Hey everyone, I haven't had a ton of time to write recently, but I'm still constantly thinking and reflecting!
One of my recent contemplations is on expectations and standards:
What kinds of expectations do I hold for my students? What standards do I use to guide my planning?
The tricky part is, as I have reflected in an earlier post, my students struggle with the English language and with culture as well. For instance, we recently sang a bunch of Christmas songs and danced to movements from the Nutcracker; they will not know its cultural significance unless we set it aside and discuss it. Or, whenever we sing songs, I have to break it down for them so that they know what exactly they're singing about.
To once again describe my job in a nutshell: I am expected to bring a Westernized music education to Chinese students who have had little to no prior "Western" cultural experiences.
Thus, educational standards from Western countries are null; we cannot expect a 1st grader in China to perform in the same way that a 1st grader in the US would do. (Reminder, our school is not an international school for expats; it is open to ordinary Chinese kids) Adjustments must be made.
In my mind, bilingualism plays a HUGE role in such a context, as I could help kids connect their prior knowledge (all in Chinese - their main mode of communication/understanding) to create new meaning. Then this begs the question: what do I do if my administrators tell me to only speak English in class?
To be completely honest, I have been "cheating," because if I want my students to fully understand, I have to be able to communicate with them. If they can use their main mode of communication/understanding in order to create new meaning in English, then that's what I will do.
And maybe that's what constructivism is: to help my students create new meaning by respecting where they're coming from (and Scaffolding from there); take a chill pill in the meantime, because shoving everything down their throats and expecting instant results isn't going to help them.
Hi David!
ReplyDeleteThis post reminded me of my struggles with educating patients of different ethnic backgrounds. (Sorry to immediately jump to healthcare, since I can only draw from my own experiences ^^; )
Even though our job descriptions differ - you are "expected to bring a Westernized music education to Chinese students..." whereas my job is to treat medical conditions - I feel like education makes up a large part of healthcare.
So many diseases could be prevented, or treated better, when patients are aware of what is going on with their bodies and their plan of care. But unfortunately, the current healthcare system doesn't provide the "luxury" of time to spend properly educating our patients! And it's even worse when there's a communication barrier...
I'm really glad your students have a teacher who acknowledges & respects their background.