This article made me recall several events from my own life. One of which occurred during my student teaching. I am a true southern girl, raised out in the country in Alexander County, poor by today's standards. My mother only completed 7th grade, and my dad only 4th. Neither of my parents were formally educated, but they were very wise in other ways. Being country people, we spoke with a country accent. I never really knew I had a southern accent; I though I pretty much sounded like everyone else did. During my student teaching, my advisor wrote on my observations and spoke to me several times about my accent, and recommended that I work on it to try to change the way I sounded. She thought it would interfere with the students being able to understand me and also that I would sound more professional if I didn't sound so country. I still talk that way; it's just who I am and as much a part of me as the color of my eyes. It doesn't make me uneducated (I do have a college degree!!) or lower class; it may make others think that I am because sounding like a country bumpkin is often associated with stupidity. We Americans are so quick to judge others based on outward things, like skin color or accents or even how fancy our clothes are, and we often write people off before we give them a chance to show us who they really are. I know I am guilty of doing this. I have often wondered what I would have thought about myself if I had had myself as a kid in class. I didn't have the fancy clothes, I only had one pair of shoes and they were not the cool sandals all the other kids had, my dad took me to school in his rusty old work truck and I was so embarassed that I hoped nobody saw me getting out of it. Kids picked on me at times because of what I wore or what I had in my lunchbox (it was always homemade, not the little prepackaged treats from the grocery store). I specifically remember a little girl making fun of me for bringing my mom's homemade pound cake day after day; her name was Dana and I can still to this day hear her telling a kid next to her to look at my lunch-I had that same old cake again. That's been over 30 years ago and I still can hear her words today! I was a good kid in school, always made straight A's and the teachers liked me because of that, but I wonder what they may have thought before they actually got to know me.
I try really hard to look at each one of my kids in class and remember that they don't choose the families they are born into. If they could, they'd choose wealthy ones where they'd be loved and cared for and read to every night and made to feel like they were the most important kid on the earth. Sadly, very few of them get that reality. Instead they get neglected, abused, or just overlooked because parents are either too busy working just to survive or they just don't have the parenting skills to know how to be a good parent. And some just don't care about their kids at all and don't attempt to take care of them. It is not the child's fault if he is born into any of these situations. As a teacher, we have to realize where our kids are coming from, and love them and teach them in spite of their crazy behaviors or grimy hands or inability to speak proper English. Everybody's heard it before, but it bears repeating that we are all too often the only positive in their little lives.
I am sure if I were ever to become the First Lady, there would be lots of chatter about the way I talk and people would wonder how I ever made it this far in life. But as I said earlier it is part of who I am and I don't want to change it. We are who we are because of our surroundings and the culture/homes we are raised in. It makes me think of Laura and Nellie on Little House; they grew up within walking distance but everything about their lives was so different. I think that today our discriminations are not just based on skin color or ethnic backgrounds, but many are based on income and social class as well. We shouldn't be judging books by their covers, but that seems to be all to common in our society.
Lorie Hedrick
Comments (4)
Have you ever call a company who has associates that don't speak standard English? Have you ever become frustrated with no understanding them? I know I have and I suppose that might be what the observer was trying to help you to understand about your southern dialect. (I am not saying she was right or wrong) Spoken language is our main source for communicating, and when there is a link that is strained, the messages get obscured. Kim Shaw
Posted by Kim A Shaw | June 11, 2009 9:02 PM
Posted on June 11, 2009 21:02
Lorie,
You have cut right to the crux of the matter. The way you speak is just that, but as much a part of who you are as the color of your eyes. We are all guilty of judging too quickly, and it's an unfortunate reality that some teachers may provide less than adequate instruction to some children based upon some groundless judgement. I pray I have the sensitivity and compassion to avoid doing just that.
Posted by Annie Croon | June 11, 2009 9:10 PM
Posted on June 11, 2009 21:10
Kim,
I have had that happen as well as trying to communicate with parents/students who have accents or different dialects and it is frustrating. However, I don't think it is proper to ask someone to change the way they speak because it is different from you. The kids in that class understood me just fine; I guess I was a bit offended because I was asked to change something about me that I am not sure I could change if I wanted to. Someone from up North would not like it if I asked them to speak differently; a parent would not like it if I asked them to speak without their accent so I could understand them better. I suppose my point was that I was on the receiving end of what I felt was a bit of bias and I didn't like the way it felt. It's something we should keep in mind as teachers as we deal with children and parents who may talk differently than we do. I get very frustrated trying to have conferences and I have to really strain to communicate with a parent due to language differences; but I can't expect them to change the way they have learned to talk just because they are now in America. Even when they learn English, the accent will likely always be there. That should not be looked upon as a bad thing.
Posted by Lorie Hedrick | June 11, 2009 9:21 PM
Posted on June 11, 2009 21:21
Lorie,
I can relate to what you have written about. I, too, grew up in Alexander Co. I wasn't the richest either, but today I am thankful for who I am and where I came from. We can relate to our students better because of our childhood experiences. You are exactly right when you say the way we speak is a part of us. I believe it is of the utmost importance to teach children standard English, and when it is okay to not use standard English, and when it is necessary, but I have to say that many moments in my classroom or discussions with my students have warmed my heart or brightened my day, because I love to hear their different dialects. I even find myself coming home using some of their sayings, such as having the "bubble guts." (I had never heard that before) It is a part of who they are and also part of what makes them unique compared to everyone else.
Posted by Heather Houston | June 12, 2009 6:32 PM
Posted on June 12, 2009 18:32