The Language of Life: Finding global education inspiration for your child

WISE Conference

I attended the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) in Doha, Qatar, last week at the invitation of Qatar Foundation International. The theme of the conference was "Education Above All." Thought leaders, community activists and parents from around the world convened, to discuss issues of access to education for the world's most vulnerable children; children who are currently battling poverty and times of war, to gain access to education.

During the three days at the conference I couldn't help but think about how fortunate we are in the United States that our children have access to a public school system. Yes, I will admit that we still have problems of equity in education to deal with, but for the most part, a majority of our students can get to schools without their lives being threatened. And teachers can teach without fear of having their lives threatened, or worse yet, being killed.

Many parents can relate to waking their child up early in the morning and having them cry out that they don't want to go to school because they are tired. This is in stark contrast to many children in developing nations who walk miles to one-room schoolhouses, with the hope that an education can change their lives and transform their world. It made me think of the responsibility that this access to education brings and how we as parents of students here in the U.S. can communicate to our children that education is a privilege. As the parents of Western children, how do we engage our children to demonstrate how fortunate they are to be born in a time and place where they have free access to education, while in many parts of the world, it is a rare gift? How can we foster an appreciation for education in our children to instill in them a life-long zest for learning?

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/11/04/5304190/the-language-of-life-finding-global.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/11/04/5304190/the-language-of-life-finding-global.html#storylink=cpy

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.

The Language of Life: Making music while parenting

Parenting involves countless hours of teaching, and teaching while parenting consists of constant repetition. In order for everything that we feel is important to sink deep into our children's hearts and minds, we repeat key items almost daily, if not hourly. "Put your shoes away so no one will trip over them," and "do your homework when you get home from school" or "clear your dishes when you are finished eating."

Parents can behave as if the seventh or 20th time something is said will make such a marked difference in that particular moment, that children finally will place the fact into their mental "life lessons" file and, suddenly, they won't need any more reminders about the matter.

While repetition is a great tool to use for teaching or learning just about anything, repetition without structure isn't the same thing and often little impact. The use of structured repetition works in music: verse, chorus, verse, same chorus, verse, same chorus, maybe a bridge, and then the same chorus again to end.

And what is the difference between a good song and a hit song? Song structure.

So is the difference between good parenting and great parenting structure? Perhaps. The process of learning anything is easier when music is added, and this rule certainly applies to parenting, so music can - and should - be applied more often in parent-child relationships.

Just as parenting and learning a foreign language are similar processes, they are both enhanced when music is added. The copious amounts of practice drills involved in mastering a foreign language are very much like the daily activities of parenting, which require constant recaps and reviews.

Word pronunciation and emphasis take on new life on a foreign tongue when a musical backdrop is added. And what was seen as a struggle with unfamiliar words and sounds only moments before, suddenly becomes a fun activity when foreign songs, rather than words, are being taught. Bursting out with a show tune on the virtues of remembering to do homework during a hurried evening routine might not be beneficial. But a short rhyme or song about the school day not being over until all of the homework is complete, could be a fun and effective way for your child to independently make sure they are prepared each night. Or rephrasing a popular chorus from your child's favorite song that reminds them to clear their dishes, will likely earn a memorable laugh and save future frustrations for all involved.

Global Language Project successfully teaches foreign languages to young children free of charge and uses music as a part of their successful teaching technique. Because GLP realizes the critical role that music plays in the language learning process for both the children and their parents, they are releasing "Coloreando," a collection of traditional children's songs from Spain and Latin America, performed by Marta Gomez. The recorded songs allow parents to teach, sing, play and most importantly, have fun with their children of all ages, while they all also happen to be learning a foreign language.

Repetition and structure are key elements to great music and to great parenting. If music is a universal "language," so is parenting. Watching a mother in Russia, Argentina or Los Angeles shush her wiggly child at a wedding requires pretty much the same gesture. But if those mothers chose instead to hum their child's favorite song in his or her ear to shush them, it is likely they would universally receive the same satisfactory response.

Listen to the COLOREANDO CD here:  http://glp4educators.org/coloreando/

Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2013/10/07/2721576/the-language-of-life-making-music.html#storylink=cpy

The Language of Life: Practice makes perfect!

Angela Jackson, GLP Founder with students a PS 368

The old adage that "practice makes perfect" has never seems more true than when it is applied to parenting. A commonly shared keen observation - or even a funny "urban legend" of sorts - is how a first child in a family is cared for completely differently from how the following children are raised. Constant surveillance of every move child No. 1 makes is soon replaced with a top-of-the-line video baby monitor for child No. 2. And often, with the arrival of child No. 3 and onward, the overly cautious steps are no longer taken and the constant vulnerability is replaced with a firm sense of confidence.

This confidence often is created not so much by the experience of parenting, but the actual parenting practice that varies from child to child. The experience of parenting lasts a lifetime, but the practice of parenting is often for a more limited time, during the developmental stages of a child's life. And parenting practice has somewhat of a definitive end, when you can say you have indeed "parented," and you watch your child to journey into adulthood.

The process of learning a language is very much like the process of parenting, as it relates to experience versus practice.  

To read the complete article please visit my new column on the News Tribune:

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/09/23/2800570/the-language-of-life-practice.html

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/09/23/2800570/the-language-of-life-practice.html#storylink=cpy

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. 

Advice on Teaching Variations of a Language

Advice on Teaching Variations of a Language 

Dr. Victoria Gilbert, Chair of the Foreign Languages Department, Saint David's School, New York

I think one of the beauties of being a language teacher is that you get to introduce students to the flexibility of thinking that comes when learning another language. Humanity is rich with expression!

For the little ones, to keep it simple, just introduce one dialect (per person) at a time. Children are much more flexible than we imagine as long as we give them a heads up on or an identity to associate with the code switch. If teachers are worried that their “version” of Spanish/French/Arabic/Chinese, etc. is not clear to students, you could rely on a flag sign that indicates the English you use (I am assuming here a US flag) on one side and the Spanish flag of whatever nation your accent and dialect is from (luckily, we have 21 varieties!!) on the other side. This way, there is not just “one” that is the correct one. It is best to stick to one for each teacher whom the little ones encounter for the sake of consistency. You don’t need to make it any more explicit than that to them when you say “cerdito” and the first grade teacher says “marranito.” They will adjust to it, first as a quirk of that teacher, then become aware that certain words follow certain flags, countries, etc.   For 2^nd or 3^rd graders, it would be fun to keep a “word” wall (or for the traveling teacher a folding map) with countries and flags and an index card with words that correspond to other words across borders. Students could investigate the varieties of these words within their own communities.

Depending on where you learned to speak, you should take that dialect as your default since it contains the words most likely to come to mind. European and American romance languages have a standard that you could consider teaching as the academic register at school---meaning you could find those words in the dictionary (www.wordreference.com) or in the Microsoft word review of languages under the editing tool. This way, other native speakers would understand a future business/personal exchange using that language. While I am not familiar with other countries, I know that English was never standardized linguistically the way that Spanish and French were –hence our crazy multiple spellings for the same sounds!

Older students are used to being “bicultural-bilingual” all the time. For example, there are words/expressions that they use with their friends that they wouldn’t use around parents and teachers. Given this, as lifetime language learners, we should ask ourselves, why should objects/things/ideas only have one label? It is important to remember that the “label” you use may very well be an original version of the word or it may have mutated in culturally grounded way. One of the advantages of starting a second language at the same time the first one is still developing is that the knowledge becomes encoded by the brain as “just another label” for that thing, rather than a specific linguistic track. This flexibility is part of what early language programs aim to provide for their students.

 Welcome to the wonderful world of being a language teacher!

GLP Arabic Instructors attend QFI Institute 2012

From August 13 through 17, four Global Language Project teachers and assistants attended the Qatar Foundation International (QFI) Institute 2012 Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language.

 This year GLP will be moving ahead full force with its Arabic language instruction program and will be offering daily classes at PS 368 Hamilton Heights Elementary School in Harlem. Previously, GLP offered only after-school and lunchtime Arabic classes. The QFI Institute acted as a way for GLP's instructors and curriculum development team to learn more about common and effective practices for Arabic instruction.

Above, Elisabeth Shovers, Anna Serio and Katie Rein at the QFI Institute 2012.

"Most of the Arabic instructors present were from high schools and middle schools," Anna Serio, GLP's resource coordinator, said. "We were the only elementary school focused people there."

Serio works to find materials to use in GLP's classrooms, determines that pictures used are copyright free and also acts as an assistant teacher is some classrooms.  Besides the networking at the institute, Serio valued learning about all the different classroom tools available for Arabic language instruction across many different mediums.

The most valuable resource she discovered at the QFI Institute?
Al-Jazeera's  Childrens' Channel website - http://www.jcctv.net/


Elisabeth Shovers, GLP's program coordinator, found information about including standards and assessments to be very valuable and something she wants to incorporate into GLP's programs.

"Also, in terms of teaching, there was great information on including authentic materials and using differentiation with students," Shovers said.

The QFI Institute lasted four days with different topics of discussion each day, including curriculum; teaching the target language; culture, language and content; assessing students performance and using authentic materials and technology.

 Below, a photo of the entire QFI Institute 2012.

 Feel free to ask Elisabeth and Anna questions about the Institute in the comments!

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.

Unequal Access to Opportunities

There are two tracks at Apsen this year focusing on the Child and Education.  It is fascinating to hear leading thinkers talk about how to address the imbalances in educational opportunities and overall support for the neediest children.

When I founded Global Language Project, it was to help level the playing field through opening opportunities to underserved students traditionally reserved for the elite

The word “elite” has always been code word for White. However, in a values-based panel, Harvard Professor Robert Putman and author Charles Murray have framed the conversation about unequal opportunities and access to a good education as is fast becoming more about class than race.

I wholeheartedly agree. As an African-American women working with some of the neediest schools and children in Harlem and also living as a resident in Harlem, I sometimes I feel I am intertwined in a double reality.

As many of you know, I come from a corporate background.  I am fortunate to have a circle of friends who are diverse and do include African-Americans.  The overwhelming majority of these friends and associates, while living in Harlem, send their children to private schools in New York—schools that cost $40,000 a year.  These parents are in many ways following the best practices for raising children: they read to them; they involve them in the arts, theater and dance; and, yes, their children are learning a second language.

By contrast, when I work in schools like P.S. 368 in Hamilton Heights Harlem, I see that these students from similarly diverse backgrounds and even the same neighborhoods do not have the same access to opportunities and experiences.  It is not shocking that we don’t see the same outcomes.

How do we level the playing field?  Puttnam suggest that it will be expensive.  I would argue that expensive is relative especially in the days of New York City parents paying upwards of $35,000 a year for preschool and while the State of New York pays $36,000 to incarcerate an inmate.

Wouldn’t it be cheaper and more effective for the state to increase its investments in early childhood education, afterschool enrichment programs like the arts, and languages that have all been proven to be indicators for a successful child?

These are ideas worth considering as the discussion continues in Aspen.

Apsen Ideas Festival--Using Language to Kick Start a Jobs Movement

This week I'm excited to share with you what I learn at the Aspen Ideas Festival.  Wherever I go, I welcome opportunities to see how world language and culture is integrated in the very fabric of our society.

In my first session at the festival I had the good fortune of catching Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post’s “Starting a Movement to Kick Start Jobs”.

Arianna shared recent research by LinkedIn that there are 3.7 million jobs here in America that are going unfilled because we don’t have enough people with the right skills to fill the positions.  3.7 Million Jobs?

In New York state we have an 8.5% unemployment rate. Could you image what it would mean to the state, local communities and families to put even a small percentage of these people back to work?

Hearing the statistic about the unfilled jobs made me think about language and wonder how many of these jobs that are unfilled are related to language or lack thereof.

A report by the Defense Language and National Security Education Office said that there is a critical deficit of multilingual employees within government that impacts national security and foreign relations; this sector has 3.1 million employees but less than 8% of them have the ability to speak a second language. 

Locally, there are jobs in healthcare that require multilingual skills to serve a growing diverse population…not to mention, travel and tourism and trade.  These are all 21^st century jobs that will need to be eventually filled by students…our future workforce if our country is to be successful.

Back to Arianna Huffington, who was born in Greece and has had considerable success with Huffington Post. Her command of English allowed this.  Would the Huffington Post have the same impact if it were only in Greek?  Media’s ability to transact across borders is priceless in today’s global society.