2/8 Reading

Hi,
Lee's Unraveling the Model Minority Stereotype complimented the previous week's reading well, as it took a more focused approach to how immigration effects a specific population, in this case Asian immigrants.  The most ridiculous thing about the book was that many teachers believe Asian students do not need as much attention during class or help because they are fine with the material and their efforts are better put to use with other immigrant children.  I found it shocking that teachers bring these sorts of stereotypes with them into the classroom.  Another way in which this book highlighted issues from the previous reading, Children of Immigration, is that it brings up issues of identity again.  The book dismisses the assertion that Asians are a model minority void of problems and able to easily succeed, citing many studies about how Asian children are torn about their identity.  Are they white? Are they black?  I could not imagine being a young student and having to deal with such issues.
Furthermore, the book brought to light the complexities of the diversity of the Asian immigrant population.  For example, students from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam all differ greatly in many ways including culturally.  These differences really opened my eyes, as I had never considered the great diversity within the Asian population before.  I found it interesting that some Asians identify with their native cultures, while others identify with American culture of a pan-Asian culture.  The book again highlighted just how complex identity of immigrants really is.  It helped me learn about students of different backgrounds and I really hope once I get into a classroom I am culturally sensitive, unbiased, and do not make assumptions about students of different cultures.  Overall, I felt as though this book was a more focused study of the one we read for the previous week.  One of the most interesting parts of the reading was the segment which discussed how different students perceive race, going from the white student, to the black student, to the Asian student's perspectives.  It amazed me just how different these perspectives on race were in the modern times and shows that race issues are still relevant today, something I had denied for a long time though I still think they are overstated.
Concerning the reading from chapter seven in Affirming Diversity, I felt that the new ways of helping students acquire English were particularly useful.  It is shocking that it took this long to figure out a way to help ELL students truly learn, putting the politics aside.  For example, it seems blatant to me that ELL students should be able to use their native languages in the classroom to understand content.  Otherwise, you are taking away their most comfortable form of communication.  It seems obvious that teachers should embrace their student's culture and language to help them learn the new American language of English rather than alienating them.  In all the ways America has moved forward, it is shocking how stuck in the past and caught up on culture wars the nation still is today rather than trying to really help our students learn.

Children of Immigration

Hello,

This week's reading made me realize just how different the demographics of each community are from one another, creating very different learning environments.  Prior to this reading, I was oblivious to just how many immigrants are around us in American society.  In fact, the book says one fifth of all American youth are immigrants.  I found this very high and it contrasted sharply with my experiences in school.  In my small school in Ashburnham, Massachusetts where I grew up, there were only two minorities in the entire school, let alone immigrants.  Therefore, this book helped open me up to the realities of the common classroom in contemporary times.

One thing about this book that surprised me was just how little our society does for immigrant children.  Supposedly in the land of freedom and equality, I was shocked how little the education system tries to help these children who are already at a disadvantage.  It is especially shocking because of all of the studies that show that if certain things are done for these children, they will succeed but yet those things still aren't being done.  

Another detail about this reading that I had never considered was just how different each immigrant is from one another.  I find that before I lumped immigrants in one mental category when thinking about them, but now I realize that as an educator I must learn about each immigrant's unique cultural background in order to properly teach them.  The reading really brought out that though two students may be immigrants, they could be from extremely different backgrounds and experiences, something that I found necessary to know in order to move forward with educating them properly.

The last thing that stuck out about the reading was just how complicated the formation of a self identity would be for the immigrant student.  I tried to relate the stories to my personal life and tried to put myself in these student's places.  In a time period of youth where life seems confusing and uncertain as it is, these students must also face the pressures of self identity and what to identify with, such as their native cultures versus that of their American classmates.  I was moved by just how much pressure these young students are forced to deal with on a daily basis.  I feel more education about the psychology of these students, as for example the book explains that behavior problems with these students often stem from these issues of self identity.  It helps as a classroom teacher to appreciate why my students may act the way they do and it is always interesting to understand the psychology behind it.

Many of the statistics in this reading were also very interesting.  For example, I always incorrectly assumed that immigration generally in contemporary times dealt with mostly Hispanic immigrants.  However, after this book I realized that Hispanic immigrants accounted for not even twice as many immigrants as those that are coming from Europe.  I would have guessed that Hispanic immigrants would outnumber European immigrants at least 3:1.  Overall, this book showed me how complex immigrants as a group are and made me appreciate the uniqueness of each student.  I now realize that in addition to the inner turmoil of each student, there are so many cultural, societal, and other factors that need to be taken into consideration when dealing with students.  I will now be more culturally sensitive with my students having read this book.