I like to think about language. Most who know me know this.
I like to think about language because, over the years, I’ve come to believe, and personally experience, that language offers “ways of seeing” people (Stein, 2004), and, consequently, ways of thinking about people. Perhaps more soberingly: I’ve learned that how I “see” people influences the opportunities and constraints I place upon them in my mind, as well as in reality—and never more-so than in the context of teaching children for seven years. So let’s talk about a word, okay? Let’s talk about this word: "Monolingual”. I’ve recently noticed this word flying around schools with connotations of deficiency, or less-than-capable, attached to it. “This is my [insert facial expression that is attempting to cue me to the “fact” that this child can’t do as much as others] monolingual." Gently, but seriously, I’d like to put a few things out there for us to think about: 1. I am a monolingual. I am a professional educator, a Ph.D. student, a Literacy Content Coach, a teacher educator, a daughter/sister/aunt, and, I am also: a monolingual. I only speak one language: English. But this does not define who I am. It doesn't capture what makes me me, and, on its own, it doesn't represent what I'm capable of and what I'm working to do with my strengths. It doesn't show you Sherridon...unless you stop calling me "Sherridon", and start calling me "a monolingual". Suddenly...there's not much else to me but the fact that I only speak one language. 2. If you are an educator and you only speak one language, you are a monolingual, too. The children who are learning English in U.S. classrooms today will soon be bilingual, while the vast majority of the individuals teaching them will remain monolingual. So, if we hear our colleagues using this word with any degree of disdain or disrespect attached to it, let's find our professional voices to remind them of the incredible literacy learning our "language enriched" (thank you to my Cambridge colleagues for that phrase) children have done/are doing. Their brains will soon have reached literate feats beyond what even we, their mentors, have demanded of our own. 3. Why are we using this word? I wonder why, out of all the words we could choose, this is the word I often hear chosen to describe children who are learning English. How can we reverse this trend? Maybe instead, we could:
What else might we say that could have drastic implications on children's lives, even if we didn't realize it? That is a topic for the next blog....
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"This is so hard." "Why is this so difficult?" "Is this supposed to be this difficult?" "I didn’t think this would still be this difficult." These are just a few of the thoughts that repeatedly ran through my mind in the weeks leading up to this year’s Cambridgeshire Festival of Education. As I read them back to myself now, they sound like the mental musings of someone dealing with the loss of a loved one. But actually, they are my mental musings about leaving the classroom--through many tears of mixed feelings--in June of 2016 to pursue my Ph.D. full-time. Relinquishing my title as teacher, as “Miss Sweeney” to children, was proving to be more difficult than I’d already anticipated it would be. I was plagued by other troublesome thoughts, too: “Can I really ever be an expert at something?” Or, “The issues I care about represent deeply entrenched, systemic challenges...what can I really do about them?” Or, most often: “You are not [insert essential personal or professional skill here] enough to do this work.” Then, in July of 2017, I attended the Cambridgeshire Festival of Education. I was neck-deep in tension created by the fact that I was absolutely certain I loved the path I was on in my Ph.D. program, but, somehow, I also simultaneously had no idea how I was actually going to make peace with the fact that I knew I would never be an elementary school teacher ever again. Suddenly, one of the keynote speakers, Natalie Scott, put up a slide that had this image on it: And then came this slide: And this one: And this one: Had someone told Natalie I would be in the audience today? Prior to this moment, I’d felt somewhat alone in my head--trapped in my thoughts. But after hearing Natalie speak openly about experiences she'd had that mirrored some of my own, and talk through these slides and what they represented to her, I felt validated. And motivated. And in a strange sense...even seen. So what's my point? I think my point is: Show up. I’ve learned the importance of just showing up, and I use this phrase intentionally: For me, it implies a mindset I adopt when I'm overwhelmed or uncertain to the point that I'm tempted to freeze or retreat into my shell of inactivity, indecision, or self-isolation. When these feelings come, what I need is to stretch myself to be around people who won't let me hide against the wall and play it safe. So I've started telling myself: Just go. Be there, wherever "there" is. You don't have to have all the answers. You don't have to know what the next move is. You just have to keep being present in places, and surrounded by people, that represent possibility and positive forward motion. Going doesn't guarantee that being somewhere will bring what you need at that very moment...but not going means you'll never know if it could have. So, if you live in the Cambridge area and, like me, you find yourself musing over a series of recurring questions, tensions, or even just curiosities, you should probably start making plans now to show up to the 2018 Cambridgeshire Festival of Education. Take it from me: You won’t regret it. Connect with me on Twitter (@Sherridons) and Instagram (Sherridonsweeney.usf)
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AuthorHello! My name is Sherridon Sweeney and I am a doctoral student at the University of South Florida. I taught 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade in Hillsborough County, Florida for seven years before leaving the classroom in 2016 to pursue a Ph.D. in Literacy Studies. My blog is a space where I "think out loud" about the issues and opportunities I care about related to children, teaching, learning, and anything else going on the world that's got my wheels spinning. Categories |