ells, i also agree with integrating them more. My mother and aunt came from Peru in middle school and learned all of their English from classmates. Myabe the ratio should be 50/50 for ells starting out and have a definite weaning of the segregated classes plan of action. And it would also be beneficial to introduce as many bits of culture and languages to any English speaking classroom. Everone wins when diversity is celebrated.
ReplyDeleteExactly. Diversity is all-too-often overlooked in the classroom. I've heard some whites express the sentiment that bilingual programs intended to teach English should "go both ways." Now, understanding what we do about privilege, the sentiment behind these statements is very self-centered. The white parents don't want money spent on non-English speakers if their own children are not gaining from it as well. Obviously, this is not appropriate. But the intent of that statement can be twisted into a more positive message by promoting integration. To go back to a familiar swimming analogy, I was taught to swim by being thrown into a pool (if I sank my father pulled me out and tried again). While some specific instruction is required, the best bet for many ELLs is to "throw them into the class." They will begin to pick up portions of the language through social interactions. And as a byproduct, the English students would gain something in terms of exposure to a new language and culture. In practice, ELL programs are moving closer to this approach, though we are still a ways off.
ReplyDeleteYour analogy is great- and the funny thing is I just asked my mom about her experience as an ELL in America and she pretty much said the same thing. When she cam here from Peru as a child, she was thrown into the mix with other students, and she also had another teacher to help her with speech. She learned English in a month! They say immersion in the language and culture is key when learning a foreign language- I think they are right!
ReplyDelete