Observation 1
Date: Sep 17th, 2006 12:41:09 am - Subscribe
My first observation involved a class taught by (name, school). I arrived shortly before the fifth period bell sounded and took my seat near the back of the room. Mrs. (name) announced me as a visitor, but many of the students thought that I was just a new addition to the class. The class started with a warm-up involving the students journaling their thoughts regarding a statement proposed by (teacher). After an incident occurred in which a student had to autograph (teacher's) “little book” for not being adequately prepared for the journal discussion, two other students offered their opinions to the best of their abilities regarding the journal assignment. Mrs. (teacher) then proceeded to use a PowerPoint presentation to assist in the understanding of certain vocabulary words taken from the current novel being studied, The Lottery Rose, by Irene Hunt. Students were called upon by (teacher) to interact and describe their own perceptions regarding the vocabulary words. Mrs. (teacher) then showed a video clip of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast to once again reinforce the vocabulary words as they were now being placed into context. The five-minute video clip covered such words as frantic, bewildered and monstrosity. After this video clip, Mrs. (teacher) read from The Lottery Rose all the while constantly probing the class for understanding of the text as well as introducing them to new literary terms and connotations.
Well, that is how the class went…nothing new from the perspective of an educator, but there is one aspect that I left out. Mrs. (teacher) fifth period class happens to be an ESL (English as a Second Language) reading class with 100 percent of her students being of the Hispanic origin. Not only were the ethnic proportions of the classroom out of my comfort zone, but most of the students in this class also had a difficult time even conveying the simplest of messages in English. Granted, I was raised in (town) and have always been immersed in the Hispanic culture, but I do not ever remember a time when I was the only “white” student in the room. In addition to that, I could not understand a word many of these students were saying. As the class filtered in during the break between periods, the only language being spoken was Spanish. It made me a little uneasy because they were staring at me and conversing in “their” normal language. I tend to like the ability to understand what people are saying, especially when the conversation is about me. As far as my own beliefs are concerned, individuals who decide to move to the United States should adopt our language and customs. If I as an American decided to move to any other country, I would have to do the same. In fact, most countries do not even offer an “ESL” program to their foreign students. With this being said, the students that come to the United States from other countries have no choice in the matter. They are transferred into a completely different environment because they are simply “with” their parents. Does this give us a right to deny them an appropriate education…absolutely not. Our laws and values dictate equality, regardless of situation. Yes, these students need to learn English to function in American society, but their education has to start somewhere. I was truly stunned by Mrs. (teacher) class as even in that single class, there was much diversity. Some of the students seemed very fluent in English while others had a great deal of difficulty even getting basic words out of their mouths. It was extremely frustrating to see their minds working and churning, but helpless as to communication and comprehension. Although Mrs. (teacher) did have an assistant, the goal was not to simply interpret, but to assist in comprehension. I noticed a bond between the students that probably filters from class to class. Those who were more fluent in English tended to aid those who were not as fluent. The one discouraging, but extremely reversible aspect was the fact that some of those students had sheer looks of desperation on their faces because they could not understand or relay their thoughts in English. I tried to imagine myself in foreign country, thrown into a class where my culture essentially vanished and left with no means of communication. I can only imagine the level of frustration these students may feel, especially coupled with the fact that “high stakes” testing determines their future. I would like to commend Mrs. (teacher) for her patience and persistence as well as her obviously penetrating teaching methods. During this observation, she tried to focus on the students’ strengths as visual learners to break that language barrier. She was also culturally responsive by trying to incorporate the students’ culture and experiences into her instruction and response methods.
As this observation occurred in an educational setting, it greatly strengthens the text that I have read. The most revealing part of this observation was the fact that Mrs. (teacher) held high expectations for her students. She did not allow the language barrier to become an excuse for her students. She expected participation regardless of fluency in English. Banks suggests that high expectations generate an overall positive climate for learning, and this was clearly evident as the students felt very comfortable responding to questions that were asked. Observing this class also made me realize the importance of self knowledge as it allows for development of positive relationships with students. I can not imagine trying to motivate students to learn without knowing what those motivators are. I believe that a teacher with knowledge of their students’ culture can level with the students to enhance learning. This observation also reiterated the fact that personal values may greatly affect student/teacher relationships. If I as a teacher have a preconceived idea that culturally diverse students have no potential to achieve success, then what would motivate me to set high expectations for my students? I believe that there are preconceived notions relating to all cultures. As Banks suggests, the goal of multicultural education is to evaluate those values and notions that we do possess as they essentially generate self-awareness. This self-awareness allows us to basically look at our methods through a microscope to ensure educational equality across the board. Although Payne primarily focuses on poverty, I did notice a few comparisons with her text as well. For one, students who are trying to translate their thoughts into a different language commonly do so, but the response tends to follow a casual register. It is important as educators to not only teach “English,” but to also teach appropriate structures. During this observation, I noticed that the casual register was the primary means of discourse as the students’ English was so limited. The responsibility of educators does not merely rest with the English language itself, but to directly teach use of the formal register, so that students may function in educational settings as well as in society as a whole. Although ethnicity and language barriers were my primary focus when selecting this observation, it became clearly evident that cultural differences can sometimes overlap. For instance, there were several children in Mrs. (teacher) class who were not only culturally diverse due to ethnicity, but also culturally diverse due to social class (poverty). Payne discusses the hidden rules among classes in which education in situations of poverty is not a reality or concern; the main concern of those suffering from poverty rests with attention and entertainment. Although I can not make factual statements regarding the social class of each student, I can say that those students with characteristics of moderate poverty also exhibited the need for attention. Those students tended to be disruptive and careless. With the endless cultural attributes that can be assigned to one classroom, it is evident that educators may have to cross several boundaries to reach such students.
In conclusion, the one lesson that hit home was the fact that “ideal” classrooms do not exist. Every classroom is going to be culturally diverse in some form or fashion. As evident in this observation, there may be several cultural “hurdles” to jump before finding those techniques to ensure educational equality. I truly believe that education is an ongoing process as is life. There will never be two classes that will be completely alike. It is crucial for teachers to recognize the cultural factors exhibited by their student because those factors can sometimes be applied exponentially. Every student deserves an education, and because of that, teachers are facing constant cultural challenges. I commend those teachers who “jumps through hoops” to reach their students.
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