As part of the tutoring program I meet with a very diverse group of first graders each week. The teachers that volunteer to lead the first grader's group speak Spanish as their first language and try their best to speak to the children in English. This however does not always work since their English is severely covered by their strong Spanish accent. All children in the group speak English as their first language and many times struggle to understand and work with the leading teachers.
On one particular day a student was working with one of the leading teachers in attempt finish up his math homework. Numerous times he said "I don't understand what you are saying. Can you say it again?" Since i was working with another child at the time i was unable to go over and help the child. I am the only volunteer that works with the first graders that is able to speak English clearly and precise. After completing my duties with my child for the day I went over to the little boy and asked the teacher if she would like me to pick up where she was and assist the little boy so that she could go and attend to the other children. I did not want to point out that I was offering to switch so that the boy could understand the directions better on account of the teacher was trying the best she could to accommodate herself and help the children.
This was just one example on how I was able to be sensitive to not only a child's culture but the culture of the teacher as well.
It seems that you handled this very well. One thing that may be interesting to realize is that we all come in with differences may it be accent, maneurism, facial expressions: Students and teachers. While it may be hard for a student to understand a teacher's accent, or vice-versa, they are developing skills in learning how to deal with it, and becoming aware of the many differences our classes are made of. This is a great skill for anyone who would like to engage in any profession or work including for a future educator.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really difficult situation. I had a really difficult time at first in my tutoring because of the language barrier. While I only speak English most of my students were native Spanish speakers. I was never insulted when Anna (from our class) or one of the other Spanish speaking tutors came to help me because I knew it was in the best interest of the learning experience but I think that by staying together the student and I both learned valuable lessons. I learned some basic Spanish instructions while observing Anna and the student learned that they had to make an effort to understand my instruction. I never gave up my student to another person even if our languages were mismatched. It is a fact that English speaking students will encounter teachers with accents from all over the world and they cannot be transferred out of every class in which that happens. Next time try to include the primary instructor when you restate the instructions or privately express you observations to the instructor that way after your 15 hours are over the students still continue to move forward.
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