Female genital cutting and cultural sensitivity in education

¶ … tone of this question uncomfortable, given the difficulty of the subject matter. It seems to suggest that female circumcision is a cultural practice that must be understood within the context of Islamic culture, and not judged overly harshly. Granted, the teacher, like all individuals, is part of a cultural system that has its own limitations and biases. ELL educators in particular must be sensitive to different cultural practices of students. But to take tolerance too far is equally dangerous. Should wife-beating or honor killing be tolerated, and not called spousal abuse and murder, simply because certain cultures accept these practices? Furthermore, no culture is seamless, in other words there are many dissenters about different cultural practices from within the culture. Many African women strongly oppose this practice, and fight against it -- they regard it as barbaric not as part of 'their' culture.

Other cultural practices a teacher might have to tolerate, and be more sensitive in approaching. For example, students from Japan might be less used to the rowdier American classroom where it is acceptable to vocally disagree with a teacher. Students may have different ways of dressing, different ideas about when it is appropriate to touch other students, and also have more responsibilities at home then their American counterparts in relation to chores or younger siblings.

I would notify the principal immediately, and ask for a conference between an administrator and the girl's parents. In such a difficult situation, with legal implications, no teacher can solve the problem alone.

Discussion Questions

Case 9

Creating a culturally and linguistically unbiased test is virtually impossible. A brilliant English student would fail an exam, were it given in Chinese. Telling a story or using open-ended questions can be less culturally deterministic than asking multiple choice and answer questions, but sometimes direct right and wrong answers are difficult to avoid -- it is hard to argue that students should not be required to learn nouns and common vocabulary for clothing. At best, a teacher can be as culturally and linguistically unbiased as possible, however, in grading a test. One cannot help but ask if a student were British, and incorrectly labeled the clothing on the example according to American speech -- labeling a sweatshirt a "jumper" or a pair of rubber boots "Wellies" for example, if the teacher would have failed the child. The teacher might simply have explained the differences in word choice between America and the child's home country to Chloe. She could have used the experience as a teaching opportunity -- even for the entire class. But British culture and slang, although different than American culture and slang, has more social and cultural cache than the girl's Jamaican dialect.

Besides the cultural and linguistic barriers, ELL students always labor under a certain disadvantage because they not only have to worry about finding the right answer, but also using the right vocabulary with which to express that answer. Also, they might have greater difficulty understanding direction than their non-ELL counterparts. Finally, ELL students may feel silly or ashamed in a mainstream classroom asking questions about vocabulary words that everyone else seems to know already.

Discussion Questions

Case Study

Differentiated learning is a way of teaching students that specifically tailors the curriculum to meet the needs and academic goals of the specific student, rather than to conform to pre-determined standards of what a student should know because they belong to a particular age group.

Ms. Dolic should put aside her prejudices, and attempt to use a differentiated learning strategy to suit the boy's different needs. Nikolas needs more practice in speaking in informal settings -- perhaps just having conversations about the material with him, and having him write compositions about subjects covered in the classroom that force him to understand English in context might be a good way to strengthen his skills. On a much lower level, Jose needs practice in composition writing to improve his writing skills. Ivan's speaking ability might be helped if he could give more presentations on simple subjects in class, to allow him to grow more comfortable speaking.

Nikolas is clearly a talented student, but he suffers the difficulty of not being fluent in the language of instruction. His primary challenge may be that he understands the material, but his English cannot convey this to others. Because their comprehension and academic background is not as strong, the other two boys need added aid in language instruction and understanding basic science concepts in English, unlike Nikolas.

Nikolas is funny, charming, intelligent, and has much to offer intellectually, provided people take time to listen to him. Jose and Ivan add important cultural enrichment to the classroom, and students themselves may be able to better understand the material, if Ms. Dolic asks them to explain the lesson to the boys, and assigns fluent English speakers the task of helping explain scientific concepts in basic layperson's terms to the boys.

By forcing Ms. Dolic to render her lesson plans in the simplest terms possible, to be comprehensible to ELL students, even students who are not ELL but who struggle in science may benefit. To raise Nikolas' confidence, she could even ask him to help English language natives who are less gifted in science, which would force him to make new friends, use his extroverted character in English, and force him to practice his English.

Discussion Questions

Case 12

The fact that Jozef was going to be mainstreamed was testimony to his ability to learn quickly. In an enrichment program, although he might start at a deficit of English vocabulary words in relation to his peers, Jozef had obviously demonstrated a great capacity and willingness to learn.

Administrators, the school board, guidance counselors, the school psychologist, outside counselors and therapists that can do additional testing, are all possible advocates.

Teachers could have assigned Jozef additional assignments to challenge him, and to further build up his vocabulary in English. She could have asked him to ask as kind of a surrogate teacher, helping her cover subjects that he might have greater personal experience with, such as the history of his nation. She could also give him greater flexibility in assignments and allow him to pursue independent research projects.