Celebrating Linguistic Diversity Conference

Celebrating Linguistic Diversity 2014
Call for Tribute to Jim Cummins
A Digital Video Tribute to Dr. Jim Cummins
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

The 2014 Celebrating Linguistic Diversity conference will honour the many contributions of Dr. Jim Cummins to the field of language learning and teaching.  On the occasion of his retirement from OISE/UT, the conference organizers are preparing a digital video tribute to Dr. Cummins, which will be featured at the conference.

We invite contributors (students, colleagues, collaborators) to participate in creating the video tribute to Dr. Cummins’ life and work by submitting the following:

  1. Personal narratives and joyful stories about working with Dr. Cummins
  2. Accounts of Dr. Cummins’ scholarly contributions
  3. Artifacts relating to Dr. Cummins’ work
  4. Artistic representations (music, visual art, etc…)

These contributions should be submitted as short digital video clips (1-2 minutes in length) or digital images/photographs.  The contributions should explicitly state your name and institutional affiliation, and the year(s) in which you worked with Dr. Cummins.

Please submit contributions by email attachment to:  Cumminstribute@gmail.com.

Please direct any questions or comments to:

Dr. Antoinette Gagne, OISE, University of Toronto: antoinette.gagne@gmail.com
Dr. Saskia Stille, University of Toronto: saskia.stille@utoronto.ca

 

Call for Identity Text Exhibition

Building on the success and interest in our first exhibition, we are pleased to announce the

2nd Imaginings Exhibition: Showcasing teacher-student “Identity Text” creations

The exhibition will be hosted at the Celebrating Linguistic Diversity (CLD) Conference (April 30-May 2). This year, the conference will honour the contributions of Dr. Jim Cummins on the occasion of his retirement from OISE/University of Toronto. Dr. Cummins will continue his work in the field as Professor Emeritus.

The purpose of the exhibition is to showcase creative projects in which teachers have worked collaboratively with students to create Identity Texts (Cummins & Early, 2011). The exhibition will illustrate how teachers have engaged students in creating artifacts that draw upon their cultural and linguistic resources, diverse histories, and multiple modes of representation in classroom-based learning, contributing to the formation of students’ identities as talented, capable, and legitimate producers of knowledge at school.

The exhibition will be held during a conference session on Friday, May 2, from 10:45- 12:15 pm. Like the first exhibition, it will be located in a large classroom at OISE, which can accommodate approximately 20 exhibits. Exhibits can include posters, books, digital videos, images, visual art, and other artifacts of student work. The session will begin with a 45-minute panel presentation and discussion, chaired by Dr. Margaret Early from the University of British Columbia. Following the panel discussion, there will be a 45-minute gallery walk, during which time exhibitors are invited to talk and share their work with colleagues.

This exhibition is a school-university collaboration, coordinated by Sharon Newmaster, ESL/ELD Consultant (WRDSB), and Saskia Stille (UToronto) and Gail Prasad (OISE/UT). We hope to have a broad representation of work from across the province of Ontario, and as such would like to invite you and/or your teachers to make a submission to the exhibition. Please share this letter of invitation and the submission form with those interested in participating. Please use the following link to submit your proposal  http://goo.gl/ndtx5S (Identity Text Submission form). All submissions are due by Monday, March 3rd, 2014.

We hope you will join us in celebrating, with your students, Dr. Cummins’ contributions to and advocacy for language education in Ontario, and around the world.

If you have any questions, please contact us by phone or by email:

Sharon Newmaster, sharon_newmaster@wrdsb.on.ca; Saskia Stille, saskia.stille@utoronto.ca; Gail Prasad, gail.prasad@utoronto.ca 519.579.0003 x4466     416.706.1596

By |Celebrating Linguistic Diversity Conference, Posters and Tributes|0 Comments
Read More

The Call to Teach: Multicultural Education

The Call to Teach: Multicultural Education

America’s “melting pot” status is one that most citizens are proud to claim. The fact that people here often refer to themselves as one ethnicity or another, and rarely as simply an American, is proof that being from somewhere else – however far removed – is a source of familial pride. Even African Americans, who do not always have an Ellis Island story in the family tree, find collective strength in the stories of their ancestors and what it means for their lives today.

This blending of cultures is both a blessing and curse of the K-12 classroom. With more diversity than ever, teachers have to adjust methods from one student to the next, and from one year to the next. Multiculturalism is about more than a classroom with varied skin color – it includes careful examination of the neighborhoods, parenting styles and general experiences that shape each and every K-12 student.

In my new book The Call to Teach: An Introduction to Teaching, I examine multicultural education and what impact the diverse students of today will have on the next generation of educators. Today I want to touch on the term “multiculturalism” and examine its meaning in K-12 classrooms.

Defining Multiculturalism

In its most basic sense, multicultural education is a progressive approach for transforming education based on educational equality and social justice. The components required in educating a multicultural education are content integrations, prejudice reduction, empowering school culture and social culture. These all relate and all require attention as they relate to the efforts of conflict resolution in today’s world. What kids learn in their classroom environments when it comes to interactions with those who are different from them translates into how well they will manage life in the global marketplace.

read more

In the last century, there has been an increase in global mutual acceptance of opposing views and different cultures – though arguably, there is still a long way to go. Specifically when it comes to America, it is crucial that multicultural education exist with the increasing number of students who speak a second language and come from somewhere else. Diversity exists even within mainstream society and students need to have the communication life skills that multicultural education promotes.

Teaching in a Multicultural Society

So what does all this talk about multiculturalism really mean in the contemporary classroom? What can teachers do to make sure they practice pedagogical individualism and promote the diversity that exists in society as a whole? Since each classroom is different, each approach will be varied as well. Some important common ground when it comes to multicultural teaching should include:

Careful observation. David Kolb created a four-step model for really understanding the needs of a particular student group. He starts with concrete experience, adds reflective observation and then moves to abstract conceptualization and active experimentation. In other words, multicultural education cannot be taught in a textbook. It must be developed by each educator based on a particular student group.

Learning style guidance. Teachers can help students discover their academic strengths by helping them discover their own learning style. In this way, students discover what method of comprehension works best for them based on their own backgrounds and personalities. If educators make this learning style quest a class project, an inherent lesson in multiculturalism is taught.

Pride in heritage. Educators should look for ways to emphasize the differences between students in a positive light. This might mean writing essays on family background or partnering with other students to help each other develop projects that accent the culture of the other. This can include prompts that look back on family history for generations, or could ask students to look at their current family setup.

There are scores of ways that educators can approach multiculturalism in K-12 classrooms but the first step is recognizing its importance. For today’s students to experience lifelong success on the global scale, educators must recognize the need for multiculturalism in pedagogy.

How do you adjust to and promote multiculturalism in your classrooms?

Link to the online article. 

By |News, News & Events|0 Comments
Read More

Helping children over the double language barrier

Monday, January 6, 2014, 16:25 by
Claudia Calleja

Helping children over the double language barrier

Just over 272 children who attend State schools cannot communicate with their teachers or peers since they do not understand Maltese or English, according to Ray Facciol, assistant director of the Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education. In November, an induction centre was opened to help children who arrived in Malta facing the double language barrier. However, the government is now trying to draw up a plan to address the children who landed in Malta before November.

Consultation meetings are being held.

Maltese is like a bubble that cannot be burst or a house you are locked out of, according to two of the 272 immigrant children who attend school in Malta but have communication problems.

These children, most of them in primary school, cannot understand Maltese or English, which makes learning a struggle for them and their teachers.

A 12-year-old immigrant girl, who illustrated her perception of Maltese with a drawing, drew a large wave with a ship on its crest and explained that people who knew Maltese were in that ship.

She then pointed to the bottom of the wave where there was a wrecked ship – she was in that ship since she could not communicate, explained teacher Sharon Micallef Cann, who spoke to these children as part of her Masters’ thesis in Applied Language Studies.

When teachers have a positive feeling about students, the students feel it and they move forward.

In her research she looked at immigrant students in Malta and the language barrier they face – a subject that was discussed during a consultation workshop organised by the Education Ministry on Friday.

At the moment, 272 of the children who attend State schools cannot communicate with their teachers or peers since they do not understand either language, explains Ray Facciol, assistant director of the Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education.

With the influx of immigrants, their numbers have increased over the years and the government is now drawing up a plan to tackle the issue.

In November the Pembroke induction centre was opened to take in new students who arrive in Malta facing the double language barrier.

However, the government is now trying to draw up a plan to address the children who landed in Malta before November, and who are struggling in the mainstream system.

Consultation meetings are being held in preparation for drawing up the plan. On Friday the ministry organised a meeting for educators and invited US researcher and author Cristina Igoa to share her experience working with immigrant children and language.

An immigrant child originating from the Philippines, Dr Igoa is an expert in multicultural education and the author of the book The Inner World of the Immigrant Child in which she talks about her experience helping immigrant children learn English in California, where she lives.

read more
We need to teach them the basics such as why the bell rings – that it’s not because there is an emergency

“I focused on the aspect of reading English and on getting them on grade level (to have the reading skills required in the grade they were in) and then they’re going to be successful… When the teachers have a positive feeling about students, the students feel it and they move forward,” she said.

Over the years she has met some of the children she taught, and who are now working adults.

Some time ago she got a friend request on Facebook from a young man and she did not accept it.

He then sent her an e-mail identifying himself as a student from the class of 1993. He told her he had become the sales manager of the biggest tequila company in Mexico and spoke perfect English during his travels.

Such success stories are encouraging to Elizabeth Pisani, a coordinator within the Education Ministry.

The ministry had to ensure that the plan being drawn up would offer a holistic approach to the realities faced by the immigrant children who were in Malta, she said.

Some, from war-torn countries like Libya and Syria, were “shell-shocked” and had seen atrocities no one their age should experience. Apart from facing the language barrier, some children did not have any experience of schooling.

“We need to teach them the basics such as why the bell rings – that it’s not because there is an emergency,” she said. …

Online source.

By |News, News & Events|0 Comments
Read More

Teach Oregon looks to increase diversity in Springfield’s educators

By

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. — A new initiative in the Springfield School District hopes to increase diversity in the district’s teaching staff.

Student ethnic demographics are changing nationwide, and Springfield is no different. The district is taking part in a program to hire teachers that reflect these trends.

District officials said that a third of its students are minorities, while the racial makeup of educators is overwhelmingly white.

The district is taking part in Teach Oregon, a program to attract more diverse teachers.

Assistant superintendent Matt Coleman said he hopes diversity in the classroom will benefit the community and students.

“We talk a lot in education about how do we personalize.  Part of personalization is having the students’ culture and background reflected not only in the curriculum but in who is delivering it,” said Coleman.

Springfield schools will partner with area universities, allowing college education students the chance to get hands-on experience.

The district plans to pay for costs associated with obtaining a degree and license. The total price tag for the first five years of the program is estimated to be one point three million dollars.

“As we look to employ these teachers in the first several years of their teaching, part of their salary goes to pay back the tuition that was paid forward,” said Coleman

Yareli Montano grew up in Oregon, never having a minority role model. She often felt out of place in school.

“You feel disconnected at times.  I know I did, and I felt like ‘oh you don’t know where I come from, you don’t know what I’m going through, you don’t know my struggles’,” Montano said.

Since working at Hamlin Middle School, her aspirations have changed. Now, she wants to be a teacher, and hopes Teach Oregon can help her realize her dream.

“I feel like it’s a huge opportunity for both teachers and students. Even if you’re not a student of color you get to have interaction with a teacher who is different than you,” said Yareli.

The Springfield District hopes to have fifty candidates within the first three years of the Teach Oregon program, half of whom would be minorities.

Full on-line article with video.

By |News, News & Events|0 Comments
Read More

The government’s proposed ethnic minority survey

Hong Kong – ‘Asia’s World City’. We live in a vibrant melting pot of cultures, and we’re proud of it. But despite this, our city is still failing many of the 6.4 percent of people who make up our ethnic minority population, particularly those from South Asia. Over 80 percent of South Asians living here work in low-paid, low-skill jobs. They are more likely to have problems in securing a house and, according to Oxfam, are more likely to work longer hours and for lower pay than their Chinese counterparts.

“The amount of Chinese I learned in school was totally nil,” says Tauqir Ahmad, an assistant project director at Lady MacLehose Centre, which supports ethnic minorities. Ahmad was born in Pakistan, and came here in 1996 when his father got a job. He studied at a ‘designated’ English-language school. “Of course, that was the main problem for me. There was no communication with local people – only Indians, Nepalese and Filipinos. We were segregated because we didn’t have any opportunity to study with local people.”

The giant language barrier in our society is at the root of many of the social problems that South Asians face. As most of these students don’t speak Chinese at home, they struggle to keep up with lessons at mainstream Chinese-language schools, and usually attend one of the 31 government-funded English-language schools instead. In late October, the Equal Opportunities Commission warned the government they need to address this issue of segregation or face investigation.

read more

“These [English-language] schools teach Chinese to ethnic minorities at a lower level, rather than teaching it as a second language,” says Puja Kapai, a fourth-generation Indian and an associate professor of law at Hong Kong University. “So by the time they get to Form Six, their language abilities in Chinese are only equivalent to Grade Two or Three.”

Kapai explains that ‘these graduates are limited to a realm of jobs’. She says, “Even a graduate with a high grade in GCSE Chinese may struggle even to work as a delivery boy, as he won’t be able to read the address in Chinese. There is no way for upward social mobility. [The system] entrenches an entire family in inter-generational poverty – they can’t break free from that cycle because the educational opportunities do not put them on equal footing with their counterparts.” Kapai feels that the government needs to start providing a dedicated CSL (Chinese as a second language) curriculum within mainstream schools.

Ahmad agrees that something needs to change. He says, “The education system is totally unfair for us. Other countries have a fair system, but here the ethnic minorities cannot interact with the local people – how can they learn Chinese if they have no interaction? That’s why they get lower-priority jobs as construction workers, drivers and security guards. It is a major problem.” Ahmad admits that, at first, he struggled to get a job due to his poor academic qualifications. “The schools don’t put much effort into ethnic-minority students,” he says.

While it’s true that many children from ‘white’ families also don’t learn Chinese, that demographic tends to be wealthier, with children more likely to study at international schools and attend university abroad. “About one percent of ethnic-minority students [here] get into university,” says Mariana Law, spokesperson for the Equal Opportunities Commission. “You have to understand the background of these South Asian kids. If they can’t get into university here, then there is no alternative.”

So, why is it so hard for ethnic minorities to pick up Chinese at mainstream schools? “That’s the million-dollar question!” exclaims Yip. “The UN have said repeatedly that Hong Kong needs to develop a CSL policy to help ethnic minorities get equal life opportunities. Why
is it not happening?” she asks. “The government hasn’t always been very concerned about ethnic-minority issues, partially because they are 6.4 percent [of the population] – some would argue it’s not a big number. Also a lot of these people, politically, they are disenfranchised. So they can’t garner that attention.”

Law points out that ‘some ethnic-minority students don’t even go to kindergarten’, which certainly exacerbates the problem. “There
are various reasons [for that], including that the kindergartens aren’t subsidised by the government,” she says. “Some of the parents also feel it’s too difficult to get into them, because the medium of instruction is Chinese.”

While Ahmad appreciates that, overall, Hong Kong is a good place to live, he acknowledges that cultural understanding between Chinese and minority populations is still a problem. “It’s much harder for the locals to integrate [with us],” he says. “Sometimes colour or race, it makes a difference for them.” He also thinks that discrimination is latent. “Housing is a major issue right now in the [ethnic-minority] community. Landlords or agents make excuses like, ‘sorry, we don’t have any houses right now’, or raise the price out of their expectation. They don’t want to give the house to them, because they think they will have lots of children… there are lots of reasons.” Ahmad continues, “And when a contract is issued, it’s often written in Chinese. What is said verbally [by the landlord] may be different from what is written, but they cannot read it.”

The government has now promised to conduct a special survey into the households of ethnic minorities at some point next year, with a view to improving the data that is available. No other details have been announced yet. “It’s a better-late-than-never gesture,” says Yip. “It’s very important that the government knows more about this community before they try to help them out of their issues.”

Working to resolve these problems could reduce the social unrest that can unfurl through the marginalisation of certain groups. “There are districts now that really are facing youth gang problems,” says Yip. “If [these youths] cannot see a way out through the normal avenues, they very easily get lured into drugs and crime. The government really has to face the problem, and that involves giving them hope and equal opportunities in all facets of life.” Anna Cummins

To find out more about the Equal Opportunities Commission, see eoc.org.hk.

Online source.  …

By |Uncategorized|0 Comments
Read More