Entering FNED 346 I knew that we were going to have to volunteer in a public school. I know a lot of people in this class hasn’t been to a Providence public school and probably had pre conceptions about how the students acted and how they learned. When I found out that we were going to Providence public schools, I didn’t mind at all. I myself went to Providence Public Schools from start to end (k-12). I was always the minority in the schools that I went to. There were never many white students in my schools. So when I started volunteering, I didn’t expect anything out of the ordinary. I knew there was going to be many different ethnic backgrounds.
The class that I went to had one white student and the rest were Hispanic and Black. Everyone got along with one another. The students enjoyed each time I came as they knew that I was there to play a game or help them individually with their work. It was so nice to sit with them individually because that is when I got to learn a little more about each student.
For example this one boy needed help with writing his sentences, because they were learning about verbs and different parts of a sentence. So to help him, I was asking him questions such as how many sister’s and brother’s did he have. When he answered I told him to answer me in a sentence and when he did that ended up being one of his sentences. So as I was helping him learn about making a sentence I was also getting to know him. When I started to connect with him, he started to open up to me and tell me stories about how he has four sisters and where he was going for thanksgiving.
It seemed that every child had a different story to tell me as I helped them with their work. It is true that no one enters the classroom without a story. Everyone is grown up in a different way and it reflects who they are. It’s interesting to see how every student has a very different personality from one another.
I feel that when I become a teacher, I will be prepared to work with multicultural students because I grew up with them. I don’t look at the students for what they look like and where they come from I look at them for Who they are and what they want to make of themselves. I feel comfortable around them and it’s nothing new to me. I believe by me being confident walking into this school knowing what to expect, I reflected a comfortable personality that showed the kids that I was there to help them and not judge them in any way.
Writing this I thought about Carlson and breaking the “Norm”. Our community is changing and there is nothing anyone can do about it. We need to start accepting what is becoming of our community because this is how it’s going to be. We need to start including multi culture learning in our schools and stop trying to exclude it from the text books. Things don’t have to be left out, its people wanting to leave it out, which causes a problem. Not everything is going to be perfect or how you want it. Everything is changing so the best thing to do is accept it and that will eventually help build a better society.
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Hi Katie. I agree with you about relating this to Carlson and breaking the "norm." Although most of Carlson's article focuses on the gay community, his proposals can apply to any culture or community. We discussed in class his five concerns and the first one being that we need to protect the democratic virtues which includes the protection of minority rights and individual freedom. Second, we need to challenge esentualistic world views. By this he means we have to stop relating to the "fixed meaning" because our race is not only personal but also cultural. Third, we need to rupture the borders that separate individuals such as race specifically and by doing this we can build alliances between each other. And lastly we need to embrace that all voices are heard and all truths are understood as partial and positioned. If we apply these five concerns deeply to our teaching methods it would benefit us and the students greatly. Like you mentioned in your post most of the students in your class were of a different cultural background than the teacher. This may also be the case when we eventually become teachers ourselves because no one is fortunate enough to pick exactly what school and class they will teach in. Therefore, it is essential that we are prepared for these challenges and I think that this service learning project has provided us with a great background and gave us a preview of what's out there and how to approach it with a positive point of view.
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