their names to fit in
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There have been some concerns about what teachers and other educators can
do to better serve the needs of immigrant students. I recommend the work of
R.A. Dentler & A.L. Hafner (1997) "Hosting Newcomers: Structuring
educational opportunities for immigrant children (New York, Teacher's
College Press) for a comprehensive listing of the many aspects of what
schools can do.
At a general level one can point to teacher's open-mindedness, their
expectations of students, their knowledge of cultural backgrounds,
sensitivity, skills, ability to incorporate student interests into the
curriculum etc and our discussions of these can go on for quite a while.
I do want to mention some subtle practices that go on that even
well-intended teachers engage in. These stories are personal, and even
though they deal with my son's experience in the school system (he is in
5th grade) do impact girls and boys children alike. My child has a long
last name. It looks intimidating at first, but is pronounced phonetically,
so with some effort is actually easier to pronounce than my last name! He
has been continually referred to as "(Tommy)?. er? I'm sorry I can't say
your last name", so much so, that he has shied away from telling his
friends his last name. Obviously, when educators draw attention to his last
name, his friends get even more curious!
A teacher told me how one of her students had been taught by a lower grade
teacher about the "correct" pronunciation of her last name "Pagan". Instead
of the Spanish pronunciation (P-ah g-ah n) the child was dubbed with the
same pronunciation as the word that is synonymous with heathen!!
We are in the process of trying to legally change my child's name before
Middle School comes along!! As in many Asian countries, we name our
children as follows: first an ancestral/ spiritual name, then their
'given' name (the one that people will commonly use) and then their
surname. In this country this is not the order. So many children are forced
by the school system to go by a name with which they do not identify. Even
though teachers have been very accommodating, the office and school system
has issued dozens of certificates to what they deem is the child's legal
name. None of which are displayed with any pride in our home, because, as
my child notes, "That's not me!"
One would think that with all the technology available, children of
immigrant backgrounds should not have to be robbed of their basic identity
like their names, just so that the schools can keep "accurate" records. Yet
this trend only echoes how many in the USA have forced so many students
(especially, at one point, the Chinese; often with extremely easy, if
unfamiliar, names) to change their names to western polysyllabic names that
are more "common" and therefore can be pronounced.
I hope this adds further spark to our conversations!!
Dilys Schoorman
Dschoorm@fau.edu
________________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Dilys Schoorman
Dept. of Teacher Education
College of Education, Room 485 Phone: 561 297 3003
Florida Atlantic University Fax: 561 297 3335
777 Glades Road e-mail:
dschoorm@fau.edu
Boca Raton, FL 33431-0991
________________________________________________________________________________
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