Multiculturalism

Banks and Banks is my favorite definition, that the aim of multicultural education is to create equal educational opportunities for students from diverse racial, ethnic, social class and cultural groups. They further state that technology transcends culture and language. I think that the film El Tacoyo best illustrates the point. The film is bilingual, and should be equally compelling to both Spanish speakers and English speakers. Probably the biggest investment for this project was assuring access to technology for ESL students and students from the lower end of the economic strata.

This last point is one of my greatest concerns. While I'm aware that my children have plenty of access to technology, easily spending two hours a day with a computer, I am equally aware that there are plenty of kids who can't get two hours a month on a computer. It is these students who I am in greatest fear for. Frankly, with two children of my own, I am not going to go charging off on the weekends to teach classes. I know for a fact my wife would object. What I am willing to do is to work with parents to convince them to obtain lower end, internet capable machines. I will try to turn my parents into a community that will donate older computers to children who will otherwise not have access to technology. The nice thing about email systems such as Yahoo is that students do not have to have printers in their own homes. They can email their work to others who do have printers - including the school or their teachers. At $9.95 a month for internet access, very few students should have difficulties gaining access. But the sad reality is there will be families that can't even afford that much. Though I wonder if somehow, for a low price, an account with multiple email accounts couldn't be set up. I have emailed Earthlink as a start to see if they have any programs or suggestions. IF they do, then I would be in a position to negotiate with parents, Home and School Clubs and the Principal. The computers should be easy as both business's and individuals update computers on a regular basis. I would just need to find the stream for that and set up the donation stream.

As for equal access all the websites discussed tonight would be great for ESL students. Even if there is no translation capacity on Epals Classroom, ESL students could find students who DO speak their language. BICS/CALP is quite categorical in it's statement that practice in the native language accelerates learning in the second language. That in itself is a help. Another thought (yes, I took two aspirin), if I have a class of with two or three language groups I could set up a situation where my students communicated in another language, using the ESL students as translators. That would give them the experience of being a linguistic expert, and give my native English speakers an opportunity to experience what it is like to be the one who needs help. I know for a fact that my experience living in Napoli, Italy, has significantly impacted my thoughts and my feelings in favor of multiculturalism. And I definately was NOT a native Italian speaker.

Given all that we covered, I thought the Digital Camcorder was a good example of synchronicity. Between El Tacoyo and the general topic of multiculturalism and the inherent issue of ESL students, the digital camcorder fit right in. For me, one of the key issues is its use as an alternative medium for students who for whatever reason may not be the greatest at the written language. As a tool for the story teller - fiction, factual or even documentary format, it is simple and easy to use, not to mention extremely portable. As a homeowner, it would be easy for me to get a camcorder insured. With time, and help from parents et al for money, it should even be easy to get one that is a bit on the robust side for handling. I've seen reporters drop cameras (expecially combat photogrpahers) and I know that those cameras were not spec built for them. Those cameras were just naturally robust. Biggest problem there will probably be finding reviews that talk about robustness/hardiness. Again, it was nice to see a couple of women prove once again that gender has nothing to do with technical ability.