What kind of schools do you have there, Olga?
I have to do an "issues paper" on comparing international standardized testing scores - we hear a lot about the US students not measuring up to international students, but not a lot on what the theory is based on. i'LL PROBABLY END UP MAKING A THREAD FOR THAT ONE TOO.... (oops, sorry about the caps).
the critique shines through way better. the Public Schools section is especially strong. I think that's a one fine book review! it shows you've given the ideas considerable thought and can bring it one step further yourself. I give it an A.
It reads well, k.
Interesting, too!
One wee spelling mistake. (that is
if you spell "principal" - meaning head of a school - the same way we do on Oz. You've spelt it "principle", the
other meaning of the word.
In the paragraph beginning:
In a school, there must be respect between student and teacher, teacher and principle, parents and teachers and among members within each of these groups.. ..............
See, that's why spellcheck sucks!
Thanks All!
There's a good way to remember which way to spell principal. The principal of your school is your "pal."
Great paper, littlek. I smell "A" too!
"pal" - according to whom, exactly?
New book review:
"One of the reasons schools are reluctant to tackle racism and discrimination is that these are disturbing topics for those who have traditionally benefited by their race, gender, and social class, among other differences"(34).
Sonia Nieto's Language, Culture and Teaching: Critical Perspectives for a New Century is a well constructed book devoted to exploring the issues of changing minority populations and inequality in America and American school systems. Multiculturalism, diversity, and sociopolitical inequality are viewed through her personal experiences as a Puerto Rican living in America and as a teacher devoted to understanding the issues minority groups face in this country. Multicultural education, bilingual education and critical theory are major themes in this work.
Nieto believes that, when it comes to education, the only way forward is to incorporate minority language speakers into the educational system not by assimilation and immersion, but through multicultural and bilingual programs that pervade the entire school system. Only in that way, she writes, can we have a socially just, equilateral, respectful citizenry to critique and strengthen our democracy.
While there is much to be said about school reform of a multicultural nature, Nieto uses some pretty aggressive language which may cause back lash in more essentialist thinking educators. Like the reactions she garners from graduate students in a multicultural education course she taught in 1975 (234), readers of this book, especially European-Americans, might find her radicalism off-putting.
Beyond the use of personal stories, both of hers and her students, Nieto references many studies set in America and abroad about the way in which people learn best. Often cited is Paolo Freire, the father of critical theory. Critical theory demands a reform based on deconstructing European-American based educational systems and rethinking the relationships between the dominant culture and the dominated minority groups. Once this is accomplished, educators can build a new curriculum based on a fair representation of diversity on a multitude of levels: socioeconomic class, culture, language, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, etc. Nieto delivers the means and methods of achieving a critical theorists goal.
The American cultural landscape and reaction to that landscape is one that has been ever changing since this country's conception. Even now, there is fresh debate on immigration and a fierce pulling away from bilingual education. Nieto's book gives educators tools for making a smooth transition. She starts with learning to understand the minority groups she is a part of in chapters four and five where she studies self-identification and achievement. Of the students in her study on becoming American, she said, "Some of them, although feeling quite proud of their culture, of their ability to function effectively in at least two worlds, and of their bilingualism, also learned to feel ashamed of their culture and of those who represented it"(109).. Ultimately she proposes her vision for a fully integrated, in-depth multicultural education system involving two-way bilingual education, community interchange and critical pedagogy.
Because of our ever-increasing minority language populations, this move to a fully multicultural educational system, will be an inevitable transition. If foreign born citizens and their children are more fiercely attached to their mother tongue, as Nieto suggests in her writings, and if it is easier for children to learn in their native tongue in early childhood, than we should accommodate those students in our school systems. Her vision doesn't seem so hard to realize financially or physically. But, there will be (and has been) a power struggle between the dominant society and the dominated society before we can see the transition happen.
As the world gets smaller with inexpensive access to all corners via the Internet and satellite phones, people will resist the urge to relinquish their native culture and assimilate into the culture of their new home country. They will have constant contact with family left behind, continuing to use language and cultural references in real time. Their isolation will be lessened and their need to fit in to their new society will lessen as well. But living in a new culture, the younger generations will absorb the languages and other cultural aspects of their new locations. Be allowed, even encouraged, to encompass both worlds. Nieto uses a bridge metaphor to discuss how teachers can close the gap between language minority students and the European American dominant world they live in. A student's own multiculturalism might also bridge that gap: ".... a bridge connects two places that might otherwise never be able to meet. [sic] You can have two homes, and the bridge can help you cross the difficult and conflict-laden spaces between them"(18).
This book is superbly organized with chapters divided into sub-chapters and divisions within those, and with clear conclusions. Each chapter ends with thought provoking critical questions, activities for classroom and community-based projects, and/or references for further study. And at the end of the book, there is are an author and subject indices. Nieto cites a variety of sources of research. Future teachers can find great examples of teacher journal entries to help them get a handle on what types of note-keeping they should be doing. The writing style is clear. The book is a good guide for understanding why multicultural and bilingual educational systems are needed and how to start thinking of implementing them.
The book is a good resource, but there are also problems with it. It is often repetitive due to its compiled nature - it is a collection of previously published journal articles and book chapters. Nieto's major themes of multiculturalism, bilingualism and critical theory in education are often introduced anew in each chapter. Minor themes of sociopolitical inequality, discrimination, and other power inequalities in U.S. life are also stalely repeated in these chapters. There is also a leaning towards radical language which may under serve the aim of this work.
The students in Nieto's 1975 multicultural education course (234-247) can be seen as representative of a variety of personalities who were more open to the course content as it was an elective. These students were interested in learning about multicultural education and chose to take the course. Even these students, with multicultural leanings, displayed anger, guilt, and resentment over the details of what that multiculturalism really meant. A White student in the class felt that Nieto blamed them as part of the dominant race, and felt that blame was unfair. A Black student felt anger and resentment towards the dominant culture. Nieto's language seems a bit inflammatory, speaking of dominating and dominated groups, intentional oppression from even more culturally liberal people, etc. Hidden curriculum supporting the White status quo was labelled "symbolic violence"(60).
If Nieto's goal of a fully integrated, system-wide, multicultural schooling for all is to be realized, alienation of the dominant group should be kept to a minimum. Yes, this powerful European-American citizenry needs to wake up to the need for Nieto's vision of fair and equal schooling, but if she and her colleagues shock the system too hard, there will likely be a back-lash. Recovery will be imminent due to the necessity for a new method of schooling as the U.S. becomes more diverse and less likely to assimilate it's minority groups as smoothly as it has in the past. But, rather than shocking the system and incurring retributory back-lashes, perhaps finesse is in order. Rather than trying to effect a sytsem-wide change at the outset, perhaps starting at the beginning and taking it one solid step at a time would make for a smoother transition.
Catching up at this end, k.
I've just spent a few nights writing reports (something you are going to become very familiar with! :wink: ) But I must say > >> you're getting very good at this! I like & approve very much the focus of your course & your lecturers! These are very important issues to consider.
(Just one (spelling) error I can see: "system" - third last line.)
How'd you do on the first one, littlek?
Knowing that helps a lot in advising you on future ones. (What the professor/ instructor/ whatever liked, didn't like, etc.)
Thanks MsOlga - I found that one. And more. I've edited the report and printed it - ready to go for tomorrow. Also, I've developed a handout on this subject and on the International Testing issue. I never did read the 5 text book chapters due for this weekend. Oh well.
Soz - I was frustrated to see that I didn't have that first paper back to help fine tune the second paper. Seems kind of crazy.
Oh, that is annoying!
Looks like you're doing great though, hope you get some feedback soon.
I got an A- on the first paper - he handed them back saturday evening. We had the option of handing in our second paper right then, or keeping it to make corrections over-night. I handed mine in with out making corrections.
So, one more paper for this class and then I'm off for two whole weeks!
A-, great job! Especially on your very first paper since you started again, (as in, I'm sure this isn't your first paper ever), it can be really tough to get back in the groove.
Congrats!
(re-reading, I can't tell if it's "A-" or "A", and then a hyphen for an aside about the first paper. either way, cool.)
A minus.
I am happy. I've never been a high-achiever. A's are great, I like'm. But, I wouldn't have freaked over a B. Some were. I think some of the cohort are being refunded and have to maintain a high grade average....?
You did very well, k! Congratulations!
I just read about the A! Good going, littlek! I'm proud of you!
(sending you a kitty hug!)
Are you on your two week break now?
Last class I got an A-, B, A- on my papers. And I probably got an A on class participation.
Right now, I've just finished with the first weekend of the second class: early childhood psychology. Great stuff! I need to write two papers. One is a report on a field-based observation (2 hours in an elem classroom). And, another is a longer paper on some research topic not yet selected. There are readings assigned, but she is reviewing the assigned chapters as she goes and doing so in more depth than the book does.
The weekend format is getting easier and easier to handle.
