Conversation 4- Group X

1) Select 1-2 paragraphs from “African-Born Immigrants in U.S. Schools.” Summarize them and respond to them.

I chose the 2 paragraphs under “Addressing the Missing Voices in Multicultural Education.

It discusses the problem in the current school curriculum, which is essentially a one-size-fits-all. There are many people who migrate here to the US with their own cultures, beliefs, morals, and even teaching style that differs completely to what is taught and discussed here. There are also the children of immigrants who essentially adapt to the culture their parents grew up with. The dilemma occurs when these individuals begin to go to school and have a hard time understanding what they are being taught. There is also the fact that they might feel excluded from others in the classroom, because they can’t relate to the material. In History class, their country might be briefly discussed or not discussed at all. The consequences of this predicament are that students begin to feel as they are being misrepresented or they might not belong, this in turn turns to social exclusion and can even take a toll on their mental health. This is stated in paragraph 2, ” A curriculum that is oblivious to the histories of some immigrant societies, while exalting others, may create a sense of social exclusion and intellectual intimidation.” The intellectual intimidation is another thing, immigrants, or students of immigrants might feel like they are not cut out for the education in the US. Many have to take special classes or special assessments to even qualify. While extra help is important, the way to go about it like pulling kids out of a class to take an assessment or being in a small ESL class can make them feel troubled and different. This is why Multicultural Education should start being implemented into the curriculum, not only will it help those from the cultures itself, but others who aren’t familiar with different cultures in their school setting can learn and bond with those students. Friendships and interactions will become much more common, not just each student looking to befriend someone from their own culture since they relate better. I think the benefits outweigh the cons in this situation, multicultural inclusion will help with pride, social relationships, intellectual abilities and more! I would say it’s especially significant in the states where most immigrants reside like New York, if we had a completely multicultural education in New York, it will not only benefit your social life but your career. If you know how to deal with different cultures, you can deal with just about anyone.

2) Discuss something you learned and/ or can relate to from one of this week’s assigned videos.

Something I could relate to from one of this week’s assigned videos is in the video, “What I learned as an African immigrant in the US” where she discusses the fact at times, she would be compared to other African girls in her classroom. For example, if another girl was misbehaving or having a bad day, she would be used as a comparison in being a good example of how the other girl should act. Keep in mind, the other is also an African American so she felt like it was a racial issue. The way I relate to this is that I also went through something similar. In elementary school, my class was prominently white and there was me and few other students who were either Hispanic/black. In turn, if I wasn’t paying attention or misbehaving for whatever reason, the teacher would often tell me to look at Garcia (that was the girl’s name) and act like her, she was the only other Hispanic girl in my class and other white girls behaved the way she did, so why not compare me to the white little girls? It might just be a coincidence though or a way to make it more relatable but I do understand where the girl in the video is coming from.

3) Share your source on this topic–let us know what it is, why you selected it, and why it matters.

In the video below, we see many examples of why Black male students fall behind in school. One statistic shows that for every 1000 black students, only 156 of them pursue a college degree. That’s only 15.6% of them. This video is interesting because it is set in New York City, which is one of the most diverse cities in the entire country and because it is so diverse, I would imagine rates to be higher than other states. From the 3rd-8th grades, we see only 13.9% have English proficiency. This matters because literacy is key to pursuing higher education and becoming successful, it is the foundation that the education system has set, so why are so many of these students illiterate if they are supposedly getting the same education as other students of different race. The video touches on the fact that black students are 5.5x times more likely to get suspended than white students. The video also showcases how a staggering 49% of black homes are missing a father figure, which is important to a male students’ life. The suspension rate is also shocking, this is severe punishment that causes these students to fall even more behind since they are losing instructional time in the process. This video is worth a watch if you want to learn more about black students (specifically male) and their struggles in the NYC education system.