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This week in my Multiculturalism and Practice of Schooling class, [Prof. I got it right this time...:)] we took a quiz measuring our knowledge on equity and diversity in the United States. As I was taking the quiz, I undoubtedly felt confident about some of the answers and not as confident about other answers. One of the questions, that stood out in my mind, was question #1. It asked, "According to the National Center for Education Statistics, what is the percentage of U.S. schools with no teachers of color on staff?" The choices were...a) 0%, b) 20%, c) 40%, or d) 60%. My answer was 60%, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out I was wrong. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 40% of schools in the U.S. have no teachers of color on staff. This caused me to question the reasoning behind this statistic. Is this because there aren't a equal amount of qualified teachers of color? Or perhaps they aren't applying for these teaching jobs at the same rate as their white counterparts? Or is this because our country is still discriminating against people of color?
In an idealistic society, we would just like to think that the only reason why they are not being hired is because they merely are not interested in the teaching profession. I would hope that it's not because they aren't being denied these jobs. However, while I argue the importance of having teachers of colors, I feel it's important to make even more of an effort to hire high quality teachers. Schools need to find a way to do both. We need the high qualified teachers coming from all races, all to help students do well academically and educate them on multiculturalism.
Interacting with people of other races and cultures promotes the goals of the Human Relations approach, which is to create positive feelings among students in order to reduce stereotypes and develop a deep feeling of respect and unity. Just as when a school hires good teachers...their students do better academically, which is in important; so too, when a school makes an effort to have a diverse staff of teachers coming from all ethnicities, races, and cultures... multicultural education is better implemented. We need both...qualified teachers...AND teachers of color...and as our education system and schools become more progressive, hopefully, we will have an equal amount of qualified teachers coming from all races and cultures.
I have posted a link to the Equity & Diversity Awareness quiz :
After taking this quiz, I realized that there is so much about equity and diversity that I am unaware of. Seeing my shocking results (only 7 correct out of 15), I am now even more motivated and committed to educate myself on issues regarding equality in our education system.
In regards to this week's class discussion on Ebonics, the question that was posed was-should Ebonics be an accepted and specific language and should we offer it in schools. I am of the opinion that Ebonics should not be taught in schools because it is not yet an accepted language and because it can be construed as degrading. Ebonics is language dialect that was developed by Africans living in the U.S., which means the United States is the only place where people speak it. Since the purpose of schooling is to prepare children for their future employers, teaching Ebonics would not be beneficial. Why teach someone a language that will keep the geographically limited?I think it would be a good idea for a teacher to learn Ebonics if he or she is going to go into a community where the students speak it so they can relate to them better. But going into a school teaching and it to the students, I think is not a good idea and I believe it will limit them.
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ReplyDeleteagree that we need more teachers of color in classrooms because it will help diversify the staff and allow multicultural education to happen. It's better to have people from different races, cultures, and ethnicities help develop the curriculum to add in more of a varying perspective.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you about Ebonics being taught because it would not be of beneficial use for the students when entering the working world. But it makes me question the choices of what languages to use for bilingual education. If we are better preparing our students for the working world than why isn't Mandarin or Chinese offered as a language in most schools. You always have the choices Spanish, French, and maybe Italian but what about working with people from other powerful countries like China.
Hmmm. I don't think the question is if Ebonics should be taught as a second language in schools. I think it should be acknowledged though in academia as a valid and rich cultural dialect.
ReplyDeleteHighly acclaimed Professors are now devoted their academic careers to studying broken Englishes and a Professor at this very University is heading a project to study Haitian Creole. As a matter of fact, Google Translate can now translate texts into Haitian creole.
I think there could be a utility to the recognition of ebonics and other African American Vernaculars as it does affect United States culture and is unmistakable evidence of the fragmenting of the American social. Thus, Ebonics, as you say, may not be useful or "beneficial" in the world of Transnational business, but it is beneficial in a number of other ways.
Alyssia- I agree with you that schools should be offering Mandarin...especially since China (and India too for that matter) is where so much of the economy is. Due to our globalized society, schools shouldn't just be offering French and Spanish. Those were the languages that were important in the 20th century. It's the 21st century and we need to adapt to the changes in society, which includes learning Mandarin and other Asian languages.
ReplyDeleteThe Angry Homosexist-I agree that Ebonics should be acknowledged...must I guess I haven't yet seen how it can be helpful in other ways...Which ways do you mean? Even though I don't think it is a useful language in the long term, I still find it to be interesting and would be interested in learning some of the dialect.
And who's is doing a study on Haitian Creole? That sounds so interesting!