A Situation Of A Frustrated Middle School Science Teacher

Emergence into a new culture requires courage, toppled with humiliation. Despite the energy or the will, unfamiliar territory/language and events present unrelenting and unavoidable tensions. Hispanic students encounter teachers who fail to support them in maintaining aspects of their cultural identity. For some ELL students honoring and respecting another’s culture may diminish some of the struggles these students face.

To begin, over the course of this semester, I had the opportunity to conduct my history classroom observations at Sierra Vista High. This high school is a public school located in Baldwin Park and is part of the Baldwin Park Unified School District. Sierra Vista High School has a student population of 1,895 students. The student population consists of 90 percent Hispanic, 6 percent Asian, 3 percent Filipino, and 1 percent white. These demographics were shared by the vice principal of the high school. While I was at Sierra Vista High School, I was given the chance to analyze and observe three history teachers. Thus, in this paper I will discuss and share my experiences observing the

Teachers are being forced to give up their lesson plans in order to prepare students. One teacher told how she had spent considerable time and money assembling books of importance to Latino culture, and how her students had responded enthusiastically to her initiative. Her students, however, would have to wait to learn about the Latino culture:

In 1995, Delpit published Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom. Although the excerpt analyzed in this paper is from a larger work, it was written by Delpit (1995) as a self-contained speech. This excerpt includes many of the concepts Delpit believes to be the basic cultural conflicts in the classroom, which are stereotyping, child-deficit assumptions and student isolation and invisibility. Delpit's goal is to "remove the dynamic of oppression that are inherent in any classroom…that come together when (primarily white) teachers spend time with 'other people's children'" (Delpit, 1995, pg.69). Through Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom, Delpit lays the foundation for multicultural

The video that addressed the Chicano community had a large issue with the teachers and their communication with the students. It is important that teachers exhibit positive and appropriate forms of communication. The video documentary created by PBS displayed the clear negative attitude that were exhibited towards students that were non-native language speakers. In the video, the teachers in the school had complete transparency with their unapproval of the Chicanos and their inability to speak english. Students were given a hat that labelled them as “Spanish” until they learned English. Teachers would even go as far to reference the students in their classrooms as “you little Mexicans.” Teacher attitude plays a key role in the progression of all students in the classroom, but especially the ELLs. Teachers must realize and acknowledge that the expressions they make in the classroom have a lasting effect with the students they teach. The classroom is a social setting that ELLs must learn to adjust to with time and patience. ELL students thrive off positive interactions in the classroom. When a teacher shows a student negativity or disapproval, the student is more likely to become avoidant and withdrawn in the classroom. An immigrant student needs a teacher that encourages their interaction in the classroom and provides continuous positive feedback, both verbally and nonverbally. This affected the students in many ways. The students’ confidence levels were low in the classroom. The students also were given a sense of motivation from their teacher’s poor attitude. If I were the teacher in this circumstance, I would provide a positive attitude for all of my students. Regardless of my personal feelings, I would treat my students with respect and love. I would embrace my students cultures and educate the rest of the students in the classroom about

Teachers must have a full understanding of their student’s cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds in order to become socially conscious of the power relations among their students. In order for teachers to learn to lose their own biases, I will host after school teacher trainings where I will facilitate discussions about race and class. This is important because according to author Gilda Ochoa, if teachers hold on to cultural assumptions they run the risk of sending racialized messages to their students, who then internalize them (Ochoa 165). In her book, Academic Profiling, she provides examples of how students pick up on such messages. For instance April Lee, reveals how she is aware of her teachers’ expectations of Asian Americans when she states, “When a teacher looks at you and your face, [they think,] “oh, you’re Asian.” She must be really smart, or she must be really good at math” (Ochoa 165). These stereotyped messages or “ideological assaults” often translate into the differential ways teachers treat their students and is known to create resentment in the students treated inferiorly (Ochoa 172). Clearly, in order for

The second classroom I observed was a first grade class of twenty-five students. Students in this class were all of Mexican descent and labeled as early intermediate English language learners. The

The great challenge for constructivism is that the world in which students and teachers interact is not utopian. Students come to class with predetermined ideas about a course, or with personal needs that distract from attention from the classroom experience. Some students are not willing or able to interact with peers due to emotional issues, thus

them? How will you follow up on behavior expectations and how well you are engaging learners?

Education is one of the most important factors in every person’s life regardless of where they’re from, their race, or their culture. Becoming educated not only makes life easier for us but also can help people become more successful in all things. However with so many people of various races, ethnicities and backgrounds in the United States it is difficult to create an education system that attends to each student’s individual culture. Ones own culture influences their actions and lifestyle, therefore this can create conflict if it is different from their schools cultural teaching style. Multicultural and multilingual classrooms have become the norm in many educational and professional settings throughout the U.S. because of changing immigration patterns caused by globalization (Institute for Educational Leadership, p. 2). For teachers today, it is essential to understand the role of culture and have the ability to interact interculturally in the classroom to create an effective learning environment. Analyzing cultural issues or differences can help teachers to understand some of the unconscious processes that shape individuals’ actions and interactions, as well as their language use and communication. “Teachers who understand cultural diversity…are more likely to be successful in their multicultural classrooms” (Samovar, Pg.2).

Social constructivism’s origins are largely attributed to Lev Vygotsky (1978). Vygotsky believed that social constructivism is the idea that learning occurs when people are socially active; in other words, learning is created through our interaction with others. In a constructivist style classroom, the focus shifts from the teacher teaching the students to the students teaching each other and having more control over what they learn by asking questions and coming up with their own conclusion on things (2016). This style of teaching can be very successful when the teacher provides enough scaffolding. In a typical classroom, you have a teacher standing in the front of the room lecturing to students while they sit and take notes on the information being given so they can spit it back up for a test they will have at the end of the unit. In the constructivist style classroom, the students are pushed to be more active and engaged in their learning process (Education Theory). The teacher creates an environment where students are urged to speak up and share what they think and have the class run more on a student run process. The teacher’s role in this style is not to sit and lecture information but rather engage students actively to find this information on their own and discover it so that it creates more meaning and provides a better understanding. The main goal in this type of learning environment is problem solving. This style of teaching promotes self-guidance and can even

Furthermore, as I read the assigned articles and viewed videos, I realized that my teachers obviously, followed Piaget’s, Vygotsky. Dewey, and Bruner constructivist view because they used the theory of assimilation and accommodation, e.g., the learning of a new experience and changing of a person’s worldview. I also discovered after deep reflection on this week’s assignment, how much of an impact my teachers had on my teaching style. Before retiring, I taught based on what my students needed. Therefore, much of my teaching mixed the theories of, Constructivism, Social Constructivism and Cognitive-Behavioral depending on the student.

“Sociocultural approaches emphasize the interdependence and individual processes in the construction of knowledge”.(John-Steiner,V and Mahn,H 1996).The real understanding of constructivism is only paying much attention on the learners’ previous experience and background knowledge .It maintains that individuals create or construct their own new understandings or knowledge through the interaction of what they already believe and the ideas,events,and activities with which they come into contact.(Faculty, E. 2012).In this essay,the constructivist approaches are based on the Plaget and the sociocultural approaches are based on the Vygotskian.

Teaching is a profession that is considered to be a rewarding challenging and complex role.  An effective teacher does not simply teach knowledge their students and instead aims to arm students with the knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes that will prepare students for life-long learning. The constructivist theories developed by Piaget and Vygotsky have impacted on the way that teachers teach and this has changed the approach of teaching to place a greater importance on the teacher instead to act as a facilitator of learning in an open, constructivist environment and providing students with the tools to challenge themselves to develop both academically and personally.  The education of students within classrooms of today is

You can give the cupcakes to all the students, but none of those Mexicans expect Jose, he is the only one who does what he is suppose to do in class, all the rest just work my nerves.” Quoted above, are three verbatim statements from a teacher stated to her Hispanic students in her first grade classroom. The last statement