First, I know that Mike has put this topic on xmca several times in the
past and there has been very little uptake--from anyone--even proponents of
bilingual education.
I have been wondering about my own reluctance to respond. A great part
of it comes from my assumption that most readers would consider me pro
bilingual ed, which I am, and thus see my response as the expected pro
argument. And, indeed, my response would likely be to cite the demographic
stats that Melanie mentions and cite other research like that of collier &
thomas, cummins, moll & diaz, etc, which shows that bilingual ed works
and how it works. However, I have found that most folks, including
students, are not impressed by stats or research. (Right now I am
teaching sixty students in a course on culture and schooling which is
part of our CLAD [Culture Language and Academic Development] credential
program. In our first class discussion on the importance of including
language and culture in education a student stated that this was simply
an attempt at political correctness whose educational value was
questionable. I mentioned some the research we would be reviewing to
examine the role of language and culture, but she remained skeptical.
Hopefully, I will do a good job of teaching the course and have some
effect on this future teacher of mostly minority students. But I am not
sure. Especially in light of the student evaluations my Latino colleague
received in this class last quarter accusing him of reverse discrimination
because of his insistence that all teacher, especially non minorities,
must learn as much as possible about the Latino and African American
culture who represent 50% of students enrolled in our surrounding
districts. By contrast the prospective teachers in his and my class are
about 80% non minority. Clearly the majority of students in his class
were not swayed by stats or research.
I think a second reason for the lack of response is due to an underlying
tension within society and xmca that is caused by doubts about the
effectiveness and appropriatness of bilingual education and affirmative
action. (I know that I am including another variable in the equation with
affirmative actions but I see it related to what is going on with
bilingual ed.) And also to a certain covert resentment of of these
policies.
There is nothing covert about the feelings in California. It
seems that the majority of people do not care about the research on the
positive impact of bilingual ed and affirmative action. Many consider
that it is time for such efforts to end or to be changed. Indeed, these
feelings have even been shared on xmca when it was xlchc. That person
promply dropped of the list after having his say. However, the same
sentiment exists in lots of places. As one non-minority member of
the recruitment committee for my department said when we were reviewing
the file of a bilingual, latina with a Stanford phd, "Don't we have
enough of those?" "We need more white women." That she was willing to
state this publicly is a strong indicator of the current zeitgeist in
California. It is also thus in many of the public political and
governmental bodies. And I think, to some degree, this is reflected in
the 'architecture' of organizations and groupsthat represent/reflect the
mainstream power structure. Hence my relectance to respond.
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Esteban Diaz email: ediaz who-is-at wiley.csusb.edu
Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling
School of Education Phone: 909 880-5621
CSU San Bernardino FAX: 909 880-7039
5500 University Parkway
San Bernardino, Ca 92407
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