Cycle Two: School, Cultural Assimilation, and Social Mobility

Before

For this cycle I wanted to reflect some on what I think I will be reading as I peruse Richard Rodriguez’s Hunger of Memory.  Based on Professor Greenwalt’s blogpost, one common theme that will be presented in the text is that of education serving as a gain as well as a loss.  I wanted to reflect on my own students and the culture of my school.  I see these paradoxes in real life almost immediately.  Cultural representation is abundant at my school with an annual student multicultural show, “Flag Day” as part of the high school’s homecoming week, and announcements made celebrating profound historic figures during Black and Hispanic Heritage Month.  While the school system is taking the time to educate our students on each other’s differences to keep an air of inclusion, the school system is also taking away from our diverse students their native language, familiar foods, and sometimes even their family-given names.  What have we taught out students with these often government-mandated actions?  Possibly that these cultural-rich students should be stripped of their wealth so that they can blend in and let their peers admire their rich heritages from afar.  This idea is something I have just come to realize and it is disheartening.  Below are my reflections after reading Rodriguez’s book, as well as the other articles.

After

            I would like to know how to get Richard Rodriguez’s Hunger of Memory to become a mandatory read for every teacher, administrator, and politician who is involved in the decision-making aspect of ELL laws and mandates!  After reading Rodriguez’s book I was at a loss – how many other students feel this way about cultural assimilation and affirmative action?  Rodriguez's writing is filled with the many paradoxes of cultural assimilation that many do not think of.  The most profound moment had to be when Richard realized that he could not represent the Hispanic, minority, disadvantaged community because he was not like them because of the benefits he ended up receiving for being a Hispanic minority.

 From my undergraduate studies and Google searches to find supplemental resources for this post, the popular results represent the benefits and on-paper success of immigrant and minority students working their way through the public school and postsecondary school systems.  The problem is that most of these articles and reports are from the point of view of educational professionals and university researchers – not the students subjected to the government programs of constant ELL testing and university acceptance based on statistical quotas and not merits.  The pros and cons of affirmative action have been in the news recently given the Supreme Courts decision to uphold affirmative action back in June.  However, Rodriguez’s work brings to light the irony behind this social justice movement to fix a social injustice by making the situation even more unjust for all involved.  I never thought that the races benefitting from affirmative action would feel so conflicted by it as many white students do.  The mix of emotions shared by Rodriguez as job offers were piling up on his desk was somewhat comforting – on both sides of the spectrum affirmative action is not always well received.  This should be our first hint that the system can be remodeled – hopefully with the opinions of those most affected by it at the center of the conversation.

Affirmative action, and cultural assimilation, is not just an American issue.  Great Britain faces the same situation regarding affirmative action related to increasing the number of unrepresented lower class citizens in universities and public colleges.  The article mentions the academic side of affirmative action – how schools using affirmative action tend to have lower test scores and inflated grades skewing the intent of affirmative action altogether.  But, I wonder how the lower class students feel as they study at a university, become more educated, and slowly start to become unrepresentative of the family and community they left back at home?  I would think that these students would take great pride in being able to provide a better life for themselves and their families through university study – but how heartbreaking would it be if they feel that they are being transformed into an individual who can no longer connect with loved ones or represent the people with whom they grew up with?

It is refreshing, somewhat, to know that students affected by cultural assimilation in the school system or affirmative action do not permanently feel conflicted.  As Russell Contreras mentioned as a quote from Rodriguez, Hunger of Memory is only a snapshot of what Rodriguez was experiencing as he worked his way through school.  I have worked with ELL students of all different levels.  I have seem some of the most proficient English speakers exit the program and seem cheerful when conversing in the classroom in English but talking with their friends in the parking lot in Spanish.  But I have also seen the those just entering the program look downtrodden and out of place in an American classroom.  After the course readings this week, I have realized how much more a responsibility I have when working with ELL students: to encourage learning and growth by acquiring a second language but also celebrating the unique culture and values they bring into the classroom environment simultaneously.  High school ELL education may only be a quick picture in the lives of my students, but I want to make it one that brings fond memories when they look back on it.

Admittedly, I was a bit morose after reading Hunger or Memory and was offended almost as much as Contreras was upon reading his book review.  How could Rodriguez write such a profound account of his life and then brush it off as just one piece of the puzzle making up his life and career?  So, to bring some light to the readings this week, I found this humorous clip of an instructor trying to manage an adult ELL class at a community college.  The actors accurately portray, in a lighthearted manner, the difficulties presented by the inconsistencies of the English language as well as represent a diverse group of ELLs present in most of our classrooms. 

Most schools offer these type of classes to students to support English language acquisition as they pick it up and use it in traditional classes.  However, the loss of the native language is one of the downsides of cultural assimilation Rodriguez discusses in his book.  Ethnic classes discussed in Phippens article could be a happy medium for ELL and traditional students.  Education, just like everything else, needs to be well balanced in order to be successful and sustainable.  Ethnic studies that let students learn English and discuss and research their culture and history proved to be popular and in demand in the American southwest.  I would love to see these types of classes in my school district!  My district serves a large Haitian and Hispanic population and students could learn research and writing skills in the context of studying theirs and different ethnicities - which would hopefully help them feel less like they are being torn away from the culture they are familiar with and love.

References

Contreras, R. (2002, July 19). Brown Like Us? Texas Observer.
Retrieved from: https://www.texasobserver.org/836-book-review-brown-like-us/ 

Phippen, J.W. (2015, July 19). How One Law Banning Ethnic Studies Led to its Rise. The Atlantic.
 Retrieved from: http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/07/how-one-law- banning-ethnic-studies-led-to-rise/398885/ 

Rodriguez, R. (1982). Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez. Boston: Bantam Books.