Out of all the readings I was really interested to read Cary's work. I know a few people who have taught English who don't speak their students' native language. I also know people here who are interested in getting a TESOL endorsement but don't because they are monolingual.
The article points out a number of things I find important in teaching and have discussed in my previous courses. The article right away lists the key points of the writing.
Establish a classroom community that values and celebrates all languages and dialects. Later on in the article when talking about Delores, they author mentions how much she works on making sure her classroom celebrates diversity. This is something we have discussed in my bilingual education courses. In my own classes we have practiced activities and lessons that create a classroom community, from sharing your immigration story, to describing and drawing yourself.. I believe creating an open classroom which promotes diversity is essential in today's classrooms.
Another key element mentioned is to Encourage parents to develop and maintain primary language at home. This is something I hold in my own teaching philosophy. From what I have seen, some parents really want their children to learn english, and quickly. This sometimes leads them to discourage the use of the primary language in their own home. I think it is important to share with parents how important it is to keep building the child's primary language in the home. A language should never be seen as something that hurts the child's success but as an attribute that should not only be celebrated in the classroom but in the home as well.
The article also states, Offer primary language support through bilingual parent and community volunteers, peers, cross-age tutors, and extended day programs. I hope that when I am a teacher, I will also be an active member of the community. I think schools benefit from being well-supported by community members and parents. I believe having support like this for parents would really make a difference. Later in the article, the idea of having parents come to the school and share something of their primary language, either through a poem, song, story, show and tell etc. with the classroom. I was really impressed by this idea, and thought of what a great impact this would have.
Understand the differences between supporting and developing the primary language and Learn and use some second language yourself with students are also key ideas mentioned in the article. I believe there truly is a difference between supporting and developing the primary language for your students. At one point the article stated that Dolores wasn't completely fluent in Spanish yet. They mentioned that while she can "suppor a student's primary language" she "couldn't develop it". This is something I am very worried about in my future practice. Because Spanish is my second language, and I am not completely fluent I worry that this will be a disadvantage for my students that need to continue developing in their first language. I decided to pursue teaching because I want to help children- and I am afraid that because I am not a native Spanish speaker this could be a disadvantage for younger students.
The article mentioned one other concept that is very prominent in the field of bilingual education. The article mentions Prop 227 at one point which is anti-bilingual education. Our classes have researched views of both the supporters and opponents of Prop 227 extensively. While many of the basis of the advocates of Prop 227 are based on biases and myths, it is still very difficult for me to hear people claim that bilingual education is too expensive, ineffective or misguided. As the article and multiple other research outlets have proven, children who have a strong foundation in their primary, native language outperform their peers in English programs. It is true that students who have this strong foundation, are more successful in school. Hopefully one day we will base our decisions on the education of our children on what is best for them, and not on our own stereotypes and biases.
Understand the differences between supporting and developing the primary language and Learn and use some second language yourself with students are also key ideas mentioned in the article. I believe there truly is a difference between supporting and developing the primary language for your students. At one point the article stated that Dolores wasn't completely fluent in Spanish yet. They mentioned that while she can "suppor a student's primary language" she "couldn't develop it". This is something I am very worried about in my future practice. Because Spanish is my second language, and I am not completely fluent I worry that this will be a disadvantage for my students that need to continue developing in their first language. I decided to pursue teaching because I want to help children- and I am afraid that because I am not a native Spanish speaker this could be a disadvantage for younger students.
The article mentioned one other concept that is very prominent in the field of bilingual education. The article mentions Prop 227 at one point which is anti-bilingual education. Our classes have researched views of both the supporters and opponents of Prop 227 extensively. While many of the basis of the advocates of Prop 227 are based on biases and myths, it is still very difficult for me to hear people claim that bilingual education is too expensive, ineffective or misguided. As the article and multiple other research outlets have proven, children who have a strong foundation in their primary, native language outperform their peers in English programs. It is true that students who have this strong foundation, are more successful in school. Hopefully one day we will base our decisions on the education of our children on what is best for them, and not on our own stereotypes and biases.
