Something that I was glad that we discussed in class was the importance of names. My name doesn’t have a special meaning to it, my parents just liked the name. But many names have more important meanings. Someone in my high school had a Nigerian name that meant “Beloved”, it was a hard name to read, but once you heard it said aloud, you could easily pronounce it. Her teacher chose to call her “Sally” instead of her real name because it was “easier”. Coelho, 2012 states that we must “respect students’ names” (Coelho, 156) because their name is who they are, it is part of their identity. Overall, her teacher could have put in a little effort and tried to pronounce her name. Names have such important meanings, and you cannot just change someone’s name because it is easier for you. My city does not have many people that are not born in Canada. We have a large Filipino population, but we have a minuscule amount of Nigerian people. So, the fact that she wanted to assimilate this Nigerian student with the name Sally was very sad to hear. It is also important to note that the student gets the choice of what they want to be called, if their name given at birth is not what they identify with we have to respect what they want to be called.
Another subject we discussed in class is the need for diversity in the curriculum. My group figured that majority of the curriculum was made from the perspective of middle-aged white men. The curriculum needs to be diverse to show the different viewpoints of people who are minorities people of color, women, and the LGBTQQ2S community. We need everyone’s view to show what we think students need to know for their future.
When talking about the curriculum I thought about when I had to read “To Kill a Mockingbird” in grade eleven English. We can see the change in language from when that book was written to today’s standards. I think that the subject matter in that book, although important, is outdated. A new novel that students are reading is called “The Hate U Give” which deals with more modern issues, and with modern language. It is easier to understand the language that you speak every day rather than the language spoken in 1960. Another part of language is incorporated in “The Hate U Give” is new slang, if you look at the first letter of each word in the title it spells out the word “THUG”. A sticker by omgiavanna is posted below, it shows the work thug in the title.
omgiavanna. (n.d.). The hate U give sticker by Omgiavanna. Redbubble. Retrieved September 26, 2021, from https://www.redbubble.com/i/sticker/the-hate-u-give-by-omgiavanna/32885299.EJUG5
Language is a very important part of many people’s lives. The Coelho reading states that “children’s mother tongues are fragile and easily lost in the early years of school” (Cummins, 2001 as cited by Coelho, 140). As teachers, we must show our students that we support them and their language. School is a major part of our students’ lives, they are in the classroom for 6 hours a day, this is a long time that can “create a linguistic gap between parents and children” (Cummins, 2001 as cited by Coelho, 140). We need to celebrate our students and their language rather than diminish it because we don’t understand it. Students’ families are important in their lives. I really enjoyed the Ten Point Action Plan that ended with “find(ing) new ways to involve parents” (Coelho, 143). I hope that involving the parents/families of the students will create a way that the families can see their students in their school lives.
Another insert from Coelho, 2012 reading had a caution sign telling teachers to not make “students read aloud when reading something for the first time” (Coelho, 170). I think this is a good idea for all students but especially students who are learning English as an additional language. Reading aloud a passage that the students have not read before can cause embarrassment and can discourage students from reading aloud in front of the class. Coelho suggests that we as teachers allow the students to read a passage that they found interesting or described a character well.
Finally, I wonder if learning a language is a privilege. A classmate of mine was worried about taking Cree in university for a language credit because of the privilege that comes along with it. Many Indigenous Peoples lost their language because of residential schools. My classmate posed the following question: is it inappropriate for her as a non-Indigenous person to learn this language when some Indigenous peoples don’t have the opportunity to learn the language of their ancestors? I don’t know the answer to this question, I see both sides. On the one hand, I do understand her point of view because she understands her privilege, but on the other hand, I wonder if learning this language helps celebrate Indigenous culture.
References
Coelho, E. (2012). Language and learning in multilingual classrooms: A practical approach. Multilingual Matters.
Cummins, J. (2007) Promoting Literacy in Multilingual Contexts. Research Monograph No.5.Toronto: Ontario Ministry of Education.