4.+Culture+&+Schooling

By: Celina and Jossie

**Halsall, P. (1995). What is culture? Retrieved from:** [|http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/culture.html] Culture in this piece is defined as the "system of shared ideas and meanings, explicit and implicit, which a people use to interpret the world and which serve to pattern their behavior". Culture is made up of a series of systems that all members know, understand and often follow. The systems of values, laws, rules, social categories, tactic models, assumptions and fundamentals. Culture is only clear to those who are members. Those outside of the culture may make assumptions and generalizations without fully understanding the of the culture. The author theorizes that culture can solely be understood when one takes conscious steps to become members of it. - Celina



Navas, M. (2009). Racial gaps in student achievement could be a cultural bias, school leaders say. Retrieved
[|HTTP://www.oregonlive.com/washingtoncounty/index.ssf/2009/07/racial_gap_in_student_achievement.html]

Perception biases effect our daily lives. As educators our biases shape our expectations for students in our learning communities. The preception that many educators have of their students plays a fundemental role in the scope, range and depth of instruction provided. Perceptions along the lines of race, culture, gender and sexual orientation limit our availability to students who are presumed to be different.

In the text the author highlights a series of scenarios that feature students engaging in acts similar to their white counterparts and are interpreted seemingly differently by teachers and staff. Most interesting is that of an black student who is ignored because it is presumed that they don't know the answer. Regretably this scene is played out daily in classrooms around the world.

Since the 2001 implimentation of the No Child Left Behind Act, greater pressure is placed on individual schools to close this ever growing gap in student. But what creates this gap?

The research found a disproportionate number of students of color were removed from classes, sent to the office and/or imposed more punishment than their white counterparts. Although the piece speaks to the idea of potential biases, the results of the study highlight the size of the district. Expanding numbers of minority students forces staff to examine those underlying baises. Unchecked these biases will breed a culture of exculsion. -Celina

Bias

Huffington Post (2011). Fewer blacks and Latinos admitted to top NYC high schools. Retrieved from: []
The author in her piece outlines the great disparity in the educational community when it comes to the racial composition of some of the most elite schools in our city. City wide only 4% of the students accepted into the Specialized New York City HS are African American. This is the lowest represent group of all ethnic minorities. At Stuyvesant HS there were a total of 12 African American students accepted into the school the year of the publishing. This equated to 1% of the total student population.

Despite the attempts to bolster the numbers through access programs at the middle school level, the author states that outreach is not enough to address this enormous task. Intensive programs in themselves also will not aid the drastic gaps that leave minority students less competitive. Higher expectations amoungst educators for students of color, coupled with aggressive elementary and middle school education will better prepare students for the expectations of the screening process. Although the article speaks to the drastic rise in students sitting for the administration on these yearly exams, students by far are underprepared because they were never prepared for the rigor associated with these admissions exams as well as these schools. Families, limited by their knowledge of strategies to add their student's success often go into these situation as blindly as their students.

Once in these schools, the question arises whether students will be socially/emotionally supported. Although the article does not address this fact, it is clear that students will be placed in unfamiliar situations within the four years that they may not have been equipt for. -Celina



Thompson, G. (2009). Where Education and Assimilation Collide. Retrieved from: []
Author conducted research at Cecil D. Hylton High School outside of Washington D.C. to see how immigrant students are assimilating in their new schools and neighborhoods. This article depicts how ELL students and EL students interact within the high school. Although the students of Hylton have high test scores and graduation rates, their English language program separates the ELL students and the EL students in all aspects. Immigrant students appreciate the education they are receiving at their school but feel that their culture experience has hindered their learning.

Hylton lacks proper assimilation within their students. Immigrant students, although they may be seen walking together with American students, attend different classes, organize different clubs and go on different field trips. This has caused frictions amongst the students since there are not integrated within the school. “The tensions have at times erupted into walkouts and cafeteria fights, including one in which immigrant students tore an American flag off the wall and black students responded by shouting, “Go back to your own country!” (Thompson, 2009) Teachers are conflicted on how to educate Hylton’s immigrant population because some feel students are coddled and should be challenged more in order to learn within the mainstream curriculum. Other teachers feel students are only provided with the materials they need in order to pass the state exams but not with enough information for them to transfer it to American society.

Students are taught the same material their EL counterparts but teachers teach at a slower pace and rely on visual aids for learning. The program has been successful in making sure the students pass their state test, so much so that they were under suspicion for cheating. However the students are still having issues with knowing how to integrate themselves. Due to the NCLB act Hylton still has to provide an education to these students, and segregating them has deemed to be worth it in order to address the learning of their immigrant population. Immigrant students often do not speak up or advocate for themselves because of their own immigrant status and their parents status. Many of them simply just want to make sure they obtain education in order to better their lives and the lives of their families. - Jossie media type="youtube" key="57KW6RO8Rcs" height="315" width="560" align="center"

"What is Culture?," by Anastasiya Russia asks intriguing questions that challenges our idea of culture. Russia seeks for the viewer to take an introspective look at what constructs they have about culture and how do we put those into action.

==Burnsed, B. (2010). Schools Populated with Minorities Are Among Nation's Best High Schools. Retrieved from: []== U.S. News and World report’s ranked America’s best high schools are the ones with the highest minority population. Article advises that the most effective schools are heterogeneous schools. These rankings are for public schools and they vary by region and ethnic of students.

It is said that students perform better in heterogeneous environments. Students are able to learn through fine arts and integrating of different cultures. Students who study in these top ranking schools were. The regions were these top schools are located are Southern states, Southwest and West Coast. -Jossie



Rumbaut, R. (2011). Pigments of Our Imagination: The Racialization of the Hispanic-Latino Category. Retrieved from: []
The words Hispanic and Latino were categories created by the government in order to categorize people of Spanish origin. These categories were created in the late 1960’s in order to represent population of Spanish origin in Civil Right Laws. The groups that are labeled as Hispanic are Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans Salvadorans, Columbians and other nationalities of Latin American descent. Hispanic population has surpassed African American population. This article studies how Hispanics racially identify. According to the study, Hispanics identify as being mixed with other race in the 2000 census. The study also showed how race identification was categorized by place of living. For example, California, 40 percent of Mexicans identified their race as “white”, 53 reported as “other races”. In Texas, 60 percent identified as “white”, compared to 36 percent who reported as “other race”. Caribbean groups also identify differently in regions. Cubans in Florida identify as “white” as compared to New York and New Jersey Cubans. Sixty-seven percent of Puerto Ricans in Florida reported they were “white” compared to only 45 percent in New York and New Jersey. Researches noticed that if race were not biologically and permanent traits, the differences would not be as apparent. The research noticed that issues of race are more prevalent in Southern states where slavery was more prominent compared to Northeaster and Western states.

The article touches upon the meaning of race for “Hispanic or Latinos”. The issue of race is not only affected by social and historical context, but they are also influenced by the ways they are asked about race. Survey question format and how they are asked influence how Hispanics and Latinos will racially identify. The research conducted showed that Dominicans in New York City and Providence, Rhode Island can either identify themselves as “Indo” or state “Dominican” as their identifying race. The questions asked in the survey were one open ended, close ended, and another open ended, on how they feel Americans identify them as. Information collected showed that in the open ended question they were identifying as “Indo” or “Dominican”. Closed question many identified as “black, white, or a mix of other Hispanic origins”. However, it was interesting to see how they felt Americans identify them as, and 37 percent stated they were seen by Americans as “black” and 6.4 percent were seen as “white”. This is a dramatic decrease on how Hispanic or Latino groups are seen by other American groups.

Although the words “Hispanic or Latinos” are a label for population of Spanish origins, it allows Hispanics and Latinos to identify as one race, even if they are not homogenous. It is a form of identification as the African American population would identify themselves as. - Jossie

** //Group Contributions// **
Each member of the Culture and Schooling group put in equal amount of time and work into the completion of this project. Celina and Jossie worked on the Power point by editing their own information individually. Jossie completed the wiki space but Celina provided the summary of each of her articles in order to add it to the wiki space. Jossie and Celina mainly communicated via e-mail by sending information for feedback. Celina and Jossie both looked for YouTube videos in order to add to the presentation, but ultimately utilized the YouTube that Celina had researched. Celina also finalized the Power Point presentation.

We found in doing our research that in education the concept of culture will mean something totally different to each member of the community. Culture can refer to ones culture of origin, school culture/tone and the academic culture/system. As educators we must be able to negotiate all facets of culture as well as be very aware of what expectations or biases we have within each setting. As School Counselors, Jossie and I understand the implications of imbalance or discourse amongst the three. Failure to reconcile any issues will result in lower expectations, moral and subsequently achievement.



 media type="youtube" key="BT0kzF4A-WQ" height="315" width="560" align="center" The piece, Cultural Difference produced by National Geographic, focuses on the migration of the "Lost Boys of Sudan". The clip documents their transition to the United States, their struggle to acculturate and their transition into their community. We selected this piece, because it closely mirrors the struggles of an immigrant population entering the educational system in the United States. Although not parallel, the fears and issues faced are very similar.