These few chapters talked about a lot of language differences that appear in the classroom. The first chapter I read, titled "Language Diversity and Learning," focused mostly on the dialect used in most American classrooms, and how this almost always affects the students' learning if the students speak a different English dialect at home. The second chapter that I read for today, titled "The Vilis Tokples Schools of Papua New Guinea," told of the multilingual nation that encountered some issues in setting up an maintaining the village schools on the islands of this nation. The third chapter, "Hello Grandfather: Lessons from Alaska," was centered on how students from different cultures see literary context at different levels of importance.
I recently experienced the trouble that can come from differences in language in a classroom. One of my classes here required us to write a paper about an excerpt we read. I read the excerpt, wrote the paper about my view of and critique of the article (which was the assignment), and got a terrible grade when it was returned. I went to talk to the professor, completely confused as to why I got such a horrible grade. The professor basically told me that I had completely misunderstood the author's main point, and that my critique suffered because of this. However, I had just seen the main point in a different light than what my professor had seen. I don't understand why I was given this grade on a paper-simply because I had seen something differently-but I do think it was due to a language difference. The class is a general education requirement, so I have been trained to think and read in a different way than is normal for this particular discipline. If I had been initially taught how to read in this type of class, I might succeed more. However, I am just expected to know the differences between education classes and this discipline without ever being explicitly taught these differences, which makes it difficult for me to want to try my best in that class.
If I am to promote peace and justice in this world, I need to consider my students' cultural background and language. I can best serve their learning if I am sensitive to the ways that they view the world and process information, and also if I enhance--rather than inhibit--their cultural upbringing. Because we are all sinners, we often think about ourself before we think of others. I would sometimes rather make a lesson that will impress my teacher, when really I should be planning one that will really get to the heart of the students' best learning and tap into their cultural knowledge. I need to first plan my teaching around the students' needs, and then worry about standards and teaching them things that the system requires. This might mean that I work on getting to know my students' social skills in my classroom before I tackle academic subjects, but students will learn best if I understand the home culture of each student in the classroom. By doing this, I will be showing God's love by caring about them as individuals who may be different from me.
I recently experienced the trouble that can come from differences in language in a classroom. One of my classes here required us to write a paper about an excerpt we read. I read the excerpt, wrote the paper about my view of and critique of the article (which was the assignment), and got a terrible grade when it was returned. I went to talk to the professor, completely confused as to why I got such a horrible grade. The professor basically told me that I had completely misunderstood the author's main point, and that my critique suffered because of this. However, I had just seen the main point in a different light than what my professor had seen. I don't understand why I was given this grade on a paper-simply because I had seen something differently-but I do think it was due to a language difference. The class is a general education requirement, so I have been trained to think and read in a different way than is normal for this particular discipline. If I had been initially taught how to read in this type of class, I might succeed more. However, I am just expected to know the differences between education classes and this discipline without ever being explicitly taught these differences, which makes it difficult for me to want to try my best in that class.
If I am to promote peace and justice in this world, I need to consider my students' cultural background and language. I can best serve their learning if I am sensitive to the ways that they view the world and process information, and also if I enhance--rather than inhibit--their cultural upbringing. Because we are all sinners, we often think about ourself before we think of others. I would sometimes rather make a lesson that will impress my teacher, when really I should be planning one that will really get to the heart of the students' best learning and tap into their cultural knowledge. I need to first plan my teaching around the students' needs, and then worry about standards and teaching them things that the system requires. This might mean that I work on getting to know my students' social skills in my classroom before I tackle academic subjects, but students will learn best if I understand the home culture of each student in the classroom. By doing this, I will be showing God's love by caring about them as individuals who may be different from me.
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