Running Head: Reflection on Mini Conference 1
Reflection 3
Mini Conference from September 29, 2012
Cynthia Czerwonka
Gwinnett County Public Schools
cczerwonka_journal3
Reflection on Mini Conference 2
Review
The Panel Discussion which started out the Mini-Conference was very informative of the various ethnicities we have represented in Gwinnett County Public Schools. Bosnian/Herzegovina, Hispanic, Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese, though not inclusive county-wide, were the nationalities represented by the various speakers. Korean and Vietnamese children are represented in my classroom this year; last year, Bosnian was as well. The Bosnian speaker and GCPS translator, Vesna Vujinovic, was herself a refugee from 1 ½ years of war. V. Vujinovic (personal communication, September 29, 2012) stated that culture has an impact on behavior and the way students interact in the classroom. Parents from Bosnia who have chosen to flee their war-torn country would most probably have had interrupted schooling, due to refugee status; they can be depressed as a result of these experiences. Bosnian Schools are quite different from American schools; Europeans do not place as much importance on schooling in general. Ms. Vujinovic believes that based on their past experiences in Bosnian schools, parents are accustomed to monthly education meetings and expect to hear good, or positive things about their children. V. Vujinovic (personal, communication, September 29, 2012) said that refugees from her country come to freedom in the beautiful American country. Bosnian parents do not typically volunteer in the classroom, as many parents work two or three jobs to make ends meet. Eye contact is expected and natural, as the lack thereof may be perceived as rude or construed to mean that one may be hiding something. As to communication style, Bosnians are generally loud and animated; hugs and physical contact is the norm.
Hispanic culture was discussed by Beatriz Uribe. Her home country is Mexico. She started out by asking if the conference attendees knew the difference between the terms Hispanic and Latino. I was really unaware of the distinction; Hispanic people speak Spanish, regardless of the country they are from.
cczerwonka_journal3
Reflection on Mini Conference 3
Latino people are those from Latin American countries. B. Uribe (personal communication, September 29, 2012), just because you speak Spanish doesn’t mean you’re Mexican. Spanish speaking countries have different accents. A variety of reasons exist for Hispanic people to immigrate to the United States. Ms. Uribe pointed out that while there are varied reasons why they leave their home countries, most may be of lower socio-economic status, but not all. She says that some of the parents of Hispanic children may not be able to sign their names, for example on paperwork at school registration or conferences. They may be illiterate in their home language, so it is wise that teachers send homework that students can complete independently. It is possible that the parents of Hispanic children could be geographically separated due to deportation, even though the children were born in America; they may live with aunts or uncles. Parents, typically mothers, may not drive, and may not be computer literate. A three-way phone conference during a parent’s lunch break time was mentioned as a good alternative to parents attending face to face conferences. Some parents hold jobs that would require a whole day of work, and as a result a whole day of income, to be lost in order to attend a conference.
A discussion of Korean language and culture followed. Ensook Lee shared a fascinating fact about immigrants from Korea. She has lived in the United States for 21 years, but in all that time, has never met anyone that emigrated from North Korea, which is a democratic country. Parents from Korea may struggle to understand the American school system. Terminology used in the schools such as choice cards, opportunity room, spirit wear day, and Boosterthon are confusing for parents. Behaviorally speaking, Korean parents tend to believe that inappropriate
cczerwonka_journal3
Reflection on Mini Conference 4
behavior will go away as a child matures and “responsibility comes later” E. Lee, (personal communication, September 29, 2012). Education is extremely important in the Korean culture, as many Korean children attend after-school programs and Saturday Korean School in order to get ahead or excel. Koreans believe that the school is to learn, behave, not have fun” E.Lee (personal communication, September 29, 2012). There is an educational phenomenon Korean that E. Lee (personal communication, September 29, 2012) mentioned called goose families. The father stays behind in Korea, while the mother comes to America for the sake of the children’s education. The “ ‘goose dad’ is a Korean man who works in Korea while his wife and children stay in an English-speaking country for the sake of the children's education” (Lee, 2004).
Finally, Asian cultures were highlighted. Yisu Brasel was the speaker on Chinese culture. She shared that the syntax in the Chinese language is different than in English, word endings and tenses are non-existent. There is no distinction made between the pronouns he and she in pronunciation, but in written form they are different. According to Y. Brasel, (personal communication, September 29, 2012) two dialects exist in Chinese: Mandarin and Cantonese; each is a special code in the Gwinnett county Public Schools SASI student information system. Mandarin is the official language of the media. The final speaker, Lan Schlect shared information on the Vietnamese country and culture. She showed a slide show of her beautiful country and had her mother modeled a typical Vietnamese traditional costume that is worn at
cczerwonka_journal3
Reflection on Mini Conference 5
formal or important occasions. I think one of the most important distinctions she made concerned the Asian continent. L. Schlect (personal communication, September 29, 2012) said that “Asian is not a race or ethnicity". It is a continent”. By this, I inferred that she meant that Asian is a term that represents many cultures, countries, and languages, all of which are unique.
Reflect
The information on the various cultures and languages impacted me as they connected with my experience as a classroom teacher. I have had more students of different cultures at my school, Harmony Elementary, since I have been teaching kindergarten for these past seven years. I had a student last year who was Bosnian, and I found that the parents wanted to meet with me early in the year to get a feel for who I was and how their child was doing in class. He had some behavior issues at first, and after hearing the information presented by Vesna Vujinovic on Bosnian culture, I see that parents are used to monthly meetings and to hearing positive things about their children. The insistence of the parent wanting to meet now makes much more sense to me. Both parents worked, and while I am unsure that either of them held more than one job, work was obviously very important to their family. Eye contact from the parents was very obvious as a style of communication. The boy’s mom did volunteer on a couple of occasions, but not regularly, as was shared at the mini-conference. It is so interesting to me that V. Vujinovic (personal communication, September 29, 2012) said “go with your heart” when in
cczerwonka_journal3
Running Head: Reflection on Mini Conference 6
doubt about dealing with students of various cultures. Since enrolling in the course, I have noticed the children that come by my classroom to give or receive a quick hug before starting their day are students of Hispanic, Bosnian and African American heritages. I am hoping that they have felt a connection and acceptance from me as their teacher in previous years that brings them back to see me. This has been very encouraging to me.
Refine
The information on Korean students has been the most helpful to me in my current classroom situation. I had a conference already this year with Ensook Lee, the Korean translator. Interestingly enough, when she arrived for the conference she knew the parent of my student; she was her hairdresser. It seems very beneficial to me that they already have a relationship. I also spoke to Ms. Lee after the panel discussion about my student. I told her of some of his behaviors which are very distracting, attention-seeking, and physically dangerous to other students. I asked her if I could contact her when I needed to speak to the parent before our scheduled SST, and she was gracious in saying that would be fine. I confided that he is quite possibly the most difficult student that I have had in 28 years. His behaviors are almost constant, as he always seems to want the most attention in all the class, regardless of the interventions I have tried. She wondered if he may have a medical condition that is not addressed. I have wondered the same thing. His behaviors are opposite of the ones I have typically seen in Korean students I have had
cczerwonka_journal3
Reflection on Mini Conference 7
in the past. Respect for the teacher and positive behavior have been the norm before. At one of my conferences this past Friday, a Korean father of one of my students told me that his daughter has been bothered by this student. M. Yim (personal communication, October 2, 2012) mentioned to me that Korean children are taught rules and respect in the home . He further asked me if the child could have attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder. I was taken aback by the question. He mentioned that he has been a martial arts instructor and has had children with this condition and learned how to deal with them. As I continue in the process of educating this boy, it will be enlightening to see if his issues are related to culture and the parents believing that he will grow out of problem behavior and that “responsibility comes later” as mentioned by E. Lee, (personal communication, September 29, 2012). The information at the conference was timely and a much needed piece of the puzzle of educating this student.
After the panel discussion, the first breakout session I attended was titled Culturally Sensitive Quality Teaching and was led by Lisa Homann. I actually arrived a little late, and to my great surprise, was seeing a whale springing out of the ocean on the screen and hearing the teaching in German when I walked in. Needless to say, I was quite a bit anxious as I didn’t know German. I was desperately listening to try to understand. I knew some French, so it helped a little with the word meer for water, and other words like springen for springing out of the water, and segelboot was similar to sailboat. This brought home to me how lost and
cczerwonka_journal3
Reflection on Mini Conference 8
frustrated my students must feel who are learning English as a second language. It was so helpful to see the vocabulary displayed, picture support of the vocabulary, and all of the repetition and response required of us. I actually was amazed how much I did understand and how valuable the Quality Plus Teaching Strategies can be to EL students. I plan to be much more cognizant of using picture support, repetition and student response, and vocabulary words in print with my students.
The second breakout session I attended was titled Bridging the Divide Between the GCPS Culture and the Cultures of ELs and Families. Elizabeth Webb led the session. She asked those in the session to share their cultural background or where we were from and what we see about ourselves. She had a similar background to mine: born in Atlanta at Crawford Long Hospital and educated in DeKalb County. She also eventually came to Gwinnett County Public Schools to work. She shared the county’s vision for Curriculum and Instruction, which is “Support, Lead, Inspire.” E.Webb (personal communication, September 29, 2012) discussed GCPS culture. She mentioned that the people within the GCPS culture are relatively affluent and aspire to be world-class. The fact that GCPS won the Broad Prize is an indication that GCPS is committed to continuous quality improvement, is accountable to achievement of individual students, utilizes data driven instruction, and values parent involvement. The GCPS culture as she discussed it is multicultural, intercultural, bilingual, globally competent, plurilingual, and culturally responsive. E.Webb (personal communication, September 29, 2012)
cczerwonka_journal3
Reflection on Mini Conference 9
left us with a powerful final quote: Be who we are. Through empathy and curiosity we can bridge the gap. I loved this statement. A quote made by V.Vujinovic (personal communication, September 29, 2012) also caught my attention. The quote was about diversity and reads: “Diversity: The beauties of nature come in all colors. The strengths of humankind come in many forms.” (Brandon Steven Motors, 2009). Multicultural education at its best is a model of that statement. My goal is to apply this philosophy in my kindergarten classroom at Harmony Elementary. I will ask my children to share the beautiful backgrounds of their ancestry and cultures with me so I can know them better as not only students, but individuals.
cczerwonka_journal3
Reflection on Mini Conference 10
Lee, Kapson. News.ncmonlin.com. New America Media, October 26, 2004. Internet.October 3, 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment