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Anti-Racist, Anti-Bias Classrooms: Teaching Emerging Multilingual Students

October 12, 2019 by Sarah Plum(itallo) Leave a Comment

This post is dedicated to Elsa Mendoza de la Mora.

Elsa Mendoza de la Mora was a loving wife, mother, and friend. She was a beloved educator, colleague, and principal. The first El Paso victim to be laid to rest, Elsa was remembered by a colleague as always fighting for what she wanted, having a passion for teaching. As I reflect on her life, I recognize the innate gifts Elsa had as an educator and a leader. Gifts that connected her with students, staff, and the community. Gifts that were ripped from her, her family, and the community that loved her – in the name of white supremacy.

Elsa, a multilingual Mexican American, acutely reminds me of how precious the students and families are that I serve. When I considered how I could contribute to this series of posts talking about racism, I considered the experiences that I have had as a teacher of multilingual students that have roots in dozens of countries across the globe. All too often multilingual students are overlooked and underserved; this is the work of white supremacy.

Before I begin, I’d like to explain the terminology I intend to use throughout this post. I do not use the term “English Language Learner” (ELL) or “English Learner” (EL) intentionally. While these are widely used terms in education, these are terms that center whiteness and are deficit-focused. Not speaking English fluently is NOT a deficit. The students that these terms attempt to describe are, in fact, emerging multilinguals. Students may already be fluent in one or more languages – this is an asset. I use the term emerging multilingual or multilingual to honor a students’ first language(s) and acknowledge their inherent strengths.

When I consider what’s important to me as an educator, these three areas come to mind (and in this order): relationships with students, relationships with families, and instruction. With that in mind, these are the my most important takeaways to ensure anti-racist, anti-bias language development.

Relationships with Students

Relationships are key in centering anti-racist, anti-bias education and language development within your classroom or school. When relationships are formed, challenging conversations or situations that may follow become easier and more productive to navigate with trust.

Be persistent and intentional in establishing a relationship but let students guide the way at their own pace. Emerging multilingual students, especially when new to a setting, often listen and observe first. This is often called the “silent period” but I prefer to acknowledge this as a time of taking in one’s new surroundings in an intentional way. Ensure that your student knows you are interested in them by greeting them warmly (in their first language), speaking to them often, and listening attentively when they do communicate, no matter how brief. Persist in this, as it is important that – no matter how long they listen and observe – they feel welcomed.
Be explicit in the value you hold for a student’s first language and culture. Through words and actions, ensure that students know and understand that you value their gifts as a multilingual. Avoid praising a student for their acquisition of English without praise of their multilingualism. Honor all contributions made socially and academically, through whichever language it comes. Ensure that all students hear and see this appreciation for multilingual students as it is critical modeling that is necessary to establish an anti-racist, anti-bias classroom.
Be intentional in nurturing peer-to-peer relationships. Language is never a reason that a student shouldn’t be able to develop strong peer relationships. Regular classroom routines to build community, such as classroom circles, should be made accessible and inclusive of all languages spoken. Consider adding visual supports to these community-building routines, as well as utilizing translation technology. In the past I have taught students, monolingual and multilingual, how to access Google Translate on classroom devices and supported them in initial communication with peers. Technology has advanced significantly and it is now possible to utilize speech recognition within the app on iOS and Android devices to hold entire conversations.

Relationships with Families

Trust between families and schools is paramount to creating safe, inclusive spaces for thriving learners. This trust takes intentional work and time to build, but is a part of the foundation of an anti-racist, anti-bias classroom.

Be knowledgeable about the supports offered by your school division/district as well as community partners. Does your division/district have a central office department dedicated to emerging bilinguals? Whether or not it does, what supports are in place for families enrolled in the division/district? Are there in-house or external translation services provided? Programs for families to provide them with the necessary information and access to support for their children as they start school? Who do you go to if you need additional instructional materials or guidance to provide the best possible learning experience for a student? What community organizations can provide you or families support if your school division cannot? It is our responsibility to know how to advocate for ourselves, our students, and their families.
Be bold in honoring families as their child’s first teachers. Cultural perceptions of the role of family versus teachers in a child’s education can vary. It is important to, from your first interactions, position yourself as a partner in education with families. Communicate your desire to learn from families – their knowledge about their children and how they best learn is invaluable to you as an educator. Their funds of knowledge (entire book available here) are priceless. Their cultural and linguistic heritage is an asset. This is not a one time communication – it must be a continuous communication in word and deed. Look for opportunities, big and small, to seek their support and guidance in the educational process.
Be intentional in building an extended classroom community. Families should feel welcome in their child’s school and in their classrooms; they should feel welcomed by other families, too. You are the gateway to building that community. Ensure that school-home communications are multilingual, as well as in-school events. Modeling the importance of multilingualism to every family, regardless of language status, is key in building an anti-racist, anti-bias school community.

Instruction

Quality instruction for emerging multilingual students is a right, but it is often not a reality. Insufficient knowledge, supports, and materials often sustain inequities that are deeply rooted in white supremacy within our systems of education.

Be relentless in your pursuit to provide differentiated instruction. We can differentiate by content, process, product, and learning environment – one or more at a time. In the pursuit of an anti-racist, anti-bias classroom we must walk the road toward equity with intentional instructional decisions. We must consider the barriers to participation and success criteria for each and everyone lesson – and then we must remove them via differentiation. There is a way. There is always a way. Below is an example of how you might differentiate a reading mini-lesson.
- Choose evergreen read alouds, intended for use throughout the year with multiple comprehension strategies, that are available in multiple languages. You can acquire copies in multiple languages by requesting it from your administrator, division, community organization, local public library, crowdsourcing, or seeking it out on YouTube. Ensure that students have an opportunity to either read (if they are able to in their first language) or listen to a text before/during an English-language read aloud.
- Provide reading response opportunities that match the skill being taught to English-speaking peers. When a student has an opportunity to develop their literacy in their first language, their capacity to develop literacy in English widens/deepens. This could mean using the same question stems but using a translator app (or embedded technology in Microsoft Office suite, for example), or visual prompts, or “turn-and-talk” with a peer using an aforementioned conversational translation app.
Be critically reflective and analyze how your classroom serves your multilingual students.
- Go through your classroom library. Do you have multilingual texts? Do you have multiple races, ethnicities, religions, gender identities, sexual identities, and abilities represented? Are they represented in ways that go beyond tokenization?
- Is your teaching culturally responsive? Do you integrate your students’ culture in meaningful ways throughout your day, month, and year?
- Are you actively supporting students in maintaining or obtaining literacy in their first language? Do you share with them what the research tells us about how strong multilingual students are?
Be a learner. Model for your students what it means to be a life-long learner. When you fail, name it. When you do better because you know better, describe it. Be vulnerable in your pursuit of an anti-racist, anti-bias classroom. When our students see us rising to a better plane, they are more willing and better equipped to do so themselves. They will ask the questions that lead to better relationships; they will be willing to apologize and make things right when they harm. And yes, that all starts with the explicit instruction we are delivering in our classrooms – social-emotional, civic, and academic.

By no means is this an exhaustive list of ways we should be supporting our emerging multilingual students, or in developing an anti-racist, anti-bias background. I encourage you to continue your learning on this topic, as I will continue to do myself, as we owe it to our students, their families, and ourselves to do so.

This work is never over.

This post is from a blog post series on racism. If you would like to read some other posts related to race and its intersectionality with the classroom, click here.

Leave the Eggs at Home on MLK Day (February, Too)

January 7, 2018 by Sarah Plum(itallo) 29 Comments

In a few short days we’ll honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s work and memory by observing a holiday; in a few short weeks, we’ll begin a month-long celebration of Black History and the incredible men and women that have impacted our nation and continue to do so.

I’m writing to urge you to leave the eggs at home.

You know the ones: one white egg to represent white America, and a brown egg to represent MLK/Black America/non-white America. Students make predictions, you crack the eggs, and a few minutes later racism is eradicated in a generation because they see that yes, on the inside, they’re both the same.

The thing is… while this may provide an opportunity to tie-up a lesson on racial equity with a nice neat bow in under twenty minutes, provide a great “Aha!” moment for students – it’s helping to perpetuate the status quo: whiteness as the default, and blackness as “the same on the inside despite the outside.”

Please don’t stop reading just yet. You might be angry or disagree, or think I’m making a mountain out of two sets of eggshells, but hear me out. If you still disagree at the end, you have my permission to leave me an angry comment – I just ask that you make it to the end!

To conduct the experiment, you’re relying on students seeing the white egg – whether you explicitly ask them to associate it with white Americans or not – as the default. The normal egg. The good egg. The egg you’d eat. You’re also relying on students seeing the brown egg – whether you explicitly ask them to associate it with MLK, Black Americans, or non-white Americans or not – as the other. The different egg. The egg you’re not so sure you want in your omelette.

The only way to get to the shock factor, the “Aha!” is through the route of one being more desirable than the other.

When you crack them and students find that the brown egg is the same on the inside as the white egg, there’s your “Aha!” Because in spite of it being brown – in spite of its differences, its “otherness” – that brown egg is just like the white one. Because the white one… the white one is normal.

The subtle message this sends is that Black Americans are the same and just as good as white Americans – in spite of the fact their skin is different. That we measure and value things against one single norm, one default. That message is one that I don’t feel we can risk sending to any of our children – especially not out of the convenience of teaching a message of racial equityin a neat, tied-up, twenty minute lesson.

So you leave the eggs home on MLK Day (and the whole month of February). Now what?

Try these ideas instead:

Start with the students – as individuals. Complete a “Find Someone Who” activity that highlights the many perspectives, cultures, and backgrounds within your own student population and classroom. Students may find out they have more in common with their classmates than they knew, or have an opportunity to get to know their classmates in an engaging, low-stress way. Afterwards, have a discussion centered around the idea that because of (NOT in spite of) their varied backgrounds and experiences you have a wonderful classroom community!

Focus on the future to honor the past. While I’d urge you to consider teaching beyond the “I Have a Dream” speech, I recognize this is where most educators start their journey in teaching the Civil Rights Movement and Dr. King (hear more about this topic on Episode 5 of Equi-TEA). Before listening to or discussing Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, have students record (anonymously) their hopes for their own lives and for our country for the remainder of the school year. Place them all in a jar and then read each aloud. Have students respond silently with a thumbs up to indicate agreement or with their fingers inter-locked to make a connection. After you’ve read all the responses, identify a common hope that you can create a goal around work toward. Next, listen to Dr. King’s speech. Help students to draw parallels between Dr. King’s efforts to form partnerships to see his dreams through. Conclude by talking about ways your classroom community can work together to reach their shared goals.

Be a leader, make a change. After reading a text about Dr. King or another leader in Black History – because he was NOT the only one! – or watching one of the numerous videos available, brainstorm words related to his personal character or his life’s work – such as leadership, justice, equality, bravery, courage, and fairness. Write each word on a cloud. Invite students to pick 1-2 traits that they relate to and see in themselves and have them write their names on multi-colored strips of paper. Attach the strips to the bottom of the clouds and hang them around the room. Revisit the words often as a part of your classroom culture, encouraging students to use these traits to propel them forward as a positive force. [Use this in conjunction with listening to the “I Have a Dream” speech or another primary source from that era and writing a classroom goal to tie character to action!]

Examining the impact of our actions despite the best intentions isn’t easy – I often find myself feeling conflicted about my own work as an educator as a result. But it is, after all, the impact that matters most.

It can be the only thing that matters when we think about our students and their future.

My Name Matters: A Challenge for All

July 18, 2017 by Sarah Plum(itallo) 11 Comments

Each year, usually in the back-to-school season, I see a trend on social media. I’ve heard it in conversations in the teacher’s lounge and even in the Dollar Spot aisles at Target. I’d wager a guess that you’ve heard it too at some point.

It’s name-shaming.

I’ve written about it before (The Top 3 Reasons Name Shaming Harms Students) and spoken about it on my social media accounts (such as this video). I’m not satisfied, though, with just talking about it… I want to DO something about it. I decided that this back-to-school season is a perfect time to launch a simple, yet important challenge that absolutely anyone – in anyone school! – can do.

Meet the My Name Matters challenge.

Our challenge goal? To end name-shaming in any of our spaces – whether it’s in our schools, homes, or on social media.

The challenge has two steps:

Honor your students’ names by learning to pronounce and spell them correctly.
Take steps to eliminate name shaming in your own communities by speaking out.

I, of course, want to provide you with tools to be successful in this challenge! I have some suggestions and thoughts about how to work through each of the two steps below.

Honor your students’ names.

It is so important that we honor our students’ names by pronouncing and spelling them correctly. There is an article published by NEAToday that discusses the lasting impact of mispronouncing students’ names, as well as this must-read from Cult of Pedagogy.

It’s important… we want to do it… but how?

You’ll want to begin by getting your class lists and identifying any names that you’re not certain of pronunciation. This may be names that have multiple pronunciations, or names that you are not at all familiar with. Next you can:

Make contact with the students’ family, introducing yourself, welcoming them to the classroom community, and inquiring as to how they pronounce the student’s name at home. You may want to explain that the purpose of your phone call is to make sure your student feels welcome and valued by you pronouncing their name correctly.
If you’re not comfortable with asking a students’ family how to pronounce their name ahead of time, be sure and ask the student how to pronounce their name upon meeting them. Be sure and repeat the name back, checking it against their own pronunciation – you may not get it right the first time, but you will get it right with practice!
Contact previous teachers and ask how they pronounced the students’ name and compare notes – this is a good stop-gap measure if you’re unable to contact the family and want to try to pronounce the students’ name correctly prior to meeting them. Err on the side of caution, though, as your colleagues may not necessarily be pronouncing it correctly themselves!

Remember: keep at it until you get it right, and if you make a mistake – apologize! Make sure your students know that it is important to you to honor their names and that you’ll keep at it until you do.

Don’t be a bystander.

The saying goes: when we know better, we do better. We know name shaming is wrong, so we’re going to stop doing it ourselves. But… can’t we strive for more? I think we can, and I want to end name shaming TOGETHER.

So don’t be a bystander! If you hear or read someone that’s participating in name shaming, say something.

Confrontation and disagreement can be difficult and certainly uncomfortable, but we can’t accomplish our goal of ending name shaming without doing the difficult work. Here are some suggestions for conversation starters/responses when you encounter name shaming:

“I know ________ may not be a name you’re familiar with or would name your own child, but I bet ________’s family really like that name. I know I would feel hurt if someone criticized my name or my child’s.”
“I don’t think it’s right to judge ________’s name. Names are personal…. ________’s name means something to him/her and their family. When we make fun of it, we make fun of them. That’s not something we should do.”
“It might be difficult to pronounce ________’s name, but I can’t imagine what it must feel like to constantly be called by a nickname you didn’t choose or have your name mispronounced. Have you thought about writing down the phonetic spelling and practicing it?”

It begins with us.

Name shaming is one of many issue facing our students today. Ending it begins with you (and I!) deciding not to accept it in our spaces. It’s one small, necessary step we can all take to dismantle inequities facing our most vulnerable student populations; each step we take propels us forward with increasing momentum.