TELL M3: Task 3: Ongoing-Success

Choose 1 of the 3 questions below to answer. In order to respond to your chosen question, incorporate the learning materials reviewed, conduct research, visit a school and/or interview an ESL teacher. Also, be sure to share any personal insight and/or experiences of your own in your response.


Question 1: After reviewing the resources, what are some next steps are you considering? What would you like to see or what changes are you envisioning now? How can students and parents be included in the creation of assessments, activities, lesson planning etc.

Questions 2: How can you promote social justice? What does social justice mean to you?

Questions 3: What issues do parents need to be aware of in the school system? Think about report cards, transitioning from high school etc. You may wish to consult staff members and resources. What will you do to support parents?

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Q2: 

To me, social justice is not just a learning vehicle for CLIL or cross-curricular learning. It is a mindset and fuel for personal growth. In a world that is developing the human psyche is ever changing. To accommodate all factions of the human spirit is essential to being righteous. Regardless of how different or how resentful a group may be, it is important to embrace and encourage equity. The whole purpose of Ontario's educational development/paradigm shift between 1980-2001 was to accommodate and acknowledge that not everyone learns the same. The way I embrace this mindset, that everyone deserves a chance, is by acknowledging different different groups of people, different learning styles, even different cultural norms within my classroom. I bring up how one day before the end of class, "we worked really hard today, a lot of solid writing done, I saw how fast some of you were writing to meet the timed deadline; let's take a mental break for a moment and just meditate, in some parts of the world-it is not uncommon to see people sleep during the break of their working days to engerize themselves for afterwards; this is uncommon here, but what has certainly been recommended is meditation. In some parts of the world meditation is a form of energization." Here I am using "some parts of the world" because it depends on the situation and article I am introducing to the students at that time. This is a small accommodation but (I feel a worthwhile) an example of acknowledging different cultural norms into the classroom.

In reference to the readings/texts of this module, what comes to mind is the idea that our students are not just simply the idea of "supporting an ELL" or "building English abilities", but recognizing students as who they are to build their abilities as developing adolescents in Canadian society. The first video out of Task 1 called "Domingo" (Edutopia, 2017) discusses the story of Domingo and how he recognizes his differences are an obstacle-but when realizing that there are many community leaders who are successful and who may have overcome or redefined their "obstacles" it can be rewarding. On the other side of the looking glass though, school boards are recognizing the importance of understanding where the students are coming from and how to make the most of the educational experience for the students who are coming from diverse background as discussed by edugains.ca in "Supporting an english Literacy Developmental Program". These two perspectives are creating a bit of a continuum for the classroom teacher and their classroom perspective. Where we begin is with our own perspective and where we are trying to get to is not just to "our students' perspectives" but to "how to encourage lens to see the two perspectives mesh together and develop a new vision" a more equitable one.