I came across an interesting topic that I find shocking and appalling. In my English 471 class, we had a writing tutor give us a lecture on what an appropriate teacher consists of. In the middle of her discussion, she brought up her visit to the school her mom works at and how they placed Hispanic students in a bilingual classroom. What is intentionally meant to make the learning process easier for the students and the teachers was viewed as segregation by the writing tutor. She stated "if I was a teacher in that school, I would have brought hell."
Most of us probably think that the issue of racism and segregation has been resolved in society, but apparently not. Instead of placing Hispanic students in a classroom among other students, they are forced to be placed together to "benefit themselves" separate from the rest of the school. This is completely absurd. In relevance to my "Memoirs of a SPED Student" post, completely isolating a group of students isolates them from the entire school. It may help them to learn certain subjects in their own language, but it is better for them to be exposed to the English language by listening to the way their fellow classmates communicate.
I would have never imagined a school actually allowing this. It is saying as if Hispanic students have no bright futures so they must be separated from the rest of the class to prevent pollution to the other students. It is completely racist by saying Hispanics cannot study among other ethnic students. If the students need extra help due to their language background, there should be a program with tutors, not a special selection of teachers to assist the learning process for bilingual students. Completely isolating them will do them no good.
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3 comments:
As I have stated before, my high school had/has a high population of hispanic students. My school had a special ESL classroom where hispanic students would go for certain subjects. The students were not segregated, they took classes with the rest of the school population, however, they were usually all in at the same level, the lowest one.
Those students that didn't speak English well had trouble paying attention in class (obviously, seeing as how the class wasn't in a language that they had a good understanding of). Beyond that, they didn't do to well on tests and quizzes, most of which were offered in spanish. The problem was, they never had the opportunity to learn the material because it was taught in English.
I can understand why the school separated the students. Complete immersion in a English classes does not benefit the students. Having a class where some of the subjects are taught in their native language is more helpful. And it is the better option because the students are actually learning. I do not think that all of their classes should be in Spanish, the hispanic students do need to learn English, but offering some classes and/or tutoring in spanish is definitely beneficial to the students.
I disagree with your last paragraph, Shawn. I do not think that school is saying that the students don't have bright futures. I think that school is trying to give them the opportunity to learn, which is what a school should do. If one places the hispanic students in ac class where they don't know the language in which the class is being taught, there is no benefit. That is not going to help the students to catch on the English faster, it would just be discouraging. Spanish speaking students need a special selection of teachers that are bilingual for bilingual students. Most public education teachers monolingual.
Now I don't know the full situation of what is going on in this class or the level of English of the students at this school. But in my school, the presence of a Spanish speaking classroom was beneficial to the students.
Following what Meg said, I have to disagree with your last paragraph as well, noting first of all that it cannot be called racist because Hispanic/Latino(a) is not actually considered a race according to the US Census Bureau.
Race, No. Ethnic group, Yes.
Racism, No. Discrimination, maybe?
With that out of the way, I cannot put forth a simple solution because, as we all know, this is a complicated issue. Some Spanish speakers have more knowledge of English than others, and therefore not all should be grouped together. I think that being separated from other students may help them learn the material, but it certainly doesn't help them learn English. On the other hand, being in S.E. classrooms may help them adapt to English but it will be more difficult for them to understand the material. Complicated indeed.
I took CI 280 last semester and this type of instruction is very beneficial to the students. It takes a long time to learn a new language and the help of a teacher who speaks both English and the language the students are native to is a great resource. Learning from peers is misleading because they are learning social language as opposed to academic language. The way the student speaks among friends is not the same form as language that appears on tests or assignments. I do not believe it is segregation or an attempt by the school to say the kids have no future but, as Meg said, it is an attempt to help the children learn quickly and appropriately. When the student is placed in an English only classroom it is a sink or swim situation, either the student succeeds or fails and becomes discouraged.
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