Personal Learning and
Teacher Development Plan
Parker Ellison
Introduction
This summer has been hard. My first semester of summer school was not at all what I expected. I thought I’d get the easy, mellow summer experience. I’m glad that I didn’t. Every class I’ve taken at Westminster has been phenomenally well put together and mind expanding, and this course was no different.
Having had a multi-cultural education class when I was attending the U, I can compare and contrast the ideas at the forefront of multi-cultural education. In only a few years there has been an explosion of research and practice in relation to these innovative theories. To be able to witness some of these practices (Guadalupe), or at least hear first-hand on how these practices are benefitting the local community (speakers), has been very uplifting and eye-opening.
Focus on Personal Learning:
There are ideas that weren’t completely new to me but were expanded on since my University of Utah experience. The notion that there are cultural differences in place that hinder certain cultures in certain ways in the educational field is one of these realizations I’ve made due to this class. Although this a harsh and unfair realism it’s not one that can’t be skirted and eventually changed.
The linguistic and cultural differences prevalent in my students will be main areas I’ll need to focus on in my classroom. For me, the challenges presented to me during this class all lean towards things that I’ll be able to change myself (i.e., attitude, philosophies, methods).
The ideologies floating around of assimilation rather than acculturation have a large part to play in the reluctance of parents wanting to learn English (as a pushing away of American culture) and also forcing children to only speak English (as an acceptance of American culture). Having come to the realizations that these cultural expectations (some good, some bad) are in play I’ve come to the conclusion that my educating experience will need to be one of constant attention to detail (in mannerisms, curriculum, and philosophies) and vigilance to change the systems in play that hold certain groups of children down.
One of the most detrimental ideologies floating around America and it’s schools is that all immigrants need to be assimilated. This pure “assimilationist” (English immersion) view has diminished from the early days of manifest destiny all the way up to the turn of the century when hoards of immigrants were filling America with a cultural wealth that went unappreciated but is still somewhat prevalent in the conservative spectrum of schooling, politics, and America as a whole. The view that the languages these immigrants arrive with are like instant capital has not been instilled as it should be, and has only recently become an idea that immigrants are accepting as fact. This idea, for me, isn’t completely new, but is still an imperative one in my mind.
Teaching Development Plan
In order to curb these unhealthy cultural expectations, hiding in the wings of social discourse, we as teachers need to help educate the parents on how the systems are set up. Without knowledge on how games are played (games being a metaphor for society in all its forms) the participant will not excel. This idea of being versed in a culture is stated well in Mary Lou Fuller’s quote from Teaching Hispanic Children:
Generalizations can be helpful but they are restrictive. When I visited rural areas of Thailand I was told that it was socially unacceptable to point the soles of my feet at people (in Buddhism, the head is holy and the feet least holy). Since I cross my legs when I sit, I had to be constantly vigilant. In rural Morocco I dressed as modestly as possible and went nowhere without a male escort. These generalizations didn’t make me culturally literate but they helped me operate in other cultures. (p. 88)
As a solution to this being culturally unaware, it would be nice to see classes in the L1 for parents to attend that would stress these cultural expectations and inform them and their children on how our school systems operate. Something I can do is help facilitate these classes or solely try to supply this information for parents so they may know.
Knowing how the systems operate is one thing. Realizing that these systems keep certain groups of people in power and hold other groups at a level that is not facilitating for empowerment and cultural change is important if we want to see the system change. This, for me, is the hardest area. To see systems that have been in place for hundreds of years, systems that are in the way of a community of cultural collectivism, is somewhat of a downer. I believe that in order to change these systems to portray a community and a country with a collectivist philosophy there needs to be a political revolution to support schooling. I’d like to see the war in Iraq ended today and the money being spent on that war instead rerouted into the educational system of America. I’m not overly optimistic though, more realistic and I understand that this will most likely not happen. Since I realize that this will most likely not happen and the educational system I plan to be a part of for years will never get the funding it fully needs, I have come to the conclusion that the changes that need to be made can be spread through me to those with whom I come in contact. I want the children to know that they are the conductors of the
world. Mahatma Ghandi said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Tis true. I think, no matter what background my children are from I can instill this belief in the families I work with.
I’ve come to many realizations during these brief weeks of class. The main one being that education is a blessing that no one should be without. For those coming into America with little or no prior knowledge on how the public school system works this blessing is in jeopardy. We need to do our best as teachers to see that everyone is given the opportunity to learn and develop.
To help facilitate these educational opportunities for all my children I’ll need to be a sponge and a syphon. I’ll need to soak up all the knowledge I can on my children and their characteristics, backgrounds, cultures, beliefs, etc., and I’ll need to filter out all the things I find wrong in certain readings, curriculums, and other teaching methods in general so I’ll be able to teach to ALL of my students. I’ll need to be aware, in this ever changing world, how all of my actions and the actions of my students reaffirm, breakdown, or coincide with the social discourse going on today while making sure the children realize how their words and actions have a larger effect on the world than they might realize.
As I continue my education here at Westminster I will keep these ideas of a mulit-cultural education near the forefront and will assuredly ask questions; lots, and lots, of questions, having to do with methods (and repercussions of those methods) pertaining to those students who aren’t from the “majority” population.
Conclusion
Even the slightest glimpses of realizations, due to education, are magical moments. To
quote Yeats, “Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire”. If I can instill a love of learning in all my students, through a collectivist curriculum among other techniques, I will be happy. Once education becomes an intrinsic motivation it can bring about worldly change through technological advancements and philosophical realizations. Education is the most important gear in the perpetuation of the advancement of our global civilization.
This perpetuation and advancement will not be my focus in the classroom, although it will surely happen if I do my job correctly. My focus will be more on creating compassionate human beings with an intrinsic motivation to better themselves and the world around them while instilling the beliefs that their backgrounds and differences are social capital. As I stressed above I think it’s important to educate families on the structures in place that might be different that what they’re accustomed to. I’d also like to give those families the tools necessary to communicate and adapt in this complex world. I believe that an all encompassing and collectivist education is the key to each person’s development of competencies to be successful and the ability and confidence to see and pursue opportunities. Communities compromised of such confident, competent, and capable individuals will flourish.