Rodriguez Hyperlinks


The article titled "Aria" written by Richard Rodriguez is a personal narrative explaining the struggles, and positive outcomes, of being a person with heavy Hispanic background in an American school. Truthfully, I can't relate to this article on a personal level. In attempt to gain more insight on what this may be like, I searched for similar videos and articles and compared them with what Rodriguez had to say.

Please note: in order to view the hyperlinks, copy and paste the URL into a new tab on your computer.

#1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ANZLNtHXfo

This video tells about a story where an American middle school principal banned all students from speaking Spanish while in class. Firstly, I believe that this is a terrible rule to be implemented in a school system for a variety of reasons. America is a free speaking country and these kids were being deprived of their rights while in SCHOOL. School should be a safe environment for all children where they go to learn, not feel discriminated against. Although Rodriguez admitted he felt uncomfortable at first being pushed to speak English in front of his class, he discussed some of the positives that came out of it (public individuality). If he were to be in this school, I'm sure he would have never overcome the barriers to learn and accept English.

#2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19909/

This is a very long article and I don't expect anyone to read it's entirety. I read the opening paragraphs and scanned over some of the facts it shares. Overall, it points to the fact that Hispanic students are disadvantaged in the Education system for a variety of different reasons. A couple of them being that these students are not financially or socially equipped to continue their education through college. It also adds "Today, most parents and their children believe that a college degree is necessary for obtaining stable and meaningful work." (National Research Council) I think this relates to our second blog reading by Nicholas Kristof "U.S.A. Land of Limitations" that claims often, people end up where they started. Without the proper resources, young people are faced with barriers that make it difficult to become successful.

 Point to share: I think that this topic also ties into our first reading. The technique of culturally responsive teaching can be used in these cases of Hispanic students. 

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 29, 2018 at 5:37 PM

    Nick, I enjoyed these links that you added to your blog. I found the first video shocking to watch. I dont know how its possible for children to "change" their language becuase its not allowed. These children shouldnt be afraid to express themselves in thier own skin. If they are afraid they wont get the proper education that they deserve.

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  2. Joshua AbreuSeptember 30, 2018 at 2:18 PM

    Telling students to stop speaking their first language is the same as telling someone to suppress an integral part of their identity. It is incredible that someone who had to go through so much schooling to become a principal, still didn't learn common respect.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AlexandraSeptember 30, 2018 at 4:05 PM

    Nick, your article was very well written. I agree with your points, Laura and Josh, as well. I also want to mention, that especially for young children, there are ways to incorporate learning the english language without ignoring a child's first/primary language. For example, if a classroom has mostly Spanish speaking students, the teacher could maybe use words in both languages to get the children learning in different ways, rather than just banning/ignoring the language completely.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownSeptember 30, 2018 at 4:21 PM

    Nick, I agree with your statements you provided about the youtube video you used. I feel although school should 100% be an environment where kids should go and learn and not be discriminated.

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownSeptember 30, 2018 at 5:18 PM

    Alexandra makes a great point in her response. Just because student need to learn english it doesn't mean they need to forget who they are or their heritage. Nick also made some valid connections to past readings. I agree that it does relate strongly to our Land of limitations reading.

    ReplyDelete

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