Of the many beautiful things about teaching in public schools is that students are learning in integrated classrooms where diversity isn't feared, but embraced. Teachers I know engage diverse classrooms in real-world applications, with student-centered instruction driven by problem-solving and sound decision making. For English Language Learners, this kind of academic instruction often challenges them in ways we are only beginning to systematically address. Rachel Clausen reminds us that the real guts of teaching in a school with a growing Latino population lies in the relationships we build with them and the friendships we encourage and foster between them. Not only that - Rachel also emphasizes the idea that focusing on similarities rather than differences goes a long way towards "relating." Enjoy Rachel's authentic voice!
“Es más cómo nuestra tía, maestra Clausen. Le vamos a llamar tía.” (“You
are more like our aunt, Miss Clausen. We
are going to call you aunt.”)
I fondly remember a recent conversation when a small group
of young Latino students I worked with decided amongst themselves that they
were going to give me the nickname “aunt,” rather than merely teacher. Here I was, a young white female working
closely with Latino students, finding myself bonded to them in ways that
culture, race, or experience could not explain.
If anything, my background in comparison to that of this group of young
people could have created boundaries between us, but for reasons I am still
discovering it brought us together and created bridges, and continues to on
many levels.
Undeniably, it is invaluable to have role models for young
people that can identify with them from a cultural, racial, or experiential
standpoint. Especially for students of
color, those more obvious connections like being of the same race or having a
common native language can create an immediate bond, opportunity for influence,
and often deeper level of respect between students and school staff. Students are able to see and hopefully hear
from adults who have overcome many of the obstacles they may face in their
education. Such inspiration is necessary
for so many of our students who too often hear negative messages about what
their future holds. To reiterate, having
role models that can directly identify with students is irreplaceable.
However, being in a position where many of the students and
families I work with may not appear to be “like me,” I have found there is a
necessary effort to be made on behalf of the educator or service provider to
build trust, foster respect, and hopefully build connections that go beyond the
typical denominators we see in most relationships. In my case, that starts with acknowledging
that maybe I can’t “relate” to many of the experiences our Latino ELL’s (English
language learners) have had. I have
never had to move permanently to a foreign country and completely unfamiliar
culture. I have never felt the pressure
of learning a new language in order to function in my everyday
surroundings. I have never had to
interpret for my parents, even while still unsure of myself of what I was
hearing and/or saying, merely because I knew more of the language than they
did. I have never known what it was like
to see some of my beloved family members leave me suddenly due to the immediate
threat of deportation. The list goes
on…
Nevertheless, I cannot
afford to keep my focus on our differences alone. I can acknowledge
and appreciate our differences, but I have to also recognize the common
ground we stand on, and incorporate this into my work with Latino ELL’s (and
their families). After all, we share a
common love for the Spanish language and incredibly diverse Latino cultures. We share a common desire to excel, as these
are students often have an untouched desire to succeed and defy many statistics
confronting their ethnicity. We share a
deep-seeded value of family and recognize that, when the “going gets tough,”
family is really at the core of what we have and who we are. We often share a heavy reliance on our faith
and belief in the virtue of perseverance.
We share a desire to feel
important for who we are, and where we come from.
When I combine both the appreciation of our differences and
recognition of our similarities, something pretty amazing starts to happen in
my work with both Latino students and their families: we begin to converse from
a mutual foundation of honor and respect.
We begin to laugh together at experiences we’ve both had at misspeaking
in one another’s language. We begin to
choose to learn from one another rather than avoid the unknown. We begin to make the other person feel
valuable for what they add to our lives.
We begin to form trust, new levels of communication, and bridges that
would not otherwise be there. What ends
up happening, is we find the ability to “relate,” so much so that I guess you
could say we can almost become “relate”-ives.
Or so my sobrinos (nieces and
nephews) have told me.
Rachel
Clausen is a Bilingual Resource Specialist at Sherman Middle School, where she
supports Spanish-speaking English language learners and their families. Outside of school, Rachel can be found
mentoring Madison area teens through 12:11 youth ministries, volunteering at
her church, watching Badger sporting events, and spending as much time as she with her husband and daughter.
