Understanding Student Identity: Diving into Race, Ethnicity and Culture
What constitutes identity? From one community to another, and from one school campus to another, we are likely to find widely varying explanations.
Conversations around identity are typically assigned bank of related vocabulary. Often, we employ these words – race, heritage, ethnicity, nationality, and culture- interchangeably.
This is problematic, and often muddles our concept of (and ability to recognize, embrace, and value) personal identity. It makes it easier to lump human distinctions into tidy categories based on a series of checkboxes. But the reality is, it’s just not that simple.
Race is vastly different than ethnicity, and heritage does not necessarily indicate culture. Fortunately, getting these concepts straight is not highly complicated, either. It just requires that we have a common working language. Let’s get to it.
First, let’s return to our vocabulary: Race, Ethnicity, Nationality, Heritage and Culture.
To organize these concepts in our heads, we can think of the elements as concentric circles. When I’m working with folks in a professional development setting, those pieces fit together like this:
For staff Professional Development information on this topic please visit HERE. @ElYaafouriELD for DiversifiED Consulting 2018.
Let’s first look at the concept of “race” within the larger outside circle. Here’s the definition we’ll use for race: the composite perception and classification of an individual based upon physical appearance and assumed geographic ancestry; a mechanism used to facilitate social hierarchies.
Race, then, is an invented construct designed to enhance the social maneuverability of some and diminish that of others. If we look to our human history, we can see that the concept of race has been effective in achieving this aim. But the concept is overtly simplistic. Essentially, majority parties create arbitrary social categories that label those apart from them, and them fill in those categories with identifying descriptors for each category.
Race is also a malleable property. Racial categories (and their descriptors) differ from one society to another and change over time. They are susceptible to shifts in power, demographics, and socio-political climate. In the U.S., we’ve historically defined those race categories by color: black, brown, white, yellow and red.
Of course, we know that there must be so much more to the story than this.
The idea of ethnicity gets us a bit closer. We’ll describe ethnicity this way: An individual’s tie to a to a broader social group as defined by shared language and value systems, which may include nationality, heritage, and culture.
Ethnicity is a richer value than race. It captures the many elements that link a community of together. It also encompasses both past and present values of a social group. The most defining feature of ethnicity is that is self-definition. While one may be “born into” certain features of ethnicity, an individual may choose to abandon, adjust, or add to his or her ethnic identification.
The choice aspect of ethnicity also leaves room for ‘and’. Cherokee and Lakota. Latina and Korean. Palestinian and French. Igbo and Yoruba. Black American and white American. Multiethnic. Polyethnic.
This singular aspect of choice is what sets race and ethnicity apart. While both are inventive concepts, race exists only as an external social construct, placed upon an individual without choice. Ethnicity, meanwhile, exists as an internal construct with external influences and is marked by the mechanism of personal choice and affiliation.
For staff Professional Development information on this topic please visit HERE. @ElYaafouriELD for DiversifiED Consulting 2018.
Nationality, heritage and culture may be viewed as separate from, but somewhat living under the umbrella of ethnicity. Language is also housed here. Language represents the means of interpersonal exchange between peoples of a country or community. It is also the conduit through which elements of ethnicity (including nationality, heritage and culture) are expressed.
Nationality refers to the country to which an individual was born, holds citizenship or identifies with as home. The element of choice is observable here. A student who was born in Russia but has lived in the United States since the age of six is likely to have a very Americanized world-view and may identify as American, even if her citizenship status does not reflect this.
The idea of heritage looks to the place or places from which one’s ancestors originated from and what those ancestors subscribed to. It is possible to identity with a heritage, but not the matching ethnicity. For example, a person may recognize his African descent, but identify as ethnically Afro-Caribbean. An individual may celebrate Irish heritage, but not speak the language or identify with customs linking it to that ethnicity.
For staff Professional Development information on this topic please visit HERE. @ElYaafouriELD for DiversifiED Consulting 2018.
Finally, we arrive at culture. Culture, in many ways, is the most complex value. It is similar to ethnicity, but in a way, nested within it, as cultural indicators are part of the architecture of one’s ethnic identity.
Culture relates to the specific combinations of socially acquired ideas, arts, symbols and habits that make up an individual’s day-to-day existence and that influence his or her social exchange. So, ethnicity has to do with overarching themes that define a particular social group. Culture presents itself as (often material) markers of the ethnic group or its subgroups.
Culture has other attributes that set it apart from race, ethnicity, nationality and heritage. Namely, it is not determined by appearance. Culture is also a fluid property and is largely influenced by personal choice. Cultural behaviors may be changed, shared or acquired. Any person may pick up another’s culture at any time, and a person’s culture is highly likely to change over time, in whole or in part, based on new experiences, interests, and social influences.
For staff Professional Development information on this topic please visit HERE. @ElYaafouriELD for DiversifiED Consulting 2018.
Often, the element of culture is further broken down into three layers: surface, conscious and collective unconscious. Zaretta Hammond, in her incredible work, refers to these areas as surface, shallow and deep culture. Surface culture mostly refers to observable markers: fashion, food, slang, art, holidays, literature, games and music. Conscious culture looks to the governing rules and norms of a community. It includes eye contact, concept of time, personal space, honesty, accepted emotions, and gender norms.
The collective unconscious culture is at the very core of one’s worldview. From this space, an individual processes the natural and social world- and also makes sense of his or her place within it. Spirituality, kinship, norms of completion, and the importance of group identity are all part of the collective unconscious.
It is also possible to have sub-cultures with our culture. For example, we may belong to a skateboard, cowboy, gaming or band culture. We can attach specific elements of action and expression to each unique social behavior/interest group.
Now we can step back and look at our map. When we put all of these elements together, we can gain a more comprehensive understanding of what comprises an individual’s identity. We can move in the direction of looking past the first layer of race (and perhaps eventually remove this non-serving piece). We can, through culturally-responsive teaching practices, develop our expertise in peeling away layers in our students’ identities in order to explore the deep culture factors that truly drive belonging, motivation and learning.
Custom & Cultural Nuance in the Classroom Setting
Karen-Burmese family at International Night, Place Bridge Academy, Denver. May 2016. Photo: Louise El Yaafouri. The following is an excerpt from The Newcomer Student: An Educator’s Guide to Aid Transition (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016).
EXAMINING CUSTOM & CULTURAL NUANCES
Authentic cultural tolerance and understanding is a fundamental basis for success in the Newcomer classroom. A willingness to maintain awareness and open-mindedness in culturally divergent settings can promote positive exchange and individual growth. When we are able to engage with our students from bases of respect, tolerance, and attempted understanding, we also foster reciprocation of these same traits back onto ourselves, and also toward classroom peers. If, on the other hand, we develop habits of projecting fear, misinterpretation, and bias onto our pupils, then we have also contaminated the entire sanctity of the learning environment.
We know that the ways in which we view and interact with our students can tremendously influence students’ classroom and learning success. With regard to tolerance and cultural respect, every lesson begins with ourselves. Our behaviors will be modeled long before, and long after, our words have an opportunity to make an impression.
Realistically, however, and despite our best efforts, it can still be difficult, confusing, or unsettling to come into contact with cultural tendencies that are unfamiliar to us. For example, acceptable distances of physical proximity, vocal volume norms, pleasantry tactics and privacy stipulations can dramatically swing from one cultural demographic to another. It is impossible to notice and make sense of all of our students’ culturally divergent tendencies.
We will face many challenges in recognizing, interpreting, and accepting our students’ many cultural qualities. No one approach to living or learning necessarily trumps another. Each is simply different. Indeed, our Newcomer students may prove among the richest, most experienced cultural guides that we will know.
In the end, it is not a student’s sole responsibility to change to suit the teacher’s needs. Unquestionably, our Newcomers will be required to learn and adopt many westernized customs in order to successfully integrate into our culture. As educators, we can also allow ourselves some room for adjustment. These small personal transformations are reflected in the positive and tolerant ways that we choose to interact with students and plan for their optimal learning in each school day.
EYE CONTACT
One specific conundrum is the eye contact issue. In the Newcomer setting, it is very common to encounter students who stoutly refuse to look an adult in the eye when they are being spoken to. This behavior may be especially evident if a child is being pointed out or reprimanded. In the West, direct eye contact with an adult or elder is typically equated with respect and obedience. Therefore, a dismissive look signals defiance and disinterest. This is our truth.
However, direct eye contact between a child and an adult is considered atypical behavior in many of the world’s cultures. Throughout East and North Africa, for example, direct eye contact between a child and elder is considered a sign of intense disrespect on the part of the youth. Resettled persons from these regions will very likely instruct their own children to look down when speaking to anyone older or of greater perceived importance, as this is what is considered the honorable thing to do.
Aha! Our eye contact-avoiding students, whom we may have perceived as acting disrespectfully, have been demonstrating utmost respect all along. These individuals exhibit respect via their truths, and according to personal experiences and relative social norms. There you have it. The teacher is just not always right.
LOSING FACE
Other cultural nuances are also evidenced in the classroom. For instance, many East Asian and Arab students are noticeably consumed with the notion of losing face. That is, they strive to avoid even the slightest run-in with public humiliation, especially that which would bring shame to the greater family unit.
This phenomenon surrounding fear of failure typically prevents risk taking, volunteering, and sometimes even trying in the classroom. Educators who come from a background of outspoken Western idealism may experience frustration at recurrent student episodes of superfluous caution. We might expect or wish that our learners would simply take a chance; to speak out, speak up, and care just a little less about peer judgment and evaluation.
From a culturally mindful perspective, meanwhile, we see that for most Newcomers, family and community comprise the very heart of a meaningful life. To embarrass or shame the family name could result in shunning either of the individual by the family, or the family by the community. Both fates equate to social death. Excellence and recognition, on the other hand, can bring respect and glory to an entire family and community.
In terms of social cohesiveness and support in the post-resettlement con- text, there are certain advantages to the saving face mentality. This inherent code of honor serves as a binding agent for resettled ethnic populations -and it may also serve as a cohesive strand between culturally diverse ethnic populations.
In the classroom, students who had been taught to adhere to saving face principals are very frequently self-driven learners who diligently applied themselves to their studies in an extended effort to bring happiness and honor to the home. They are likely to hesitate in answering questions, unless they can be absolutely certain that they have the correct response, and they may strive to please the teacher in every possible way. We can guide these students toward classroom chance taking by providing a nurturing classroom environment and celebrating mistakes as opportunities for continued growth.
LEFT HAND AS ABOMINATION
In many non-westernized cultures, the use of the left hand is considered unclean and is strictly avoided in any social setting. Eating, passing objects, hand holding, patting, or greeting with the left hand may be considered taboo.
It is wise to be cognizant of this when presenting children or parents with pencils, paper, or treats with the left hand; the act may be received as inauspicious or as an outright abomination. Also, children who may be naturally left-handed go to great lengths to avoid using this hand for writing or other activities in the classroom, and quality of work may be impacted as a result.
ASKING FOR AID
Asking for help is not encouraged in most East Asian school settings. This may occur for several reasons. The first has to do with the concept of saving face, in which an individual may feel personal shame or greater family shame for not understanding. Second, asking questions often denotes individualism, which is rarely a prized value in Eastern cultures. Finally, in many countries, the teacher is considered the expert and authority in all matters relating to education, and therefore, it may be perceived as disrespectful to ask a teacher for clarification on a subject. As a potential result of heritage customs, the concept of asking for aid may require explicit modeling in the host setting.
WANDER-AND-EXPLORE TENDENCIES
Many cultures place great emphasis on the need for children to learn through exploration and experience. Even the very young are encouraged to experiment, play, and seek answers in a very tangible sense, often apart from direct adult supervision. In some communities, practical education is regarded with as much or more reverence than structured book learning. The tools, ingenuity, and skill sets that children gather during this adventurous time often enable future work and survival success, thus serving as an asset to the community as a whole.4
This is in direct conflict with traditional Western Sit-Up-Straight-And-Tall methodology. As a result, students who are more accustomed to wander- and-explore learning may have a very challenging time adjusting to certain classroom norms in the host setting. We’re talking about that child who seems entirely allergic to a desk chair. The one who stands as he or she writes, whose shoes have a habit of magically evading his or her actual feet, and whose desk is a nesting place for pen caps, twigs, puffballs, marbles, and origami triangles—that just might be your Wander-And-Explore student.
And it’s ok. These students are still learning, after all! Typically, these harmless classroom behaviors will dissipate with time. Again, they are not wrong; they are just different than what we have been trained to be used to. Best practices call for us to provide explicit learning opportunities for wander-and-explore learners that accentuate their problem-solving strengths, such as manipulative learning techniques. Meanwhile, we can promote positive behaviors that will lend to their future success in westernized schooling environments.
PERSONAL SPACE AND PRIVACY CONSIDERATIONS
In many countries and cultures, personal space is not valued as a commodity. In these settings, spatial boundaries may be nonexistent. It will be very natural for students from these regions to position themselves extremely close to other individuals throughout the school day. Custom may encourage students to push right up to another student while standing in line, or think little of physical contact such as touching elbows or knees at a desk. Talking may occur at close range.
These behaviors are a routine part of life in many African and Middle Eastern countries. They are, in their essence, innocent reflections of human nature, in contexts where many people share a limited space. However, privacy considerations can become problematic in the classroom when someone with contrasting personal space values encounters them. Spatial consideration may require explicit teaching and modeling within the classroom.
ADHERENCE TO TIME
Time is not regarded with the same level of importance in all parts of the world. In the westernized sense, timeliness is considered a virtue, and adherence to time is the common norm. In many cultures, however, timeliness may be out-valued by social interaction and other obligations.
In most African countries and many regions of East Asia and Central and South America, for example, it is considered extremely rude to cut greetings or exchanges short in an effort to make an appointment deadline, or for any other reason. Thus, meetings and other professional or social engagements can run far behind schedule. Lateness, in most cases, is not considered rude or irresponsible. Loose adherence to time is merely a reflection of cultural values. Therefore, punctual behavior may need to be overtly encouraged in the Western setting.
VOLUME AND TONE
Normative values for conversational volume can vary drastically between cultures. Vocal registers that may be customary to many Middle Eastern or African cultures may feel harsh or alarming, at least according to Western expectations. In many regions, verbal exchange is an animated and lively process, and volume considerations may not be as esteemed as they are in the host setting. Meanwhile, Latin American or East Asian volume norms may be seem diminutive in contrast to host values, as soft speech and inwardness are considered virtuous character traits. In the classroom context, we need to work with our learners in establishing volume norms that are conducive to social and learning success.
UNIFORMITY
Individualism is a trend that is largely exclusive to Western cultures. Most other countries celebrate collectivism, which encourages viewing the self as inherently and wholly linked to surrounding bands of community, beginning with the family. This whole-group perspective serves to motivate decision making that will positively influence not only the self, but also the entire social dynamic.
Learners who are accustomed to uniformity value systems may find little appeal in standing out in the classroom setting. They may have limited desire to be the best, or to ask for help or clarification. Blending into the overall group dynamic is seen as a definitive honor and benefit to the family and cultural group.
We can guide our students and families to enjoy some of the benefits that individualism can provide in the new environment. Ultimately, we hope for a balance. Students will need to exercise some elements of independence in order to fully thrive in the twenty-first-century learning environment; and they may also be compelled to retain certain heritage values. We can do our best as educators by honoring both avenues, as well as all the gray areas in between!
TEACHER AS EXPERT
In most non-Western cultures, educators are highly regarded as essential pillars of the community. The teacher, in these societies, is considered a sole authority in terms of all learners’ academic welfare. Thus, education is considered the singular responsibility of the teacher. As a matter of trust and respect, parents are socially deterred from interfering with this process. Newcomer parents who are accustomed to this scenario will be highly unlikely to question the role or actions of a teacher, as such infringements would be considered offensive and disrespectful.
Complications occur when this behavior, as viewed in the West, may resemble a “lack” of parental involvement or disinterest in a child’s learning. We may become frustrated or affronted. However, the families themselves probably believe they are doing the right thing. Indeed, the concept of parent involvement in education is almost exclusively a North American one.
In effort to counter this, and other misconceptions, we must share in the responsibility of opening healthy lines of communication between the home and the school. In doing so, we make room for understanding, cooperation, and collaboration. When we, as host educators, are better informed, we’re less likely to react out of confusion or insult. Instead, we might be more inclined to respond with compassion, understanding, and careful planning.
By cultivating our own mindfulness of the cultural distinctions that exist in our classrooms and schools, we can enjoy more meaningful and impacting relationships with our students and their families. As a holistic outcome of cultural tolerance, trust can be established. From a place of trust, we can wholly access our students’ learning capabilities. This is the place where magic happens.
Sources:
Virtue, David C. (2009). Serving the Needs of Immigrant and Refugee Adolescents. Principal, VA. Vol. 89, No. 1, 64–65 S/O
Moore, Dennis (2004). Conceptual Policy Issues. In R. Hamilton & D. Moore (Eds.), Educational Interventions for Refugee Children (p. 93). London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Loewen, Shawn (2004). Second Language Concerns for Refugee Children. In R. Hamilton & D. Moore (Eds.), Educational Interventions for Refugee Children (pp. 35–52). London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Charny, Joel (2008). World Refugee Day: Where are the World’s Hidden Refugees? Refugees International. Located at www.refugeesinternational.org/blog/world- refugee-day-where-are-the-worlds-hidden-refugees. Retrieved Feb. 2014.
Meyer, Erin (2014). The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Bound- aries of Global Business. PublicAffairs Publishing.
Morrison, Terry & Wayne A. Conaway (2006). Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands, Adams Media.
Lustig, Myron W. & Jolene Koester (2009). International Competence: Interpersonal Communication Across Cultures (6th Edition). Pearson Publishing.
Lewis, Richard D. (2005). When Cultures Collide: Leading Across Cultures (3rd Edition). Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
Storti, Craig (2007). The Art of Crossing Cultures (2nd Edition). International Press.
8 Ways to Optimize a Learning Culture... and Celebrate Diversity
Culture. It’s the latest education buzzword to catch fire, and it is applied to a seemingly endless range of affairs. We refer to our students’ heritage cultures. We toss around the idea of a school culture, a classroom culture, a staff culture. So, what exactly are we talking about here? In the simplest possible terms, we can look at it in this way:
“Culture is the way you think, act and interact.” –Anonymous
From this lens, it is indeed possible to reference "culture" across such a variety of social platforms. How our students think, act and interact at home and in their communities is a reflection of their heritage culture. How we think, act and interact at work is a reflection of our work culture.
Let’s consider our schools and classrooms from this same vantage. Looking to the best versions of ourselves and our programs, what do we envision as an optimal learning culture for our students and staff? How are we encouraged to think, act and interact with our students and colleagues? How are we teaching learners to engage with each other in affirmative ways?
As a school or classroom leader, these are important thoughts to map out. My ideas may not look the same as your ideas. That’s ok. We can lay some common ground, though. The following cues present an opportunity to check in with your own vision of school culture. How can you help to improve the way that your team thinks, acts and interacts?
1. Invest in Students
We all ache to know that someone we care about is standing firmly behind or beside us. If our aim is to increase a student's success rate, our honest investment in both their present capacity and future potential is non-negotiable.
Express a genuine interest in each individual. Learn how to pronounce student’s names correctly and begin using them on the very first day. Ask questions about students’ heritage culture and allow for safe opportunities to share these insights with other classmates. Offer relevant multicultural reading materials. Post flags or maps, and have students mark their heritage country. Be a listener. Find out what students find interesting. Commit to supporting students with time-in over time-out. Show up. Keep promises. Practice being present and mindful with students. Nurture connectivity.
2. Provide Choice
When presented with choice-making opportunities in a safe, predictable environment, learners develop self-efficacy and strategizing abilities. We can scaffold these processes to enable students to grow as wise decision makers. Begin by limiting the range of available options. Model reasoning through active think-alouds.
Also, it is important to allow time for students to consider and process potential gains and sacrifices involved when choosing between items or activities. Similarly, prompt students to predict the probable consequences of unwise choice making and to reflect on these outcomes when they occur. Incorporate choice making throughout the day. Station (center) activities, choice of paper color, homework, reading book, order of task completion and game selection are manageable places to start.
When students are invited to make healthy choices- and have opportunities to practice doing so- they are much more inclined to become invested, engaged learners.
3. Provide Clarity
Students, not unlike adults, desire to know what is expected of them. Who doesn't enjoy a road map to success? By sharing bite-sized road maps with your students throughout a school day or school year, you are helping them to succeed. “Bite-size” can be defined as 3-5 clear steps, with a target of three.
As we’ve already mentioned, clarified expectations foster routine, predictability and ultimately, a sense of safety. Be sure that instructional objectives are posted and communicated. Is your class schedule visible and correct? Do you refer to it throughout the day? Are station areas and supplies labeled (using rebus indicators, where necessary)? How often do you review key routines? Check your day for clarity. Define and refine.
4. Trust
Trust that students are wholly capable of making great choices and doing the right thing. Does that mean perfection? No. It does mean that in a healthy, facilitative environment most students, most of the time, will strive to meet the expectations set by (and modeled by) the teacher. We are intentional about setting the bar high, because that’s where students will reach. Maintain confidence that they will stretch to achieve it.
As students see that you trust them, they will begin living up to the expectation that they are probably doing the right thing. They will almost always respond by trusting you in return. Aim for autonomy. Give away power (when appropriate). Expect greatness.
5. Practice Problem Solving
Investigation that relies upon solution seeking engages students in developing deeper concept understanding and creative thinking abilities, while also building essential life skills. Problem-solving behaviors are learned. They are either explicitly taught or modeled by others. The school is an ideal incubator for nurturing these attributes.
Offer specific steps toward solving a problem. Model these thoughts and behavior patterns. Provide multiple opportunities for students to practice problem solving in a variety of subjects and contexts. View problems as “puzzles”. Solution seeking is a willed behavior. Our role is to guide the discovery of enjoyment and creative thinking in these processes.
6. Teach Critical Social Skills
Young people often need to be taught how to interact in positive ways. This is especially true in a Recent Arriver context, where layers of cultural expectation overlap often one another. Essential social skills encompass sensitivity, empathy, humor, reliability, honesty, respect, and concern.
Learners often benefit from explicit step-by-step social routines that work through these skill sets. Modeling, play-acting, and “Looks Like/Sounds Like/Feels Like” charts are also useful. Plan lessons to incorporate openings to explore and practice social skills. Offer guidance, and get out of the way. Provide cuing only when relevant. Share constructive feedback and reinforcement of positive behaviors.
Be the way you wish your students to behave.
7. Embrace “Failure” as a Success
Trying requires immense courage.
Perceived failure is a byproduct of trying. If we look at a FAIL- a First Attempt In Learning, then we are able to see that we have many more possible tries ahead of us. When we work to remove the fear of failing, we are also working to embed a confidence in trying.
Try celebrating failures outright. “Did you succeed the way you hoped you were going to?” No. “Did you learn something?” Yes. “Bravo! You are a successful learner.” Next time you fail at something, try acknowledging it in front of your students. Observe aloud what might have occurred and what part of your strategy you might change to bring about a different result. Failure is simply feedback. If we can take some wisdom from it, and adjust our sails, failure is a sure step in the right direction of success. Aim to create safety nets for trying.
8. Acknowledge Progress
A simple acknowledgement of our gains can go a long way. When we feel appreciated in our efforts, we also feel empowered to continue on a positive trajectory. Administrators, teachers, bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria personnel and after school care teams perform better in supportive environments where they feel that they are a contributive factor to the overarching success of a network. Our students, not surprisingly, also thrive in these settings.
Progress has an infinite number of faces. Growth and change can occur in every facet of learning- in academic, linguistic, social, emotional and cultural capacities.
Take the time to offer a thank you for a student’s concentrated efforts. Post students’ work, along with encouraging and reflective feedback. Share students’ growth. Acknowledge healthy choice making, positive social behaviors and persistence in the light of adversity. Help all learners to discover, refine and purposely engage their strongest attributes, and seek equity in endorsing successes publicly. Each day, relish in small miracles.
Viewing Heritage Language from an Asset-Based Lens
The following is an excerpt from The Newcomer Student: An Educator’s guide to Aid Transition by Louise Kreuzer-El Yaafouri (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016), available HERE or HERE.
ORAL LANGUAGE: THE VOICE OF BELONGING
Language shapes how we think, and the influx of recent immigrants from hundreds of linguistic backgrounds presents a unique challenge to American schools. (1)
Oral language is very often the centerpiece of cultural cohesiveness, as it makes communication possible. Communication, meanwhile, is the foundation of human interconnectedness. Beyond allowing for the rituals of communal exchange, oral language is the primary platform upon which creative expression and universal sense making are constructed. It tells the story of the beginning, the end, and everything in between. It relates the family tree, defines social norms, solidifies romance, and generates war. Our world is made up of words.
All cultures demonstrate a high degree of oral reliance.(2) In certain regions, the communicative aspects of a culture permeate and sustain every grain of social function. In fact, most non-Western languages are rooted heavily in oral tradition. Many cultures are far more reliant upon verbal output and body language than printed text as a means of communicative exchange. Many of our new-to-English students come from these rich oral-centric backgrounds.
In much of Africa, for example, it is common for an individual to demonstrate agility in multiple local and national tongues, even when literacy abilities are restricted. In communities where legal contracts can be accomplished with a verbal handshake, print concepts may be extraneous to successful daily living. Of course, we understand that literacy is nonnegotiable for our students. Still, it may be helpful to understand the utter potency and significance of oral language in the Newcomer setting.
FINDING BALANCE: SUPPORTING HOST-LANGUAGE GROWTH & HERITAGE LANGUAGE PRESERVATION
The ultimate goal of the Newcomer framework is to facilitate English language learning at an accelerated rate, and to prepare students for continued mainstream scholastic and post-school successes. As previously mentioned, one of the best courses of action that we can take in enhancing host language development is to outspokenly value and actively encourage heritage language preservation. While this may seem counterintuitive, research continues to illuminate the benefits of this practice.(3)
The most significant reasons for heritage language preservation have to do with maintaining a coherent self-identity.(4) Moreover, native language acts as a tie that unites families and ethnic communities. When this tie is severed, a sense of belonging is compromised.
A majority of ELLs who are successful in maintaining heritage and host languages also perform better academically than ELLs who are restricted to host language learning at the expense of heritage language.(5) This trend has been documented in standardized testing, as well as in ACTs and SATs. Bilingualism impacts the brain in profound ways, enhancing cognitive function and long-term memory (including the proven delay of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease).(6)
Dual-language skills also enrich problem-solving abilities, promote flexibility and multitasking abilities, and provide for future opportunities with regard to college learning and beyond.(7)
Meanwhile, valuing heritage languages in the classroom encourages tolerance, global awareness, and belonging. Maintaining the host language can also expedite host language acquisition.(8,9) Shawn Loewen writes: “It is important for second language children to feel that their first language and culture are valued and respected. It is particularly important for refugee children . . . to use their first language with other children, their teachers, and at home.”(10)
In the classroom context, we can enable heritage language preservation by allowing our students periods of time where they are encouraged to communicate with linguistically similar students, where applicable, for a short period, and repeating out thoughts in English. We can provide texts representing a variety of cultures and/or languages (see chapter 8 for a multicultural reading list), and we can relay to parents, through a translator when necessary, the importance of maintaining heritage language skills in the home. Through and because of first language fluency, second (or third) language efficacy is more likely to occur.
Newcomer Education: Facilitating Integration
Excerpted from The Newcomer Student: An Educator’s Guide to Aid Transition, Louise Kreuzer-El Yaafouri @ Rowman & Littlefield International Press, 2016.
As we strive to guide our refugee and immigrant newcomers toward socio-academic access, we must focus on a unified goal: healthy, holistic & long-range integration.
Integration is a loaded concept with varied intent, depending on its context. Let’s clarify this term with specificity to Newcomer programming.
To do this, we’ll need to take a few steps back. To get to integration, we’ll need to start with culture shock. Culture shock is a process of adjusting from one set of heritage norms to another.
The process of culture shock is marked by four domains: honeymoon, negotiation, adjustment and mastery. We can see how culture shock resembles grief in the sense that an individual will navigate a predictable set of uncomfortable stages before reaching a level of comfort and acceptance.
Briefly, the honeymoon period is a romaticized one, full of awe and discovery. Stress factors may be delayed by fascination and shock. The negotiation phase, which may begin approximately three months after resettlement, signals reality setting in and is marked by frustration, fear, homesickness, detachment and physical discomfort. The adjustment period, typically encountered six to twelve months post-resettlement, is one of acceptance and sense-making. Anxiety is reduced as maneauverability and self-efficacy are increased. Finally, the mastery (or bicultural stage) is generally achieved between one to five years post-resettlement and indicates an ability to navigate freely and successfully in the new culture.
In order to examine potential implications of culture shock in the classroom setting, we’ll focus on the adjustment domain, the third stage on the way to cultural mastery. The Adjustment Domain can be further disseminated into three categories: Isolation, Adoption and Integration.
We can view these three areas within the adjustment domain on a spectrum. On the far left of the spectrum, we’ll place Isolation; on the far right, Adoption. These tendencies have opposite values.
Isolation
· Marked by disengagement or conflict with the host culture.
· Likely to return to heritage country, but may not fit in well.
· Feelings of separation from heritage and host identities.
Adoption
· Marked by utter identification with new culture at the expense of the old one.
· Expected loss of language, culture and loyalty to heritage culture.
· Social isolation between family and community members can occur.
Of course, neither end of the spectrum is particularly healthy, though isolation creates the most devastation. What we hope for our Newcomers to achieve is a balance. This “sweet spot” in the middle range of the spectrum we identify as "integration".
Integration
· Able to recognize positive attributes of heritage and host cultures.
· Full, healthy assimilation into new culture without loss of the old one.
· More likely to experience social acceptance, emotional well-being, self-efficacy, cooperative relationships and general productivity.
It may be helpful to imagine the verb of integrating in this way: picture an individual standing in the middle of a teeter-totter, with a goal of keeping both ends of the teeter-totter elevated from the ground. To do this, the individual needs to have one hand and one foot on each side of center. Constant re-adjustment is necessary.
Education plays a critical role in aiding successful integration. Ager and Strang (2008) write that, “For refugee children, schools are the most important place of contact with members of local host communities, playing an important role in establishing relationships supportive of integration”. Aart De Gues, in Cities of Migration, adds that, “When integration fails, the inevitable result is inertia and exclusion. Nothing is more important than education for gaining a foothold in society and determining one’s own path.”
As schools and teachers, where can we start in facilitating this process? Here are a few ideas:
Tips & Tools to Promote Healthy Integration
1. Ensure that inclusion is school-wide priority.
2. Begin inclusive services promptly.
3. Maintain consistency of services, scheduling and supports.
4. Meet students where they are and consider individual backgrounds when prescribing services.
5. Proactively address mental and physical health issues.
6. Explore and celebrate confianza.
7. Establish safety and trust through routine and predictability.
8. Explicitly teach new laws, rules, customs and traditions.
9. Model speech and behavior.
10. Encourage collaboration.
11. Champion native language speech/literacy.
12. Honor cultures without trivialization.
13. Value Newcomers and their parents as critical stakeholders and partners in success.
14. Encourage ELL investment in the classroom, the school and the community.
15. Actively engage with Newcomer parents and work to build mutual trust and respect.
16. Employ adult Newcomers as volunteers, paraprofessionals, teachers and other school staff.
17. Foster relationships with community links and stakeholders.
18. Allow opportunities to create and share cultural artifacts.
19. Incorporate cultural realia, such as foreign coins, postcards, and stamps as manipulatives or authentic textiles/patterns for geometry and spatial reasoning.
20. Allow for multiple levels of expression that include traditional songs, games and call-and-response.
21. Provide opportunities for “wander-and-explore” learning (practical, hands-on application).
22. Celebrate both students and parents as sharers of wisdom.
Growing Through Our Biases: An Educator Exercise
The recent events surrounding race and racism have been difficult and painful.
And we have to talk about it.
As we piece through our individual places in the fray, we have the double task of coaching our students through these uncomfortable social paradigms. In the case of schools, we can only support our students' in the shedding of unhealthy biases after we have examined and tended to our own.
As someone who is hired to coach educators through the processes of naming and mitigating implicit and explicit biases, recent events have forced a re-evaluation of my own thoughts, rooted values and prejudices. More than this, they've been a catalyst to explore my potential contributions within this context, as well as the potential contributions of my peer practitioners and our students, who watch us with anticipatory eyes. How can our voices be proactively and retroactively employed? How can we come to terms with a reasonable framework for self-accountability in light of the brazen dissolution of interpersonal respect and cooperativeness?
I have prejudices. You have prejudices. Our students and their parents carry biases into the school each day. Some of those are friendly, harmless judgments. Many are not.
We have a responsibility to mitigate our own biases to whatever extent we are able. This duty carries remarkable weight, based on the nature of our work with children and the inevitable part we play as role models in urban, multicultural settings. It is also our task to encourage a shift in the negative biases that exist in our parents and students, Newcomer and non-Newcomer alike.
Where is our start point?
The following is an excerpt from The Newcomer Teacher: A Workbook Companion to the Newcomer Student (Sept 2017). The Cultural Biases Workshop is a means to explore our own thought and action patterns. After all, only after we are brave enough to confront our own implicit and explicit biases can we hope to make positive changes to the broader social dynamic.
From the text:
"When we meet new people or begin to establish new relationships, our brains respond with a flurry of conscious and unconscious activity. We are analyzing the other individual and making a series of analyses based on the stimulation that our brain is receiving. We are producing and activating biases.
Prejudices, stereotypes and discriminatory evaluations are unconscious thinking patterns. Often, these thought-processing channels were constructed in our early childhood, influenced by our role models, societal constructs and media. Reinforced or repeated prejudices eventually become automatic. They become ingrained information-processing mechanisms."
But there's good news.
"Evidence strongly indicates that unconscious biases can be overcome, and even reversed, with sincere intent." In fact, "A person who is motivated to be unprejudiced—because of legal sanctions, social pressures, or strong personal egalitarian values—can suppress biased responses." -Culture Plus, 2018
In a fascinating turn of events, the human mind is capable of overriding itself.
Again from The Newcomer Teacher:
"We are capable of re-imagining our vision of the world around us. In order for true culture and bias training to be effective, we have to make way for it to be effective. That process begins with us taking the time to be raw and honest with ourselves about our own apparent and underlying prejudices.
There’s no promise that the process will be attractive, or even particularly enjoyable. However, be assured that by taking the first steps in being truthful with ourselves, we can open doors for growth and improvement, both in our lives and in the the lives of the students we serve."
Ina Catrinescu writes, “Confirmation bias is our most treasured enemy. Our opinions, our acumen- all of it, are the result of years of selectively choosing to pay attention to that information only which confirms what our limited minds already accept as truth.”
If we can selectively choose to pay attention to those things that support one thought pattern, then we can selectively choose to entertain new though patterns as well. Let’s make an effort to choose wisely.
Access the full Cultural Biases Workshop HERE.
Back-to-School With ELL Parents
A Closer Look at ELL Parent Engagement
An age-old question: How do we, as teachers and schools, go about increasing parent participation in students’ learning? To further define this question, how do we engage our newcomer parents and EL families in their child’s academic endeavors?
Involving parents in school activities can be tricky business. It can also be immensely rewarding- for the teacher, the school, and (most importantly!) the student.
A million terrific ideas exist on the subject. Don’t believe me? Take a visit to the Teachers Pay Teachers website with the key word parent.
As with any instructional technique, it is critically important to discover the strategy that works best for our specific student demographics- and then refine it to meet the needs of our students in a given year and within a particular scenario. What I found in researching parent-engagement ideas was that few were actually applicable within my unique classroom context- which was vibrant with cultural and linguistic diversity. The one-size-fits all plans did not fit at all.
And so began the process of creating suitable alternatives. Here is one of my favorites. It's one that I’ve implemented many times over with much success.
This idea came about one year as I was preparing for “Back-to-School” night. Combined, the students in my third grade newcomer class spoke nearly a dozen separate primary languages. I desperately wanted parents to feel welcomed and to be able to participate in the evening.
The problem was that I had no idea how I would overcome tremendous language obstacles to achieve this.
So, asked the students for their help. Together, this is what we came up with.
Student-Parent Notes
The students wrote simple notes to their parents and families. We arranged the notes so that they were waiting in the classroom for parents when they arrived for the school event. As a class team, we decided that students would record their sentiments in English (and later translate them for their parents) or in their native language (if this skill set was accessible to them).
When family members arrived at school, students took immediate ownership of their letters and were eager to share them. They were equally eager to ask their parents to reciprocate the gesture.
Our classroom writing station became a hub of activity. We laid out an assortment of colored pens and stationary. Parents and caretakers, shy at first, took pens in their hands to begin composing notes of love and encouragement for their students. As with the kids, caretakers were invited to utilize the language they felt most comfortable with.
As parents read aloud to their students in their native languages, the entire tone of the room shifted. Parents of different cultures exchanged knowing glances with one another. Those who shared the same language made room for laughter and conversation. These caretakers all had the same thoughts, hopes and expectations for their children. They were the very same considerations that I had for their children:
I am proud of you. You are a good child. Work hard. Try your best. Be kind. I am here for you.
I couldn't comprehend all of the notes, as I was now the one inhibited by language ability. That didn't matter. The messages were not meant for me. My take away was this: we were all on the same playing field, and also on the same team.
The notes hung in our classroom for the duration of the year. Not only did they provide tangible artifacts of students’ heritage cultures, they offered grounding and a call toward fortitude. Our student-parent notes became the most authentic, relevant anchor charts that Room 13 had to offer.
Here are a few for the road!
