suggestions anyone?

[Beth Brown]

Hi Richard,

I'm not sure that I have any advice to offer, but I wanted to wish you well
and commend you on your efforts. I was a Dakota language immersion preschool
teacher within the Minneapolis Public Schools for several years and my
experience was very similar to what you're describing. The classroom teacher
and prep teachers in our Dakota IMMERSION room would come in and use
English, despite our objections and justifications. We too did not have
regular meetings between language speakers and teachers, so communication
was stymied. Furthermore, our knowledge of language acquisition was
considered sub-par, since the majority of our speakers are not licensed
teachers. I still work at the school, but in a different capacity and I've
found allies in the school who DO value our knowledge as speakers and who DO
want our input. It seems like sometimes it's just about finding the right
people to stand behind us.

Do the teachers have to be in your classroom? We had to have licensed
teachers in the room because we were not licensed, but I'm not sure if
that's the case for you. Also, do the teachers know or are they learning
some of the language? Maybe someone had suggested it already, but doing a
TPR demonstration with the teachers in a language they DON'T know can be
pretty convincing! Or, sometimes it helps for them to see research data that
supports the effectiveness of immersion. That said, there are some who seem
as if they will never understand or don't want to, no matter what evidence
you present them with. I've worked with those people and it's very
challenging on many levels, but what brought me through was the support and
encouragement of other language activists, which is why I wanted to write to
you. The work you're doing -as a volunteer, no less!- seems very admirable
and I'm sure it's making a difference for those kids far beyond what you can
even see now.

Best wishes to you,

Beth Brown

Program Associate, Dakota Language
American Indian Studies
University of Minnesota



On Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 12:04 PM, Richard Zane Smith <rzs at wildblue.net>wrote:

> I'm working with preschool kids
> introducing the Wyandot language...which is great..but
> its not ideal.I can only volunteer so much time as its not a funded
> position.
> So far the tribal council hasn't considered our Language as
> essential...(another topic!)
>
> Relationships are good with teachers BUT
> I'm finding I'm having conflict when I'm using ONLY "wandat"
> and teachers keep "helping" -- interpreting into english for the
> students!!!
>
> they don't seem to understand that KIDS DON'T NEED ENGLISH INTERPRETATION
> and if something isn't working, its MY problem and i'll try using
> the "new" words in a different context...
> maybe stressing the new words less, and wrapping it with familiar words.
>
> But what can i tell these teachers!?! I don't want to offend them
> by correcting them in class...though , in a couple classes i shook my head
> smiling saying "no interpreting!" but they looked offended.
> I requested a meeting,that isn't happening...
>
> Is there some "easy to comprehend" instruction about this kind of problem?
> ske:noh
> Richard
>
> --
> *
>
> "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."
>
> - Frederick Douglass
>
> *
>
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