The Language of Life: Defining and demonstrating respect

PS 368 Mandarin Student

As parents, our No. 1 priority is to raise a child that is respectful. It is a lesson that is taught at home and from day one in most classrooms across this country and around the world. But before a child can be respectful they have to understand the concept of respect and have the idea defined. I have found that it becomes primarily the work of parents, to set the tone and model for what it means to be respectful to you and others, as we all live together in a community.

When I began Global Language Project, I remember that the first group of students who were learning Chinese had never had the opportunity to meet a person of Chinese descent. One third-grader named Alex could not remember the name of his teacher and when he had a question he addressed her as "Miss China." I was taken aback initially but then I realized that this was a teachable moment. I had an opportunity to address the fact with Alex that this teacher from China may have a different physical appearance on the outside, and maybe an unfamiliar accent, but at the end of the day she deserved the respect of being called by her correct name. I could see that while this was a new concept for Alex, he was open to learning and understanding. Children are like sponges and as parents we can define "respect" for our children by modeling it for them. Beyond demonstrating respect through our own actions and activities, we should be intentionally looking for all the teachable moments that may arise in everyday activities.

The grocery store, shopping center or neighborhood park are all fertile ground to begin modeling respect and building awareness of the diversity that exists in the world. As we know, children notice everything and have questions why people look and sound differently than what they are used to seeing and hearing. Depending on how loud and the location where these questions are asked, many of them have made parents squirm. Instead of fretting about a question from an inquisitive child, I have learned to be proactive in pointing out differences.

My personal favorite activity is to make it into a game. While you are shopping, if you hear someone with a different accent, have your child guess the country where the person might be from, or what language they might speak. The object of the game is not for your child to get the right answer. The goal is that in a subtle but impactful way, your child begins to notice the diversity that exists in the world. They will begin to understand that there are other languages to communicate in other than English, and that usually, if they hear an accent, it might mean that the person speaks another language.

Many will say that parenting is more of an art than a science. We have most likely learned in great part from our parents about the basics of what to do and what not to do, and maybe in our spare time we have read a few books. But most parents would agree that how we really, truly define our parenting experience is through trial and error. In our quest to raise a respectful child, our ultimate goal is to find ways to teach the lesson of respect in a way that is interesting, will keep them interested, and will keep the dialogue open and frequent. You will cultivate not only respect in your child, but also their curiosity about the world at large.

Teaching Tolerance Globally - Angela Jackson, Founder Global Language Project

Dr. Christoper Stone
Hunter College

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post. One of GLP's champions, Professor Christopher Stone was injured last week while on Sabbatical in Egypt. Professor Stone is the Chair of the Arabic Department at Hunter College.  He was also recently appointed head of the US-based Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) by the American University in Cairo (AUC).

Stone is someone who is a great advocate for the Middle-East region here in the states.  The news accounts state that he was visiting the US Embassy when he was approached by his assailant and asked in Arabic whether he was Egyptian or American. When he replied in Arabic that he was American, the assailant stabbed him.

The incident amplifies why global education and tolerance should be a mandatory component in elementary school curricula worldwide . Cultural understanding, tolerance and appreciation helps to prevent people from painting entire races and cultures with one brush stroke.

In an instant, Stone’s life work and support of the Middle East were erased just because he was American. As a people, we need to begin to intentionally teach that the actions or non-actions of one person or a small group of political leaders do not necessarily reflect the sentiment of an entire community or people.

Growing up, I attended a middle school that was predominantly white. While attending this school, some of the students would refer to me using racial epithets.  Based on this experience, I had a choice.  I could have chosen to believe that all people who were Caucasian were racist or decide that these students were the minority and were ill-informed.

My work with GLP aims to give children a leveled experience where they can make informed decisions as to how they will view and process today’s current events, and how they will choose to relate to an ethnically and racially diverse world that is becoming increasingly interconnected . As we teach languages, we also teach an appreciation and respect for other cultures and ways of life. In the process we let these students know that how they will decide to perceive others and the world around them, can be a choice based on a worldly and cultivated ethos of global citizenship.

Different Interests, One Goal: Mobilizing Support for World Language Education by Angela Jackson, Founder and Executive Director, Global Language Project

GLP Executive Director Angela Jackson (second from left) and
GLP Board Chair Justyn Makarewycz (far right) with event attendees
at My Dream Speaks

On April 11^th, 2013, Global Language Project hosted its 2^nd annual benefit, My Dream Speaks, to a host of positive feedback and support. What struck me about this year’s benefit was the sheer diversity of professional backgrounds that constituted our audience. I was amazed, after conversing with many, to learn about the different interests that have driven each individual to become invested in world language education. I realized then that what has been so key to GLP’s efforts to mobilize support is the idea that world language education holds different stakes for different people.

GLP Students:

Our students, whose voices are the most important here, experience learning a second language as a way to excel in their current academic subjects, to interact in new ways with their peers, and to realize their capacities for affecting change in their own communities.

GLP Parents and Educators:

The parents of our students and their teachers situate the importance of foreign language learning with other stakes in mind. Knowing a second language is a way for students to empower their local communities in the short and long term. Because teachers and parents have a more intimate knowledge of the kinds of struggles with self-conception and self-confidence that some of our students who live in neighborhoods plagued by systemic inequities confront, what knowing a second language means carries a different but no less important kind of weight for them.

GLP Students at the My Dream Speaks Benefit

Corporate Sector:

I have found that those who work in the corporate sector tend to view the importance of world language programs as a means for students to become competitive in an increasingly globalized workforce. 

Social Entrepreneurs:

Social entrepreneurs situate the importance of language on multiple registers—students who know another language can help to create and lead business practices that are more socially responsible and oriented towards a more multicultural audience.

So what does this mean for initiatives that seek to expand foreign language opportunities to young people?  A guiding question for me has always been, how do we get people with such different backgrounds, priorities, and interests to coalesce around something like world language education? What I have found in my experience, whether it be in organizing a major fundraiser, a small luncheon of business executives, or a day of celebrating the Chinese New Year in the classroom, is that these different interests do not have to be antithetical to one another. In fact, the differences are productive—they enable new kinds of relationships between people you would hardly see interacting with one another—hedge fund managers with the local school principal, media executives with NGO program directors, parents with leaders of government initiatives on language.  What they all have in common is that they value a second language. The relationships they produce have only helped GLP to continue to make the case that language is indeed a means towards multiple kinds of ends.

To see more photos of GLP's My Dream Speaks Benefit Reception, click here!

Language as a Means: The Multiple Ends of Language Learning

At Global Language Project, our approach is to think about language proficiency not only as an end in itself, but as a means for students to achieve success in a multitude of areas.  Our curriculum is designed to make direct links between learning the structure of a new language and the core subjects that students are learning in their daily classes and core subjects. Students need to engage on a deep level with another language not only to gain more opportunities in the workforce, but to also develop the skills they already are cultivating in the classroom. These skills are also critical ones for students in higher education and in the workforce.

Often in public schools, we see world language learning siphoned off into its own category, which leaves students and educators perplexed as to why achieving language proficiency becomes such a challenging process. As foreign as a new language might seem, we believe that there is a way to make learning a new language a process that students can identify with and in which they can find familiarity.  At GLP, our language classes are structured so that students reinforce the multiple skill sets, including social habits, they are learning in the classroom, but through the eyes of another language and culture.  Doing math exercises, for example, in Spanish not only enhances student comprehension of new Spanish vocabulary but also reinforces basic mathematical skills. Looking at the lives of important figures in the history of Spanish-speaking countries not only provides students with important cultural knowledge of a region, but also enables an appreciation of history as a way of looking at the world.

While language is our starting point, in many ways, the ends we hope to achieve are bigger, and the stakes higher. Many of GLP’s students come from communities that have limited educational resources and that suffer from poverty and its social consequences. We have found that our language programs have given students a safe space to channel their energies into something productive, and to see the value in developing teamwork, leadership skills, and productive relationships with their peers. In other words, language learning becomes common ground for giving students in under-served communities the chance to work towards broader goals for themselves and even for their local neighborhoods. 

 Whether our students are saying Hola!, Ni Hao!, Bonjour!, or Marhaba!, the value of learning another language remains constant. For us, it is about enabling students to become a better version of themselves as students, as potential members of the workforce, as global citizens, and as members of their communities. 

Addressing the Creativity Gap

I was invited by the Partnership for After School Education (PASE) to present as part of their annual conference.  It was an inspiring experience for me to see after school providers across the city doing such great work with the most at risk students.

In a public school climate based on high stakes testing, after school programs provide a much needed space for students to explore interests that can’t be measured by a standardized test.

I am a proud product of public schools…I studied Spanish, art, music, band, newspaper and dance.  I had the opportunity to explore skills that socially, have made me a more well-rounded and culturally competent individual.  I excelled at the arts…I am not sure if it impacted my standardized test scores….but in the game of life it has made me an A+ student.

I am concerned that the arts and creativity are being drained from education.  At the PASE conference one of the featured speakers, Sheldon Gilbert, talked about working in technology and how his and many firms look for multi-lingual employees or those who play an instrument because they make for better programmers because of their ability to problem solve.  Unfortunately, steep budget cuts in our public schools and after school programs are producing kids who can’t do either of these.  This is especially true for students in underserved areas, where parents don't have the resources or finances to supplement the arts and extracurricular activities that children in more affluent homes participate.

I think of the extraordinary accomplishments that have recently been made in technology by relatively young people….think Zukerberg and Facebook, think Instagram Founders and photos.  These ideas take creativity.   Steve Jobs has famously attributed the beautiful typography of the first Mac to a calligraphy class that he took.  A majority of  children from underserved homes will not have the opportunity to receive this creative inspiration.

I have to ask what steps are we taking as a country, education system, and community to ensure that we are preparing the next generation of creative thinkers who will look for solutions not only locally but also globally---making this a better and more beautiful world for all.

The Aspen Ideas Festival….final thoughts

I returned to the East Coast after a week in Colorado at the Aspen Ideas Festival.  The festival brought together philanthropists and leading voices on the problems that we face not only in this country, but worldwide.

During and after the conference, I wondered how the information presented and the perspectives of the people I met are applicable to the work that I do with Global Language Project, which aims to bring world language learning opportunities to underserved students.

At GLP we view language education as a means for students to achieve multiple ends—from academic success to broader professional opportunities by developing new social and leadership skills to helping them to understand their unique positions within an increasingly globalized and culturally connected world.

GLP is ultimately about facilitating interaction between people in current public education settings who would not typically interact in close and productive ways (top level administrators with on-the-ground instructors, parents and students). I walked away from the Aspen Ideas Festival (AIF) realizing that this convention connected to GLP’s work in the way that it too enabled multiple levels of interaction and exchange.

AIF brings together people and worlds that may never have the chance to meet in their typical professional circles.  You take a multi-million dollar philanthropist and tell them the realities of the children in Harlem that we serve—one, they are shocked but more importantly, interested in playing a role in the solution. The connection goes both ways—those attendees like myself who are constantly involved in grassroots work also came to see the value of getting people at the top of the socioeconomic latter to understand the relationship between education and local community empowerment.

I thought of the value that people like myself, who are effecting change at the grassroots level, bring to the 1  percent of the population that holds virtually all of the wealth in the world....or as Gwen Ifill told me, most of the attendees at the Aspen Ideas Festival are more like the .5%. The .5 or 1-percenters may not be as close to the issue as many other grassroots leaders…although many are quietly not only donating dollars but also volunteer hours. For example, while at the conference, I met the Head of Education for Apple, Steve Wilson, who was interested in chatting with me about how we will integrate Apple iPads this fall into our classrooms to help teach languages.

I found that the AIF was about leaving pre-conceived notions at the door and coming with an open mind and heart.  Anyone can talk about the myriad of issues that are impacting our world, our country and our neighborhoods. But I found that honest and heartfelt dialogue is needed to bring people closer and to facilitate the beginnings of collaborative projects and working relationships that can actually initiate on- the-ground changes.

This philosophy, in an interesting way, also constitutes the fabric of GLP’s mission; our programs are teaching students, their parents, and our supporters about the importance of engaging with one another, globally and cross–culturally.

Not only does the festival’s cross-cultural and cross-professional interaction have the potential to impact the bottom line in terms of dollars, but it inevitably makes participants more conscious and responsible citizens of the world.

In many ways, the Aspen Ideas Festival showed me the value of mutual understanding, of not isolating ourselves in our own professional bubbles. If we can create more open forums like these, I think many will see the fruitful ways educators and community activists can vocalize the complexity of their causes to those who on the surface may seem detached from the realities of the rest of this world, but whom I learned this week, are ready and willing to listen.

Amira Yahyaoui- Vital Voices--The Power of Women Leading Change Around The World

Meet Amira Yahyaoui.  Yahahyaouia, a Tunisian peace activist and founder of Al Bawsala, an NGO that monitors the constitutional assembly and Parliament to protect the free expression of the Tunisian people and advocate or human rights. Yahyaoui has been a tireless advocate for freedom of expression for over a decade---and she is only 26!

Yahyaoui shares how being multilingual has empowers her work.

To learn more about Yahyaoui and her work visit: http://www.vitalvoices.org/node/2673