Final post: Susan Schuler

Reading this book, was interesting to me. Growing up there were a few students in my classes that were pulled out for what I believe(d) to be english lessons. I never paid them much mind, they were just other students in my class. I never thought about how our class environment might have been affecting my fellow classmates. The holidays that were discussed, even the crayons. (In the book it was mentioned that Crayola has a box of crayons that's different skin tones, which I didn't even know or think about.) Now whenever I do my observations for classes, I think about the holidays they talk about and wonder if they're missing any holidays that the students might celebrate instead or with. My awareness about what they discussed in the book seems to have heightened.
Susan

Final thoughts on the book: Eyes opened wider now.. Beth -Final Blog entry

After reading this book I see myself in the community and as a future teacher differently. We were asked to investigate White Allies...I didn't know what this term was. But I looked and learned.
　
White Allies are people who advocate for diversity in the community. This link is to a web survey that you can take to see where you rank as being a white ally. It is from another local college’s website - Cortland.
http://web.cortland.edu/russellk/courses/hdouts/raible.htm

It's questions are good and helps you to think about what a white ally is.

I also checked out this article which I helped me to understand what being a white ally is
Guidelines for Being
Strong White AlliesAdapted from Uprooting Racism: How Whiteby P a u l K i v e l The full article can be read here:


The article points out many ways to be a white ally but two that I found most powerful were:
1. Assume racism is everywhere, everyday. He asks us to assume it because its true and because we are a part of the dominant cultural and do not have to face it daily. He asks us to notice it, to be aware of it around us in life daily.
2.The second request that I found really powerful was to: take risks. That even if its scary for you, to risk embarrassment or failure by trying to stop racist talk or actions that you see or hear
When I started to read this book, I don’t think I realized how much of an assimilationist I was. I am very much a part of the dominant culture and my education that embraced a melting pot approach to life in the U.S. just seemed so normal. As I child I didn’t think of anyone being hurt by the way our school was run.

As an adult today in the world, I knew that there are people with bi-cultural backgrounds but I hadn’t thought about how our educational system might impact them. I just thought, everyone who comes here becomes American and it may take time but they will learn English and blend into our culture. This book was a great example to how naïve my prior thinking was. And it was a catalyst for me to think about these things, where I previously had not considered how being an immigrant to this country today might impact education.

Embracing the differences and bi-culturalism helps students of minority groups to feel welcomed, important, understood and it helps to succeed in our schools. There are many things I think I would have done inherently, like talking to the ESL teacher and seeing what my students were doing with her or if she kept the lessons of my classroom going. Or having kids see representations of themselves in their class…but would I have taught the individual cultures? Or asked parents to?

I didn’t even know what White Allies were until this class and now that I have researched what it is to be one I feel my eyes are open wider than before.
--Elizabeth Francescotti
People Can Work for Social Justicehttp://www.paulkivel.com/articles/guidelinesforbeingstrongwhiteallies.pdf

Overall Summerization of the book

I cannot say i had a real grasp of what this book would discuss and how it would speak to me. In the end though, it spoke to me on many different levels and about an idea that had not really occurred to me as a future educator yet. People in the United States, in particularly the white dominate culture, often times forget the melting pot that the USA was founded to be. I have always been an advocate for a multicultural classrooms, even if that might be tough for the dominate culture. As educators we take on the responsibilities to speak up for the children in our classes and make their futures' brighter. Myself, as a white male, I need to take on the role of a "white ally", a term Professor Ahmad mentioned to our group. A white ally is a member of the dominate culture, generally white in this country, who actively resists the role of oppressor and is an active ally to people of color. (Google.com).
Often times, as we talked about in class and in our group, children who have a conflicting cultures between school and home are labeled as disabled. As an educator, this book made me realize that often times these children are really just desperate for something to relate to. They just want to feel welcome and appreciated in class. They need to see their home life in society. Many of the problems Mrs. Starr was dealing with, the language barrier, the cultural barriers and the celebration of only dominate cultures, are things I myself may have fallen into had I not been made aware of them in someway. Being aware of the children in my class who may not be of the dominate culture, I will now do my best to be an ally to these individuals and their families.
Another thing, and I made mention of this in my Chapter 8 blog, I will try to include a wraparound program in some way for all of the children in my class. I want to make my future classroom a place where children feel comfortable with myself and their fellow classmates, almost how they would feel with family members at home. Communication lines will be opened early and often to the parents of my students. Are their any other ideas that you feel could be used to make a classroom feel more like a home?? I would like to hear about them

Karen Paine - Rigorous Researcher of White Allies (Final Post)

"White ally" is a term coined by Beverly Daniel Tatum (who wrote "Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?"). Tatum defines a white ally as "an antiracist, a white man or woman who is clearly identifiable as an ally to people of color in the struggle against racism (Tatum, 1994, page 462).

In my research of white allies in ESL education, I discovered the book "Refusing Racism: White Allies and the Struggle for Civil Rights" by Cynthia Stokes Brown. Brown takes a white ally to be someone who "takes a public stand against the racist assumptions that surround one, against the prevailing system of white supremacy" (Brown, 2002, page 4).

According to Brown, the issues that surround white allies are:

1.) Are there consequences for white people in their stance (ostracism, loss of job opportunities, loss of upward mobility)?

2.) How can white people understand an oppression that they had not experienced?

3.) Are white people really able to support people of color?

4.) Even if they can talk equality, can white people relinquish privilege to balance the scales?

These are applicable to the issues presented in the epilogue of Schmidt-Ruggiano's book. Mrs. Starr did experience some ostracism in her push for multicultural curriculum. Regardless of her approach in class, it was not until Mrs. Starr was able to meet with Raji and Peley's families that she was better able to understand their experience and how that influenced their schooling. Can anyone else find any other connections between what I've researched on white allies and the experience of Mrs. Starr, Peley, and Raji?

Chapter 8: vocab; Susan

Assimilationist:
a person who advocates a policy of assimilating differing racial or cultural groups

Assimilating: To absorb into the culture or mores of a population or group


diversity: the condition of being diverse : variety; especially : the inclusion of diverse people (as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization <programs intended to promote diversity in schools>


impetus:: a driving force : impulse (2) : incentive, stimulus b : stimulation or encouragement resulting in increased activity

2

: the property possessed by a moving body in virtue of its mass and its motion —used of bodies moving suddenly or violently to indicate the origin and intensity of the motion

Chapter 8, post5 : Susan Schuler

In the epilogue  Mrs. Starr expressed her concerns of how she had taught the class in the past. I appreciate that she didn't become defensive as a lot of people would and deny that the way she taught was anything less than perfect, she actually thought about the way she had done things and was willing to change to improve her future classes' experiences. It would be interesting to follow two of her students in her 'after' classroom to see how the changes affected them. To show what the changes were and if they really did improve the experiences for minority children.
It would also be interesting to have some other teachers in Mrs. Starr's school read this book to see how they react, to see if maybe it will help them to realize why Mrs. Starr is doing what she is doing.
Does anyone else think that these are good ideas? Why or why not?

Blog #6 Idea Illustrator - Elizabeth Francescotti

Our World is a diverse place and with technology and news information about other countries and The U.S.'s involvement in the affairs of other countries I think it is fair for us to talk about the world we live in, and not just the country we currently live in. More than fair, I think it is important. We cannot ignore differences without inadvertantly saying a message about being different!

Every classroom should have a globe. Students should be able to identify continents and places and I really liked how Mrs. Starr implemented the use of the globe in her class and students really responded to it and enjoyed seeing it. If we show them, their minds can grasp that the world is bigger than our small town, or our hometown.

Muticultural Crayons! These come with a wide variety of skin tones so students can draw pictures that look like them. Raji loved to draw and see representations of himself...why wouldn't the other teachers make use of these in their classrooms?
It seems like such a basic tool for the classroom and one that makes sense if we have our eyes open...people come in a wide array of colors.
I was disappointed that Mrs. Starr bought these and they all came back un-used from the other teachers.
I was also dissapointed that she was put down, as forgetting American Cultural when she decided to celebrate Spring in the variety of ways it is celebrated around the world. It makes me think about how or current school calendar is still based on an agricultural society...students don't need all this time off to leave school and pick crops...we don't live that way anymore. But, I think it says a lot about how CHANGE happens slowly in the school system!

Change in the school system. Chapter 8 Blog # 6 Elizabeth Francescotti

In reading this final chapter I kept thinking that as teachers we are in the business of service. We are servants to our community and to our students. When I reflect on that I think it means that we need to be willing to take the extra time and energy to go the extra mile. I think I was thinking like an assimilationist when I started to read this book and didn't even realize it. I grew up and though of America as a melting pot and then there was a global studies class in high school where we learned about other countries, but more in a political and historical sense.

When it comes right down to it the best way to serve students with bi-culturalism as their way of life is to not ignore it. Mrs. Starr thought ignoring it would just magically lead to assimilation and things would work out. What we saw was two children with a lot of potential, end up struggling because they had to live a dual life. They potential sucess as readers and learners was being damaged. Their self-images and their ability to learn through social interacts were non-existant.

So to best serve all your students you can't ignore differences. Teaching about the differences means that young learners can see that different is not wrong, it's just different and we can appreciate what is different.

I am lucky that the classroom I am observing in has already had a Mexican Festival day as many of the students are Latino and there is one class that speaks only Spanish. All the students in that school got to play games, sing songs and eat food from Mexico. And I got to see how much they enjoyed it.

Even if the first step you can make is to not ignore the cultures that are in your classroom...you are already making a difference! Reduced drop out rates, being literacy learning, potentially ingraining students at an early age to embrace diversity...these are all worhwhile reasons to break out of an assimilationist way and teach children about diversity. We are to enter classrooms of all types shapes and sizes and we are becoming a smaller world by the minute so global awareness seems just a normal as having computers in Kindergarten classes to me.

Imagine if all you learned and did in school was so opposite to you, so foreign. Would you feel like you, your life, your family ways must be wrong somehow?

I think that message gets sent to kids whether we realize we are sending it or not.
What do you think?

Struggles for change (Chapter 8)

I was both sad and happy with the epilogue. Mrs. Starr really has learned a lot by having someone from the outside stepping in to observe her class. When Mrs. Starr "spoke to other educators and found that they had experienced the same difficulties when working with language-minority children (p. 125)" she took the important first step and found out what problems were out there and how other teachers dealt with the problem. Conversation with fellow teaching professionals is key in my eyes to developing new ideas and new educational tactics. Peley and Raji should have had a wraparound program to help them and their families deal with the problem of being a language minority and culturally different. Much of what Mrs. Starr is attempting, like discussing other cultures, sending notes home and forming the steering committee, will help provide the base for these programs.
I am a little upset though by the reaction of some of the teachers when it comes to these programs. I understand how difficult it must be for teachers in older grades to have parents who have never gone through all these new ideas and processes, but to just totally give up? The older teachers could take small steps, like just talking about another culture or making some kind reasearch project to open the children's minds. Does anyone else think that this problem maybe because of the close mindedness of the other teachers or maybe fear?

Karen Paine - Epilogue - Blog #6

One thing we had begun to discuss in our Literature Circle was the purpose of this epilogue. The early edition of the text appears to be a doctoral dissertation by Ruggiano-Schmidt. One of the subjects, Mrs. Starr, was in process of completing a masters dissertation and immediately after the study, created her own text. In turn, Ruggiano-Schmidt made an additional "post-script" study of Mrs. Starr's study. What would have been of more interest to the read is a post-script study of the student subjects, Raji and Peley. Unlike Mrs. Starr, they did not have their own reputation to protect and would not use the post-script to defend, refute, explain, amend, etc. their own situation within the study. The incestuous nature of the studies worries me - how is it possible to remain objective during the process when each participant's role is mutually beneficial?

Karen Paine - Epilogue - Rigorous Researcher

In the epilogue, the "Faltis four level approach" is mentioned as a reference for developing communication with multilingual parents (Ruggiano-Schmidt, page 129). As rigorous researcher, I looked into Christina J. Faltis to better understand the reference. The four step approach is from a book published in 1993 called "Joinfostering: Adapting Teaching Strategies for the Multilingual Classroom." According to the Faltis, joinfostering is "the organization and implementation of conditions to promote two-way communication and social integration within the linguistically diverse all-English classroom" (Faltis, page 1).

The four levels include:

I: early stages of teacher-parent informal contacts in the home and school

II: how to proceed to small informational meetings

III: examples of ways to encourage parent participation and sharing in the classroom

IV: parent empowerment when they are included in curricular decisions

These levels correspond with the more general Faltis framework, designed particularly as a guideline for native-English speaking teachers working in a multi-lingual classroom environment. The framework involves:

1.) two-way communication

2.) social integration

3.) second language acquisition principles

4.) parental participation

Karen Paine - Chapter 7 (Classroom Community)

"Appreciating similarities and differences in the world around us is an important first step in the creation of inclusive social settings" (page 107).

Recently, I read a children's book by Rosemary Wells called "Yoko." She is a girl from Japan whose classmates ridicule her sushi lunch and as a result, becomes emotionally detached from school. The teacher notices and tries to remedy the situation by creating an "International Food Day." All the children bring in dishes from around the world with the instruction from the teacher that they are to try "at least one bite." At the end of the day, Yoko's sushi plate remains untouched, and this is unnoticed by the teacher. Only one students tries the sushi and becomes Yoko's friend.

Sharing food is one of Ruggiano-Schmidt's suggestions for increasing international / multicultural awareness. However, I think the book about Yoko is accurate - this tactic may not automatically increase appreciation of different cultures, but at the very least, it will increase awareness. Creating a climate of welcomeness may not make everyone feel included, but it will get the message across that inclusion is important.

Chapter 7- Illustrator Illuminator

When looking at this image, I cannot think of a better idea than something Mrs. Starr could have done. This is just one illustration of the many suggested by Patricia Schmidt. Have the children sit in groups and discuss on a globe where India, Cambodia and Vietnam are and who they are in our world.

chapter 7 vocab

Ethnography: the study and systematic recording of human culturesalsoa descriptive work produced from such research

culturegrams: is a company that stays up to date on the world's cultures and holidays

ethnocentricism: the feeling that one's group has a mode of living, values, and patterns of adaptation that are superior to those of other groups. It is coupled with a generalized contempt for members of other groups. Ethnocentrism may manifest itself in attitudes of superiority or sometimes hostility. Violence, discrimination, proselytizing, and verbal aggressiveness are other means whereby ethnocentrism may be expressed.

Chapter 7 blog 5 : Susan Schuler

"children by age four have developed racist views through the media as well as through the dominant community culture. Often schools unknowingly contribute to these attitudes by ignoring differences."

Out of the whole of chapter seven these sentences stood out most to me. By age four, children have developed racist views. Age Four! My first thought was of the little girl I babysit who just had her fourth birthday a few weeks ago and I wonder what her views on the world and the world's people are. Then I think how life will be for her. A white, blond haired, brown eyes, very pretty little girl. She's very clearly in the dominant culture. I wonder what her reactions would be to children like Peley and Raji. Of course she is a strong personality, so she would probably butt heads with Peley and steamroll over Raji when it comes to doing things her way.
Then I thought about the media. The majority of people are english speaking white people on the television shows watched in the U.S. While more and more it's becoming more diverse the majority of the shows are still about the dominant culture in the U.S. The majority of any religion or holidays shown are Christmas and Christianity. There's very few that show Buddihism (which is what they celebrate in Cambodia) or Hinduism. Therefore all most children may know is Christmas and Hannakuh to some extent. Any holidays Peley and Raji celebrate would be alien to the other children.
Especially since most schools seem to be more and more turning a blind eye to religious and cultural differences as well as society. More and more it's "happy holidays" instead of "merry christmas". I understand the intent behind that, but part of me has always thought if someone were to wish me a "happy hannakuh" I'd take it in the spirit it was intended and not jump down the person's throat "I'm not Jewish". People are so afraid of offending others with their differences that children are losing out on the experiences of diversity, so that when they're exposed to it, they don't understand it and react in ways that show their mistrust and fear of it. This is what is leads to hate groups and bullying of others who are different. This attitude of 'everyone needs to be the same so we don't offend'. It's going to come back and haunt us. Perhaps it already is starting to.
What are your thoughts?

What Could Have Been.... Chapter 7 Blog #4 - Elizabeth Francescotti

This chapter is an overview of all the missed opportunities for learning, the avoidance of speaking to culturally different families more because it was 'uncomfortable' and the lack of coordination between the ESL and General Education teachers.

Fortunitly, our group was very adept at noticing missed learning opportunities and made many of the same recommendations about pushing harder and going further to best serve Peley and Raji in their education.

We also got a look at how assessments can be culturally biased and opportunities missed by the student because of cultural differences. Peley was able to score so high on her literacy tests that she should have been recommended for the program but instead only was placed in advanced reading. Raji who was also very literate was placed in an average group. The parents made sure their children could read and write English. It is the value they placed on it and impressed upon their children.

However, the lack of social skills which are needed to maintain literacy were a hold back for these students.
They were not able to make that social connection at school, which many of the theorists' in Mooney's text stress as highly important for development. The reason? The conflict between home and school cultures. Peley and Raji had to live going back and forth between two cultures when they went from home and school. They did not get to share in the benefit of the cultures being the same like the other children did.

Which of this chapter's suggestions for change do you think would be the best and simplest to implement to quickly start turning this situation around?

Have any of us been color blind, and thinking this is the best approach?

Discussion Director-Quote - blog#4 Chapter7 Elizabeth Francescotti

As discussion director I think there are two lines that really send the message of this chapter and this text home to us  as future educators.

"Educators may even believe that color blindness is the way to teach tolerance. However, it is recommended that acknowledging and celebrating differences helps to eliminate stereotyping in classrooms."

Being color blind...can be a lot like being silent as we talked about in class last week. It is a way of ignoring the differences which are very clear and visible to the students.

Had Peley and Raji been given time to talk about their cultures AND felt secure to do so, that their shared information would be accepted and not ridiculed, they could have shared another part of the world with the class. We are increasingly a global society as technology makes our world smaller each day. Sharing worldly interests and differences/similarities was a really sadly missed learning opportunity in Mrs. Starr's classroom.

Sad end (Chapter 7)

I found many of the suggested ideas at the end of chapter seven to be very interesting and many things I would have never thought of at first. But first, I am saddened by the fact that Patricia Schmidt has not kept in touch with Peley and Raji's family (p. 121). It would have been nice to know about the development of the two children over the years. Another fascinating thing to have know would have been how well Peley's family learned to handle America, especially with only what is "equivalent to an elementary education in Cambodia and Vietnam" (p.114).
Let down aside, I feel the best suggestion made in chapter seven was to bring a teacher of ESL or special education for a push in program at times. It really makes sense to give the children who are in the program not always feel singled out and allowing the other students to embrace the teacher as a member of the general education program. Also, by bringing in the teacher, it would allow the general education teacher and the special program teacher to align their lesson plans. The fact that Peley and Raji were missing valuable reading lessons and not having an in synced ESL program was a real draw back. Does anyone else think, by having a hybrid or full push in program, the two students would have done much better both socially and educationally?

Susan Schuler: chapter 6

"We have custom. They have custom different. Afraid different custom."

This is what Peley's mother said. It caught my attention because it's true. People tend to be afraid of different cultures, while a lot of people will at least try to get to know other cultures, they ultimately decide their culture is best. There's evidence of this everywhere, if you listen to people talk about other countries and their laws and expectations, most of the time they're talking about them in a negative light. Or when someone from a different country is new to the U.S. people tend to be wary of them and when they engage in a custom of theirs, Americans tend to think they're 'weird'.
There are many different reasons why this is, what do you think they may be?

Chapter 6 Key terms and Vocab

ESL(English Second Language) programs- This is a program taught in English speaking countries to educate individuals that family do not primarily speak English or a class for people who moved to English speaking countries that have no formal education in speaking English. For both Peley and Raji, this program was used to help these children better understand English. They needed this extra English education because their families primary language is not English.

Push-In Classrooms vs. Pull-out: The debate for the strengths and weaknesses of these programs are all over the web (especially concerning ESL programs). One common theme among the debates is the strength of a pull out program to get students into one common area. Often times these programs involve multiple students from different locations in the schools. It is easier for the teachers of these programs to gather students to come to one location and teach in the room. A postive argument for a push-in classroom is that the students often times will have a program more guided along classroom ideals and the students will also feel more included in the general education programs.

Cultural Blindness: Fosters an assumption that that people are all basically alike, so what works with one group of people should work within all other cultures. (www.med.umich.edu/multicultural/ccp/basic.htm#continuum). The website quoted here also provides a great example of what each teacher should strive for, cultural proficiency.