Diversity
Before I entered the world of teaching in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms I had a very different perspective on what I’ve considered to be culture. I defined culture as a person’s ethnicity, involvement in religion, celebrating holidays, and events in which individuals ancestors have celebrated. I thought of culture as a family history of where a person is from and where they have been. I viewed cultural aspects to be songs, dances, foods and the way people treat their opposite sex as well as others in society. Coming from a University which promotes culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms I have been enlightened to what the definition of culture really is. I now see Culture as a person’s identity including their race, gender, socioeconomic class, their society, community, environment, nationality, religion or lack of religion, level of education, sexuality, immigration status, marital status, age, language, and what they are and what they are not exposed to. Culture highlights multiple perspectives, it focuses on lived experiences, everyday life and daily activities in which people go though. Culture focuses on interactions between peoples and people in institutions; culture is also multi-layered and multi-dimensional. We as people in society develop cultural formations, social processes, social locations, social intersections, and individual agency and structure. All of these factors cannot fully describe who we are as people but have great meaning and histories that have to do with our identity and culture. E. B. Tylor states that culture is a "whole way of life, a complex set of knowledge’s, beliefs, art, laws, morals, & customs.”(E.B. Tylor,1870-71). Culture can be found within families, neighborhoods, regions, nation-states, border zones as well as various other places. Culture is formed within epicenters where spaces and places create cultural formation. These formations can be fluid, shifting, and mobile.I have come to this understanding of culture through life experience, and higher education. As a result from the several class lectures and reading assignments I have been made aware of racist society and unequal opportunities for children who are English language learners. One of the first readings in my diversity education class was an article on white privilege. As a white woman I never truly saw the day to day privileges I am given because of my race. This article opened my eyes to some of the most subtle but unequal things that are portrayed in society such as the color of a bandied. In our country we encourage each other to treat others as equals, I have always seen people support diversity and equality it wasn’t until now that I’ve seen why we encourage it so much. I have never seen such inequality throughout my life until I began reading articles such as McIntosh’s article white privilege. It was not until I heard the class lectures and read the weekly readings that I discovered how little we have come as a county in terms of equality.
I had never noticed that culture is expanded from a person as an individual to a whole country. I never saw my race or gender as part of my culture I was unaware of the privileges given to me because of those facts. These subtle racist qualities are portrayed in a greater view in our school systems. “Racism and other forms of personal and institutional biases and discrimination are manifested in schools is at the root of history of inequality in the United States in general” (University of Massachusetts, Sonia Nieto, 2000). The way people raise their children is the way students will look upon diversity in and out of school, for culture is something that is learned (Sonia Nieto, 2010). The white privilege article written by Peggy McIntosh (White Privilege, 1998) made me realize that we need to do much more in our country to encourage equality among all races. Many of the top twenty five daily effects of white privilege are simple things that can easily be altered to make our communities more diverse and treat all people as equals.
The way we view each other and the reason stereotypes are developed is because of culture. Culture although I had never realized is a huge part of every person, every community, and our country as a whole. Class rank is a part of culture it can leave positive and negative affects towards students self esteem and in some cases can lead to physiological issues. Low self esteem that several students face makes academic success much more difficult to achieve compared to students who do not face these problems. Students, who are harassed, looked down upon, bullied, and stereotyped face psychosocial tolls. These issues develop based on culture and how the public views people. Based on my experience I would say about fifty percent of children who face these types of issues are English language learners. Students start to believe in the stereotypes made about them and begin to think that they are not good enough, that they are incapable of academic success and that they are never going to make something of themselves. The majorities of English language learning students are segregated off from the rest of the school, to receive individual time in their own classrooms with ESL/bilingual teachers, and never have a great opportunity to socialize with other students. This lack of socialization can lead to severe social and physiological issues for the student. “Physical separation of students from one another based on their race has been one of the most obvious signs of educational inequality in the United States” (Sonia Nieto, 2010)
Culture is important to understand in terms of education. This new knowledge I have acquired about culture has transformed me as a future educator. After working with children who are English language learners I see what a joy it is to be involved in their lives, to bring a smile to their faces, to encourage them with everything they do, to teach, and talk in therapeutic ways to heal the social and emotional scars of stereotypes brought upon them as well as healing homesickness many immigrant children face. To teach through discussion and modeling other than simple work sheets that can cover the material of literacy but does not give the student understanding of pronunciation and social skills;“Using these so-called worksheets kills valuable instructional time, and squanders students motivation and energy” (Stanford University professor Guadalupe Valdes). To understand diverse cultures is to know and understand different people and different ways of society.
As an educator I will implement student’s native language to create a bridge for better understanding of their second language of English. “Language is more than correct pronunciation, memorization of vocabulary, and practice of grammatical forms. “At its very core, language is the opportunity for self-expression though the discovery of new ideas and experiences” (Stanford University Professor Guadalupe Valdes). I will embrace culture and learning differences within my future classroom. Culture is important to embrace as a society not just within the classroom. Culture enlightens a person to differences which makes them wiser as individuals. As a teacher I will not make judgments on my students as needing extra or not enough attention based on their race and what I can or cannot assume about their home life. I will give equal attention to all students so all students have an equal education. An example of how some teachers ignore students based on race and ethnicity is the stereotype that Asian students are more intelligent than other students. There are many who do not take into account that several students that are stereotyped to be more intelligent than others can struggle with subjects or have learning disabilities that go unnoticed.
“Asian students are seen as the model minority throughout America” (Sonia Nieto, 2010). In Amy Tans article Mother tongue she addresses the struggle of immigrant students who have parents who are not English proficient. These children go though the struggle of acting as a translator and adhering to adult duties that their parents cannot due to the language barrier. Several of these children also go through struggles with their reading and writing due to living and listening to their immigrant parents speak incorrectly. The majority of the English in which immigrant children grow up with is a “simple, broken, watered down translation” of the language (Amy Tan, 1993). “The language spoken in the family, especially in immigrant families plays a large role in shaping the language of the child” (Amy Tan, 1993).
Amy Tan explains situations where lacking in the English language can result in a lost situation. One situation of when this can be critical is when health care professionals could not understand Amy’s mother when they were having a crucial discussion about her health. This type of a scenario is commonly seen to be brought upon immigrant students throughout the country. A persons language developing skills are more influenced by peers, than family. I will promote the learning of bicultural students without excluding or singling out students. I will not give accommodations in one way; every student will receive their own accommodations accordingly to fit their unique needs. In addition every student has their own unique way of learning. I want every student to feel comfortable and valued within my future classroom. I would like to encourage my students to except others differences in all aspects of the word as much as possible.
There are various schools that drive towards a diverse staff, as well as a diverse student body within their schools. There are several programs within schools that support diversity, and equality. Accommodations need to be shared by everyone on an equal level (University of Massachusetts professor Sonia Nieto, 2010). There are various ways to include culture within the instructions in mainstream and in ESL/bilingual classrooms. We as teachers need to avoid teaching stereotypes within our instruction. The inequality of people affects our schools and the education of students across the country. I have had personal experience where I was judged by others based on the type of classes I was in, the teachers I had, the differences I had from others while test taking, and the differences I had while learning. There are several people in society that see students who are in advanced honor classes as smarter as and better than those students who are in remedial or special education classes. As a teacher I will promote against this way of thinking.
As I move from student to teacher, I will teach to encourage lifelong learning using the multiple intelligences and learning styles while giving confidence to each individual student. As a future educator with dual certification in special education and elementary education, I will be teaching for the understanding of my students through various methods with the use of several types of hands on, listening, and conversational exercises. Using these methods will highly benefit children who are English language learners as well. As a teacher I will tailor my lessons to fit each student I have as an individual.
References:
E. B. Tylor in Primitive Culture (1870-71), Early anthropological (scientific) notions of culture.
Peggy McIntosh (1998). White Privilege article: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.
Sonia Nieto (2010) and Lambert (1975). Creating Multicultural learning communities. The Light in Their Eyes, 34, 41, 51, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 77, 78, 83, 86, 101, 102.
Professor Guadalupe Valdes of Stanford University, 1992
Amy Tan, Mother tounge,1993