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Originally Posted by Abcdxxxx
The idea of "black speech" is ridiculous, but that you have to be culturally aware because that's what really makes you tolerant and unbiased in the classroom.
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I'm not even certain of what you mean here, but I think to go into a lower-class community, be it black, white, latino, or whatever, and not respect that community would be a big mistake. By teaching in proper english and "slang," it allowsa teacher to create a compare and contrast lesson. I certainly don't blieve we should be pandering to inability, however, there are different approaches to getting around that.
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I grew up in San Francisco, where they forced in the Rainbow Curriculum (after my time) and assigned EVERYONE an Amy Tam book at some point... but what the hell does that really teach you about Asians, or Asian Americans? The Asian kids did just fine without Joy Luck Club being required reading. I doubt that's what met their needs.
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Right, that is dumb, however from my experience, most Asians want a little bit of both, but they prioritize (and when I say "they" I mean the parents) learning english at an early age, and don't even begin teaching them (for example) Vietnamese until they have mastered english first. As they grow older, they begin to learn more about their culture and language, and can do so without falling behind here.
The spanish speaking classes are different. Many of these kids are kept in primarily spanish speaking classes up until as late as 5th or 6th grade. This, IMO, is problematic.
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The key is just to give up on all the bullshit compassion stuff, or pandering "we're gonna learn how to speak slang" crap, and just treat kids with respect, like they're smart, and sure enough they'll rise to the occassion. That's true no matter where or what you're teaching them.
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Right, except that there is a clear link between socio-economic conditions, education, and dialect. Telling kids over and over again how smart they are can be good for self-esteem, but not if they're not absorbing the material. I think it may require a multi-leveled approach. I think one area of the country varies from another, and to create a uniform "well just teach them and pat them on the back" policy might not work. What good does it do if you're teaching children to speak, read and write proper english, if they can't distinguish it from the broken down english they may be speaking at home....? Once again, different solutions work for different places, but simply teaching out of a text-book to different kids may not be the answer....
Hybrid Mode
