EDUC 2400 – Multicultural Education & ESL

Week 10: November 12, 2007

Section III: Contemporary Dilemmas for Intergroup Relations

Chapter 12: Ableism: Disability Does Not Mean Inability

Overview of Concepts

Chapter Twelve presents an overview of historical perceptions of people with disabilities and

how these contributed to a cultural bias in America that resulted in the institutionalization of

disabled people. Being kept apart from society reinforces negative perceptions of people with

disabilities, especially the attitude that people with disabilities are unable to care for themselves,

and results in discrimination against them even when they are living in one’s community.

Although many states have passed laws to reduce or eliminate these institutions today, people

with disabilities encounter various forms of discrimination even when one may simply require

minimal accommodations for personal needs.

· Should people with disabilities be considered a minority group?

· Historical perceptions of people with disabilities

· Labels – using appropriate terminology

· Negative attitudes prevailed in institutions and in society

·

#1 – Tolerance vs. Control: Group Home Discussion p. 305 – Generic terms are employed in this personal survey of attitudes toward Americans with disabilities. There is no correct response for items, since the assessment asks for current personal opinion; as with other similar instruments, this exercise serves to inaugurate group communication on the subject of ableism in American attitudes, culture and institutions. Information provided within the Chapter Twelve of the text will lend guidance; urge participants to use the skill of regular reference to the text in support of their remarks. Challenge class members to justify how they might protest denial of any rights if they were members of that group home.

Close the exercise with whole group comparison and discussion of the issues. Note an American cultural penchant for labeling groups of persons supposedly to help them, when in fact using the label to deny rights and/or responsibilities that we ordinarily take for granted. Guide individuals to maintain their perspective with facts; omit requiring group consensus from concluding activity.

PowerPoint Presentation

Visit from A Local high school ESL students: an excerpt for the visit by Amanda.

In our multicultural class we got to have a really fun experience. It took place on November 12, 2007 between about 10:45 through 12:10, in our classroom on the campus. A group of 32 ESL students from the local High School, ranging from 9-12 grades, entered our classroom to share a presentation with us and for us to play some activities with them.

The presentation consisted of them teaching us how it is to be taught in a language we do not know or are not familiar with. They put up four posters: winter, summer, spring, and fall. Under the four posters, they but the months that coincided with the four different seasons. The students then went with us through each season and the months that fell under them and had us repeat after them. They then covered the months up and had the papers they passed out earlier with the months on them and had us place them where they belonged. It was fun and neat to see them teach us in their language and us try and follow them.

It was a great presentation they did. It really helped us realize what it was like to be in their shoes. I can now see their frustrations and what they have had to put up with. I really hope that those who were there to experience this presentation can now go to their own classrooms and show some compassion and be tolerant of the difficulty some foreign language students go through for a while. It really was an eye opener to me to see what these students go through.

After the Local High School students were finished presenting, my class was split into groups and each group had an activity the students would play or participate in. My group did Math Bingo. On the bingo cards, in the squares, were numbers, which were answers to math problems we had made up. We would hold up a card that had a problem on it such as: 100 ÷ 10, 4 × 3, 9 + 11, or 85 – 10. The ESL students would then figure out the problems and once they found the answer would find it on their bingo card and continue this until someone had a bingo. It was interesting to me to see them help each other if one did not get the answer. I also found it very interesting that they would say all the math answers in Spanish.

It was so interesting and cool to me that they most of them could just go from Spanish to English and never miss a beat in either language. They just acted so natural with both. They really understood the English language well and really helped out those that struggled with it because they know what it is like to be it that situation. They really show support for each other.

I was honestly jealous of these students. They are fluent in each language. I also really think the presentation was an eye opener for us students in the multicultural class. I really think this activity day was fun for both groups and really instructional for me at least.