"I knew she was ignorant just as soon as she opened her mouth!" This teacher was referring to the fact that Jenny the mother of Donny, one of her students, spoke in a southern mountain dialect, a dialect that is often used to characterize poor whites known variously as "hillbillies," "hicks," or "ridge runners."
She would go down to try to tell them that Donny did not know enough about reading to be passed on to second grade. She would go down to complain that even though the teacher had told her that she would retain him in second grade, that he had been passed on to third-just as had happened to her and her husband.The teacher talking about Jenny really annoyed me. It is rather like when students do not talk, so the teacher assumes they are not intelligent. I feel a little guilty that sometimes I am too busy answering the questions of students while the silent students work without my help, though I am trying to improve. It is a bit difficult in a classroom of more than twenty 6-8 year-olds. As a beginning teacher I am seeing many bright children everywhere I look, be it talkative, quiet, or with an accent. I think a lot of people can relate.
Money and fear should not be such a huge factor in education. The Teachers are not only ignoring people with an Appalachian accent, but are being tied around with red tape if they hold a student back, so they send him on. School politics is not something I'm looking forward to. There is a mixed bag of personalities when it comes to teachers.
Reference:
Purcell Gates, V. (2002). As soon as she opened her mouth. In L. Delpit & J.K Dowdy (Eds.), In The skin that we speak: An anthology of essays on language culture and power. (Print: Anthology)
(link to the anthology here)This article (link is here) has a good point. Everyone has an accent. Sure, you should try to make your accent a bit flexible so people can at least tell you are speaking recognizable words, but I think that a rough spot happens when it comes to foreign professors not familiar with English. I don't know what to think when it comes to teacher accents sometimes. A lot of my teachers have had accents and I could still understand them.
Reference:
Codrescu, A. (2010, May 10). Arizona education loses the accent of america. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126480169 |
Jessica BAttin
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point. I am definately not looking forward to the stress and hearbreak that school politics with bring with teaching. Educators should be focused on more important things than money or extra paper work.
Your additional resource was shocking. I can't believe that the state of Arizona can pass such laws. It is totally preposterous that a law can ban a person from a profession because of their accent. I totally agree with the author of this article when they said "Actually, there isn't anyone who speaks without an accent, so let's just ban communicating altogether." (Codrescu, 2010)Someone from Boston would have an accent according to me, but according to them I would be the one with the accent. Who can say that they decide which dialect is "right"?
ReplyDeleteCodrescu, A. (2010, May 10). Arizona education loses the accent of america. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126480169
It is hard to be a teacher and to try and help all of the students in a classroom, but it's important to not overlook a student. All students have certain things that make them unique, having an accent or dialect is one of them. That is why after reading your related article I was shocked. People need to be treated the same regardless of race, sex, gender, and even accent. It's just sad how long the list of stereotypes is getting.
ReplyDeleteI have always wondered about this accent issue. A very wise English teacher told me when I was young that I should not bother dropping any accent or dialect from my speech, because it was part of my heritage, my identity, and that as long as I knew proper English grammar, I could practically be bilingual. I’ve never forgot that, and after choosing to become an English teacher myself, I think of that quite often.
ReplyDeleteI have also wondered why people always assume the quiet students are slow or bashful. They usually learn the most, about the lesson and their community, for they do nothing but listen.
The article was very interesting! I like Codrescu’s point that everyone has an accent, so we should “just ban communicating altogether. “ I also think those “school politics” may be the most difficult part of the job.