by
Greg Sanchez, July, 2013
Greg
lives in the state of Georgia, USA, where most students who take a foreign language take it from the
ninth grade, and then for two years.
Good
day, new readers! This is my first posting of a blog devoted to the practitioners of teaching foreign language. Once a
month (or more?) I'll review articles about FLED and summarize the
themes that may arise.
My
purpose is twofold. First, I find that as teachers we get squashed,
yanked, and contorted by desires coming from administration, the
patterns and practices present in our textbooks, and the inertia that
comes from re-teaching a prep year after year. In my case, I often
felt lost about what good FLED teaching was supposed to look like,
and my memories of Second Language Acquisition courses and my passion
for getting started in the first place were being buried under other
layers of bigger class sizes, meeting the curricular goals of other
departments, and the like. I hope you'll come back here from time to
time, refresh your memory on a few topics of interest to you, and
discuss them with your department at lunch, during a Professional
Learning Community meeting, or over drinks. My second goal is to
keep myself fresh and articulate as I weave my own passions in and
out of the research that I'll do here. I offer workshops to schools
and counties about FLED and want others to know where I stand. I
also sell original songs, assessments, and interactive lessons (via
PowerPoint files). More about that at the very bottom of this entry.
I'm
Furious!
Before
jumping into research in future articles, however, I would like to
begin by screaming that <<I am SO ANGRY!!>> at some of my
fellow citizens right now here is the US. We are at this writing
five years into the great collapse of 2008, about two weeks' out from
Zimmerman's verdict of “NG,” and mere days out from the Marc
Anthony solo at the All Star Game. Many are closing ranks,
looking for some sort of artificial boundary of purity and separation
between “them” and “us.” Twitter and Facebook allow us a
fairly filter-free look into others' hearts, and I am in a dour mood
in response, as many of you likely are. Watching others' call
for some kind of circling of the wagons pains me as an American.
From
adversity comes opportunity, however, and I want to shout for all to
hear that WHAT YOU FL TEACHERS DO IS IMPORTANT, like no time I have
witnessed in my adult life. In this essay I hope to make the case
that in order for this incredible country to “exceed expectations”
(heh heh, teacher joke), that we as a citizenry must embrace the
realities of our current economy and the dynamics of opportunity,
investment, and reward that present themselves. Not to do so surely
means loss of our way of life, I venture.
Material
wealth = Best Chance We Have
I'll
start with the premise that although material wealth and first-world
prosperity have their costs (obesity, stress, environmental
degradation), that they offer the best hope for peace and comfort for
a people. Having your personal safety and physiological needs met by
making more money than you spend and not being surrounded by
desperate, hungry neighbors are two goals that cannot be
second-guessed. I come to this conclusion not lightly, having been
educated by friends who come from places where these two blessings
could not be taken for granted. Talk to someone from Cuba or
Venezuela sometime about what it was like to live there if you feel
really down on a market-driven, demand-based economy.
How
can Americans ensure that this way of life be preserved? We en
masse need a model where we can find innovations, see
opportunity, and seek connections between ideas where none has
occurred before. Where there is innovation, capital flows in and
work ensues. Where invention and imagination create solutions, jobs
follow.
Two
Cultures = Invention!
History
is full of examples of this sort of innovation, and it has often
happened at the crossing of two cultures. I'll mention a couple of
examples of this, arguing that 1. the assimilation that is initially
feared ultimately becomes identified as part of the culture, and 2.
FLED teachers are the best-equipped folks in the *WHOLE SCHOOL* for
fostering these ideas in the heads of future innovators.
Let's
start with an idea borrowed from our colleagues in Social Studies,
that of syncretism,
or
“the combination of different forms of belief or practice" (1). Where
two cultures meet, there is an inevitable tendency for one to be
affected by the other. Check out this American example from one of
my favorite books, Lies
My Teacher Told Me.
Here the author discusses how American colonists (as well as New
Yorkers a bit later) appropriated the dress of Native Americans to
represent poltical ideas that were unique on the American continent:
When
colonists took action to oppose unjust authority, as in the Boston
Tea Party or the anti-rent protest again Dutch plantations in the
Hudson River valley during the 1840s, they chose to dress as Indians,
not to blame Indians for the demonstrations but to appropriate a
symbol identified with liberty. Of course, Dutch traditions
influenced Plymouth as well as New York. So did British common law
and the Magna Carta. American democracy seems to be another example
of syncretism, combining ideas from Europe and North America (2, p.
112).
Why
were Native Americans associated with a concept of liberty? Native
Americans were seen as conducting themselves differently both in
their communities and in their relationship with the land they
occupied. As an example of this distinction, there is evidence from
multiple sources (3, 4) that the Iroquois, or League of Five Nations, profoundly influenced
the formation of the US form of government, although not all scholars
agree(5).
As evidence, for example, one South Carolian delegate to the
Constitutional Convention is said to have uttered the phrase, when
citing Iroquian
law, "We, the people, to form a union, to establish peace,
equity, and order..."(5) a phrase familiar enough to any American! In 1988, The US Congress
even acknowledged their influence upon our form of government via resolution (4).
I
feel certain, however, that the short-sighted and close-minded wagon
circlers who produced the images at the front of this blog would not
view this contribution as “American.” But would they dare argue
that the US Constitution or the original Boston Tea Partiers are to
be criticized for having “unAmerican” influences? These
modern-day “nativists' ” very existence depended on this
syncretism.
Hershey's Chocolate: UnAmerican?
What's
seen as foreign in one generation becomes a bulwark of its existence
in the next, I argue. For my next example, let's take on something
more light-hearted...chocolate. To make Hershey's chocolate bars, for
example, one must mix cocoa and sugar. Did Americans invent these?
Certainly not, nor even their European ancestors. The large-scale
production of sugar came to the West via Arabs, who received it
from it from their east, where it had slowly spread from New Guinea (6).
From Europe to the Americas on explorer's ships, agricultural
production of sugar became a world-wide phenomenon.
And
what of cocoa? Any Spanish teacher can tell you that it comes from
the regions of the Olmec and then the Aztec and the Maya, in what is
today called Mexico (7) (and Guatemala, Belize, and other Meso-American neighbors).
Interestingly, the “inventors” of chocolate didn't mix it with
milk and sugar, but the Europeans who took it back with them did so.
Thank you, syncretism, for keeping my belt so tight!
Imagine
someone arguing with Hernán Cortés, somewhere near Veracrúz,
México: “Hey, sir, these locals are savages and have nothing to
offer us. I am NOT eating some filthy bean they grow here nor
learning Náhuatl to hear about its nasty recipes.” If you've ever
read any de las Casas (8), it has already occurred to you that there WERE folks like that among the conquistadores,
and worse. Hershey, PA has profited mightily because they didn't win
out.
Now
imagine someone trying to argue the preposterous notion that
Hershey's chocolate is not American. It would not exist, however, if
individuals at several points in history had not appropriated the
practices and products of cultures foreign to them via syncretism.
What is exotic today is part of cultural DNA tomorrow.
To
conclude this section, I will state what is not exactly news – to
innovate, one must combine one's practices with those from outside.
The process of getting an education, in a classical sense, allows the
student to learn about those things which are from the outside and
combine them with what is already had in one's possession. To be
able to take in new information, without prejudice, and act upon it
in a constructive way, is critical in the history of humanity. To
react to uncertainty by assimilating that which is useful with what
is already there is a powerful notion that has propelled us through
the centuries. It occurs where two cultures bump, by definition.
We
Must Teach Them To Embrace Change!
You
know, there is no one else in your school like YOU, the World
Languages teacher, to make the argument for syncretism, and that
ultimately, this must become a burning desire in the minds of our
citizenry if our way of life is to survive. Further, demonstrating
syncretic “agility” in a Foreign Language classroom should become
one of our Standards to an extent that it is not, currently.
If
you are like me, you are already passionate about this, although we
may have used different words to describe this for our entire careers
when talking about why it's cool to teach another language. The
ACTFL governing body reflects that passion. Our National Standards
touch on this same idea in the Culture component of the “5 Cs” (9):
Standard
2.1: Students
demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the
practices and perspectives of the culture studied
Standard
2.2: Students
demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the
products and perspectives of the culture studied
Inevitably,
the question will arise from a parent or legislator regarding these:
Why? Why should I give money or time to these pursuits when
we are in crisis? Why does it matter if a sixth grader or a freshman
begins to understand the relationship between the practices,
perspectives and products of (a) different culture(s)?
The
answer to this must not be the tautological “Because it's
good for you” that compels no one but the already converted.
Learning about a new culture allows the student to begin innovating
the ideas that she already has, splintering off what does not work
from what has value in a given situation. Something new is then
born. We are the cohort that can impart and then assess this
best. Asking students to identify the assumptions that they bring to
the table is easier when you are demonstrating Standards 2.1 and 2.2
in your classroom every week.
Who
else can do as well as we do? The Social Studies teacher comes
closest, I suppose, and many likely do it well. However, as a survey
of many different societies and time periods, the level of
familiarity in the foreign context cannot be present in those courses
like it can in ours. What is needed is a mixture of both the
uncertainty that is created by being around a new culture but also
the familiarity that comes with staying within it semester after
semester. The FL classroom is a crucible for this very mixture.
However, if the FL teacher never or rarely asks that the student
reflect on and innovate his practices based on what has been
introduced, everyone suffers. The very nation suffers!
Who
else but you puts the student outside her home space? Who else in
your school has traveled as much, to say nothing of having come from a place with
highly different cultural, economic, and even meteorological
assumptions? In the vast majority of schools, I venture, you are the
best living witness to syncretism. And its best advocate.
My
Friend, You Are Upset About The Wrong Thing!
As
a teacher, I constantly ponder the question “What does it take for
a learner to be successful upon entering adulthood?” As both an
educator and before that, an entrepreneur, I've seen my share of the
“successful,” in the materialistic sense that I defined in the
introduction. What makes them different, and how can I help more
students to be like them?
Many
successful people I have known find an innovation, handle well the
risk associated with bringing it to market, and then make
themselves available to those who might need it. It
deeply bothers me, for example, that the wearer of the hateful patch
above may believe that schools teach Spanish to Americans in order
that undocumenteds don't have to learn English! I want to grab his
shoulders and say, “No, brother, I teach Spanish because your
children should be able to pursue customers, clients, and vendors in Spain and Latin America!”
The
misty notion that my country is at the center of it all reveals a
Marshall Plan-era thinking when the competition was in rubble and the
rest of the world was our customer as we emerged from World War II
with little territorial damage.9 It was a world where
the syncretism primarily occurred elsewhere-- “out there,”
somewhere, in Europe and Japan. To pine for those days reminds me of
the Hem character in Who Moved My Cheese?:
Hem
and Haw were unprepared for what they found. “What! No Cheese?”
Hem yelled. He continued yelling, “No Cheese? No Cheese?” as
though if he shouted loud enough someone would put it back. “Who
moved my Cheese?” he hollered. Finally, he put his hands on his
hips, his face turned red, and he screamed a the top of his voice,
“IT IS NOT FAIR!” (10, p. 33)
To
be angry that undocumenteds don't need English like you think that
they once did is misplaced rage. Better to be furious that your children
are not learning Mandarin, Portuguese, or, might I suggest, Spanish from
the age of six, and fight to change that. Put that on a patch and
stick it (on your jacket)!
We've
Got To Innovate, Too!
You
are part of the solution, colleagues, although you may not be
teaching for syncretic awareness. I suggest that you begin, overtly!
What do you get in return? Relevance.
How many times have you been talking to an acquaintance in the grocery, or a parent, only to hear, “Oh, you teach Spanish/French/German/Russian/etc.? I took four years of that in high school and I can't remember more than how to say 'hello.'” This perturbs me to no end, and with all my energy, blogs, products, consultations, and advocacy I will fight to diminish this, making the use of the language for our students as attainable as possible.
How many times have you been talking to an acquaintance in the grocery, or a parent, only to hear, “Oh, you teach Spanish/French/German/Russian/etc.? I took four years of that in high school and I can't remember more than how to say 'hello.'” This perturbs me to no end, and with all my energy, blogs, products, consultations, and advocacy I will fight to diminish this, making the use of the language for our students as attainable as possible.
I'll
be talking about proficiency in my next entry in August, but for now,
I'll just say that I fear for our profession's future. If useful
communication in the Target Language is not a reasonable goal for the
majority of high school students, then I would offer syncretism as a
partial alternative. You don't need reminding that budgets and scheduling are driven by results after the killer combination of both NCLB and then the financial crisis of 2008,
and we can use the competencies that young people bring to class when
combined with what we teach to demonstrate innovative, evolved
thinking to demonstrate those results. We are in a unique position to ask students to reflect on
their practices, compare them to others', and solve problems with
something in between.
Imagine a new technology, innovation, or technique coming about, and the inventor saying, “I first came up with this idea because in my Spanish class we learned about how each town has a Zócalo, where families and friends gather around a plaza, and I asked myself, 'Why don't we do that in my town?' and that when I came up with the idea to _____...” Colegas, they would be knocking down the doors to fund us earlier and often if we could foster results like that!
Imagine a new technology, innovation, or technique coming about, and the inventor saying, “I first came up with this idea because in my Spanish class we learned about how each town has a Zócalo, where families and friends gather around a plaza, and I asked myself, 'Why don't we do that in my town?' and that when I came up with the idea to _____...” Colegas, they would be knocking down the doors to fund us earlier and often if we could foster results like that!
Thanks
for reading, and I invite your comments and questions.
-->Next month's topic: Do ACTFL's Proficiency Guidelines line up with your curriculum and your teaching?
-->Next month's topic: Do ACTFL's Proficiency Guidelines line up with your curriculum and your teaching?
Citations:
2Loewen,
J. W. (2004). Lies my teacher told me: Everything your American
history textbook got wrong. New York: New Press.
5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Law_of_Peace#cite_note-2
(see notes regarding Elizabeth Tooker if looking for a rejoinder)
8Casas,
Bartolomé de las, 1474-1566. A short account of the destruction of
the Indies. London: Penguin, 1992. Columbia University Libraries
Virtual Reading Room, 2002. Based on edition of 1552.
10Johnson,
S. (2002). Who
moved my cheese? An amazing way to deal with change in your work and
in your life.
New York: Putnam. Greg Sanchez is a former Spanish teacher and department chair at North Springs High School near Atlanta, GA, and was educated at the University of Southern Mississippi, the University of Georgia, and Kennesaw State University. He wants to visit your school or county to talk about results-driven pedagogy via music, Performance-Based Assessments, and a host of other strategies.
His store: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Picantepractices
His teacher Facebook page (Like or Subcribe, please): https://www.facebook.com/PicantePractices
