Becoming Something Different

Becoming Something Different(quotes)

By: Fairbanks, Crooks and Ariail

            Becoming Something Different by Fairbanks, Crooks and Ariail really connects to Rodriguez's article Aria and Indian Fathers Plea by Lake. One quote that goes a long with Lakes article is  "These researchers argue that perceptions of Latina/o students as lacking English proficiency, adequate motivation, and parental support, combined with the school’s devaluing of cultural practices different from the mainstream, too often position Latina/o students as deficient." In Indian Fathers Plea the boy is viewed as slow because of being a different culture from the culture of power. This also goes a long with the idea of Silenced Dialogue and how there is a culture of power. Unless you are in that culture you lack opportunities and are viewed as less privileged than the culture of power.

          Another quote that I really liked and thought was important was,  "Esmé and her teachers positioned her as needing help with academic tasks. In the sixth grade, she was not sure about her status as student. I do listen to the teacher, but sometimes I don’t know the questions so I ask, I just, the questions and stuff, but I don’t really know if I’m good. She indicated her efforts to understand but also her uncertainty about questions as a means of completing assignments successfully. Similarly, when she asked questions, the teacher’s response sometimes eluded her. She described asking her teacher for help in writing a persuasive essay, specifically on developing reasons for her argument. The teacher’s response was to provide reasons for her. She was all talking to me like if I understand. Esmé’s lack of understanding and her teacher’s assumption that the explanation was clear frustrated her. Such frustrating experiences pointed out to Esmé where she had academic difficulties and contributed to her positioning of some teachers as not helpful." This quote I can really relate to some of my tutoring experiences and my teachers. I'm in two ESL classrooms and the teachers teach as if all the students were the same as their best student. They teach as if they all understand and are on the same level. I don't think its their fault, but I do believe that they just weren't prepared for the difficult task of explaining to the class in different ways to make all the students understand. They just assume that they are explaining it well enough for the students to pick up but that isn't necessarily the case. A lot of the kids just sit in the class room staring at their papers with blank expressions and when the teacher goes to help and to explain, they say what they think is helpful and then walk away. The student though is still staring at the paper with a frustrated and confused look. 

            The last quote that I picked really related to Rodriguez. It stated, "Esmé’s parents were Spanish dominant, and although her mother had taken some basic English courses through community education, Spanish was the language of their home. Her parents helped her with homework as much as they could, even though her father had little formal education himself." In Aria by Rodriguez the Spanish children had to learn English and was expect to speak with their parents at home in order to improve, and it ended up being difficult because of the lack of English their parents had. The same with Esme's parents, they were mostly Spanish dominant and had difficulty with English. Both sets of parents however knew that it was important for their children to learn English so they will have more opportunities in life and do well in school.