Justin Egbert

10/24/2016

Blog #6

            The Indian Assimilation that took place in The United States spanning from the late 1700s all the way through the mid 1900s. The forceful blend of cultures and the brutal teaching methods of these so called “teachers” left a mark on our nation and left us with a deep dark controversial topic. Over the years the forceful, bad apple, tactics have faded with the times and our school system is more welcoming, enjoyable, and more culturally aware. School should be a place students want to go instead of dreed and fear every step into the building. The past shows that there was a lot of negative processes in schools in the past, but the real question is what are we doing now to be more culturally aware and respectful.

Body Paragraphs:

           

The Indian Assimilation

-What was this time in history

-What was trying to be accomplished

-Where were the schools, local and non-local,

-What was or wasn’t accomplished

-The affect

-Curriculum

Schools Today

-What are our programs having to do with culture respect and awareness

-Native language in the classroom

-Embracing cultural difference.

-Teaching tactics

Compare and contrast

-teaching tactics

-cultural awareness in classrooms

-steps taken to assure cultural awareness

            What I am hoping to gain from this paper, is to prove that our teaching system and our curriculum has takin steps to be more culturally aware then in the past. What I am also thinking about incorporating into this paper is that there may have been just a spike this kind of racism but before and after that spike we were and are culturally embracing individuals. For instance, the fur traders of the old west had to talk to native tribes to gain permission to hunt lands. It was a matter of survival. Now I our time we are trying to break the chains of culture discrepancies and have everyone respect and also be aware of cultures. Living in a small I never saw that much of a cultural difference due to the fact that we were mostly white with a good portion of Native, African, and Mexican Americans. We all got along because we all grew up with each other and knew one another from grammar school. We all were taught and given the same chance as everybody else. There was no force blends for those of us that were not white. As a teacher, I will hold a professional standard for all my students along with providing a fun enjoyable environment for all.

5b

Indian Assimilation Sources

(Primary) Chalcraft, E., & Collins, Cary C. (2004). Assimilation's agent : My life as a superintendent in the Indian boarding school system. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

(Peer Reviewed Journal) Iseke-Barnes, J. (2002). Aboriginal and Indigenous People's Resistance, the Internet, and Education. Race Ethnicity and Education, 5(2), 171-198.

(ebook) Hasse, L. (1974). Termination and assimilation: Federal Indian policy, 1943 to 1961. Pullman, Wash.: Washington State University.

I’m sorry about my last post. I thought it was this one. Please disregard that post.

When reading this article, I have to say I do feel for the Hawaiian people and their language. But in saying that I do believe that English should be a language taught and not Pidgin for many reasons. Pidgin is the traditional language of Hawaii and is referred to in the text as spoken by more than half the population and is the language of locals, this you probably guessed. But in schools English is taught compared to Pidgin: as referred to the text, “ we live in a world unlike  the 1800s in which we are all interconnected”. We are more connected to English then we are with Pidgin, Pidgin is a very distinct language for a very distinct part of the world. So the problem with teaching in Pidgin is that when you speak it to anyone off the island, no one is going to have any idea on what you are speaking or saying for that matter. Let’s put in another geographical form. The Louisiana Purchase took place in the early 1800s in which we bought the whole mid-west of America from the French. So an argument could be brought up saying that whole section needs to speak French due to the fact that all that land was owned by the French. This just doesn’t add up. Well that same goes for Hawaii, just because that “was “the language doesn’t mean that “is” the language now. The English language is all over the world and is spoken pretty much everywhere, as for Pidgin which is only in Hawaii. Of course there is Pidgin English mix but still, not popular.

            So how do we make both sides happy on this matter. Well look at the reservations here in America where they incorporate the language in the curriculum, but while teaching it in English. Majority to all schools on reservations speak English because that we have for our educational system, we don’t want people held back language wise. Plus a lot of the teachers that teach on reservations are white, at least at the ones have seen. So that would mean that the teachers would have to teach a whole new language just to teach a class which would take so much time. Also the languages spoken on these reservations are not spoken anywhere else such as Pidgin so will get lost as to what you are speaking or where you are from.

            To be totally honest I have to say that I wish the Hawaiian language of Pidgin was more popular in school because people need that culture of where they are from in this world. Identity is so important to us as a culture and without It we are all just the same, which would be terrible. I really don’t have any suggestions besides just incorporating it to the curriculum but teaching it in English. As much of a shame as that sounds, students need to learn and have a firm grip of English because the world is bigger than Hawaii, and Pidgin is very small. 

In reading “The Implications of Globalizing English” by Suresh Canagarajah I have to say I was blown away. The key points to understand this article all have to do with the alternate routes in English. The way English is taught in classes is through the traditional route (Standard English) which has been done for generations, as we all know. But as it turns out, although English learner student are learning Standard English in class, they are picking up the language better outside of class. You see, English is a difficult language to learn with all of our rules and pronunciation, but in a social setting among friends and social media they are picking up the language rather fast.

            What I learned from this article is that there is more than one way to learn English. Traditional English is difficult to learn, even as a college student, so it’s understood a little bit slower due to its method being taught. As for learning the more social English, everybody picks it up rather quick because we use it every day. You use it when you are at work, talk with your friends and family, and respond to text or social media. Its more personalized to you and your group so you pick up your own English your own way. For instance every group of English speaking individuals have their own way of speaking English. Country farm kids have a very lazy twang kind of English compared to urban kids and their English. It goes further than that though. Hawaiian have a different way of speaking English compared to Canadians, it’s all relevant. I kind of already knew this just from being a young adult. I talk to different people in different variations of English. For instance, I’m not going to speak to my professor or my mother the same as I speak to my friends, it just doesn’t work. So it actually comes down to being formal, professional, or casual when speaking.

            This information I have to say is so important to our school and our teachers as well. Knowing that English expands beyond Standard English is so important to understand for many reasons. First off, understanding this situation will help nonnative speakers of English open up to native speakers of English there for helping said nonnative speakers understand social English, (the English used on the street). The sad thing about this way of speaking English is that I don’t think you can teach it in a classroom, its self-taught. Of course the traditional way of speaking English is not going anywhere, but it gives student the foundation in which the process of speaking is taught. On the street and in public is where you really learn to speak English. It like if you were just dropped in Mexico with only the basic teaching of Spanish taught in high schools. You either learn the language or just flat out not survive. Good thing this is not real, but the concept is the same. This is very important to teach all of our grades because all styles of English are important.