Language differences and perspectives of ethnic groups in the classroom

To implement various teaching strategies into the classroom I think that teachers need to know about the culture they are dealing with. To do this, teachers need to communicate with the students and the parents of the students to understand the world that they are coming from.  I know that the place I grow up in is total different from the place to which I teach and in order to be able to connect with the students I must to learn and understand their environment. It all comes back to that first word of discussion we had RESPECT.  We as teacher must remember that we are stepping into their world as much as they are stepping in ours. Communicating about each other’s cultures and views seems like the logical place to start. 

Now how do we get our student’s to communicate with each other?  Cooperative learning groups are a great way for students to interact together and share ideas.  In fact, research has shown that “Cooperative learning leads to more positive racial attitudes for all students, more interracial friendship choices, and academic gains for students of color (especially Hispanics and African-Americans).. Cooperative, crossracial learning also increases student instruction, self-esteem, and ability to empathize. (Gay, Geneva.,2010)

After surfing the internet for some teaching strategies I discover an article called “Strategies for Reducing Racial and Ethnic Prejudice: Essential Principles for Program Design.”  The article summarized the works of several great research projects and came up with 13 principles in which teachers could reduce ethnic and racial prejudice.  The principles can be found at the following web-site, http://www.tolerance.org/activity/strategies-reducing-racial-and-ethnic-prejudice-essential-pr, but I would like to elaborate on a few that I found interesting and applicable to my teaching. 

The principles that I found interesting are principles four and ten. Principle four states, “Strategies should include participants who reflect the racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity of the context and should be structured in such a way as to ensure cooperative, equal-status roles for persons from different groups,” and principle ten states” Strategies should expose the ino.ccuro.cies of myths that sustain stereotypes and prejudices.” ( Willis D. Hawley, James A. Banks, Amado M. Padillo, Donald B. Pope-Davis, Janet Schofield, 2011) These two principles guide me to try to make the students overlook the myths about different ethnic groups and learn that the differences between them should be embraced.  In order to accomplish these principles, I would strategically put students in cooperative learning groups during lab and project time.  The students would be matched up with different races, ethnicities, socioeconomic status or learning styles on a rotating base. For example, if there are 6 groups 4. After the 4 projects or labs, new groups would be formed allowing the further mixing of students. The students would also be allowed to assign each other roles for the labs or projects being done. This would also be done on a rotation bases.  For example, in a lab situation each student would have a responsibility for completing a task of getting the lab completed. At the end of the lab it would be the responsibility of the leader, of that lab, to get all members working on the discussion and final presentation.

As an educator I would explain that each of us is from a different part of the country or world and we have different dialects and languages that are all unique.  I would also explain to them that it is important for their success in the United States that they learn to speak English in the classroom so they may be able to communicate outside their community.  I would however explain to them that their home language is important and that it is imperative that they keep their home language. For this language is their connection to their culture and past and with it traditions and root to that past maybe lost. Now, if a student is not comfortable yet with English it would only make sense try to teach that student in their native language until the student is comfortable with English. To do this I would have to ask for help for a translator and use material to help the ESL student.

 

 

Gay, Geneva. At the Essence of Learning: Multicultural Education. West Lafayette, IN: Kappa Delta Pi, 1994, p. 2.

Hawley, Willis, James Banks, Amado Padillo, Donald Davis, and Janet Schofield. "Strategies for Reducing Racial and Ethnic Prejudice: Essential Principles for Program Design." (1995): 2. Web. 16 Jul 2011. <http://www.tolerance.org/activity/strategies-reducing-racial-and-ethnic-prejudice-essential-pr>.