REFLECTION:
After reading this article I automatically connected it to the 'Hunger of Memory' piece. Esme is a Latina who is coming into a new school and has to experience new things. She has no idea what people are going to think of her. Would they judge her for her ethnicity? Would they be friends with her? When she was asked to describe herself she obviously said she she was a lot smarter, last year she used to just go to school and come home and repeat every day. Now she wants to start staying after school and joining things. As I read that I asked myself "why is it that her routine was the same every single day last year?". As I reflected back to the Hunger of Memory piece I then realized it is because people are judged not only for their color but for their ethnicity, their background, and the language they speak. Is this a reason she could have been doing that every day? Were students and teachers not accepting of her? I think it is really great that the school incorporated Latino opportunities into their school. It really helps Esme be connected with other students as well as her culture. As the reading says "As our analysis demonstrates, students such as Esme, who may see themselves as only "kind of smart" and as dependent on others for guidance, are nonetheless actively engaged in the process of becoming and responding by ceding to and resisting their positioning in the school". Spanish as well as every other language SHOULD be offered in schools for students to take. So they can branch out and learn other things because not every student is the same. Everyone comes from a different background. Students like Esme coming in to this school where not one person is accepting is not right. Like the Hunger of Memory the teachers should incorporate a second language in their classrooms so every child has a chance to learn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWP8-yBAcnY
^ this link shows students joining a SLC (swiss language club) enjoying it, and learning new things. This should be available in every school.
I really enjoyed your connections to the readings! Spanish should 100% be really important in school, our population now a days is growing because of all those in the country that are Spanish and we should appreciate it! Also, learning about a new culture/ language is so good to children, it opens their eyes and let's them discover a new world.
ReplyDeleteMulticulturalism is an important concept for students of all ethnicities to learn! I think that we should start teaching languages to students at a younger age
ReplyDeleteI wish that I had been introduced to a second language when I was younger so that I could be fluent at this age
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