Mini Conference Reflection - Reynierson

Reflections Journal

2012 – 2013 ESOL Endorsement Mini Conference

Review

            As an attendee, I found the mini conference to be a positive experience throughout the day but the panel discussions were the most inspirational and informative component of the mini conference for me.  I had several “ah ha” moments during panel discussions and felt compelled to take notes.  Each speaker was riveting and unique in presentation and information imparted.

Vesna Vujinovic, the Bosnian translator presented first and began by expressing the impact war and persecution including depression and auditory sensitivity could still have on the Bosnian population. She expressed the importance of knowing the effects of a student’s culture on their behavior and learning. Ms. Vujinovic stressed the importance of using interpreters, teaching children to problem solve, and explaining special education services.  In middle and high school, she related her own experience and related the importance of discussing and explaining school activities, monitoring out-of-school activities, and stressing the value of education (especially to the gypsy population). She explained an important difference between Bosnian schools and procedures and American schools.  In Bosnia, monthly school meetings are held and it was her experience the only communication was to report bad news in U.S. schools.  She advised making calls with good news whenever possible.  Ms. Vujinovic wrapped up her presentation by appealing to educators to “use your hearts” and communicate (Vujinovic, 2012).

The second presenter on the panel was Beatrice Uribe who is a Spanish translator for Gwinnett County Schools. She opened her presentation by describing the difference between Latino and Hispanic.  She explained that if an individual speaks Spanish they are Hispanic and if they are from a Latin American country, they are Latinos.  Ms. Uribe expressed the importance of knowing about student’s families, where they come from, and their educational background.  She suggesting talking to students and know who is getting help at home and who isn’t and make sure to adjust homework or any related assignments to be sure a student could complete assignments unaided if needed.  Ms. Uribe also suggested training the parents who need technology assistance, be flexible to parent’s busy work schedules, and be sensitive of tight schedules.  She concluded her presentation by warning conferences members from using siblings as interpreters (Uribe, 2012).

The third presenter was Eunsook Lee, the Korean translator.  She explained that most of the Korean population is from South Korea rather than North Korea citing political circumstances.  Ms. Lee also described the “Goose Family” which is “a family that migrates in search of English-language schooling”(Kaste, 2012).  She also spoke about the work ethic that is demanded of Korean children to meet competition but that discipline is not much of a concern because Korean parents feel that children will grow out of this phase (Lee, 2012). Ms. Lee closed her presentation by giving her cultural tips:

Each child is unique; don’t over generalize                  Bowing or shaking hands is accepted

Don’t use red ink especially writing names                  Eye contact should not be expected

Don’t use automated translation                                    Use of middle finger is OK

Be aware of double meanings                                        Don’t use pointer finger to come closer

Don’t ask negative questions                                         Parents don’t initiate communication

Print all communication letters                                      Elders are respected

No hugging                                                                    Use both hands for taking and receiving 

            The fourth presenter was Yisu Brasel, an elementary school teacher and Chinese translator.  Ms. Brasel explained that most Chinese students in Gwinnett County speak Cantonese rather than Mandarin which is the official language of China. She began by expressing that school functions are confusing for many Chinese families.  She stressed the importance of explaining school functions and a nod does not always mean understanding.  Ms. Brasel explained that the Chinese language does not have tenses or plurals nor “ed’ and that she, he, and it are all expressed by one word and the words the, a, and an do not exist in the Chinese language (Brasel, 2012).   

            And finally, Lan Schlecht presented as the Vietnamese translator.  Having worked with Lan over the past three years, I know what a dedicated and helpful individual she is in her capacity as a translator but as a presenter, I am also impressed.  Lan brought her mother in traditional dress to show the importance the Vietnamese put on showing their best through dress.  She also used technology to show us a video clip about Vietnam. Lan ended her presentation but stressed the importance of not describing students or parents using the word Asian because Asia is a large continent which houses many different countries and cultures (Schlecht, 2012).

Reflect

            As I reflect upon what I learned from the mini conference, the first word that comes to mind is supported; supported by the Gwinnett County School’s interpreter staff.  All panel presenters are passionate about their work, culture, and education and it was apparent during the panel discussion how they want to be positive contributors as stakeholders in our student’s education.  After I asked a question during the panel discussion, Eunsook Lee, the Korean interpreter came up to me after the panel to be sure I understood her response.

I also reflect upon how much information these panel members shared about their culture openly.  Now, when I look at the volunteer base in my school, I understand that some parents may not be present because they are holding down two jobs, have fear of deportation, don’t drive, fear technology, have no credit cards, or are living separated from their immediate family just to educate their children in my school.  Now, armed with this information, I will refine my practices to make all stakeholders contributors in my school.

Refine

            In order to refine my classroom and school environment, I will teach with an open heart as well as eye and mind.  I will refine my parent relationships by sharing how they can be involved in the classroom and school environment by explaining activities in and outside my classroom.  Because a language barrier may be why parents may not volunteer, I will give parents opportunities to build confidence and create opportunities to bring them into the school and make them welcome.  I will initiate an open and consistent communication between school and home providing good information as well as making them aware of any problems. I will partner and work towards hosting workshops, technology nights, or ESOL night.  Successful learning requires an intercultural approach where educators partner with students and parents. Therefore, I want to partner with students and parents to understand their perspectives, how they acquired them, and then be part of their decision to become successful stakeholders in their education, schools and communities.

DMontgomery Reflections on Mini Conference

Description of the Culture

            The mini-conference unlocked my perspective on different cultures. The speakers during the panel discussion made spectacular points. Vesna Vujinovic told that Bosnia and Herzegovena was founded more than 1000 years ago, where Jewish people took asylum. The root of the Bosnian language was Slavic. Often people from Bosnia entered the United States without knowing any English. Many families who entered the country, were still relating everyday actions to war. Students may have problems with bells ringing or fire alarms due to this experience. Some of the families were gypsies, so they often moved to different areas of the world. Bosnian parents expect schools to call them to talk about good behavior and grades.  They are not used to volunteering at schools.  Teachers need to have discussions with parents about helping in the classroom. One custom in Bosnia is to remove shoes when entering a home. Politics and religion are not discussed in conversations. If you do not maintain eye contact, they feel you are not telling them everything.  They also need daily hugs to feel supported (Brasel, 2012).

            Beatriz Uribe talked about the difference of being Hispanic and Latino.  She explained that if someone spoke Spanish they were Hispanic. If someone was from Latin America, they are Latino. She asked teachers to call her office or email her if a student reported someone was cursing. Some words are curse words in one language and not in another. In Mexico, “s, z, c” were all pronounced “s”. However, in Spain, “s” is sometimes pronounced “th”.   Teachers need to be aware of the educational background of each student’s family. If you knew the level of education they had, you would know if they could help their child with homework or not. All teachers need to make sure the student could do homework alone. The parent might not have the educational background to help. Deportation was a big problem for many families. Hispanics had the most problems with technology.  This makes eClass and the parent portal a problem. Most immigrants have jobs they cannot leave for an hour or two for a conference. If they were to take any time off, they must miss the entire day. Phone conferences could be utilized instead of a face-to-face conference. Beatriz warned teachers not to accept a head nod or yes/no answers. Sometimes people would just nod their head as a form of respect (Brasel, 2012).

            Eun Sook Lee was the Korean translator.  Korea's history dates back to more than 5000 years ago. She asked current teachers not to make the mistake of coding children from South Korean as North Korean.  Almost 100 percent of Koreans were from South Korea.  Immigrant families really don’t understand events such as after school activities. They do not fathom pajama days, Relay for Life, and other fundraisers. Teachers need to talk to parents about these events directly. The Korean culture allowed discipline to be withheld longer than most cultures. Korean's do not have a middle name.  Women keep their name when they get married.  Make sure you do not drop one of the syllables of the name.  This changes the meaning of the name. Never write names in red ink because that means blood or death. All notes should be written in print because they cannot read cursive. It is acceptable to bow or shake hands with Korean parents.  However, hugging of the same gender is not allowed. They do not make eye contact.   Children of the same gender, however, are allowed to hold hands. Koreans do not have any concept of personal space since they lived in such a microscopic area. Parents expect teacher to contact them in order to brag on their children. Therefore, teachers need to communicate before there is a problem (Brasel, 2012).

            Yisu Brasel was the Chinese representative on the panel. She stated that the Chinese language did not have word endings or tenses of verbs. For example, "I yesterday go to the movie." "He, she, and it" all had the same pronunciation. There was no such thing as articles in the language. Children must be told the rules in English. The Mandarin and Cantonese languages were very different. If a person spoke Mandarin, they would not be able to communicate with someone who spoke Cantonese (Brasel, 2012).

            Lan Schlecht was the Vietnamese translator. She came to the United States in 2003. That was the first time she knew Americans referred to Japanese, Korean, and Chinese as Asian. The traditional costume her Mom wore was beautiful.  The costume could be worn anywhere. For instance, weddings, funerals, school, church, etc. Everyone was expected to show the best of themselves when wearing the costume. The capital of Vietnam was Hanoi. It became their capital in the year 1010. Vietnam set up trade villages to make traditional souvenirs. Lan suggested having parent engagement activities at different workshops. Some of the topics could be technology, explaining the American education system, etc. (Brasel, 2012).

            My first breakout session was called Immigration in Picture Books. Dr. Mani Burgess and Laurie Rohm presented a website. I enjoyed using the website to explore. They also had us read a picture book and reflect about our thoughts on a BLOG. My comfort level would have been raised if we would have had more time to ponder our thoughts (Burgess, 2012).

            I attended ELPP Help! for my second session. We saw different parts of the ELPP, and were told how to fill out most of the form (Gillentine, 2012). I felt overwhelmed in this session. If my background knowledge had been better, I would have been better prepared. There was so much information that I am now confused. My desire is that every teacher have more training for the ELPP

Reflections on Culture

            This conference was very informative. I know information was our main interest, but food was on my mind the whole time. Cuisine has always helped me understand more about a culture. When I was in college in Tennessee, we had a Greek festival.  A big part of the festival was different foods prepared for our enjoyment. Maybe that is why I expected food.

            After this experience, I know I will be more prepared to deal with students from many different areas of the world. For example, if I ever do home visits, I will not wear my shoes into anyone's house who is Bosnian, Korean, Chinese, or Japanese. Children will not be expected to look me in the eyes across the board. It used to be an expectation for a child to look at my eyes. However, now it is apparent that this is disrespectful for some cultures. Interpreters are definitely more important than I imagined. My conferences will include an interpreter from this point forward.

 Affects on Teaching

            After the mini-conference, I feel my understanding of different cultures has increased. It will take much practice to remember things about each culture. However, I also feel since the children are in American schools, they need to learn how to adapt, to a certain degree, to the American culture.  For instance, I have had a hard time teaching children to walk on the right side of the hall. If I would have thought about it, the question I would have asked the panel: "Which side of the hallway do you walk on in your country?"

            Many cultural backgrounds could be discussed in my class. In fact, multicultural days would be good for most classrooms. If each class took a different culture represented in their room, much could be learned about each society. The topics would be: language, clothing, education, and FOOD! Each child would be asked to bring in an item or example of each topic.

            As stereotyping or prejudices occur, they will be discussed. For instance, if children say something about someone else's culture, I will ask, "What is a better way to know about his/her background?" Stressing positives in everyone, is a way to teach tolerance. Another way is to make a Venn-diagram and talk about ways different groups compare and contrast.

                                     References

Brasel, V., Lee, E., Schlecht, L., Vujinovic, V. Uribe, B. (2012). Proceedings form ESOL                 Endorsement Mini Conference. Gwinnett County Public Schools.

Burgess, M. . (PhD), & Rohm, L. (2012). Immigration in Picture Books. Proceedings from             ESOL Endorsement Mini Conference. Gwinnett County Public Schools.

Gillentine, M. (2012). ELPP Help! Proceedings from ESOL Endorsement Mini Conference.             Gwinnett County Public Schools.

The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 30 August 2012. How to cite sources             in APA style.

 

Mini Conference Reflection- Kiel

Reflection 3: Mini Conference

Casey Kiel

Gwinnett County: ESOL Endorsement Program

30 September 2012

Review:

What is culture?  As part of the mini conference on September 29^th, I attended a session on Bridging the Divide Between GCPS Culture and the culture of ELs and Families.  We explored the idea that culture is more than just art, music and theater.  It also encompasses ways of thinking, believing, and working.  We discussed that the parents of our EL students may have different views than parents from our country.  They may see school as a privilege or have experienced life where it was not available to all.  Some may have attended schools or lived where students were expected to do all the adapting, and those that couldn’t were sent on a lesser track.  In some cultures, teachers are held in high regard and questioning is viewed as disrespectful, were as we view it as being involved (Webb, 2012).

We were privileged to hear from several translators who are from various cultures.  They helped provide some insight into these various cultures.  For example I learned that in both the Bosnian and Spanish cultures eye contact is a sign of respect, but in the Korean, Vietnamese, and Chinese culture it is a sign of disrespect (Uribe, 2012).  Beatrice Uribe reminded her listeners that not all immigrants that come to America come because they are poor.  In actuality, they come for many different reasons.  She stressed that they may be well educated, doctors or lawyers in their country.  They just do not know how to speak English and this is the only reason they need a translator. EunSook Lee likewise explained that many Korean families bring their children here for education.  One parent or relative may bring them to the U.S. while the other guardian continues to work back in Korea.  These families have come to be known as “goose families” (Uribe, 2012).

Reflect:

            In the discussion on GCPS culture, it was brought to my attention that parents from other countries have differing views.  While I think that I was aware of this, the discussion made me realize just how different their experience could have been.  As educators, we talk about making our climate welcoming to parents because they all have different backgrounds with the school system.  I don’t think it had occurred to me that they may have no experience with the school system.  This is another example of how we sometimes take education for granted.  Here we view it as a right, and in other parts of the world it is a privilege only meant for a select group. 

            The session with the translators was also eye opening.  The fact that same gesture in different cultures could have opposite meanings is a little disconcerting.  For example, eye contact means respect to some, like Bosnian and Spanish cultures, and disrespect in others, such as Korean and Chinese cultures.  EunSook Lee told a story about when she came to America and was insulted when a bank teller made a “come here” motion with her hand.  The teller was simply asking her to step forward, but in Korea that motion is used with the dog (Uribe, 2012).  It is important to exercise patience with others and diligence with getting to know the cultures we serve.

            In the conference, Beatrice Uribe mentioned some concerns for many immigrants.  They may be computer illiterate.  They may also feel or be unable to help their student with their homework.  They also may be enduring the fear of deportation (Uribe, 2012).  Deportation is not something that I like to think about.  Fortunately, for me, I don’t have to fear it for my own family.  However, I was reminded of this reality for my students last year when one of my student’s uncles was deported.  The little boy’s dad had been deported two years prior. He had been making such progress in his academics, but the stress of it all caused him to struggle and regress.        

Refine:

            Going forward from this conference I feel I need to do a better job getting to know more details about the cultures of my students.  By researching their cultures I can get to know some important social cues that can help build relationships between parent, teacher, and student.  Elizabeth Webb suggested just taking the time to learn a simple greeting in their primary language can go a long way to making parents feel welcome (Webb, 2012). I also plan to make homework more accessible to my students by differentiating according to their needs. 

            In the session, Immigration in Picture Books we received some book titles that we can use in our classroom.  We discussed the importance of including these texts in our read-a-louds and lessons to help the ELs to feel welcome and connected.  It was also mentioned that many of these text can help students from the dominant culture see things from a new perspective (Burgess, 2012).  I plan to incorporate more cultural picture books into my instruction.  I also want to widen the selection I offer my students in my classroom library. 

Bibliography

Burgess, M. &. (2012). Immigration in Picture Books. ESOL Endorsement Mini Conference. Suwanee, GA.

Uribe, B. L. (2012). Cultural Glimpses of ELs in GCPS. ESOL Endorsement Mini Conference. Suwanee, GA.

Webb, E. (2012). Bridging the Divide Between the GCPS Culture and the Cultures of ELs and Families. ESOL Endorsement Mini Conference. Suwanee, GA.

Reflection 3-Reflection on Mini-Conference

Sarah E. Findlay

Gwinnett County ESOL Endorsement Program

29 September 2012

Review-What did I learn?

            The Saturday mini-conference was informative and helpful.  The panel discussion in the morning gave me great insight into different cultures and how I can best interact with these cultures without offending them.  Some of these cultures I was more familiar with than others but all of the interpreters presented great information.  I also learned some things about how to bridge the gap between school and home culture and what picture books I can use to do this. 

            The first to speak was Vesna Vujinovic, from Bosnia, Herzegovina.  I have not had the opportunity to teach any students from this country however, I do work with several custodians from this area.  I learned that parents from this country don’t value education at the same level as Americans but do expect more contact.  I also learned that when speaking to them, not making eye contact could be viewed as disrespectful or may portray that you are hiding something. 

            Next Beatriz Uribe spoke about the Hispanic culture.  I have always wondered which term was politically correct: Latino or Hispanic.  Knowing that Latino is anyone from Latin America and Hispanic is anyone who speaks Spanish makes me more comfortable using these terms.  I do have the opportunity to work with mostly Hispanic students at my school so this information may help in referring to them.

            I feel that I learned the most from Eunsook Lee, the translator from Korea.  I have only had 1 student from Korea in my 7 years of teaching.  The parents of this child were very involved with school and didn’t have the same issues that Eunsook explained; however, they are very helpful tips to know.  Some of the cultural differences stood out to me.  Being aware of these will be very helpful when interacting with parents and students from Korea.  I did not know that writing student names in red pen was offensive or that they had trouble reading in cursive.  I also learned about some cultural differences that I had noticed but was not aware of why they happened.  For example, the ideas of “Pajama Day, Hat Day, and the Opportunity Room, are confusing to them because they do not participate in these types of activities in Korean schools. 

            Next to speak was Yisu Brasel, an ESOL teacher from China.  Yisu also mentioned that school functions were confusing for Chinese parents.  The most important thing that I learned from Yisu was the reason behind students from China leaving off the suffixes, articles, and prepositions in their writing and speaking.  I never realized that these words didn’t exist in Chinese.

            Lastly, Lan Schlecht spoke about the term “Asian” and how it doesn’t really give credit to the individual countries, languages, or cultures.  She was taken aback the first time she was called this and I now understand why.  He mentioned too, that most of the cultural differences that Eunsook and Yisu spoke about apply to Vietnamese too. 

            The two breakout sessions that I attended also provided me with helpful information that I can take back to my classroom.  Elizabeth Webb spoke about the culture of Gwinnett County Public School vs. the culture of our English Language Learner’s families.  She explained culture as perspectives, practices, and products.  The Immigration through picture books session gave me the opportunity to explore various books that portray different cultures and tell stories of people and families who have immigrated.  The website that Suzie Kipling developed was also interesting to see.  I enjoyed taking the quiz on immigration.             

Reflect-What does it mean to me?

            My goal for this program is to become an ESOL certified classroom teacher.    Before the mini-conference, I thought that to do that all I had to learn was how to teach them to speak, write and read in English.  I now realize that before I can do that, I must understand the students’ culture, language, and background.  These things have so much to do with how they learn and how I must teach them that I cannot be a successful ESOL teacher without doing this. 

            I also now realize the difficulties these students and their families face when immigrating to the United States.  The cultural differences from their home counties and ours can be confusing, strange, and intimidating.  The students often do not have parents at home that are capable of helping them academically although they have made an enormous sacrifice to give their children a better education and life.  I feel that I need to be more patient and sensitive to them and understand that they are still learning the American culture and the English language.               

Refine-How will I use this information in the classroom?

            I would like to take the things I learned from the mini-conference and use them so that I can develop more of a relationship with my students and get to know their cultural backgrounds.  I have 22 students.  Two are African Americans and speak English at home.  Two are from African countries and speak a language other than English at home.  The other 18 are Hispanic but from various countries.  I have 17 direct served ESOL students and 2 monitored ESOL students.  Each child in my classroom comes from a different cultural background than I do.  I used to lump all of my Hispanic students into one mental category but now realize that they are from various countries and have completely different cultural upbringings.  Completing the interview for the case study allowed me to further get to know one particular student whose family comes from the Dominican Republic.  I know that I also have students from Ghana, El Salvador, and Mexico.  I would love to use the interview worksheet with every student and every parent.  However, for the sake of time, I can simply ask the students themselves about their family culture.  Just like I am, they are proud of their heritage and will most likely want to share with me more of who they are.  After this, I can take that information and use it to help me develop lessons that make sense to them because I know more of what schema they bring to school with them.

            I do not have any students from Bosnia, Korea, China, or Vietnam but may one day.  The information that I learned from the translators will help me communicate with the parents and students in a more clear and impactful way.  Like I said earlier, I do work with custodians from
Bosnia.  I will definitely use the information that Vesna Vujinovic presented when speaking to them.   I feel bad because I often don’t make eye contact with the woman who vacuums my classroom daily, even when I speak to her.  I hope that I have not offended her in any way, but I will make a more conscious effort to look at her and speak to her when she comes to my classroom. 

Bibliography

Brasel, Y. (2012, September 29). ESOL Endorsement Mini Conference. Suwanee, Georgia, USA.

Lee, E. (2012, September 29). ESOL Endorsement Mini Conference. Suwanee, Georgia, USA.

Schlecht, L. (2012, September 29). ESOL Endorsemnt Mini Conference. Suwanee, Georgia, USA.

Uribe, B. (2012, September 29). ESOL Endorsement Mini Conference. Suwanee, Georgia, USA.

Vujinovic, V. (2012, September 29). ESOL Endorsement Mini Conference. Suwanee, Georgia, USA.

Webb, E. (2012, September 29). ESOL Endorsement Mini Conference. Suwanee, Georgia, USA.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Journal 2 Cynthia Czerwonka

Running head:  STEREOTYPING, PREJUDICE AND RACISM                        1

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Racism and

Development of Identity

Cynthia W. Czerwonka

Gwinnett County Public Schools

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STEREOTYPING, PREJUDICE AND RACISM                                                                         2

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Racism and

Development of Identity

Review

            According to Noel, (2008), “in coming to understand our own identity, we must recognize the indelible impact that stereotyping, prejudice, and racism have played in our identity development” (p. 43).  Rather than denying their existence, she believes that one should adopt a hermeneutical consciousness of prejudice, meaning that we “recognize that context—society, its traditions, its prejudices—is not isolated from our identity. But rather, our identities have been forged with and fused with that of society, including the stereotypes, prejudices and racism within that of society” (Noel, 2008, p. 44). As a result of reading chapter 2 in Jana Noel’s Developing Multicultural Educators, I learned the definition of stereotyping, which is a cognitive tool to allow us to organize incoming information.  As human beings, we tend to focus on salient, or vividly memorable aspects of others.  According to Noel, (2008), “we decide who is like us and who is unlike us” (p.50).  We tend to form in-groups of those like ourselves and out-groups of those who differ from us.   This in itself is not harmless, but when combined with what Noel, (2008), calls attributional theory, stereotypes can lead to assumptions about others which may be untrue.  Dispositional attributions, which are part of social identity theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1979) assume that a certain characteristic will always be evident in a person in all situations.  Nondispositional attributions are attributed to circumstance, and are considered to be beyond the individual’s control.  Positive attributions are often given to those in our in-group, while the converse is true for individuals in our out-group.

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STEREOTYPING, PREJUDICE AND RACISM                                                                         3

Problems may arise when these cognitively formed categorizations merge with the individual’s emotions or socially learned biases.   It is at this point that prejudices can form.  Prejudice differs from stereotyping in that our attitudes, feelings, and emotions become involved in making judgments.  Noel, (2008), states that “prejudice is a judgment about a certain person or object or event prior to understanding that person, object or event” (p. 51). Economic factors, traumatic experiences and even our own personality type can contribute to pre-judgments, or prejudices about others.  Prejudice, unfortunately, tends to be learned from society or family, and can be further aggravated by an individual’s poor self-esteem and by viewing the world in an authoritarian or concrete “right versus wrong” way.  On an encouraging note, Noel, (2008), mentions that “research has indicated that a positive and well-developed understanding of identity enables people to more readily accept those who are culturally different, while being less likely to develop and continue prejudices” (p. 56).  Developing a positive ethnic identity for oneself involves, (as cited in Banks, 1994) the individual being “able to clarify personal attitudes and ethnic identity. . . The individual learns self-acceptance, thus developing the characteristics needed to accept and respond more positively to outside ethnic groups” (p. 225).

Reflect

            The section of the chapter on racism challenged me the most. The definition of racism in itself was not surprising to me.   Noel, (2008) states that “racism is the belief that ones’ race is superior to anothers’ and conversely that another’s race is inferior.  Racism includes beliefs in the behavior, moral, and intellectual superiority of ones’ particular race.  A connected

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STEREOTYPING, PREJUDICE AND RACISM                                                                         4

development is the hatred of other races” (p. 61).  Racism stays at a personal or individual level

unless a level of power is introduced (Noel, 2008, p.61).  Noel, (2008), believes that racism

doesn’t exist only on an individual level , but that “the way that society has developed over time

has both allowed and solidified racism in its policies” (p.62).  I agree with her statement; however, my challenge with her beliefs on racism comes with the extension of racism to other areas.  In at least two places in the chapter, she states that “racism (as applied to race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation) exists and thrives within the institutions within society” (Noel, 2008, p. 62).  I do not equate gender, religion, or sexual orientation with racism.  I can understand how they could fall under the categories of stereotyping and prejudice, but not racism.  One can consider his or her race superior, but people of all races have gender, religious belief and sexual orientation.  I do not embrace how she equates these aspects of personhood with racism.  In studying this course material, I am hoping to see how I, as an individual influenced by my personality characteristics, family, and society at large can better educate children who have different cultural backgrounds and identities than mine.  The introduction of this material made me feel that there was a separate agenda in addition to helping me learn how to better educate multicultural children. 

Refine

            As an educator, I feel that I need to become more aware of the cultural backgrounds of

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my various students, independent of stereotypes.  For example, this year, I have a very bright, direct serve EL Korean boy in my kindergarten class who is experiencing significant behavior issues and the need to be first or most important of all the children in the class.  He seems to seek attention at all costs, regardless of whether the attention is positive or negative, even to the point of hurting others and slyly taking their things.   I learned from one of his afterschool Montessori teachers that the Korean culture allows trusted people to participate in the rearing of their children.  It seems so, as this boy’s behavior and almost constant interaction with me feels more like a mother/son type relationship rather than teacher/student. I had a Korean boy last year who was similarly bright, but not extremely well behaved.  I read the information on the education of Korean students in one of the texts for this class, Understanding Your International Students—An Educational, Cultural, and Linguistic Guide.  It mentioned that Korean students hold the teacher in high regard and would not like to displease the teacher.  I see exactly the opposite in this situation.   So this stereotype of how a Korean student views the teacher is not what I see at this point.  Other issues seem to be impacting his education.   

As far as prejudice and racism are concerned, I have felt times that I was on the receiving end of both at times as a classroom teacher.  Many years ago, I had a white female student in second grade that I felt had been abused or neglected.  The parents were very hostile, feeling that their child was not liked by the other children.  They made accusations against me and were prejudiced toward me because of social/economic reasons and felt that I was receiving too much income for my job.  As a result of the  issues, the parents wanted their child pulled out of my

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classroom and the principal did that, since as he put it “the relationship had broken down”.  This seems to me to be an example of the economic competition theory of prejudice mentioned in chapter 2.  

Racism has seemed at times, to be an unspoken concern when I, as a white teacher, have had African American students in class.  An African American parent, many years ago, took rules mentioned at Curriculum Night as an opportunity to challenge my authority in the classroom.  It was almost as if since I said there were rules and consequences, the parent was just waiting for a time to challenge my authority in enforcing them.  That night, I distinctly remember having the feeling that I had said the wrong thing in their eyes during the presentation.  Confrontation followed, and the parents chose to believe their child over what I had told them about his behavior.  They felt they had every right to question my honesty and to not believe me as the teacher. Our white assistant principal said to them that they would need to believe the teacher and they said that they would not.   I have also felt challenged by other African American parents over discipline issues with their children, as recently as last year. Questioning of my judgment in disciplining their child always followed in written form the next day.  Therefore, on these occasions and others, I have seen the effects of prejudice and racism toward me as an educator. 

The chapter has enabled me to bring to mind these instances of prejudice and racism and to reflect on them.  It is hard sometimes to feel that similar issues will not arise with parents of

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students in the same socio-economic status or race.  Yet, over the years, I have had more instances than not of positive experiences.  I have experienced issues of prejudice and racism toward me as an educator, but I will strive to not have prejudice or racism toward my students.  My school has come a long way from the days when I had the first African American student that our school had ever had and one of the long time teachers there said “How do you think the houses in that subdivision will sell now?”  It was such an unbelievable racist statement to me 28 years ago and still is today as I reflect.  I am grateful for all the changes and acceptance that have happened in our school over the years. 

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Banks, J.A. (1994). Multiethnic education, theory and practice, 3^rd ed. Boston,MA:  Allyn and 

            Bacon.        

Noel, J. R. (2008). The concept of culture. developing multicultural educators.  Long Grove, IL:

            Waveland Press, Inc.

Tajfel, H. &  Turner, J.C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. Austin &

            S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (33-47).  Monterey, CA: 

            Brooks/Cole.

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