Session # 6

Video on teaching AAVE and code-switching in an elementary classroom context.

What type of ESL programs do we see in the U.S. Public Schools today?

What is SIOP? What is the effect of SIOP on ELLs?—A comprehensive model for lesson planing.

Presentation Lesson Plan Activity Individual Work on your Final Projects

What is a post-method? How can we address minority language in

our classrooms? What type of instructional practices are

available when we teach social justice issues such as race, gender inequalities?

What kind of English should we teach in schools?

Do you speak American?African-American English in California

Do you speak American? SIOP MODEL”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty3n07UaFUUDO YOU SPEAK AMERICAN?SIOP VIDEO (Mia’s story)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUdn9ucawAg&feature=related

…To match teacher and student cultural profiles seems to be a form of educational segregation to me. There has to be many competent individuals (whether they be white, brown, black, or purple) who would absolutely love having the experience of teaching students from culturally diverse backgrounds. We just need to find them. Assessing preservice teachers’ teaching preferences and dispositions would be more effective than profiling their racial identities. Preservice teachers who are interested in teaching students from culturally diverse communities should be placed in community-based cross-cultural immersion programs while being educated to be teachers, because such programs can be advertised to students of all cultural backgrounds and will attract only those who are most interested in actually making a career out of teaching in diverse communities.

I believe that it is the experiences that one has and the competence they have which helps shape them into being a good teacher. If a White preservice teacher is given the opportunity to learn about multicultural diversity through schooling, observation, and even hands on learning, they are capable of being prepared to teach in a culturally diverse setting. And hey, no one can ever be fully prepared no matter where you are going to teach. I think what really matters is the drive and passion a teacher has towards cultural diversity.

We all are TESOLers for a reason and I think we all can agree we want to embrace cultural diversity and bring it into our classrooms. It offends me that someone thinks just because of the color of my skin, I will not be as prepared to do that as someone who is of another color. I know I do not have some experiences that others have had dealing with cultural diversity, but I have had some. I have a drive for teaching and I want to be put in a very culturally diverse classroom and be able to embrace the culture into my curriculum. I know I will be able to do that just from things I have learned in my classes here at ISU and from observations I have done.

I think that mentality of only choosing the candidates that fit that profile is furthering stereotypes and segregation. The reality is that we need to figure out why only those candidates are showing success and fix it! So, how do we fix it? As Sleeter mentioned and the research shows, personal experience is the answer. While classes about multi-culturalism might be easier in terms of practicality, it is the personal experience in multi-cultural settings that will actually change perspectives.

At the end of my summer in Hartford, I went with some friends to visit Mark Twain's home where he wrote some of his greatest works near the end of the 19th century. As I was walking through the museum, I saw a quote of given upon his return from a world speaking tour: "Travel is fatal to prejudice." That quote struck me with its truth. When you experience the culture, the language, the people, or the life in a part of the world, the country, the state, or the city that is different from your own, your prejudices inevitably fall apart. When you put faces on the statistics and the stereotypes, your perspective changes. As Sleeter summarizes in his article, I do think that our prospective teachers need experience in multi-cultural classrooms. Not just classes about multiculturalism. And not just a few hours. They needs semesters, summers, whatever it takes to develop a real relationship with their students and change their preconceived ideas.

Does the teacher need to come from the students’ culture to be able to teach with cultural sensitive pedagogies?

How can we create community based, cross-cultural immersion experiences?

Sleeter says… we do not really know how multicultural education given preservice teachers help them become better teachers… “Teachers were more likely to incorporate multicultural content when their students were of color and/or from low-income backgrounds than when they are not”

Color-blindness: Let’s not talk about race. There is a common discourse in today’s society that race blind policies/language are the most effective ones and that we should not consider people’s races when you make decisions about employment or education. This is not necessarily true—another approach says…

Color-consciousness: We NEED to talk about race. There are problems, especially structural and social problem that are based on racial inequality (structural and institutional racism). so we cannot eleminate the importance…we cannot deal with the issue without talking about it.

The overwhelming presence of whiteness:If there is no minority students (black students,

Latin@s, Asians, whites from poor economic background) in pre-service teacher education programs, than it means something: A perspective is missing. Everyone is shaped by their linguistic and sociocultural contexts. The fact that you are white or black or another race has an impact on how you view the world.

We will bring diversity does not only mean talking about its importance. It’s not enough to talk about it. We need to see other perspectives.

Student of color encounter many racist behaviors (they live it) so, “pre-service students of color bring a richer multicultural knowledge” (Sleeter, 2001).

Sleeter’s article: Research reports based on empirical findings and an urgent call/a quest for further research on this area.

I think it's important to point out that students of color are disappearing out of the teacher certification field, and college in general. Some of my outside research has led me to conclude that the African-American achievement gap has caught up to the white achievement status, but the African-American communities has lost ground in the fact that there are less blacks going to college. This model can be mirrored through multiple cultures and Sleeter points out the problems associated with the colored populations disappearance from teacher preparation programs. Although those students tend to bring a richer experience to the educational process, less of them are making it through the program and I believe that Sleeter is missing key research to credit the why to his article. However, Sleeter brings out the importance of having multicultural classroom training to pre-service teachers.

Bilingual education results in lower drop-out rates (twenty percent of Hispanics are classified as drop-outs!)

No single program fits all students. What is a bilingual education?

A. Improves self esteem, personal satisfaction 0.6% b. Broadens cross-cultural understanding generally

2.9% c. Increases communication skills 26.4% d. Improves one’s image 1.0% e. Home/family advantages 0.5% Practical Benefits f. Societal/community benefits 10.4% g. Improves employment opportunities 45.1% h. Improves education opportunities or success

5.8% (Wiley, 1988)

There are persistent misconceptions about teaching only Standard English only to ethnolinguistically diverse student population.

It is certainly NOT the most effective way to teach language minority students.

Research is full of studies on the negative impact of English-only movement. Teachers must use students cultural and linguistic backgrounds to prevent many social and educatioal problems.

As a result of this, U.S. Latino students experience more remedial instruction, greater probability of assignment to lower curriculum tracks, higher dropout rates, poorer graduation rates, and over-referral to special education classes (Artiles & Ortiz, 2002; Cummins, 1984; De Cohen, Deterding, & Chu Clewell, 2005).

Interference concern Waste of time concern No benefit hypothesis Inaccurate media reports

Students who speak their mother tongue fluently do better in English than students who studies only English and forced to leave their heritage language (see Raimes, 1992 Harklau, Cummins, Wolfram among many others)

Students who read in dialect/first language first and then standard had higher scores in reading speed and comprehension of the Standard English

Two-way bilingual education Structured immersion ESL programs Sheltered English, Content Based ESOL Submersion Programs

Both language minority and language majority students work together to learn the content.

It aims to lessen the social distance and unequal social status often found between NS and NNS students in class.

Every bilingual program includes target language and the home language.

Content classes that are Designed specifically for ESL students (SIOP MODEL)

Aims at development of both language and content.

Courses may be team-taught Teachers are not necessarily bilingual Students speak variety of languages

English-only programs Teachers might be bilingual They “accept” students native languages. Technically, these programs would not be

considered bilingual programs

Sink or swim programs ESL students are directly placed in

mainstream classrooms. They receive only some support from ESL

pull-out classrooms or one-on-one tutorials

In your groups, work on a lesson plan incorporating the selected text

Define your language objectives (Define supplementary materialsDefine class activities and literacy practicesDefine class assignmentsDefine teacher role, student role, the role of

space and communities (feel free to draw a visual!)

1. Clearly define content objectives.2. The use of supplementary materials to

make lessons clear and meaningful3. Adapt content to all levels of student

proficiency—use graphic organizers, study guides, taped texts, jigsaw reading.

4. Provide meaningful and authentic activities that integrate lesson concepts with language practice opportunities—surveys, letter writing, making models, plays, games.

Be aware of the different ethnolinguistically diverse group populations in your classrooms.

Their needs might greatly vary. Don’t equate English proficiently with students’

cognitive abilities (i.e. “They will succeed because they are motivated; I have no idea of what their natural abilities are”)

Interactions in the classroom play an important role in ESOL students’ identity formation and academic growth. It is also our responsibility to prevent the negative images about your immigrant students: “benignly deviant students” These images can be altered if you take an active role in your institution!