Farr, Seloni and Song, "Ethnolinguistic Diversity in Language and Literacy Education"

I'm taking that the article's main point is that ethnolinguistic diversity in public schools will help students with language and literacy education. This is a great idea. Using students as a resource will help education because it will make material relevant to students. I feel, though, that this may lead to a snowball effect in educational standards. If teachers are required to include cultural background from all their students, this may strain the teacher's ability to teach students to the best of their abilities. I agree that their must be a common ground for students to relate to the material presented. I also agree that teachers should be aware of their students needs in regards to learning. I am just wondering whether or not this will have an effect on their teaching abilities. Yes, there will be more training and inservice education. Yes this will create a better educational environment. Yes it will (possibly) lead to less drop outs among students but is idea plausible in regards to teacher's abilities and education? I'm not sure.

I agree that the education system needs some work. More attention should be paid to addressing students' needs. I think that the conventional wisdom idea needs to be throw out the window because, obviously, it isn't working. Standardized tests prove nothing in regards to ANY students' abilities, other than they can fill in holes completely. I can't remember one time when I learned anything from standardized test taking. They create stress for students and add extra, usually unnecessary, work for teachers. A pretty silly idea all around.

I also agree with the idea of Americans being monolingual. I think this stems from the idea that any where you go, someone will speak enough English for you to order food or get a hotel room. I've been to a couple of countries in Europe and I never had to know the native language. Granted, I do know German and would use German at any available moment, but as soon as my English accent was herd, they would speak English. It rests in minds that there isn't a point to learning another language because a lot of people speak English. In fact, I remember my friend Pat telling us about his adventure to Japan and not needing to use the Japanese he learned because everyone just spoke English to him from the get go. I think that American schools should pay more attention to foreign language learning. I think that we should require our students to learn a different language, just like every other country requires of their students. The only issue is that Americans aren't afforded the same opportunities to practice their learned foreign language. Think about it, if you live in France, you can learn German, Spanish, Swiss or Italian and be in those countries within a few hours. In the sates, however, it's a little harder. Yeah, you can practice Spanish by going to Mexico but if you live in Pa, that's a two day drive. You can practice French by going to parts of Canada, but that, too, is a far trip. Yes we have speakers of those languages here but in certain areas, they may be hard to locate. For instance, if I want to practice my German, I have to go to the German club in Pittsburgh. I have to be a member too and pay $100. It's not practical.

Anyway, now that I've rambled on for a while...

There are definitely issues with the education system in America, as the article points out so many times. There are issues with education systems all over the world. It's hard to change something that has been in place for so long. It will take the voices of a lot of students to change the way things work. I think that students should take a more active role in their education. They should bring their issues to the school board and demand change. If our parents, during the 60s and 70s were able to do it, I don't see why we cant.