Prompt #2: Dewey

I am in an interesting setting in my kindergarten classroom. I was placed in an English as a Second Language (ESL) Classroom, however; I am a reading buddy, so I do not get to see my teacher teach often. When I enter the classroom, students are usually reading independently while the teacher is doing other things around the classroom.

The environment in the classroom is a friendly one. There are children of all different races and ethnicities. The teacher encourages the students to learn English, but uses their language, the cultural capital that they bring into the classroom, to clarify ideas. I can tell that the teacher is not trying to strip them of the richness of their first language, but encourages them to know both languages. John Dewey challenges the ideas that children all learn the same way. Students do not all learn the same way, and it is up to the culturally competent teachers to see that students need to be treated fairly, but do not all need the same things, and to be able to adjust accordingly.

Looking at the ‘info works’ website almost brought me to tears. In grade 3, no more than two students fit into the “Proficient with Distinction” category. This school, compared to the average Rhode Island elementary schools percentages are very poor. At points, when R.I. schools percentages are at 61% for reading, the school is only at 21%. The students not reaching proficiency in every race, gender, and all other characteristics, is higher than the percent reaching proficiency! That is so sad.

In my group of reading buddies, I have one boy that speaks Spanish, Justin, and the other of an Asian dialect, (I’ve asked him what the language is called, but he says he does not know). Occasionally, we will “picture read” a book. The other day, we were doing it as a group with the teacher and she pointed to a car. Justin said the Spanish word for car. Instead of reprimanding him for not saying the English word, she helped to connect the two words, to get him into the habit of speaking English. If she had made him feel embarrassed for speaking his native language, he would get into a habit of not speaking it for negative reasons.

John Dewey argues that language should be viewed as an asset, not a deficit. Students languages should be embraced, not shoved to the back. After all, in a diverse and growing world, bilingualism is one of the most valuable skills one can have. Mrs. Smith clearly demonstrated this by the way she encouraged Justin to learn the English word, while allowing him to feel a sense of pride for being able to connect it to the word of his native language.