25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them (19 page)

Culture may be described as socially transmitted behavioral patterns, knowledge, values, beliefs, attitudes, interactions with others, arts, products, and thoughts. Is there any doubt that different sociocultural groups will understand and perceive the world in different ways? I think not. Members of a culture may effectively transmit implicit information or information that is understood although it is not expressed directly to another member of that culture. However, when the same implicit information is communicated across cultures, there may be some miscommunication or confusion (Delpit, 1988). The children in this scenario seem to be experiencing this type of confusion. They were having difficulty understanding what the teacher wanted them to do. Unfortunately, the teacher appeared oblivious to what was really happening in this exchange. Apparently, she thought that yelling and public ridicule would solve her communication problems. Her less-than-professional tactics,
possibly conceived in prejudice, only served to damage the self-esteem of these language minority students and make them hate her and hate school.

Enlightened teachers are aware of the problems of cross-cultural communication. They are very explicit in their communication of directions, rules, answers to questions, and so on. They know that children from different cultures may misinterpret their directions or instructions. Heath (1983) concedes that minority students may misinterpret veiled teacher commands. The students may take such commands literally because they do not understand the implicit meaning. Professional teachers want to be aware of their biases or discriminatory behavior. They want to expose them to the light of truth. They know the potential psychosocial costs to their students and demand the eradication of any biases.

SCENARIO 10.2
Cinderella in the Classroom

My worst experience in elementary school was in the first grade. The first day of class, our teacher told us that girls should not wear shorts to class because it would distract the boys. The following week, my mom decided to send me in shorts; even though I begged her not to put shorts on me, she insisted. I was terrified of what might happen to me that day. When I arrived to class, my first-grade teacher embarrassed me in front of all the class and told me to go home because shorts were not allowed in her classroom. I began to cry as I walked to the office. My mom was called and was very upset because she had embarrassed me in front of the class for wearing shorts. I was placed in another class; however, after that incident, I was afraid of teachers and became very timid.

To assume that all teachers are rational and emotionally stable would be a grievous error. I question the teacher’s rationale for banning shorts in her classroom. I seriously doubt that little girls in shorts would distract first-grade boys. I think given the choice, boys this young would be more easily and readily distracted by a toy matchbox car. I think she was overzealous in her efforts to enforce such a rule. It seems her own dark thoughts had clouded her vision. If the children were much older, maybe a little concern would be justified.

Teachers who understand child development realize that first graders have not achieved the level of sexual maturity that would cause them to be “distracted” by the opposite sex. These astute teachers would think it ludicrous to impose a rule that reflected such outmoded, puritanical beliefs. Caring teachers are wise enough not to punish a child for actions that are beyond their control. When I was a graduate student working as a substitute teacher, I encountered a similar situation. I had a second-grade class that was supposed to attend an awards ceremony that was being held at a neighboring church. The church had a rule that no shorts were allowed. Unfortunately, a little girl came to school in shorts.
She appeared to be a neglected child. The teachers were quick to swoop down on her, demanding to know why she wore shorts. The child just cowered and looked down at the floor. Some of the more verbal teachers told her that she would not be attending the ceremony and that she would have to remain at the school.

This was a big annual event that everyone would be attending except a few staff people. The little girl said nothing. I asked if I could call her parents and ask them to bring her something else to wear. Several teachers laughed and said the mother was probably passed out from drinking. When I offered to drive to the little girl’s house during the break, several people said it would not do any good. I realized there was only one other alternative: I had to buy her something to wear. I rushed out during lunch and asked the shopkeeper to help me. When I told her what I was trying to do, she pitched in to help me find something, and she gave me a discount. I rushed back and enlisted the help of another teacher. I thought it was better to have someone else present to help her get dressed. The little girl went into the bathroom to change her clothes. We helped her button up; we washed her face, combed her hair and put her new barrettes on her hair. The kids in the class were teasing her when she was wearing shorts. When she came out in her new dress, everyone just looked at her quietly. Everyone in class attended the ceremony, but wonder of wonders, the only person to win an award was the little girl. She won first place in an art competition. It would have been a shame if she had missed that honor through no fault of her own. When she received her award, she turned to look at me and smiled. That smile has warmed me through the years whenever I think about her. The moral of this story is if children must be punished, make sure it is for something that they can change; otherwise it is a wasted act of futility that may extol a heavy emotional price on the child.

SCENARIO 10.3
English-Only Spoken Here

The worst experience that I had with a teacher was as a senior at L.H.S. I was caught speaking Spanish in the restroom by a teacher who reacted by giving me some “licks” with a wooden paddle. He had me grab my ankles in a hall where students were walking to their respective classes. The irony of this experience was that the teacher was a Mexican American just like myself. He told me it was against the law to speak Spanish at school and that he had to make an example of me.

This Mexican American teacher’s notion of “English-only spoken here” adds a new, punitive dimension to the concept of total immersion. Apparently, in the name of immersion in a second language where students hear and speak the second language only, there is zero tolerance for defaulting back to the native language. In addition to the confusion
of the cognitive codeswitching that is necessary when speaking two languages, students must also cope with the confusion of being punished for a perfectly natural act (speaking in their native language). The teacher may have been well-meaning in his misguided attempts to make sure that his students become proficient in English, a must if the students are to become part of mainstream America. Unfortunately, the English-only approach focuses a “deficit” lens on speaking Spanish that diminishes students’ sense of self-concept and self-worth. Some theorists believe that the consequences or adverse effects of total immersion are short-lived and worth it (Collier, 1992; Lindholm & Fairchild, 1990). However, I believe that if punishment is used to enforce immersion, the adverse effects live on, such as in this scenario.

Astute teachers who are well-acquainted with issues of diversity know that each child is different and that what works well for one child may not work well for another. There are a variety of approaches to help a child become proficient in a second language. Partial immersion allows students to use their native language about fifty percent of the time. Research has shown that bilingual education, where students receive instruction in their native language as they learn a second language, is more effective and enhances students’ self-esteem (Garcia, 1995; Moll & Diaz, 1985). Effective teachers will choose the approach that best suits the learning situation.

SCENARIO 10.4
The Transparent Mask of Prejudice

In second grade, I remember having a female teacher who seemed to be always upset about my presence. She never would tell me what I did wrong but would use a tone of voice that I knew she was upset at me. Once she sent me to the principal’s office and I never knew why. The principal was never unkind to me and he sat down and showed me a book and asked questions about the pictures. I was also sent back to the class and I always wondered about that teacher. Even just a week ago, I started to remember that teacher and how cold she really was with me, but now that I’m 38 years old, I know the problem was that she was discriminating against me because I was the only Mexican in her class. This happened during the sixties when prejudice was at a very high rate.

The sting of prejudice is painful for anyone, but it has to be confusing and painful for a child who is trying to understand and trust the world. Although the Mexican child in this scenario could not identify the problem, she knew something was wrong by the teacher’s tone of voice and her reactions. This teacher may not have been aware of her prejudiced feelings or that they could be so easily detected by a child.

Teachers must become global personalities, capable of teaching and caring for every child, regardless of
ethnic background, religious orientation, or physical or mental challenge. Effective teachers know that they must possess adequate knowledge of diverse cultures. They must embrace and celebrate their students’ differences and reject any notions of deficit concerning a particular culture (Gersten, 1996). All children want and deserve to have their teachers like them. Whenever they have a new teacher, their emotional antennae go up, searching the teacher’s face and body gestures for any sign of love and acceptance or of dislike and rejection. Student antennae are sensitive to the subtlest slights. Teachers need to be aware of their feelings about certain groups of children, particularly minority youth or children who are different. They cannot hide them from the children. A candid inventory of prejudiced feelings and childhood teachings about other groups would help teachers take a good look at their feelings and attitudes and make changes where necessary. Prejudice exacts a heavy toll on those who would entertain it and on those who have the misfortune of encountering it. Prejudice has no place in a classroom.