![]() "Huge Swing Factor in Education..." Page 2 of 2 |
Bilingual classrooms and courses where English is a second language: Whether in public classrooms in areas heavily impacted by recent immigration waves from Southeast Asia or from Hispanic sources, or in schools on Native American reservations, we see many schooling situations where American English is decidedly at best a second language among a majority of local students. This is seen as a major difficulty, when it should be a major advantage instead
To learn given lessons or concepts in two cultural contexts, instead of one, would be a huge advantage. Lessons so learned would be retained far longer, and far easier for students to transfer from initial to subsequent contexts. Instead, Far from reaching to meet the obvious needs of a majority of their own students, schools and teachers in many quarters are under orders to abandon these children, to go ahead and teach in English and English only; actually forbidden by state law in many instances to speak to their own students in their own language! Abandoned until they finally manage to stumble along in English, a high proportion of such students end up burdening our welfare rolls and our penal system, instead of becoming the major contributors and cultural leaders their situation made possible a huge swing-factor in scores of billion$ in costs to our society instead of contributors by like or greater scale. (To say nothing of the human costs involved!) Both of these powerful educative goals are obtainable with almost ridiculous ease through the easy methods cited above and free to anyone on the Net. They are not at all so obtainable through any other current classroom method or practice. Thus, these easy modern Socratic methods not only greatly benefit students generally where such modern Socratic technique is applied, but comprise a uniquely effective solution to the problems of any classroom where American English is not the mother tongue. Nothing said here is to be construed as weakening the case for English continuing to be the language of the U.S.A., nor for students in the U.S.A. to learn the English language as quickly and as well as possible. Indeed, instead of becoming discouraged through neglect and failure and dropping out to become part of the welfare load, students taught by this bi-cultural buzz method will become motivated, involved, learn actively, and become better speakers of English sooner, among other benefits. No special training for teachers is needed for this simple effective cure of this hugely expensive problem, nor material costs other than circulating a few copies of these instructions among teachers of such students. Perhaps the lack of significant costs means that this approach will have no advocates - if advocates for any reform or improvement are to be drawn only from the ranks of would-be empire-builders. If anyone has a more generous motivation than that of costly empire-building, for advocating an educational improvement, let him or her speak now!
As of this writing: there is no legitimate case for abandoning
non-English-speaking children for precious, crucial years until they are
hopelessly behind, to become a huge burden on our welfare and penal systems.
There is no legitimate case for the situation not only prevailing in so many
classrooms but actually mandated by state law in many instances not when
there is such a simple, easily learned, easily used "buzz-grouping" procedure, at low
or even no cost, and when essentially the same procedure is so easily used
to improve both the learning and the language skills of our
native, English-speaking children as well. ![]() This Shoe Fits Some Other Feet As Well
This interactive Socratic format makes it far easier and more effective to induce students themselves to translate, in terms of their own cultural insights and values. No lecturer certainly not a Western-derived lecturer and not even a lecturer schooled in the West but drawn from the local culture can hope to transform scientific and technical content nearly so well as the students themselves could during the very process of their assimilating those contents a la buzz-group. Also, to have those students themselves work consciously from the very context, of seeking such intercultural translation, of necessary scientific, technical and economic content for a viable future in which their culture was to be very much alive that context itself would be far more positive, productive and motivating! ![]() Stakes In this new century's global economy, we can't afford to leave anyone behind. Especially we can't afford to leave hopelessly behind major swathes of our own society because their first language wasn't the same as the one we happen to speak. Of nearly two million Americans behind bars today in our "correctional" institutions (and nearly double that number "needing" to be behind bars!), a disproportionately high segment, indeed a majority, are members of cultural minorities who could have been schooled in the way we propose here, but instead were handicapped by our current practices. A similar disproportion prevails in our welfare rolls as well. Even if we are so foolish as to maintain practices for which no legitimate case exists and so handicap our own society, we simply do not have the right to inflict such needless handicaps on other human beings, especially human children, through our own careless disregard. Nothing here says that English the world's richest and most productive, wonderful language should not continue to be our mainstream language here in the States. Nothing here says that newcomers being assimilated into our society should not become well-versed in English and in the mainstream culture's ways. Indeed, we submit that the proposed bi-cultural buzz-grouping will accomplish those twin goals far more, infinitely more effectively and thoroughly than do today's practices of not-so-benign neglect of our minority children. Lastly, to bring focused, interactive, Socratic practices like "Dynamic Format" into education generally will hugely benefit all our children, not only the "bilingual buzz" minority children. Just so it will benefit the productivity and achievement of your own office, your own staff. You simply can't afford to continue to do without this simple, easy, productive way of eliciting understanding and genius from others, and from yourself. Nor can our society so afford. Nor our schools.
Please pass this information on to any educators whom you know, and to
any community leaders whom you know, including ethnic community leaders. Thank
you. ![]() Email comments to Win Wenger copyright noticefor use with people whom you care about. |
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