REGAN, TIMOTHY F., and PETER SCARTH. “ESOL AND THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN.” 1968. ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 30 Jan. 2011.
Regan and Scarth in their article “ESOL AND THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN.” comment on their concerns and observations on programs for English for Speakers of Other Languages, and how these programs are or are not working for Mexican-Americans. They directly address different methodologies and approaches that were being used in 1968. Regan and Scarth also discuss the short comings and and lack of regard for the Mexican-American’s “psychological set and his cultural heritage.”(Regan, Scarth 1) This article addresses how the psychological set and heritage is immensely important for the Mexican-American's retention of the curriculum.
The process that the educational community has used in teaching Mexican-American's English in the class room, according to Regan and Scarth, has me lacking guidance and direction for many generations. They address multiple aspects of the ESOL program that have had short comings in the past. Regan and Scarth point out teachers continue to disregarded research that supports using Spanish in the classroom and insist on having students only speak English. Regan and Scarth go on to discuss the importance of empathy for the Spanish speaking students cultural backgrounds that the students call upon for understanding and using their new learn skills.
The evidence that Regan and Scarth present in they article from 1968 is still evident in the education system today. Many teachers who interact and work with Spanish speaking students encounter the same issues address in this article. As more and more Mexican-American students are learning in English based classrooms the philosophy of Educators must be open and willing to adapt their methods to help these students learn. The unique backgrounds and heritages that many Mexican-American and migrant workers families' come from present teachers with learning abilities they have not encountered with native english speaking students or urban students. These new learning environments require new techniques and programs that have not previously used in the public education system.
The complex ideas and methodologies addressed by Regan and Scarth are ones that all educators must ask and address for themselves when they are working with more and more spanish speaking students. With the help and use of ESOL specialists teachers and schools have had more success helping Spanish speaking students in their classrooms. Many concerns can arise out of the current state of these programs. One specifically not addressed by Regan and Scarth is the need for Mexican-American students to be full assimilated into American culture. One of the main focuses in primary school is to help children become and act “American.” This step I believe is being left out of the education process for Mexican-American students for respect to their home life and cultural background. However with the lack of becoming “American” will these students have a harder time continuing their American education, one that is so reliant on standardized tests geared toward American students?
Hi Joshua:
ReplyDeleteThis is an extremely interesting article. I enjoyed reading your summary of it, which I felt was fairly well-detailed and clear. I especially appreciate how you used this article to frame researchable questions to pursue later down the line. (While bearing in mind that your final researchable question may still change.)
I'm extremely curious about the question you asked about standardized testing at the end. What standardized tests actually measure is a contentious issue, and one that I have some background in. I'm also curious about how you spoke toward how culture, and specifically a respect for different cultures, impacts how one approaches education. I'm looking forward to seeing how your thinking progresses from here.
Hi Joshua,
ReplyDeleteI really found your response to this article insightful. I do agree we are seeing similar problems in todays educational system as it seems like was going on back in 1968. It's as if even though we are being more and more affected by the Mexican American culture, we are almost turning a blind eye on educating them. There needs to be more studies done on the effectiveness of different types of teaching styles in classrooms. One question I have about the article is if teachers were using Spanish in their classrooms, then would that take twice the amount of time to explain something, and eventually end up in teaching less? If this were the case then would a segregated system, even though that brings up a bad taste in the mouth from American History, end up working better for the Spanish speaking students? This way all students would be able to be in a system where they learn best. It is important that America has a good educational system for all the different types of cultures that we are surrounded by, considering America has prided itself on how culturally diverse it is since the melting pot era. This makes me question would it be important that teachers learn more about the cultures in order to incorporate them better? I can see this taking more dedication from teachers to their students which would eventually mean a better class room environment for all students. Or would it in fact be better to have teachers who come from these different cultures teaching instead of the typical American teacher we see today. I'd like to see what your thoughts are on how to improve the current system.
You seemed to have more of summarized the article rather than writing down your own personal thoughts. It's as if you weren't fully talking back to the article which is something brought up in our readings so far. I'd like to read more of what you think about the ideas this article brings up, how you would fix the current system, more questions that you thought of ect. I did enjoy your question about the standardized test at the end. It makes me wonder about how exactly the test is geared towards American students, which is something I'd be interested in studying. There is a lot to learn about how the best way to teach Mexican-Americans through our service in the HEP program, and I am excited with working with you to see how your thoughts evolve and change, or stay the same depending on our experience with the program.