"Many young people wonder why they are in school. To learn, of course, they are told. But why and to what end, they rightfully ask. To become productive members of society; education is your portal and path to opportunity, they are reminded. But that is in the future, they protest. What does school have to do with now, today, this moment in life?" page 312.
This quote stood out to me while reading this weeks readings. It made me wonder if all children really believe that their path to opportunity will start as they get older. I wonder if they feel this way because they don't believe in themselves and think that they can't succeed in school. Have we made school too hard for Americans? I don't think so, I actually feel that were are very behind in our education. I lived in Germany when I was in middle school and my younger brother was able to go to a German kindergarten off-base. We did live off-base, but I was required to go to an American school on-base. While hanging out with my neighbors, we would converse in English and German. I was taking German and my neighbors were taking English in their school. So we would try to help each other with our homework. It was amazing to hear that all German children were to learn English. Wow! They valued their education and made it a priority to learn new things. My brother was even learning German in his kindergarten. He would speak it fluently with us and his friends in the neighborhood. I wonder how American schools would be if we were required to learn a language and I'm not just talking about taking two classes in high school, but really learning a language and speak it fluently. When we just take those two language courses in high school, does it really stay in our brains? No it diminishes over time. But what if we were to start at a younger age, such as four and five? I wonder if children would feel like that they are on the path of opportunity by learning a new language at younger age. That is the time when learning is at its best, so why not take advantage of that time. By making learning a new language a priority, it could boost social, emotional, language, writing, and cognitive skills up. Children will feel more confident and will be able to succeed in school and in the community. The school I work for has a Japanese teacher who is also an aid. She goes to each class once a week and teaches the children Japanese. It would be amazing to have these children learn Japanese in elementary, middle, and high school so they are able to speak it, write it, and think it. I wonder what The United States would be different if every American knew another language fluently? Would America's education be different?
Hello Ashley,
ReplyDeleteFirst I just want to say that is an amazing experience. I've been reading about Germany for another class; not necessarily the country but psychology in Germany and I have a friend that's going to be stationed there as well. I wish I could see that part if the world. : )
I think that it is amazing that the children of Germany learn to speak their native language as well as English. I agree with you, I do not think American education is too challenging for our students , if anything the DOE lacks in the amount if academics and services offered to our children regular and special education. I just attended another IEP yesterday and it is sickening that even though the student shows a need and data shows regression, the DOE refuses to offer appropriate services to meet the student's needs. As for learning another language, I have heard that it is easier for children to learn another language than it is adults or older students. When children are bilingual they have an easier time learning additional languages. I also agree with you about teens taking a language in high school, we don't retain what is taught and that skill diminishes quickly because it isn't practiced.
Another thing that I found interesting about your blog was that your brother was allowed to go to a German school off base, but you were to attend a school on base. Do you know why? Thank you again Ashley for sharing and allowing me to comment on your blog.
Hi Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Thailand where, basically, most people speak Thai as their native language. However, English language is one of the requirements in Thai school so I had some chance to learn the basic English from the book but not as much as conversation. When I move to Hawaii, even though I learned basic English, I still have difficult time speaking English in real life conversation. I feel like being able to speak more than one language is such an important skill for everyone nowadays but how can we encourage children to be able to use the second language fluently? By just providing language classes and learning from the books, would children be able to use the new language? What will be the most effective way to support children while learn additional languages?