Return-Path: <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id e9QIw8918460; Thu, 26 Oct 2000 14:58:08 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2000 14:58:08 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <b2.c735e93.2729d82a@aol.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: KathleenBombach@aol.com To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:252] Re: deafness as culture: a question I need X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Windows AOL sub 100 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Status: O Content-Length: 2655 Lines: 43 Laura: Well said. I too have had class issues become problems in the classroom. Many of the ESL instructors who have Bachelor's and Master's degrees (hence meet accrediting standards) here in El Paso are Mexican immigrants from upper and middle class backgrounds, or other Latin American immigrants from similar backgrounds. The student population is composed of poor, lower class Mexican immigrants from zero to 6th grade educations in Mexico. Likewise, many of the administrators' jobs and other jobs demanding high levels of education in educational systems are filled by upper class Latin Americans who come from societies where they are members of the elite. When a program here on the border has many immigrant Hispanic administrators and teachers, frequently they are upper class in origin. I used to laugh because as a college administrator with a majority of Hispanic program coordinators, only one was Chicano. The others were upper class Nicaraguan, upper class Mexican, middle class Argentinian, etc. There were some class-based issues, although some chose to work where they did because they were aware of these issues and had chosen to reject class privilege (although it never seems to truly go away). On the other hand, the only two Anglo coordinators' fathers were a bricklayer and a military grunt (not an officer), which certainly turned assumptions about race/ethnicity on its head! Examination of one's origin in the context of class, ethnicity, and race can make a huge difference. Mexico (and most of Latin America) is a very class-based society. Access to higher education entirely depends on your class origin. Many upper and middle class educated instructors carry the worldview and attitudes inherent in their class backgrounds into the classroom and it causes no end of problems. Teachers with a sense of class-based superiority from a country where only a small upper class exists will often demand what they call respect because of their credentials and class background, while students will be acutely aware that they are in the US and todos son eguales aqui. I have had to meet with classes a number of times to establish a basis for equality in the teacher-student relationship. I have met with teachers privately as well to see if we could surface these issues. Finally, I have had to replace teachers who continued to carry their class prejudices into the classroom. But all this happens in other contexts as well. School districts use parent's lack of education to prevent them from receiving services their children are entitled to by law, for example. Kathleen Bombach
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