“We cannot put everyone in the same basket” and let’s stop using the word “diverse”

I have always thought that using the word “diverse” meant respect toward other nationalities, cultures, ethnicities as a way of recognizing and acknowledging a person’s own characteristics.  Gutierrez and Rogoff’s research paper proved me wrong and allow me to say that I feel somewhat embarrassed about my previous views.

I started as usual by looking up the various meanings of the word “diverse”.  Here are a couple of them: divergent, unalike, like night and day, unequal, contrasting, unlike, distant. Unequal made me cringe. If we want to define the word diverse than we should also specify what the word “norm” is. Well, good luck! Everything is relative, your norm may not be my norm therefore diversity is a function of our world experience.  I used to say that I like my town because it is “diverse”, when what I should say is, “I like my town because it embraces different nationalities, ethnicities and cultures”.  

The brilliant idea and Ted Talk by Angelica Dass, “The beauty of human skin in every color”, brings to light how we cannot define diversity by simply acknowledging races. In her research, she “color coded” 3000 people from every part of the world referring to the Pantone color palette. Look at her website: www.humanae.org. I wanted to see how my family looks under the Pantone color classifications. Here we are, meet my family:        

Husband, Pantone 318-3c

                           Wife (me), Pantone 62-5

                           Son, Pantone 65-3c

                           Daughter Pantone 51-5c

Have fun with classifying friends and family!

Angelica Dass found 3000 people with different skin colors and the U.S. Census Bureau provides only five categories:

1.    White – A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.

2.    Black or African American – A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.

3.    American Indian or Alaska Native – A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.

4.    Asian – A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.

5.    Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander – A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.

Do you remember how few years ago we had to complete a Census?  Everyone in our family chose “other”, nothing applied to us. I wonder how the Census categorizes “other” as most of the USA is “other” these days. Let me share what the US Bureau Census also states:

“An individual’s response to the race question is based upon self-identification. The Census Bureau does not tell individuals which boxes to mark or what heritage to write in. For the first time in Census 2000, individuals were presented with the option to self-identify with more than one race and this continued with the 2010 Census. People who identify with more than one race may choose to provide multiple races in response to the race question. For example, if a respondent identifies as "Asian" and "White," they may respond to the question on race by checking the appropriate boxes that describe their racial identities and/or writing in these identities on the spaces provided. Self-identification, is the magic word in my estimate.

What if we could check a box on the census which says: “immigrant” or “alien”?

By the way, do you know that before the “Green Card” was adopted, immigrants were issued an “Alien Card”? I wonder if they stopped that card after the movie E.T - poor E.T. he wanted to go home after few hours on Earth.

Ethnicity refers to a group’s shared common cultural characteristics such as history, homeland, language, traditions, or religion (Woolfolk).

Race is defined by Woolfolk as a category composed of men and women who share biologically transmitted traits, that are defined as socially significant” such as skin color or hair texture”.

Woolfolk continues to say that there aren’t any biologically pure races; therefore it is an over-generalization to categorize humans under either the race concept or the ethnicity one. 

We have a lot of work to do to re-train our brains when it comes to ethnicity and races, don’t we?

Can a learner’s style be a trait?

Considering how different we are from one another in terms of habits, goals, historical and cultural background Gutierrez and Rogoff presents a challenging approach as it relates to the conventional model of considering a learner’s style as a trait. 

In their paper: “Cultural ways of learning” they state:

“The practice of trying to locate cultural difference within individuals leads to commonplace but ludicrous statements such as referring to individuals as “diverse” (e.g., “the class has a large proportion of diverse students”) – referring to students from educationally underserved populations as diverse with the implication that the others are the standard – thus, normalizing the dominant group. Differences cannot be attributes to a single side of a contrast…Unfortunately categorization of individuals in groups has been treated casually…assuming that all group members share the same set of experiences, skills and interests. This has led to a kind of tracking in which instruction is adjusted merely on the basis of a group categorization”.

This research study is proposing to go beyond the generalizations applied to various groups. When we make the assumption that a learner’s style is a trait of a particular individual or group, we may underestimate the true learning capabilities of that individual. 

We need to consider these important factors to properly assess a learner:

1.    Context in which a learner is learning,

2.    The specific task the learner has been asked to perform and

3.    The individual changes that a learner goes through.

Learning styles of minority groups seem to be categorized under a general umbrella, which causes  “over-generalization” (Dunn & Dunn, 1992) in the classrooms and in society.

On one hand Gutierrez does not discount the commonalities among cultural groups and how some behavior may be typical of these individuals within a group. On the other hand, individuals within the same group may not completely participate in that group’s activities.

Stereotype a sweet and sour topic….

“It is dangerous and incorrect to assume that every individual in a group shares the same learning styles” (Sheets, 2005) - yet it is common practice to do so.

Woolfolk talks about “stereotype” a word, which reminds me of a very funny story I would like to share with you. While I was growing up in Italy, I had a small motorcycle, a hand-me-down from my brother. I drove it because it gave me freedom of movement, it made me feel cool (today you may want to call this behavior “resistance culture”) since I was the only girl in town to ride a motorcycle. One day, I was standing by my small bike and a handsome young man from Milwaukee, approached me (he was in Italy to study art). Once he realized I spoke some English (believe me, it was very primitive) we exchanged few words. During our conversation he included the word stereotype. Obviously, I did not understand what he meant and actually thought that he was asking if I had a stereo, he could play music with (no joke).    

 

   Years later when I came to the USA, my co-worker gave me a good lesson on the various stereotypes in the USA, which I cannot repeat in this public forum. I will tell you though that my boss was a “Guido” and his wife was a “Guidette” according to her categories. We have plenty of Guidos in Italy, but they look different from the ones in the USA.

After this extensive explanation of the American stereotypes, I understood what 15 years earlier my friend from Milwaukee meant.  No, he did not need a stereo to play music; he was trying to explain how I did not fit the Italian girl stereotype because I had a motorcycle. Well, thank you handsome fellow from Milwaukee thank you for keeping my mind intrigued for many years!

Do you agree that we all commit the crime of stereotyping? How do we approach a classroom on the first day? Do we clear our minds of the stereotype images we normally carry? Woolfolk explains that stereotyping of students affects test scores and I can see that.

Dis-identification is a side effect of wrongful generalization on the part of the education system. When students dis-identify, they are afraid of being classified as “good students”, the word we hear commonly is “nerd”. Some refuse academics. Do you know who this guy is? Do you think he was a victim of dis-identification?

 

Tracking

The principle of tracking may sound good at first, however the practice of teaching differently to some children is quite detrimental in my view. It adversely affects self-esteem. Tracking is the equivalent of pigeonholing a student in a square box with prolonged negative side effects. The selection process is bias even when it is based on testing since we know that conventional tests do not mirror a student’s learning potentials. I believe that at times teachers find it easier to remove students from their classroom who require extra help or attention, with the excuse that they need to be taught differently. Tracking is linked to low expectations. I see how ethnicity and race can be directly involved with tracking and low expectations. As teachers we should be very careful to avoid tracking and as parents we must be attentive to poor teaching practice. Teaching differently could potentially work, however the current system is not taking into consideration various factors such as class size, cultural background and individual growth, to mention a few.

Gender bias…men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Even in modern schools girls are considered organized and on target, whereas boys are considered messy and rough, this is an unfortunate misconception. If we know that a boy matures later than a girl, why do we keep on applying the same standards to both? I am proponent of non-coed classes until a certain age. Who has not experienced gender bias from teachers? I have. As a teacher, I am constantly re-checking myself in class to avoid making the same mistake.

When we talk about multicultural education the solution cannot be limited to changing the curriculum to meet the multicultural needs of a classroom. We need to consider the following aspects: equity pedagogy or matching teaching styles to the student’s learning styles (easier said than done in a large classroom) and content integration, which includes references to other cultures and countries as part of the lesson plan (this is easy in an ESL class).

The knowledge construction process should be part of teaching in a multicultural setting, as it helps students understand “hidden” or implicit cultural assumptions.  I remember a mentor of mine would stage a verbal argument with a colleague as part of her lesson plan. For instance she would walk into the classroom and shortly thereafter our colleague would burst in belligerently and they would start to quarrel. Afterwards the teacher would ask the students about their opinion and one could see how everyone had a different reaction. At times it was apparent that students belonging to the same cultural background reacted similarly. Students were asked what they assumed was going on, what bothered them, what they ignored and what they thought was true or false?

Prejudice reduction. A prejudice is a pre-judgment of a particular person or group, based on misconceptions. In my ESL classroom, we spent countless hours discussing prejudices. I was the arbitrator and facilitator and I saw how involved the students became after the first few minutes of discussions. One of the most frequently asked questions was directed to the wedding traditions of students from Arab countries, how wives were chosen by the mother of the groom for instance. These conversations were key to the cultural exchanges and growth of the students.

Empowering school culture and social structure. I believe the school administration should take the first steps to allow students to express their cultural differences and to give the teachers the means to be part of their student’s histories. A Culture Fair day is a perfect way to involve everyone beyond the typical classroom schedule.

I like Woolfolk’s approach to good teaching in a multicultural environment:

·      Teachers should allow students to express, maintain and develop their culture while in school.

·      Teachers should understand that students, regardless of their background are intellectually equal.

·      Teachers should explain to students the true role of testing in todays’ educational system and help them develop self-confidence regardless of their test scores.

·      Teachers should expect academic success from all students.

What keeps students in the classroom? According to Woolfolk, there are two key elements:

Self-agency, is the feeling a child develops while in school that he/she is in control, that he/she can do it and move on.

Connected relationships, students feels cared for by the teacher, by his/her peers and by the parents, who are involved in their educational journey.

SOCIOLINGUISTIC or “the study of the courtesies and conventions of conversation across cultures”(Tharp, 1989, Pg. 351)

Sociolinguistic and participation are challenging in an ESL classroom.  I had to learn how Asian students view participation and interruptions differently from other cultures. I was informed by my Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese and Chinese students that in their countries the teacher is never to be interrupted, rather they must wait until the end of the class to ask questions. In the USA, we think the exact opposite, questions must be asked, it shows participation and interest and students can engage in discussions with teachers. It took me a while to get used to this particular learning style and I had to work very hard with the Asian students after class as they would come up with their note-books and ask questions. I had to take into consideration this particular aspect when assigning a participation grade to Asian students. Since adult students come with a learned behavior, it may be difficult to explain the variances of a typical American classroom. In my experience Japanese students were not used to the concept of volunteering in class (for instance to read a passage), as in Japan, the teacher always calls on the students.

“Relation between cultural context and cognitive development”, a research study by Saxe’ and Kenton de Kirby (2014) suggests two approaches:

·      

•     The Dichotomous approach - separating the cultural experience from the cognitive development.
•        The Intrinsic approach, where exposure to culture and learning go hand-in-hand.

I believe the second approach is what has been shown in my teaching experience to be the most effective. This may be a simple example, of how a cultural element can be introduced in the classroom to help with cognitive development and language of course, how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a staple of the American diet. Foreign students are intrigued by it.

Poverty and Learning

Saxe and Kenton analyze the effects of poverty on a child’s cognitive development: “poverty is deleterious to cognitive development, so the argument goes, for the primary reason that is associated with insufficient cognitive stimulation”. Studies have shown that an environment lacking educational tools does not stimulate a learner’s mind. Educational tools can be defined as building blocks, books and other items in our society. However, in an impoverished village, a stimulating tool may be used to make baskets, or rugs and other arts and crafts.

Which skill is more likely to help children survive? Is it better to know how to pass a test with a high score or being able to create something to be sold? I guess it all depends on the environment. The children selling candies (like the research study conducted by Saxe’ and Kenton) on the streets of Brazil have developed skills, which ensure their survival. I wonder at times, how our children would survive if placed in the same situation? We teach them how to do well in school and often forget that they need to become street-wise as well. Cognitive development is relative in my mind to our needs and environment.

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Going back to the dichotomous and intrinsic ways of learning, it seems as though Daniel Wolpert in his Ted Talk: “The Real Reason for Brains” uses the dichotomous approach to describe how the brain functions. He says: “because external events are actually much more behaviorally relevant than feeling everything that is going on inside my body “, the reason we have brains is to create movement, which is an interesting approach, however I am not too sure I would confine the existence of the brain to movement.

The role of neuroscience in learning keeps me on my toes

I am learning how neuroscience is linked to learning and behavior in ways that I never thought even existed. It is fascinating indeed because this heuristic neuro-scientific approach of learning about brain development and functions opens up a window inside the brain.

Sarah Durston and B.J. Casey research discusses the “changes that occur in cognitive ability, especially in the context of overriding competing thoughts and actions.”

We have discussed previously how the maturation of the frontal cortex takes place later in life. It was particularly interesting to read about the newer imaging technique called DTI (Diffusion Tension Imaging), which gives us more information as to the white matter in our brain. White matter as opposed to gray matter contains myelin, a fatty white substance, responsible for the speed of impulses in the brain.
Neuroimaging such as MRI and DTI helps us to understand how brain activities becomes more focalized as they develop, which could suggest that cognitive development is related to maturation in the brain.

 Processing of information is concluded in the grey matter, while white matter allows communication to and from grey matter areas, and between the grey matter and the other parts of the body. Grey matter has no myelin sheath, while white matter is myelinated. Read more: http://www.differencebetween.net/science/health/difference-between-grey-and-white-matter/#ixzz4FXczq3it

Rewards and neuroscience have partnered to better understand the mechanics behind rewards. We have read the “Behavioral Theories and the Neurophysiology of reward by Schultz (2006). This is an extensive research done on animals and how neurons in the frontal cortex respond to rewarding according to Thorpe et al, 1983. A reward can be pleasing (hedonic) such as food or can be used as a tool for conditioning. The technicalities behind this research are very complex. Schultz was able to suggest that when a reward is unpredictable it seems to be more effective.

Conditioning Theories and their influential psychologists

Edward Thorndike’s “Law of Effect” concludes that “any behavior that is followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated, and any behavior followed by unpleasant consequences is likely to be stopped” (www.Simply Psychology.org, by McLeod, 2007).

Pavlov, a Russian physiologist conducted testing on dogs and spontaneous reflexes as he analyzed classical conditioning. Pavlov’s famous experiment uses a dog, a bell and food. He explains that the bell is an unconditioned stimulus, US (or spontaneous), the food is also a US and together they cause a Conditioned response (CR), which in this case is the dog salivating when he hears the bell.

I now understand better this interesting association I personally make between a particular scent and emotions. When I was in my twenties I used to wear a perfume with a distinctive lemon scent, which at that time I absolutely loved. One day though, I argued with my best friend and became quite upset. From that day on, I can no longer wear the same perfume or a similar scent. My conditioned response or change in behavior is the fact that I associate that particular scent with a negative emotional experience, therefore I avoid the perfume.

The work of Skinner, an American psychologist is rooted into what he calls “operant conditioning”, which means we should reinforce the good behviour and not the bad behavior of a learner, praise the good behavior and disregard the bad behavior.  

Instead, professor and American psychologist Bandura, explains that our thoughts and motivations affect behavior toward rewards. A person’s behavior is a response to the environment around him.

Comparing Pavlov, Skinner and Bandura’s conditioning theories:.

Reinforcement according to Woolfolk can happen at either an interval or at a ratio schedule, the first being based on the amount of time that passes between rewards, whereas the second is based on “the amount of responses learners give between reinforcers” (Woolfolk).

Teachers can use antecedents for more effective learning by creating a situation prior to another, which alerts the student as to what will happen next. For instance, I turn off the lights when students are too noisy and I want their full attention. The act of turning off the light is called “cueing”. I then follow up my first cue with a prompt by picking up my marker to write on the board. These two actions happen one after the other and give the students clues as to what to expect next.

I concur with Woolfolk in regards to the results shown in a classroom by “differential reinforcement”, which use the principle of praising the positive and disregarding the negative. Woolfolk states that this behavior may not solve disruption. In my experience, I realized that in order to keep the classroom in order for the long term, I have to address the negative issue (i.e., use of cellphones in class) at the beginning of the lesson, rather than disregarding it.

The topic of reprimands in my ESL classroom is quite complicated because culture plays a big role on how reprimands are perceived. I have no magic rule.  My tendency is to talk to the student one-on-one after and at the beginning of class. This has been the best technique out of many I have tried.

Anita Woolfolk, discusses the two-pronged approach about punishment. “ the punishment is given along with the opportunity to correct the behavior”. I once had a student who would constantly use the cellphone in class and after several requests, I took it away, put a couple of candies on top and asked him questions. After each correct answer he could eat one candy, once he answered all the questions correctly and had happily eaten all the candies, he was given his phone back.

Enactive learning means that a student learns by experiencing the consequences of his/her behavior, which may be good or bad. 

Observational learning instead is based on the principal that we learn by watching others. I believe this happens in the kitchen very often while a parent cooks and the child “watches”. Bandura, a Canadian psychologist is a proponent of the observational learning theory.

My head is full and for this reason I am going to conclude my third blog.

Thank you for reading!

Ciao,

Cecilia