The article “Ovuh Dyuh” made me reflect on myself and my previous years of teaching! Even though I have taught very few African Americans or biracial students, I can recall times that I have corrected their grammar! I know that I did this in a very professional way, but did I create a “mental conflict” as the article discussed! I was trying to teach my students the acceptable and expected way to speak in public. This article has taught me that I should be aware of cultural differences and to except them. By trying to change these I could create self-esteem issues with the child.
This article also made me think of everyone’s life in general. We all change the way we speak to separate individuals. For example, if we do go for an interview we do know how to “code switch”. If we are talking to a baby or toddler we talk to them in our language. Just because we “code switch” in these ways it does not make us look more unintelligent. I do not view African Americans and their language as looking less intelligent. However, I do agree that there are people out there that does believe that the properly language is the correctly spoken English language.
If you think back to your school days, do you remember making fun of someone’s accent? I can definitely remember these things happening. I can also remember watching my peer and looking to see what they were wearing or the way their hair was fixed. I wanted to fit in with everyone else. I also do this for my son. This relates to the article “No Kinda Sense”. As teachers I feel that we should try to prevent these types of situations! A parent should never have to move a child to another school because of their classmates making fun of them! This made me think of a child in my class this year. He was new to our school and has CP. He has told me many times that he loves my school and never wants to leave. He says that the students at his old school made fun of him for the way he walked. His school now does not do this! His disability does not make him ignorant, in fact he is the highest reader in the class! We all need to love each other for who they are! God has a purpose for us all and everyone’s purpose is not the same! We must remember that we are all equal and no one is better than anyone else.
Misty Mistretta
Comments (7)
I too agree that no student should be forced to leave their school due to being made to feel less than their peers. It is the job of the teachers and school personel to be aware of bullying issues and have a no tolerance policy. Students must be made to feel comfortable in school and within the classroom.
As adults it is also important that WE remember not to judge someone by their appearance or the way the speak. We need to set exampes so our children will now how to be acceptable of others, regardless of their differences! Kim Shaw
Posted by Kim A Shaw | June 9, 2009 12:45 PM
Posted on June 9, 2009 12:45
This gets a little touchy...suppose a child receiving services for speech mispronounces certain phonemes. Are we to allow him to go on that way, or do we correct him? He is communicating, he is using his mother tongue as best he can. Will I make him feel "deficient"(bad word choice in this instance, but you read the material).Is his home life any less valuable because of his speech? A resounding no is in order,and yes, I would continue to work on his sound production to perfect it as much as possible. When I consider this scenario, correcting kids for saying ain't, double negatives, and other poor grammar choices begins to seem unimportant to me.
Posted by Annie Croon | June 9, 2009 1:28 PM
Posted on June 9, 2009 13:28
Misty, I understand no child should be teased at school, but I while reading your blog I had the same thought that Annie had posted. We are torn as educators to do what is best for the child. Playing devil's advocate here, you said we should except the child's cultural differences and changing them could cause self esteem problems, but on the other hand, if we do not correct them, going about it in a polite maner, will we be setting them up for issues later on in life becuase nobody helped them to understand proper language? I would hate to think that I could have helped a child early on in their education, by correcting poor grammer, but chose not to so they did not feel self concious, and because of this they are now looked upon as ignorant in a job interview because of their poor grammer.
Posted by Barbara Terauds | June 9, 2009 8:55 PM
Posted on June 9, 2009 20:55
Annie you and Barbara are both correct, I did not think of it in this way! I guess it probally is better to correct the children. I know that I would not want my child to look ignorant. So I guess to me this means that I should correct the students and will correct them from now on. Thanks for your thoughts!
Misty Mistretta
Posted by Misty Mistretta | June 9, 2009 10:11 PM
Posted on June 9, 2009 22:11
I understand your feelings of not wanting to hurt a child in the way that you correct them. I also agree that we each have a different purpose and that we are all created special. Unfortunately, like it or not, we live in a world where our intelligence is viewed through our language and the things that we say. In most cases the first thing that comes out of our mouths is what makes the first impression of who we are and our ability. It's scary! And it makes me continue to focus on my every word in the classroom to make sure that I am an appropriate model. While I wonder about many of these same things, I also wonder who will teach them correct English if we do not!
Posted by Jessica Jackson | June 9, 2009 10:38 PM
Posted on June 9, 2009 22:38
As an afterthought, I must express this...It's not how you say something that makes people think you're ignorant. It's what you say. When biased or racial comments are uttered, hurtful language, judgemental talk about someone behind their back, and all the junk that some people spout off so easily gets tossed out, that's when someone is bound to think you're ignorant. Verb tense, wrong word derivation, or wrong meaning, no, I don't think someone is ignorant because of these. They just made a mistake. That's why they put erasers on pencils.
Posted by Annie Croon | June 10, 2009 9:55 AM
Posted on June 10, 2009 09:55
I often find myself correcting children too. I try not to do it in an embarrassing manner. I just make sure that I say the sentence correct so they can hear the difference. I hope that I’ve never hurt their feelings by correcting them; I think it depends on how you do it. I also agree with Annie when she said it’s what you say that makes you sound ignorant, that is a good point!
Posted by Dana Eudy | June 10, 2009 10:10 PM
Posted on June 10, 2009 22:10