Final Reflection

     Responsibility and honesty are two major values that guide my teaching.  I know full well I will never attain these perfectly.  However, the University of Kansas (KU) has granted support and knowledge for these two values through the Master of Science in Education (M.S.E.) Curriculum and Instruction (C&T) program with an emphasis in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).  Readings, activities, and discussions have served to expand my grasp of TESOL, and to become an asset to English language learning (ELL) programs.  Ultimately, the M.S.E. program will allow me to fulfill my responsibility to those learning English in my community, by honestly assessing their needs, and helping them reach their goals.

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     TESOL begins with the learner.  English learners (ELs) are a population that cannot be easily categorized.  They are “…polycultural, as identity boundaries dissolve and people resonate in brotherhoods and sisterhoods that are self-created” (Díaz-Rico, 2013, p. 63).  I instruct in an adult learner program, therefore, prescribed or set curriculum is commonly implemented.  Adult EL curriculum tends to be simplified and focuses on helping adult students find simple jobs.  This can sometimes cause situations like the one discussed by Auerbach & Burgess (1985): "while claiming to teach students how to get and keep a job, prevocational units rarely address conflict on the job. They focus on the duties and obligations of workers without mentioning their rights or options" (p. 486).  This is one of many examples in which ELs are not adequately served and taught. 

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     C&T 824: Problems in Second Language Instruction included an activity to research a topic connected to my current teaching.  I decided to increase my knowledge of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), a separate field of research summarized in the statement, “tell me what you need English for and I will tell you the English that you need” (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, p. 8).  The presence of an entire field of research defined by this statement shows that pragmatic and timely options for instruction are sometimes chosen over in-depth and holistic approaches to instructing ELs.  It is my responsibility to provide my learners with an education that centers on their needs and goals, rather than fully depend on a published curriculum, which in turn "...is developed often with the national political agenda, and popular trends in consideration, such as communicative language teaching as an overall philosophy, or ‘learning by doing’” (Cullinan, 2016, p. 55).  Brief examples of this kind of education include language autobiographies as described by Fu (2009) and Peregoy & Boyle, (2017), and individual student interviews conducted by teachers or adult ELL program intake staff.

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     Honesty about my learners’ reality and my own identity lead to an open and comfortable atmosphere for learning.  Postmodernism has produced a critical approach in all fields of study, including education.  The scholarly work of Freire (2022) and Giroux (2007) support a dialogue with previous educational practices, rather than continuing to do the same thing.  As Freire posits, there is a need to “…risk living the future as creative overcoming of the present, which has become old” (Freire, 2022, p. 147).  This includes current assumptions or thoughts about adult ELs.  I must also be aware of my own identity as a white, cisgender, U.S.-born, male.  Matias (2013) explains the need to reject whiteness every day, which is difficult and vulnerable work.  However, race is so intertwined in the culture of U.S., I cannot ignore it.  A recent example was in my citizenship class.  To apply for citizenship, the applicant must select a race.  After my citizenship students understood common answers about race such as white, black, Asian, etc., I encouraged them to discuss the colors of everyone’s skin in the class.  The learners demonstrated an already existing knowledge of the complexity of skin color.  I tried to explain to them that the U.S. government does not acknowledge this complexity, and that its complicated history of slavery and race is a large reason for this.  A learner noted that slavery and racism in the United States is often actively hidden, and I responded by saying, “We should not hide it.  I should not hide it.  It is a part of our history and must never be forgotten.”  Obviously, more discussion is always valuable, but in the interest of time we continued with the next topic.  Rather than avoiding these conversations, I hope to bring them to the surface in a loving and open way.

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     As I have already stated throughout this portfolio, my Christian faith informs all that I do.  Noddings (1988) describes an ethic of care for learners in the classroom.  This ethic aligns with the passage in the Bible, “then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…’” (NIV Bible, 2011).  My belief is that all are created by God, and deserve dignity and care.  My teaching requires responsibility to my students’ inherent value and to honestly support them in navigating their needs in their new community.

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Reference list

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Auerbach, E. R. & Burgess, D. (1985). The hidden curriculum of survival ESL. TESOL Quarterly, 19(3), 475-495. doi:10.4304/jltr.3.1.153-158

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Cullinan, M. (2016). Critical review of ESL curriculum: Practical application to the UAE context. International Journal of Curriculum

     and Instruction, 8(1), 54-68.

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Dίaz-Rico, L. (2013). Strategies for teaching English learners. (3rd ed.). Pearson.

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Flinders, D. J., & Thornton, S. J. (Eds.). (2022). The Curriculum Studies Reader Sixth Edition. Routledge.

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FreireProject. (2007, December 7). Henry Giroux: Figures in Critical Pedagogy. [Video]. YouTube.

     https:/youtu.be/UvCs6XkT3-o?feature=shared

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Fu, D. (2009). Writing between languages: How English language learners make the transition to fluency. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

     Publishers.

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Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987). English for specific purposes: A learning-centered approach. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University

     Press.

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Matias, C. E., & Grosland, T. J. (2016). Digital storytelling as racial justice: Digital hopes for deconstructing whiteness in teacher education.

     Journal of Teacher Education, 67(2), 152-164.

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Noddings, N. (1988). An ethic of caring and its implications for instructional arrangements. American Journal of Education, 96(2), 215-230.

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Peregoy, S. F., & Boyle, O. G. (2017). Reading, writing, and learning in ESL: A resource book for teaching K-12 English learners. Boston, MA:

     Pearson.

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The Holy Bible, New International Version. (2011). Biblica, Inc. https://www.bible.com/bible/111/gen.1.26