Bilingual Education

Bilingual Education

New Rules hurt Bilingual students raises the concerns of ‘equitable education,’ because students are being deprived of time in program with a certified ESL teacher. This brings me back to my time in school as a child where the “sink or swim” education did not provide me with certified ESL or Bilingual teachers to assist me with my transition into school.  I received an education where my first language Spanish was sacrificed at the expensive demands of learning a second language English.  The teachers in kindergarten or first grade did not provide language support sensory, graphic or interactive to make input comprehensible.  As a result, I experienced a “silent period’ that lasted all of kindergarten and retention in the first grade.  Without the instructional or procedural supports, I was finally acclimated into the education system. 

Defining student silence in the classroom as an educator and a survivor of a one year silent period within the American education system, I listen to what their silence says about them. I listen to what their silence says in between and beyond words like when Maylin ask, Ms. Nunez can you skip me because I am not sure if I got the answer right.  I hear she does not really want to be skipped, she is asking for help to find the correct answer because she does not feel confident.  This kind of knowing comes from carefully observing students’ behaviors and non-verbal cues. I listen to how and when students choose to remain silent.  For instance, when Joel does not want to share during whole group.  I will often give the option before a lesson, suggesting they discuss with their cooperative which section of writing they will share so that everyone has a chance to speak.  I will even listen to the students who dominate the class and want to take over by giving them an opportunity and reminding them of their limited time to speak as others need to share.  The listening becomes a balancing act of verbal and non-verbal behaviors in class.  In the article, the meaning of silence, the author Schultz suggest that silence is rarely caused by a choice not to speak instead as a signs of engagement, lack of interest, shyness and/or fear.  So whatever the reason there is silence it may be interpreted as refusal to participate in the class.

In understanding the affective filter of language, as an educator in a Developmental Bilingual classroom and a learner of English as a Second Language who has experienced the pendulum swing, this silent period may be due to conditions of language learning not being optimal.  In my classroom I work to make the most of linguistic conditions and embrace both realities, linguistic diversity in the classroom is appreciated through exhibitions of children’s published and non-published work that is displayed around the room on bulletin boards. Also, the labeling of bulletin boards is in English and Spanish so a balance of power between the languages can be seen around the room. 

STAR READING

GRADE	MONOLINGUAL or BILINGUAL	AVERAGE SCALED SCORE GROWTH
2	MONOLINGUAL	+43.5
2	BILINGUAL	+21
3	MONOLINGUAL	+71
3	BILINGUAL	+60.5
4	MONOLINGUAL	+38.7
4	BILINGUAL	+39
5	MONOLINGUAL	+52.7
5	BILINGUAL	+73

In the figure shown above,  we can see the STAR ELA Student Growth Report.  This comparison is between the performance of students in Regular Education and Bilingual Classroom.  Based on the report, in second and third grades the monolingual classes are outperforming the bilingual peers by a margin of 22.5 and 11.5 respectively.  In the fourth and fifth grades the bilingual classroom are outperforming their monolingual counterparts by 0.3 and 20.3 respectively.  I do not have an explanation to support the data, however, it would seem that Bilingual Education is an important means to support student teaching and learning.  There are many great reasons as mentioned above.  I am an advocate of Bilingual Education, as an educator and a child of first generation immigrant parents.

Many of the schools who have low performance have the highest rates of English Language Learners. Is it fair to hold students to the same comparison based on test that are not in their dominant language?

 https://youtu.be/msZpxXk_q7A 

The phrase collective can be used in many different ways.  It can be used as a collective noun, i.e. audience, committee, government, which names a group of individuals or things with a singular form.   For instance, as is declared in the Declaration of Independence, “We Hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among them these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness…”.  The word “all men” is used as a collective noun to refer to all people.  https://youtu.be/wGgQrxTcBqg

In the same way, Collective Value as one of the guiding principles in the Black Lives Matter Community which means that all Black lives, regardless of actual or perceived sexual identity, gender identity, gender expression, economic status, ability, disability, religious beliefs or disbeliefs, immigrant status or location, matter.   The collective value is a group of people “the minority within the minority” that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. 

What is the common objective of the collective value?  The objective is to obtain these unalienable rights.  Because these rights are inherently endowed to us by our Creator, people cannot be deprived of the enjoyment of life and liberty. Throughout history we have seen that these inherent unalienable rights have been challenged and not equally enjoyed by all people.   As such, many tools have been used for oppression, and with the wide spread growth of social media, the tools are constantly evolving.  

As Obama so clearly states, " that those these truths may be self-evident, they have never been self-executed." 

“Whiteness” a social construct

• A woman whose mother passed as White on the Today show with Megyn Kelly shares how her mother had a lifelong secret.  In the discussion with Megyn, Gail Lukasik reveals the truth to her mother’s secret past. In search for answers about her mother’s heritage, unbeknown to her father, Gail made a startling unpredictable discovery. The story begins when Gail’s parents who married in 1944 shortly after World War II.  Two years later, her parents had their daughter Gail. Gail remembers how her mother mystified herself.  She never talked about her father, Ozimar Frederick.  So Gail took it upon herself and searched the Louisiana Census.  To her amazement next to his name he was labeled as being Black. Upon further investigation, she found her mother’s birth certificate and requested an official letter which explained the abbreviated COL on her mother’s birth certificate. https://youtu.be/oNiEBnOzgVw
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• In her book, White like Her, the author Gail Lukasik explains race as a social construct. Even though she has a mixed race heritage, she identifies as a White woman because she was socialized as a white woman.  Her mother who is Colored passed for White. 
• In Stephanie’s documentary Light Girls she talks about racial passing.  Unfortunately, in this society, the women of color are well aware of the disadvantages and the advantages associated with race.  Therefore, racial passing for Light Girls is an option they chose like Gail Lukasik’s mother. When racial passing for the White race is an option to light girls, the cost of being your true self is sacrificed.  Consequently, the privileges of Whiteness are far greater and outweigh the cost of not being ones’ true self.  This documentary explores the cost of what passing for “whiteness” privilege means. On the down side, passing meant, separation from family, ultimately negating your blackness. On the positive side, it meant having white privilege “unearned assets” that can be cashed in. https://youtu.be/PDns0nLvHW4
• According to the author, Jacqueline Battalora in her book, Birth of a White Nation, she purports that Whiteness did not exist until the end of the 17th century when laws were designed to keep Blacks and Whites separate. Whiteness grew and has evolved to what it is today.  The author Emily Chiarello suggests, the Physical characteristics we now associate with whiteness have been artificially linked to power and privilege for the purpose of maintaining an unjust social hierarchy
• The built in inherited advantage of White privilege “Whiteness” has been recognized by people of color for generations. As the author suggests, the “Real” work needs to be done by White people first recognizing this privilege and identifying how the multiple systems of oppression work, but most importantly responding to the biases of other whites.  By doing the work to dismantle racist institutions, they are creating equity. 
• The pure denial of the privilege continues to protect the very systems of racial injustice.  

Is the Black lives Matter Movement a fruit of the same tree as the Civil Rights Movement?  

• After reading the article Black Lives Matter, I was prompted into thinking about so many interesting facts, such as similarities and differences between the two movements half a century apart.  I didn’t realize the civil rights movement often silenced its women leaders, like Fannie Lou Hamer, Dorothy Height, Diane Nash, Recy Taylor and countless others.  Fast forward to where we have a movement whose cofounders Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi have created a Black-centered political movement that has grown to 40 chapters. Consequently, the movements are driven by the same circumstances of inequality.  BLM was started as a hashtag in response to the high profile murder of young unarmed African-American, and the Civil Rights Movement was popularized as a peaceful non-violent movement in response to Jim Crow Laws. 

• The documentary the 13th by Ava Du Verray points out the illegality of slavery except for criminals.  The film suggest there is a loophole in the law that allowed for Blacks to be freed from slavery into mass incarceration.  The film shows how the system continues to protect and preserve the devaluing of the oppressed through mass incarceration, police brutality, and the war on drugs.  
• The prison system is a redevelopment of the Jim Crow laws which becomes reinstated once some one is labeled a felon. There basic rights to housing, employment and food becomes restricted. 
• Statistics shows that the USA has 5% of the world’s population, 40% of which is in prison and 25% of the prison population is Black.  With such a large disparity, does the prison system solve our problems?  There is no rehabilitation in the prison system. 
• The non-violent peaceful movement known to us as civil rights has resulted in Civil rights Act and Voting Rights Act.  The Black Lives Matter movement will too have positive consequences.  Attention needs to brought to critical issues affecting the lives of many.  As long as we are vigilant to having important conversations where the silenced are heard, change is possible, because Black Lives Should Matter, too.   Black Lives Matter is a call to action to help break the shackles of social injustices, because the Civil Rights Act did not do enough to end racial indifferences.  

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