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What changes could be implemented within the school and town in order help to support the Spanish speaking community?

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Part 4 Community and Curriculum Connections

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Part 4 Community and Curriculum Connections

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After looking over the content curriculum for Grade 5 for my school district I can see a few areas where these issues could be imbedded and practiced. At the elementary level, a one 40 minute period is designated a week for Character Education. At the end of the curriculum for each grade level is service project. This would be a great way to talk about community issues. Since they are relevant issues to the student, I think student engagement would increase during these periods. Also during Social Studies, students spend the first month in fifth grade exploring cultures and communities. This helps to lead a foundation towards understanding how culture impacts worldly events in history. I believe this would be a great time to discuss current issues within the community. This would also give students the opportunity to discuss parallels in current events and history. Lastly, in the ELA curriculum students participate in an argument and advocacy unit. This would be a time for students to practice literacy skills related to town events as well as write persuasively towards a change they would like to see within the community. They would need to become experts on their community.

I notice that there is an attempt to add in community literacies, but I am not sure that they are in areas that are highlighted in many classrooms. The curriculum outlines that cultures and communities should be taught, but not many resources are provided. If we want students to grow in community issues I think the resources and supports need to be provided to the teachers. There also needs to be continued resources and supports available outside of school to make sure that all students and parents are given equal access to the information. Many of the economically disadvantaged families are not able to support their students, or do not have the resources available to support their children in school.

I believe that our curriculum does not focus on tackling current events. While we utilize the Newsela program to support students in nonfiction reading, the articles are still hand selected by teachers. Also, many teachers stray away from many of the controversial topics. Once the articles are assigned, not much time is spent on discussion and sharing of ideas. Current events need to be a part of a greater conversation that I do not see happening at a wide level at the elementary level within my district.

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·     Diversity

·     Cultural Arts

·     Development

·     Disparity between Economic Status

·     Traffic Control

·     Promotion of School Events (Plays, Sports)

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This week I read the local online newspaper, "The Morristown Green". There are several activities that were listed for the weekend. The local churches were holding a vigil for the New Zealand massacre. This shows a an attempt at unity amongst the many different religions within the town. There were also articles listing many weekend activities that were taking place such as the Morris Arts exhibit- "Seeing the Unseen" which highlighted 10 local artists, a Japanese Taiko drumming program at the local theater, a lecture by a Brown University professor on the Holocaust being held at Drew University, the spring craft festival held in the Morristown armory, a local 5k race for St. Patrick's Day and Songs of Ireland a Celtic celebration at the theater. All of these events show that the local community is very interested in the arts. There were a wide variety of cultures being represented such as Japanese and Irish cultures being highlighted this week. The town takes particular pride in its inclusion of different cultures and communities through the arts. These events also showcase the appreciation and promotion of local artists through the art and craft shows.

The cultural moment that struck my attention, was the article highlighting the students march for Climate Change that took place on Friday. Since Morristown is the county seat, there is a high degree of political activity that can be seen on any given day. For this event, students from around the county "skipped school" on Friday in protest of climate change reform. This moment speaks to the validity of the young people within the community as well as the political speech encouraged throughout the community. Politics, especially local politics are important to the community. Many people, even students and the young voices, are encouraged to use their political voices for change. The community values change and growth, not only politically but within the community arts, restaurants and buildings. There is also a strong value in the arts and cultural arts. It is also apparent that the Morristown community is not considered only within the town lines but reaches into the county and surrounding areas as well.

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1. What do you already know about the cultures of the community?  What insiders do you know?

I teach in Morristown, NJ. I have taught here for the last 6 years. I currently live in the community, but I did not grow up here. Morristown is a heavily changing town, as it has seen huge population growth in the past few years. According to the Census Bureau, the population for Morristown as of 2017 census is 19,037. The town is 50% white, 32.7% Hispanic, 9.1% African American, 6.1% Asian, and 3.1% more than one race. While it is considered a diverse town, the diversity is segregated within the town. For example there are Hispanic sections of the town and Irish sections of the town. A drive through town can lead you through the cultural diversity of this town. Within my school 1/3 of the students receive free and reduced lunch. There is a bilingual class at each grade level in all elementary schools as well as ESL class for students who have exited the bilingual program. This school year alone my school has seen 10-20 newcomers arrive, most from Latin America. According to city-data.com, 32% of the population in Morristown is foreign born.

The insiders in the community that I know are students, families and friends who live in the town. I also know many teachers who have lived and taught here for their entire careers, or have lived in the community for their entire lives. They can speak to the changing demographics of the town.

2.What kinds of connections do you have with this culture?
Being a current resident of the town, I have connections to the culture of the town. Throughout my 6 years of teaching in the town, I have become more knowledgeable about the Latino cultures of many of my students. I am close friends with the Bilingual teachers so I have learned about the cultures and struggles that many of the families face on a day to day basis. I feel that I have learned a great deal in the past few years, but I still have ares in which I can grow in my teaching and learning.

3. In what ways are you either an insider or an outsider already?
Since I live and work within the community I could be considered an insider. I have been a resident of the town for the past 4 years. While I have lived here for the past 4 years, I did not grow up in the community and go through the school district. I have not witnessed many of the changes that have occurred within the past 10 years. I am also an outsider in sections of the community because I do not speak Spanish. A large section of the community speaks Spanish as their primary language. This makes it very difficult for me to communicate with the entirety of the community. My culture is not representative of the entire community.

4.What do you hope to find out about the community?
I hope to find out more about the history of the community and how this impacts the direction that the community is heading today. Within the school, I hope to learn more about the struggles that impact the success of some of the students. Many students have so many responsibilities in their home life that school is not their first priority. I hope to learn how I can best meet these students needs in the classroom. I would also like to learn more about the future of the community and trends that are expected. I plan on living and working in the community for years to come so I hope that I can become as knowledgeable as possible.

Reference:

https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml?src=bkmk

http://www.city-data.com/city/Morristown-New-Jersey.html