by Julia López-Robertson, Amanda Dunnigan, and Rebecca Martin, The University of South Carolina
“ . . . it has to begin with acceptance and by honoring people’s cultural practices; way of life, language and belief systems— even if one doesn’t fully understand it.”
Set in San Antonio, Texas, Going, Going by Naomi Shihab Nye follows the main character, Florrie, a teenager as she begins a grassroots campaign to protest the loss of local business to large corporations. Having worked in her mother’s restaurant as long as she could remember, Florrie understood the importance of supporting local businesses. My students connected Florrie’s struggle to maintain the local in San Antonio to maintaining our own students’ language and culture.
Student Responses
One student focused on ways that teachers can be advocates for students and preserve their students’ cultures in the classroom.
The main focus and need for advocacy is acceptance and acknowledgment of diversity. If lawmakers can see the importance of diversity and culture as teachers in the class, then acknowledging the importance and use of that language will follow. It seems to me that teachers can use examples of successful cultural exchange in the classroom to convince others of the importance of cultural conservation in education. Teachers are highly qualified and very knowledgeable about the needs of their children. But it seems, however, that teachers rarely make their voices heard and fight for the needs of their students. We need to follow Florrie’s example and stand up for what we believe in.
Another student touched on the westernization of families that immigrate to the United States and offered that assimilation causes problems “such as increased dropout rate/decreasing chance for higher education, feelings of exclusion, and the loss of very valuable native language and culture.”
While trying to make connections between the novel and course readings, a student asserted that “the elimination of bilingualism is sort of symbolic of the elimination of small businesses in Florrie’s town.” To which another student added, “this [diverse] way of life, is fading due to “Americanization” which goes hand in hand with capitalism and big franchises,” a central theme in the novel.
In addition to the teacher’s role as an advocate for her/his students, another important topic that surfaced in group discussions was the definition of the teacher’s role in promoting cultural and linguistic diversity. While there was some debate as to whether or not Florrie’s own teachers promoted her cultural and linguistic diversity [in the book], it was agreed that in our real lives as teachers, this something all teachers need to strive to do, even those who do not teach English Language Learners. One student believes that “it has to begin with acceptance and by honoring people’s cultural practices; way of life, language and belief systems— even if one doesn’t fully understand it.” Preserving student’s culture will enable students to grow up accepting other people for who they are and acknowledge that the differences between cultures can be used as strengths and resources rather than be viewed as a deficit and something that needs to be taken away.
In closing, Florrie has taught us the importance of being agents of change. As teachers, we need to fight on behalf of our students; our responsibility is not only to educate students, but the community as well. One student acknowledges “people are going to continue to be misinformed if we, the experts on teaching and learning, don’t start letting our voices be heard!” Teachers need to take the lead in demonstrating the important role that immigrants and ethnic minorities play in our schools and society. We need to be more vocal and utilize our strengths in and out of the classroom. If we don’t, who will?
Gottlieb (2006) communicates to us that teachers need to examine their ELLs so that they can utilize the cultural and linguistic funds of knowledge of their students in the classroom. This begs the question: In Going, going… have Florrie and her family/friends simply become westernized and Americanized? Or are they products of the English-only mainstream, pre-packaged curriculum that Garcia (2011) points to? How can we preserve the cultures of our students in our classrooms? How can we as classroom teachers and advocates bring back bilingual education into our classrooms?
Editor’s Note: We reviewed Going, Going by Naomi Shihab Nye in WOW Review Volume 3, issue 4.
References
Garcia, E. (2011). ¡Ya basta!: Challenging restrictions on English language learners. Dissent 58 (4), pp. 47-50.
Gottlieb, M. (2006). Assessing English language learners: Bridges from language proficiency to academic achievement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Nye, N.S. (2005). Going, going. Greenwillow Books.
Pavri, S., Bentz, J.B., Bradley, J.F. & Corso, L (2005). ‘Me amo leer’ Reading experiences in a central Illinois summer migrant education programme. Language, culture, and curriculum. 18(2) pp. 154-163.
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- Themes: Going Going, Julia López-Robertson, Naomi Shihab Nye
- Descriptors: Books & Resources, Student Connections, WOW Currents