Thanks for this helpful response, Donna. I like the balance you describe in
being sensitive and accommodating students' cultural/religious needs if
feasible - but also letting students know what the cultural expectations are
in this country and how such a request would be seen. Giving the student a
choice lets the student take responsibility for the decision (and the
consequences) . Well done!

 

Betsy

 

  _____  

From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Kinerney, Donna
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 4:29 PM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3399] Re: Cultural sensitivity questions

 

Hi all,

What a wonderful question!  These cultural issues always make my day
interesting!  I agree with Cece that you Betsey certainly did what you
could.  Like I'm sure many of you do, I try to use these moments as
instructional opportunities.   If a male student doesn't want to shake my
hand, that's certainly his prerogative, but in my mind he needs to
understand the likely consequences in the U.S. (e.g. he's on a job interview
and might not be hired), so that he can decide if he wants to proceed on
that path.  I'll work with him on the language to explain his choices and
send him on his way.  

 

Now from a program policy perspective, first I'll say that it depends on
your funding source and institutional values.  In some organizations, you
might be expected to comply with these requests.  (I'd still use the request
though to raise potential cultural issues just so students are aware.)

 

Personally I'm inclined to not negotiate on special "requests," but of
course I still tread carefully and respectfully while doing that and I try
to assess how positively or negatively the request impacts other people or
program operations.  In some cases, I've given alternatives (e.g. schedules
to meet prayer needs) that folks aren't aware of and it's a matter of
providing them information.  I resist outright acquiescing to hard-core
demands though (e.g. a change to a native-English-speaking teacher).  That's
really problematic and unfair and I don't want is to set learners up for
having really unreasonable and unrealistic expectations for that will
undermine their future opportunities for dealing with U.S. systems.  My
concern too is that the special requests can get out of control and in worst
cases can be discriminatory - I think students really need to hear all of
that.   I always want to make sure that we're sending a clear consistent
message of our program's expectations, U.S. expectations, and general
respect for humanity.  Thus in our publicly funded program, we state
everything we can as clearly as we can right up front.  No one is compelled
to come to our program.  We'll gladly make reasonable accommodations under
institutional and federal guidelines, explain decisions, and revisit them if
needed.  As long as cultural information and program policies are presented
gently and clearly, I've found that a lot of folks will work with you,
although they might not be happy about it.    It's all a teachable moment.

 

I will tell you though, we've got an odd advantage right now - our waitlist
is a mile long.  Usually just telling folks about the waitlist is enough to
change minds.  

 

This is such a great practical issue to bring out!   Does anyone else have
specific practical challenges they'd like to throw out for discussion?

 

Best,

Donna

 

  _____  

From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of cece valentine
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 11:53 AM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3379] Re: Cultural sensitivity questions

 


betsey, if u offered another teacher to the student that met her religion's
reuirements, then she refused, it's your obligation to say U have met the
requirements of you position.  She can either go to class or not and move
on.  Unless yr resources are unlimitrd, I would not move any further on that
situation.

--- On Wed, 1/14/09, Betsy Wong <betsywong at comcast.net> wrote:


From: Betsy Wong <betsywong at comcast.net>
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3372] Cultural sensitivity questions
To: "'The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List'"
<englishlanguage at nifl.gov>
Date: Wednesday, January 14, 2009, 11:18 AM

I'm enjoying this focused discussion a great deal and would like to throw
out another question for the facilitators and the group.

 

At two separate registrations this year, we've had a female student who said
that she could only have a female teacher due to her religion. In one of the
cases, this was not possible at the desired class site, so we offered the
student a class at another site, taught by a female - but the student
refused because that teacher was a nonnative speaker of English.

 

I was wondering if other programs have explicit policies on if/when to honor
requests for a class taught by .

 

1) a female (request due to religion); 

2) a native speaker of English (request due to a variety of reasons - desire
for an authentic 'American' accent, etc.).

 

For what it's worth, we've been able to handle culturally sensitive issues
in the classroom on a case-by-case basis. Examples: Honoring female
students' requests to do one-on-one pairwork with a female partner, for
religious reasons; allowing students to take breaks from class when they
need to break their religious fast and/or pray.

 

I'd also mention that we have some nonnative English speakers teaching in
our program, and I have gotten very good feedback from students on them. 

 

Does anyone have suggestions?

 

Betsy Lindeman Wong

Lead ESL Teacher

Alexandria Adult and Community Education


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