Cultural modeling in an ESL classroom

Location and Population.

I work for a program run by UIC- Center for Literacy in conjunction with FAST (FAmily STart Learning and Support). They operate their program in South and South West neighborhoods of Chicago, with community partners such as Head-start programs and other partners, who provide the geographic space while UIC provides the resources and instructional staff. The students in my classroom are parents of pre-schoolers that attend Head-start in some locations and the general population in other locations. The purpose is to broaden accessibility of language instruction to an immigrant population that has very little access to the English language, in both instructional and everyday forms.  My students are all mothers of one or more children, first generation immigrants that have been in the United States for 1-20 years. There are 2-3 levels of language learners at one time in the classroom, and within each level, proficiency in oral literacy also varies a great deal. Students are tested on reading comprehension at the beginning of each year., however oral literacy skills have to be gauged during classroom practices.

Reflections on Practices.

The primary strategy used in the ESL classes focuses on the cultural modeling framework which attempts to create educational resources from the experiences of non-dominant students, outside of the classroom. The purpose is to engage the ‘funds of knowledge’ that students acquire through their life; a composite of community bonds, modes of reasoning and build on them, allowing the students to brings their cultural and language skills to class as well as explicitly identifying and connecting these skills to academic practices. 

This was done explicitly by creating activities designed to value student’s past and present cultural experiences such as, ‘the Day of the Dead’. This allowed students to share their unique cultural practices originating from their specific places of origin. The conversations which gave legitimacy to all experiences, create an atmosphere of trust, while affording them the sense that their experiences, values and beliefs matter. This discussion encouraged students to use oral language skills about cultural practices and beliefs that they felt deeply about, as well as reflect over the variations in these practices that exist; a discussion later tied to differences in cultures and cultural practices leading unto discussions of cultures that are viewed negatively.  However, making culture relevant and providing opportunities for students to make these connections is preceded by the student's ability to communicate with the instructor and the class. Group conversations are more culturally sensitive as they allow students to consult with each other regarding what they want to communicate and then collaboratively come to a decision regarding the best words to use for these conversations. One-on- one conversations that are more personal to students may become arduous and frustrating for students with difficulty in oral english skills.  

The aforementioned interactions are continued in daily lessons through discussions of the challenges that individual students face; if  students choose to discuss them in class, providing them with the opportunity to use the class as a sounding board, converse in their second language, and an opportunity to build their confidence regarding interactions outside of their ESL classroom.  Lesson are a composite of structured grammar and unstructured, organic topics that students may want to bring to the class regarding healthcare, children’s schools, shopping experiences and career goals. These are ongoing steps that we have taken as a class to create and maintain ‘safe spaces’ for all students (Lee, 2007). 

Interactions and conversations with students were really valuable in helping me shape instruction as the program developed and also allowed me to see that each classroom was different, with the students guiding the conversations and the projects. Conversations with students who already have a highly developed sense of agency revolved around their goals which centered on potential business and career opportunities that could be harvested after attaining a certain level of English proficiency. Culturally relevant pedagogy entailed that I understand the affordances that they brought into the classroom, and giving them repeated opportunities to learn and build their confidence about their learning.  Additionally, it was also important to  encourage students in the skills they wanted to learn while being aware that the same conversation with another group of students might be counter productive. 

Since students in the classroom are coming from very different backgrounds - with having completed their GED to not having access to any schooling -  socially just pedagogy entails that each student is given the scaffolding necessary for them to feel confident while being challenged at a level that engages them and provides appropriate, effective learning opportunities. For some students, this required that we bring a Spanish speaking English language instructor in the classroom, and this was made possible after two months into the program. For the more advanced learners, knowing when to encourage English language usage is important. Students at the intermediate levels informed me that they were happy when they didn't have access to a Spanish speaker, since it forced them to think about what they wanted to say in their second language. This also necessitated group involvement in translating peer comments into English.  Collaboration provided the students with increased access to language, contingent upon the student’s desire to communicate to their ‘language deficient’ instructor. This is what culturally sensitive pedagogy looks to me; creating classrooms as a ‘safe space’ that allows trust between the student and the instructor, as well as trust amongst the students, and always maintaining a sense that the content brought to the class by the students has importance and legitimacy within the educative environs the classroom.

Pedagogies of social justice have been employed in our conversation about the purpose of education, developing a ‘sense of self’ and ‘empowerment’, which is done by including student’s ‘funds of knowledge’ in the classroom as well as identifying that goals are self-designed and must not be dictated by social conventions. Conversations about the various discourses in the socio-political domain, especially the dialogue around the ‘caravan’ have created opportunities for students to substantiate their claims through videos from the ‘border’. These videos of central American refugees are considered representative of the entire population (Hondurans), which they have found to be deeply offensive. Exploring the roots of that feeling, making connections between the dominant discourse in the Mexican community and the racist discourses that immerse from the debate around immigration in the United States, exploring student perceptions, encouraging them to explore if those perceptions are substantiated by their own experiences, allows us to reflect over what we believe and how important it is to dismantle Foucault’s ‘self evident’ truths. 

Sometimes, conversations that maybe problematic in larger classrooms, can be navigated in smaller one’s when everyone is given the opportunity to express themselves without judgement or allusions to political correctness. But it is necessary to explore beliefs and the origins of those beliefs before we even begin to ask students to dismantle them in the face of evidence or critical thinking. Student views must be validated before they can be questioned and one must provide students with opportunities to question the instructor before this dynamic is turned around. Adult education is uniquely comforting in ways that perhaps educating adolescents may not be; the instructor is clearly the facilitator and there are no social norms that can counter this dynamic.