Hello Friends,

In this issue of WinkWorld, I am sharing some of my thoughts on bilingual education. Please see Bilingual Basics, http://www.joanwink.com/scheditems/BilBasicsHandout.pdf, which will soon be published in a newsletter from TESOL. Next month, I will share the exact citation for your use. In addition, two teachers share their thoughts: Sarah gives us an overview of her thesis on teacher preparation; and Kim shares with us the differences between the use of Latino and/or Hispanic, with Joan's thoughts following. I also introduce you to a terrific new resource for us, IJFLT.

As some of you know, I am working with colleagues from CREDE (www.crede.org). This semester we have been working with teachers from selected Modesto City Schools. In this day of mandated curriculum, scripted programs, and the ever-present accompanying professional development, which reflect the top-down approach to teaching and learning, it has been an incredible joy to work with public school teachers, who are learning, laughing, and loving. I credit the works of my new CREDE colleagues for creating this opportunity for so many of us. Jim Cummins (2001) is right again: Collaborative relations of power are better than coercive relations of power.

In Prairie Pedagogy, we will look at the latest from the ranch and as always, the latest of the grands.

enJOY,
Joan

Bilingual Basics
Sarah Klein
amatiprod@aol.com

Sarah is finishing her MA and now lives in Commerce, TX, where her husband, Jim, is the Dean of Arts and Sciences at Texas A& M, Commerce.
Title of Project: A Survey on the Relationship between Teachers and Administrators on Teacher Preparation. Sarah is a professional bass player and also runs Amati Production (1.888.421.0905),

Amati Production is an online mail order company which features doublebassist Gary Karr, who is still considered the greatest living doublebassist by many. Amati Production accepts students from all over the world for a 4 week Karr Kamp at the University of Victoria, B.C., Canada.

School districts today are facing a sever teacher shortage. Surveys and speculation have come up with several possible reasons for teachers leaving the classroom. Among these are lack of adequate training by the teaching university to handle classroom discipline and planning, too much time and emphasis spent on testing of students, lack of peer and/or administrative support, better pay in other fields, insufficient time for creativity and just plain burn-out.

To try to stop this flow of teachers leaving the profession many districts are adopting mentoring programs such as BTSA (Beginning Teacher Support and Assistance) in California. With this program each probationary teacher is assigned a mentor in the district. These mentors can help find answers to questions about daily classroom activities, district policies, parent and community involvement, writing lesson plans, organization, and many more. Mentors provide a safe environment for the beginning teacher to come to for help. With mentors new teachers can learn to reflect on their progress through out the year and plan for continued success. District administrators are trying to provide more hands on training to assist beginning teachers in the use of district materials and resources.

In this thesis/project probationary elementary teachers in a small rural school district in the Central Valley of California have surveyed to find the areas in which they felt that they were and were not adequately prepared to meet the realities of the classroom. With this information collated a survey for experienced teachers in the same small rural school district in the Central Valley of California was prepared. These experienced teachers were asked to provide helpful hints that had worked for them, anything from a quote that inspired, a letter home to parents, a lesson plan format or a classroom activity. Again this new information was collated into a survival booklet which will be made available to each school site in the district. Copies may also be made available to some student teachers.

Hispanic OR Latino? That is the question.
Kim Medeiros
motox@inreach.com

Kim summaries the thoughts of Gonzalez & Gándara, 2005. Gonzalez, C. and Gándara, P. (2005). Why we like to call ourselves Latinas. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 4 (4), 392-398.

The words, Hispanic and Latino, have been used interchangeably to describe someone who comes from Spanish speaking countries. However, the term, Latino, has become more preferred because of the historical and political connotations that are associated with the word, Hispanic.

The word, Hispanic, was created by the United States census department and sounds relatively close to the Spanish word, "Hispánico," which usually refers to objects or groups of people and not individuals. This word was imposed on people who were from countries where Spanish is spoken.

The term, Latino, is used to describe a person from a country where the language is derived from Latin. It was created as a reaction to the reject and resist Anglo power. Latinos are people who come from Latin Speaking countries in the Americas. The modern definition of Latino refers only to those who live in the United States.

Historically, when there were conflicts between the old Spanish and English empires, Spaniards were thought of as nonwhite Europeans and often made out to be barbaric. These stereotypes were carried through Europeans to the United States and thus people who speak Spanish are often thought of as people of color when they enter the United States. The word, Hispanic, invokes sameness, whereas the word Latino evokes ethnic identity.

An under-current of political considerations is inherent in this discussion. Hispanic has ties to the old Spanish empire, while Latino is more connected to the new world, the Americas. Latino refers to the Latin countries and because they are located nearer to the United States than Spain and they are larger than Spain, an association with the Latin countries denotes a greater sense of political power. Furthermore, Hispanic refers to the past, while Latino looks to the future. The term, Latino, is empowering for people from Spanish speaking countries because it refers to racial heritage, acknowledges background, and looks ahead to the future and their growing political importance in the United States (Gonzalez and Gándara, 2005).

Joan's thoughts on the discussion of Latino and/or Hispanic.

Latino = family roots are in Mexico, Central America, or South America

Hispanic = family roots are in a country where Spanish (la lengua hispánica) is spoken.

Hispania = Spain.

This is one of the reasons why the word, Hispanic, is slowly giving way to the use of Latino, in some parts of the US. Many of the Spanish-dominant students in schools in the U.S. have families who originally came from Mexico. The largest collective group of Latinos in the US has roots either in Mexico, Puerto Rico, or Cuba. Some like to be called Mexican American, Puertoruiqueño Americanos (Nuyoricans or Boriquas in NY), Cuban Americans, and some prefer simply, Americans.

However, above all, it is important to keep in mind that Latinos in the US and throughout the world are a mixture of several ethnic backgrounds including Latin American, Europe, African, and indigenous Indians in the Americas.

Terrific New Resource, free online. I encourage you to subscribe. The International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching IJFLT http://www.ijflt.com/

To Reference This Web Page
Wink, J. (2005, December). WinkWorld: December 2005
Retrieved ,
from www.joanwink.com/newsletter/2005/news1205-intro.html.