Social Justice and Equity
It is a personal goal of mine to make sure that all students in my class, and by extension, school site, have the same equitable access to a quality education. One that is personal to them, and is directed by their interests. This is one plan that I have come up with for the school site where I was participating in Clinical Practice.
To Name
The issue that I have identified is the accessibility of reading material for the students who are reading at a lower level than high school, or trying to read a book that is in another language. There are many books that are gauged for students who are proficient in reading English, however not every student in the school is at this level. For the English Language Population, there is a lack of books that are written in their home language, and books that are written in English that are at a lower level than high school. I am sure that there are members of the community who would be willing to donate books that fit this profile to the school library. The second issue with this is that some English Language Learners may not be aware of where to go find books that are written in their home language, other than the library, so there is a need to educate the students on where to find this information.
To ActThe first step, after acquiring the needed permissions from administration, would be to contact the Fondo de Cultura Económica through emailing the publisher at [email protected]. Since they are a Mexican publisher, there may be issue with traveling as far North as Escondido. It may be out of their range in which they are willing to travel, though there used to be a wholesaler for this publication company in Chula Vista, so this might not be as difficult of an issue. If there is difficulty is establishing contact with Fondo de Cultura Económica, or if they are unwilling or unable to travel so far, then I will choose a different publishing company who specialises in Spanish publications and see if they would be willing to host a book fair at San Pasqual High school.
The second step would be to post a flier about the book fair and encourage students to attend. This can be accomplished by making sure the book fair with the publication company is during accessable hours for most students, so during lunch or after school. I will also coordinate with the ELD teachers and English teachers to see if they would be willing to take a class trip to the book fair during their class hours. This would allow for many different types of students to be exposed to the book fair. This task may take a lot of coordination if there are multiple teachers interested in taking their students to the fair. On top of the flier and coordinating with the teachers, there will be a bulletin in the morning announcements so inform the students when the book fair will be coming, and when it will be accessible to them. This will reach the general public of the school. The third step is to ask the students to fill out a three question survey, in which they would be asked to list books that they found interesting and would want to read, to explain what the most effective way would be for acquiring more books in Spanish for the library, and if they would be willing to share their experience on social media. The fourth step will be to post a second flier about the book drive. This will be in conjunction with a social media campaign in which students and teacher can share the gofundme link to the various social media outlets that they use. This is also help spread the word to the global community. It will also help those who cannot donate books, but are willing to donate money so that the school could go buy books. The flier will have a QR code which will take people straight to the link, which will make it easier for them to share. In addition to the flier and social media campaign, there will be bulletins in the morning announcements during the duration of the drive to remind the school population what is happening, and how they can become involved The fifth step will be to celebrate the success of the drive. This can be done by asking the library to set up a temporary display of the books that were donated, or bought with the money that was donated. There will also be a bulletin in the morning announcement that will share with the school the success of fair and drive. |
To Think CriticallyThis is an issue because 48.5% of the students at the school site are either EL or RFEP. With a population this large, there is a need for more reading material. This material should be in the the primary language of the English Language learners. According to Hudelson, “there is a strong connection between students L1 literacy skills and their acquisition of L2 literacy” (1987), so it can be inferred that “reading in Spanish could … read[ing] in English” (Rubinstein-Avila, 2004). In the EL and RFEP population of San Pasqual, 92% and 89% are Spanish speaking students, respectively, so therefore the books that are needed the most are in Spanish are are about Latino culture. If books are interesting to the students, about themselves, their cultures, to their interests, then the students are inclined to read more. The more students read, the more they are being exposed to the English language as well as the critical thinking skill they need to be successful global citizens. However, if they do not have access to material that will be engaging to them, then they will not be interested in reading, and will effectively slow the process of language acquisition of L2. The solution that I have decide to use is in two parts. The first is to bring Fondo de Cultura Económica, a Mexican publisher, so come to campus with their book-truck, to expose the students to the different reading material that can be accessible to them. The second is to host a book drive in which members of the community and school can donate books, specifically books in Spanish or a lower English level, to the school library.
Hudelson, S. (1987). The role of native language literacy in the education of language minority children. Language Arts, 64, 827-841. Rubinstein-Avila, Eliane. "Conversing with Miguel: An adolescent English Language Learner struggling with later literacy development."Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy 47:4 (2004): 290-301. Reflection
This Social Justice and Equity plan is in alignment with Teacher Performance and Expectation (TPE) 15, in which the Teaching Candidate is asked to identify an issue of social justice and equity and apply a strategy to ensure an equal outcome of diverse students. This project deals the the inequality of reading material available for Spanish speaking students. When there is not engaging reading material made available to a student, then that student is less likely to read any material, which in turn will lead to a lower literacy rate. In the case of English Language Learners, there is a need to develop literacy not only in the second language, but also in the first language because when literacy is developed in the first language the acquisition of academic language in the second language is more attainable. I support this assertion with research from major theorist in the field of multicultural education, Hudelson and Rubinstein-Avila. In this TPE I am also asked to collaborate with curriculum specialist, community leaders and parents. I do this by collaborating with Fondo de Cultura Económica, a Mexican publishing company, and the other teachers at the school site. I incorporate community leaders and parents by creating an outreach portion of the plan where the parents and community can become involved in helping the school library supply the necessary material to reach English Language Learners, and help this population of students that has a different linguistic and cultural background develop their first and second language literacy.
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