Emily: Hey guys, welcome to Say It Like You Mean It. I’m Emily, and I’m here with–

Gaby: Gaby, and today we are going to discuss diversity in classrooms and its impact on our students. Ok guys, welcome to episode 1 of Say It Like You Mean It. We’re going to get to know each other a little bit better, now. Why don’t you give us a head start, Emily?

Emily: Culturally, I am a bukharian jew and I currently attend Adelphi University as a nursing student and it’s my second year.

Gaby: That’s awesome. I’m also attending Adelphi University for nursing and my culture is Puerto Rican. Let’s move on to discussing the topic of teaching now versus how it'll be in the future. Ok, guys, let’s move onto the topic of standardized english and how english comes with a rulebook that tells you what's right and what's wrong proper english and improper and how that goes to su[pres our identities and make people uncomfortable

Emily: So as Gaby mentioned, school’s kind of teach English in a rulebook way where you're learning grammar. Learning syntax, and just learning these things that we don't really use in our everyday speech. Like, typically in our everyday speech, we use slang because that's how we express ourselves, that's how we communicate. So slang foes hand-in-hand with self expression because its– slang comes from, and our different ways of languaging come from our experiences, come from how we want to identify ourselves as and it's also culture. That’s where translanguaging plays a role, because let’s say like, y’know, I’m bukharian, but i also know russian, because bukharians know russian, so a personal example is when I'm speaking with my boyfriend and i'm teaching him russian, and even though I don't really know russian that well, but neither does he and were both leaning, we will use Russian words in our English speech because that's how we’re able to, I guess, learn the word better, and yeah.

Gaby: So just as Emily said, slang goes hand-in-hand with self expression and its very important to interpret that in classroom environments where kids are open enough to be themselves and share their experiences along with background so they're not limited to that curiosity part that comes with learning and especially learning through our roots and kind of applying some personal relevance to that learning experience which can really positively impact students

Emily: And teachers should encourage their students to have an opne mind and teach them about culture because again, culture kind of shapes the ebay we language and our experiences, so if kids aren't exposed to, y'know, different cultures, they will discriminate and that is something we will touch up on later in this episode.

Gaby: Yes, I totally agree with you, Emily, students should be comfortable enough to ask questions without a fear of being judged. Instead, they should feel validated and understood. In addition, something so crucial for teachers to understand is that everyone learns at their own pace and everyone has their own personal doubts regarding given material. Touching up on what Emily said, if teachers don't express that diversity in their classroom and other kids are not exposed to cultures and other ways of living, they will judge, and it almost comes natural to them because if they are not kind of seeing the differences within our world, they’ll think of it as unknown and something to hold back from and not kind of be an open book to other ways of living, and relating to school on a personal level kind of enhances your ability to soak up information and it provides a learning environment that welcomes diversity and inclusion, and that most definitely goes a long way with providing a safe space for learning, especially in children. So what’s your personal take on this, Emily?

Emily: So, during our socio– sociolinguistics course, we were given this chance to work with kids from Brazil, and they were learning english and as we were kind of like, teaching them– I guess the ways of America– we were actually also able to learn from them and their cultures and their language, and it was just a really nice back and forth thing. They also really loved to converse and it was chill, like it was very chill.
Gaby: It was really sweet. They shared their hobbies, their goals, and we kind of guided them through whatever questions they had regarding English, since their main language is Portuguese. They had a lot of curiosity regarding our life in college, and it was just really really sweet back and forth conversation.

Emily: It was sweet, yeah, I agree.

Gaby: Something I appreciated is the fact that the kids were advanced in the English language, but they were still very open to engage with our material and follow up with questions.

Emily: And– and also like, it brought us to think about the children in America and how most of the time they aren't curious, they aren't open to asking questions about their educations, well because they are tied down to the strict standardized english that they’re teaching– that the teachers are teaching these students. The students are also instilled with fear that if they don't speak the way everyone else is, or the “proper way,” or the way that the teacher wants them to speak, then it’s– then they’re an outcast. So, Gaby, do you have any personal experiences that you can share with–with us?

Gaby: Yes, thank you for asking. I was actually born in Puerto Rico and I only knew Spanish when I first came to America, and I was sad– it’s sad but true, I was introduced to a strict way of learning English with intimidating teachers who inflicted me to doubt my capabilities, and it kind of felt like I had to prove myself worthy instead of getting appreciated for my journey of learning a whole new language, which can be so fear-inflicting, and I kind of felt like I was letting them down whenever I made mistakes, instead of going and learning from them, instead of feeling motivated, I kind of felt like I needed to meet a goal.

Emily: Yeah, so that’s– I feel like that’s what people moving to America– like that’s what they feel when they’re learning english and i feel like it's very important that translanguaging should be a thing in schools because multilingual kids– or, y’know, just multilingual people in general, like, when they learn english, they can experience a sense of, like, validation, and feel kind of like closer to home because they have part of their culture with them through their learning journey, so I just think its very important that, y'know, the school system changes to accommodate for multilingual students.

Gaby: Did you have any experience with multilanguaging or any struggles with that?

Emily: Ok, so when I was in Yeshiva, in elementary school, we had a lot of Israeli students, and they all spoke Hebrew and there was only a small amount of kids who didn't know Hebrew, or didn't know as much Hebrew, and our school was very, like, very Hebrew-dominant. So like, being with the kids– it was kind of– kind of hard because I felt like I didnt– I didnt really speak their language and it was– it was just hard to feel– to feel like i belonged because i felt like an outcast, I felt like I shouldn't be there because these kids have something to relate to, like together, and me was just like I– I don't know Hebrew ike I don't know anything, but even– even me not knowing Hebrew with other kids not knowing hebrew, they knew russian. I didn't know Russian because we were a mix of Israeli– Israeli jews, bukharian jews, and maybe, like, one or two american jews, but even then, like it wasnt– it wasn't the ideal situation, so it was– it was hard for me to– again, it was hard for me to relate. But, yeah, that is–that is my experience during school

Gaby: Thank you for sharing. Ok, with that being said, a good takeaway from this podcast is to keep an open mind to live your days incorporating diversity and spreading awareness of different backgrounds with the hope of fighting discrimination one day at a time.

Emily: And we also just wanted to thank you so much for your time and for listening in and leaning a thing or two about culture and language diversity and how– how we believe that, y’know, school system should change, the education system should change, and how languages should just be taught fluidly and not just like, because– just because, and, y’know, for teachers to make students curious and have them ask questions and, y’know, just generally just open their minds.

Gaby: We just want to thank our professor for this opportunity–

Emily: Absolutely–

Gaby: And it’s been a pleasure to be part of your course and learning through not only ourselves, but other students, and of course, you. Don’t forget to say it like you mean it, just kindly.