Last Thought

“I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.” (Peter in Acts 10: 34-35)

My Action Plan (Step 3)

When considering the situations and environments I have observed and experienced (in step 2), I believe they are three things I can implement to address the inequitable conditions that occur in education. In order to empower my students, strengthen their identities, and affirm their diversity, I will: 1) Get to know my students on an individual basis to the best of my ability; 2) Teach content as well as academic language using meaningful applications and connections to prior knowledge; 3) Make an effort to include meaningful references to the different cultures and experiences that exist among my students, especially showing how their cultures play important roles in our world.

Details of My Action Plan:
1) Getting to know my students is essential to knowing how to encourage and empower them through my lessons and teaching style. It will direct my content choice, the models/examples I use, my anticipatory sets, and my ability to connect new concepts to prior knowledge and experiences. It will also help me connect to my students when talking to them individually about their work and progress. I want to encourage the development of their strengths and scaffold their progress in their weaker areas. Some methods I plan on using to get to know my students are: 1. Designing a name tent and/or art portfolio using graphic lettering that tells me something about yourself. 2. During the first week of class, the students will have an assignment to research their first and last names (ask their parents, etc.) and write a short paragraph about the meaning and history behind their names. In class, students will pair up and share their name with their partner. The pairs will then introduce each other to the class and share what they learned about their classmate’s name. This activity should give me insight into the students’ cultural and familial backgrounds. By pairing up and sharing personal stories, this activity will also build community as well as cultural awareness in the class. 3. During the second week of class, students will be asked to bring in one or two artifacts that represent their culture. They will share them with the class and do a drawing activity with the objects. This will also give me valuable insight into their cultures and how important culture is to them. I also hope to affirm their cultural identities by making each student feel important when their share their objects as well as do the drawing activity. My hope is that these methods will help students reflect on their cultures and how it shapes who they are. 4. A survey. Students will answer questions such as “What is your favorite subject in school and why? What do you like to do in your free time? What extracurricular activities do you do? What are your career goals? What do you think you need to achieve those goals? What are your life goals or dreams?” The survey will hopefully provide me with quick, direct information about the students’ interests and aspirations. 5. Exit cards. For the last 10 minutes of the first day of class, students will reflect on what their goals are in art and what they are most interested in learning about art. They will write down their goals and interests on an index card and turn it in before leaving. I like this method because it gives me quick information and makes the students reflect on what they want out of the class. It gives them a chance to form their own personal goals and share their interests with me.

2) For ELLs, teaching both content and language in a comprehensible, meaningful way is essential. Many immigrant and long-term English learners do not succeed in school because they were never taught academic language in conjunction with content. They are either taught just conversational language or just content. They need to know the academic language necessary to succeed in their content classes. I plan on using the CALLA method (3 objectives to teach: content, language, and learning strategies) with my ELLs so that I can even out the “playing field.” Teaching the three CALLA objectives prepares second language learners with the skills needed for school as well as their everyday lives.

3) While I was in college, I realized that not all important history, literature, art, philosophers, and music originate from white people, as my high school led me to believe. Studying important writers, artists, and teachers of different ethnic backgrounds validated my ethnicity as important and something to be proud of. The Asian-American Literature course I took exposed me to books that gave words to my feelings, history, and experiences. These Asian American writers encouraged me to find my own voice. My self-worth and self-knowledge was strengthened. I plan on strengthening and affirming the identities and diversity of my students in the same way—by exposing them to a variety of important minorities and giving them a chance to reflect on their own culture and develop their own voices. I want my students to understand that their cultural differences—their language, values, families, accents, food, religion—are not things to be ashamed of but proud of. I want them to see how culture shapes who we are and how these differences contribute to the world around them.

How will I do this? As an example, I have taught my students about Frida Kahlo. When we studied Frida Kahlo, I emphasized how she was very proud of her country and Mexican heritage. She collected artifacts from ancient Mexico and dressed in traditional clothing. She displayed her culture in her appearance, her values, and her art. My students were blown away and those who were Mexican suddenly found a new sense of pride in their identity. We did still life pieces that incorporated symbols of our own cultural backgrounds. It was amazing to see how excited they were to share with each other what countries their parents were from and what languages they spoke at home. This is just one example of how studying a famous artist of an ethnic minority helps affirm the cultural identities of students and helps them form an ownership and personal connection to what they learn. I plan on giving my students opportunities to dig deeper into what culture, ethnicity, nationality, race, and gender really mean and how they shape our identities and societies.

The Influence of the Christian Worldview on Teaching (Step 3)

The Bible clearly teaches us that God is an equitable, loving God who gives grace indiscriminately to all who believe in Him. It is clear that He looks at the heart and not outward “appearances.” He does not condemn people by their past actions if they are willing to change and have a heart of faith. His love for us, not His judgment of us, is what changes us: “I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” (Jeremiah 31:3) We are willing to come to Him because of his love and kindness.

As a teacher, I believe that practicing God’s example of equity, compassion, and love will help me create an empowering, equitable classroom. It is easy to become overwhelmed as a teacher with the amount of diversity that exists amongst students—how do I teach them all when they come with different backgrounds, needs, and challenges? It is normal for overwhelmed teachers to react with hopelessness and just teach to survive. But God calls us to a higher purpose—we are to glorify Him in everything we do. God calls us to love and give to those who are in need. As a teacher, I consider it my job to love my students with the love of God and strive to teach them so they may reach their full potential. This means strengthening and affirming the identities and diversity of my students, empowering them to become the best they can be. I am not to judge them or condemn them by their past, but to teach them with love and kindness.

My Experiences as a Minority Student (Step 2 continued)

While reflecting on the inequitable situations and environments I have seen in education, it occured to me that I have my own experience to share. My education was far from being "difficult" and I was never "mistreated." But, when thinking about it, I was never culturally empowered until college--and that only happened after a series of weird, degrading experiences abroad and one key class: Asian American Literature. BUT, let's start from the beginning.

Both my parents were born in the Philippines and moved to America to work and start a family. My brothers and I were born in California. Being a child of Filipino immigrants greatly defines who I am.From K-6 grades, I don’t think I ever thought of myself as “brown” or as not “fitting in” because of the diversity that existed among the students and staff. Our teachers often taught us about their cultures through music, poems and art. The only time I felt awkward about my ethnicity was during lunchtime. I pulled out adobo (a Filipino chicken dish) while others had peanut butter and jelly. I was frequently asked, “What’s that?” Nobody wanted to trade lunches with me. I begged my mom to make me sandwiches like everyone else, but she didn’t understand why a sandwich is better than pancit (a Filipino noodle dish).

This slight embarrassment with my Filipino identity grew in high school. I went to a private prep school, very liberal and accepting, but I was clearly “brown” is a sea of white students. Most of my friends were white. I was everyone’s token “Filipino” friend. But, fortunately, I never felt like an outcast or felt like I was treated differently from the other students. In the classroom, we studied US and European history, the “classics” in literature, and the art of the Western Civilization. In orchestra, we played music of the great European composers. But the fact that no “minority” culture was represented in my academic studies did not really occur to me. I just accepted that some cultures were more "important" to know than others.

It wasn’t until I went to Brown University in Rhode Island that I became aware that not all states are as culturally diverse as CA. The university itself is diverse, but Rhode Island and surrounding areas are not. I would walked into restaurants and immediately feel out of place. When I went to Italy to study abroad, my awareness that I indeed look “different” became even stronger. The other students on my program were all white and when we met Italians, they asked me where I was from. I told them, “America,” and they said, “No, where are you really from?” I was confused but quickly realized that my brown skin did not look “American” to them in comparison to my blue-eyed, blond-haired friends. They weren’t satisfied with “California” as an answer either. It wasn’t until I would say the Philippines that they seemed to understand, even though I’m not “from” there at all. As my experiences of being labeled a “minority” and “different” grew in the East Coast and abroad, my desire to reclaim and strengthen my Filipino-American identity grew. I did not want to be ashamed of my heritage—I wanted other people to understand what the Filipino people and culture are about and what it is like to be a child of immigrants growing up in two cultures; I want people to understand that I could be Filipino AND an American as well.

Inequitable Situations and Environments (Step 2 continued)

4. The film, “My Brown Eyes,” by Jay J. Koh shows how immigrant children are often misunderstood, and therefore mistreated, in school. The film exemplifies how many teachers do not know what to do with students who are “different.” Teachers are often ill-prepared to handle the language and cultural barriers that immigrant children present. Instead of embracing the cultural diversity of their students, teachers mistakenly try to figure out what these students need to change and learn to adapt to their new, “American” classroom. The film shows how ashamed and isolated a child can become when no one understands or even attempts to understand him—he cannot participate in class discussions and both the teacher and other students automatically question his intelligence; he is ashamed to eat his lunch because it “different” food and wrapped in a paper bag, not a lunch box; other students pick on the way he looks and his inability to speak and he ends up in a fight and sent to the principal; he has no one to pick him up from the principal’s office because mom and dad are at work and so he sits as he was told, not even moving to go to the bathroom. All these injustices would not have occurred if he could speak English and defend himself; but immigrant children with no language skills are easily left at the very bottom if the teachers and administration do not consciously prevent these inequalities by proactively teaching immigrant children and ELLs with compassion and the necessary skills.

Inequitable Situations and Environments (Step 2 continued)

2. A big downfall of most ESL/ELD programs is their failure to teach academic concepts and language along with basic language. Even if a ELL learns how to speak English conversationally, they will not necessarily be able to succeed in school because they were never taught academic language. Teachers then make the mistake of assuming that these students are fluent in English and do not need any more scaffolding or differentation. They assume that they do poorly in class just because they are not very smart or are not paying attention. Closing the Achievement Gap and CALLA both site research that shows that ELLs need to be taught both academic language and content when learning English in order to succeed in school. CALLA also promotes explicit teaching of learning strategies to equip ELLs with methods of learning that they can use throughout their schooling.
3. The article “What did you bring with you to school?” by Vasilia Kazoullis shows the common inequalities that children from other cultures face in school. Kazoullis points out that children are expected to conform to each teacher and each classroom environment—individuality is not usually accepted or encouraged. Therefore, many children become ashamed of their cultures and “differences” and abandon them in hopes of fitting in and receiving approval from the teacher. As Kazoullis points out, teachers should not see their class as one whole but as individuals that each bring something of worth to contribute to the class.

Inequitable Situations and Environments (Step 2)

1. I have observed art classes in five different schools. In each school, the ELLs are usually treated like any other student. I have talked to the teachers to ask what strategies they use to teach them, and most say that they pair up beginning ELLs with other students who can translate. Because art is such a visual subject and directions are naturally modeled, teachers get lazy and assume that their ELLs are following along and learning. As far as I observed, most ELLs do manage to follow along, but I do not think they are learning to the best of their abilities. They are not receiving an equitable education because the native English speakers are able to grasp new concepts and academic language to a deeper degree and high level than the ELLs simply because they can understand the language. The ELLs are not even given an equal playfield to start from. They start many steps behind their fellow students. The teachers usually have lower expectations of what they can achieve. Instead having the same expectations of the ELLs and scaffolding their instruction with SDAIE and other strategies, they lower their expectations and just expect them to get by.