It was surprising to me how much diversity and different
cultures effect the educational environment.
This
structure might be inherently inequitable because it does not take into
consideration lower class, minorities, or different cultures. In textbooks
minorities are not as represented as white children are. Also there could be a controversy
with religion. When doing my field experience there was a Kindergartener whose
parents and religion would not allow her to say the pledge of allegiance. All
of the kids knew that she could not say the pledge and it singled her out.
I would help this student in
learning and becoming comfortable with using formal English by first deciding
on the parts of English she needs to work on. Once I made this decision I would
focus on little pieces to improve upon at a time. I would start by restating
her improper phrases with the proper phrase. If she said, “she kinda funny” I
would respond be saying, “She is kind of funny, isn’t she?” I would be modeling
the correct English to her, but would not be degrading her. I could also try
pairing her with a peer tutor when she is working on English. This way the
feedback would be from one of her peer’s perspectives and she would not be
having tutoring with a teacher, which could bring her negative attention.
The example of the pledge of allegiance during school is very interesting. The fact that the other students knew and singled her out must be devastating for that students. I think it's importnat as a teacher to address the issue to the class that all students come from different backgrounds and practice in different ways. It's importnat for students to learn to be respectful of others backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteYour example of formal english teaching is interesting, but keep in mind that your approach is a very implicit way of teaching academic language.... You might want to look over the slides from class on Monday. It's important to be pretty explicit in communicating that these are just two (equally valid) dialects of English. Academic language is important for every students' future success, so it's similar to teaching them an additional language, but allowing them to keep the first in appropriate situations. Make sure to never say one is the 'right' or 'best' way of speaking.
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