Blog Entry #4

In my past teaching experience, I've witnessed this "dual existence" in a student who immigrated from a Spanish speaking country a few years ago. This student was in his third year in the U.S. and learning English, but had been at 2 different schools in 2 different states. The first school (my school) he came to, he stayed in for about a year, then he moved to another state for the next year, then returned to my school. So he somewhat knew the students. Even after leaving and returning and already being acquainted with some of the students, he still managed to seek out those of his same race and "stick with them", even though they were very few (2). Throughout the year I noticed that this student was extremely quiet, even though he spoke English relatively well, and rarely made attempts to get to know Americans (at least not any I'd seen). There was an instance I observed during a class, where this student was being asked, "Aren't all the people where you're from short and have dark hair and skin? Why do your people have so many kids?" (the student that asked this was from a family with 9 other siblings, some half) Of course, he didn't take offense, it seemed he kind of expected questions like that from Americans. He answered, "No" to the first question and, "I don't know" to the second. Then the teacher took the conversation in another direction attempting to expand the student's knowledge on both Hispanic and American family sizes, traditions, and customs. The student asking the questions didn't looking down upon this Hispanic student, he was only inquiring. Even so, I think this misunderstanding of other cultures and unwillingness to reach out and embrace diversity is a problem.

The school I teach in is in a small community, where there is a very small population of ELLs (9 in k-9). Most of the American students have grown up together, being with each other since elementary school. Even though they've accepted each other (black and white), it's still a challenge to accept another race (and sometimes even a new student) as one of "their own." This problem is two-fold: first, the American students are set in their ways, for example, they have their friends and family, their clothes, their cell phones, their designer purses at age 13, etc., and don't need to reach out to "different" students. What good would it do them?
There is also the problem of "SELF' itself. Modern western culture is so centered around "SELF" and the idea that we have a right to have anything and everything we want whenever we want it. This is a result of us becoming a God-less people. The whole message of the world and the flesh is post-modernism: "do what feels good and do what you think is right for you."

Without Christ, we are a carnally minded, selfish people (I'm a sinner saved by grace, so I'm not saying I've never been at this point or ever won't be again) and everything done in life is based in some way around how it will help us out in the end, if we're honest about our motives. So the root of the problem is the lack of a relationship with Jesus Christ (which unfortunantely I cannot address in school.) Better said in His words: "Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Philippians 2: 3-8. And to me, humility doesn't mean thinking less of yourself, it means thinking of yourself less.

How can we expect people who don't know Christ to think about others first when the natural sin nature they are born with says the exact opposite? I realize this is really blowing this problem up, but it's my view of it on a larger scale. My heart breaks for those who don't know Christ or know the beauty of the inheritance in heaven they could take part in.
I can't imagine what it would be like to live in this carnal, sin-filled world without my relationship with Jesus. I'll give this example, then be done. Living this life (with all its good but sometimes terrible experiences/trials it can throw it you) and knowing Christ - that you'll spend enternity with Him- or not knowing Christ and the opposite, is like this example: There are 2 people, one a believer, the other a non-believer. They both have to work in a room every day for 7 days a week, 15 hours a day, for 12 months a year and then they will be paid a salalry. The non-believer would get paid an annual salary of $15,000 a year and the believer would get paid an annual salary of $150 million a year. After 3 or 4 weeks, the non-believer is going to say how defeating and crazy this is and he's not doing it anymore, but the believer will be whistling while he's working, because he knows what's coming. In no way can you compare money with the glory that will be revealed to us in paradise, but this example puts it in terms we can relate to. The believer has a promise to hope for, a reason to keep going and completely put his faith in God and not in the world. He's not getting $150 million, he's getting the inheritance of Christ and eternity with the Father. The non-believer doesn't really have anything to put his faith into except his career, money, worldly desires, etc. that will never bring what he could have in a relationship with Christ. Now back to the discussion at hand...

So, what can educators do to help dissolve this problem ? I think students watch our every move and often do as we do. We can be the best example of accepting and embracing diversity by making students more aware of their new peers and their situations. Sometimes students just need to know more about a person before they can befriend them. I think a great way to help ELLs merge into mainstream culture and avoid stereotypes like the Mexican and El Salvadorian immigrants from the book, is letting them know early that it's ok to be friends with "white people". Even encourage it. Both sides need a little nudging when it comes to this issue of intermingling. The second fold of the problem is that immigrant students/races tend to stick together and form their own communities inside U.S. communitites, making it unnecessary to befriend other races or people because they are self-sufficient. The attitude the book noted of Mexican's traditionally thinking that white people are bad and want to take everything from them doesn't help the situation, even though it's propaganda they've been fed for years and years.
I think it's important for mainstream students to learn about immigrant students and their cultures, thus associating value with them. If they never get to know them, they will more than likely never value them.
I always encourage my ELLs to get involved in after school activitites as well. Being a (has-been) college basketball player, I know that there is no better way to build commradarie than on the field, the court, etc. Even though the soccer team in the book was made up of Latinos, their success finally demanded attention, which got the whole school, parents, and even the community involved in their success and in the process changed their lives. I desire this academic and social success for all ELLs!