A Harvest of Tears

I know several students who have probably violated federal labor laws. Is it more correct to say their parents violated federal labor laws? Their uncle violated federal labor laws? How does one tell parents that the hard work they are teaching their child to do is illegal? How do you tell them that even though their child is capable of working like an adult they should not help support their family? What about students who stand a good chance of not passing their high school requirements and are encouraged or pressured or even told they need to help out in the family business or to earn money to support the family? Are they somehow bad?

It seems to me that we either accept a multicultural society and the values that other family may hold dearer than school or we stop turning a blind eye to all the infractions and illegal activity that is going on. I have known students eleven years of age and older either missing school to work on construction sites and even roofing – a real federal no-no – or falling impossibly behind in their work due to after school jobs and a lack of support. These were male students. I have known female students eleven years of age and older missing school to babysit younger siblings or who go home to full housekeeping, cooking, and childcare responsibilities and falling impossibly behind in their work due to a lack of time and exhaustion. Would we prefer these families seek out public assistance or continue to use every means possible to make a living? We were short-sighted to think that just because we opened our borders these families would easily adopt an American lifestyle without sacrifice.

Some of these family situations remind me of how the depression must have been: children doing the work of adults to help the family survive; boys acting like men and not wanting to stay in school where it was hard and seemed pointless but rather wanting to go out and earn and work like a man. With families being the priority and looking after each other more important than a diploma, since work was waiting that had no prerequisites, it makes sense that some children are needed at home.

The plight of child farm workers is very scary: dangerous, health-threatening, sometimes horrible work where immigrant participants are taken sickening advantage of. Some of these families need the income. What would happen to them if they didn’t have those extra hands? What should our attitude be? In a perfect world the job boss would provide a safe, school-type haven for the children during the day. Parents would never be in a position to need the help of young children in the fields. Children would all earn high school diplomas and have opportunities beyond the onion fields. In a perfect world, the only crying over onions would be when they are sliced.

Multicultural Truth

Multicultural education is a no-brainer that can present the different truths present in the world to students of any age. Each perspective has its own truth, depending on whose interests are being considered, and there is great value in developing critical thinking skills by having students dig for, dissect, and discuss these differing points of view. We need students to learn not only how to understand another point of view so they can become thoughtful discussants, but also to become thoughtful listeners. Then they can be thoughtful disseminators of information.

As adults, they will have to wade through a mob of talking heads broadcasting, blogging, editorializing, and speaking their viewpoints – sometimes vehemently, sometimes calmly, sometimes with education and experience, sometimes with ignorance, sometimes very persuasively and authoritatively, sometimes transparently - and they will have to make decisions, vote, and act on a daily basis based on their beliefs and their understanding of their neighbors and the society surrounding them.

They will experience their own truth. But as members of a very big world that is very close by, they should experience their truth from an informed standpoint, collecting the bias and recognizing it, understanding the importance of history and personal culture, and acknowledging their responsibility and membership in what E.D. Hirsch, Jr. refers to as the “cosmopolis.”

Multicultural education, however, stops short of allowing for differences where policy is concerned. Students whose families want to pull them out of school in order to make a trip home for several days or weeks find resistance from administrators and often resentment from teachers. Attendance laws impose a form of social control and extended leaves result in the student being withdrawn from school only to re-enroll on his return. Teachers get frustrated at the lack of priority where school in concerned, seeing too many students leave for visits and trip and other non-emergencies. Administrators have to worry about truant and attendance laws. In another matter related to social control, Nashville’s new superintendant probably views the isolation of ELL students in separate classrooms for instruction as a form of social control. Those students will likely be immersed for their entire school day in the upcoming year.

Multicultural education is a way of teaching that should involve not only history, but literature and other viewpoints. Multicultural education seeks to understand everyone’s truths.

Not Your Great-Great Grandfather’s Multiculturalism

As many of us look around our classrooms, we could claim to share a common challenge with our counterparts of 170 years ago: how to create common ground for all of the differing backgrounds and experiences we find merged into one room in front of us. While our predecessors did not have a standardized curriculum to the extent we do, they were charged with teaching a fixed set of skills, values, and body of knowledge to a group from a half dozen or more countries. Their job was to turn them all into Americans. Now, we are basically charged with the same task, but it is more about getting them to pass tests than it is about building patriotism and assimilating them into American culture.

Like then, some come willingly to take what we offer; some do not. Some want to learn the secrets of America and her promises; some do not or feel disappointed that life can be so hard even here. Many students bring with them a strong sense of where they are from and pride in their unique histories; sometimes so much so we seem to pale a little in comparison. While dissent and freedom of speech is what this country was founded on, sometimes the negativity of the rhetoric can be a little discouraging.

I struggle between wanting my students to appreciate American literature and wanting to offer more multicultural titles to reflect what my classroom really looks like. But American literature includes works by Hispanic Americans and African Americans and Asian Americans, doesn’t it? So by American literature do I mean white Americans? Male Americans? Americans like me? Today’s multiculturalism is not the same as post-Revolutionary War multiculturalism. Or is it?

We now pause for a moment of noisy silence

Bowed heads, folded hands…our morning news anchors sure look like they are praying when we pause for our silent reflective moment. In my homeroom most are silent, some mouth silent messages, some bow their heads, some start their warm-up, while others work to finish their homework for 2nd period. I used to stop and bow my head. Then I decided that looked too much like I was modeling prayer and I didn’t want to do that. I used to force students to say the pledge and our Code of Conduct. I don’t do that anymore either for several reasons. I do encourage them all to stand up.

I don’t think anything religious, however subtle, should be foisted on anyone else in the educational setting. Personally, it really irritates me when people pepper professional emails with references to God or paste scripture passages as part of their signature. I think most of them would be really bothered if someone with alternative views made the same assumption and treated the school as a forum for sharing religious beliefs. It assumes so much.

Is a moment of silence a sneaky way to incorporate religion? Yes, I think it is, just like school was a sneaky way to try to make educated, civic-minded citizens. It attempts to interject a reminder of morality into the school. If we are going to stop allowing the moment to be set aside, however, then we need to stop allowing other students to actually leave class to go elsewhere and pray on another schedule. Maybe someone else construes that as incorporating religion into public school.

As far as Darwin goes, if something is scientific theory, by definition, it is proven. We don’t discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the theory of gravity. It is a theory, therefore, it is proven. Any religious explanations potentially have another viewpoint. Religious beliefs are centered on faith, not proven theory. They are a personal matter and are not legislated in this country. As far as the Gobitas boy in Pennsylvania goes, we are talking about forcing a religious belief on someone. I prefer we keep all religious leanings out of school, unless we are teaching factual religious history. That is something about which we should not be silent. We need to understand each other. We need to talk and talk and talk.

I'll probably start believing in more conspiracy theories after this ... initially I thought "makers" were the nuts-and-bolts-set-up-the-business end of the system guys and the "innovators" were those visionaries and creative types. You know, someone had to bankroll the start-up of education. But now the makers seem sinister because of their capitalist, repressive purposes. On the other hand, they were brilliant capitalists without any altruistic tendencies ... and we think we just invented this selfish, greedy attitude in recent times!

So the innovators are the good guys, right? Well, not so fast. Not all of them.

Here are my two favorite education figures:
INNOVATOR:
Deborah Meier (1931 - ) Meier dared shake things up in urban schools by knowing her students and daring to create a brand new school based on her beliefs of a family-oriented parent and teacher run school based on democratic ideals with involved adults and respect for children while holding them to responsible levels. Meier speaks out against state-mandated tests. Why people like Meier are in the minority, I don't know, but her voice is respected. If you look at her homepage (link below) you will read that she advocates for equity in education and serves on boards, teaches at NYU, and has published at least five books. Those are just some of her accomplishments. 40 years and counting ...
http://www.deborahmeier.com/aboutme.htm

MAKER:
Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) Carnegie was a doer and a shaker. He worked hard to make opportunities for himself, with little education, and I like his rags-to-riches story. While he profited from those who worked for him, he created a win-win situation that lasted long after his death. He used his core beliefs in hard work, his business acumen, and his belief in philanthropy to establish trusts that award those working toward peace, the arts, education, and other worthwhile missions. The Carnegie Foundation works to advance teaching by supporting policy and research. Carnegie had a huge impact on education and probably attitudes toward helping the poor help themselves that lasts today.
http://www.carnegieinstitution.org/carnegiemedal/background.html

How do you do? (Or, Howdeedo?)

Welcome! I am a graduate student and 6th year teacher of language arts. My 8th grade students helped me tweak my cartoon - thanks, guys - so they will be rewarded with a visit to the lab so they can all create one of themselves! Of course we will pair it with some creative text... I teach, they teach, we all teach ... the best part is when we all learn!

Tapscott is inspiring and I am grateful to him for his positive words about the Net Generation (Grown Up Digital, 2009).