My Social & Cultural Perspectives
My social and cultural self has impacted my experience in learning to become a language teacher. Having been born in Toronto, Ontario, and growing up in various cultural contexts, such downtown Toronto, GTA, Quebec City, and Montreal, has allowed me to appreciate our worlds beautiful walk of diversity.
Prior to completing both of my teacher education preparation programs, the B.Ed from OISE and TESOL from UofT, I found that volunteering, working and being extensively active within the GTA community helped me to better acquire my appreciation for multiculturalism.
As a result, I have been extensively active within the community, especially through volunteerism and public service, which has provided me with a background to create lessons that are ‘responsive’ to the needs of multicultural classrooms. For instance, I have been active with CCVT (Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture), IRB (Immigration and Refugee Board), CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada), South Asian Family Support Services, the Nelson Mandela’s Children’s Fund, ICNA, Culture Link, Scarborough General Hospital (Celebrating our Diversity) and ATIO – Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario. As a result, I have sincerely volunteered hundreds of hours of my time to the overall betterment of the community and way of life. In addition, I have even received two Ontario Volunteer Awards from the Honourable Premier of Ontario.
By and large, as Franson & Holliday emphasize throughout Chapter 4, the teacher needs to acknowledge / support ‘multiple identities’ in the classroom. I have taught several sections of intensive university / college prep and academic courses to native speakers of English and ESL students. These include: Gr.12 Canadian and World Issues (CGW4U), Gr.12 Canadian and World Politics (CPW4U), Gr.12 World History (CHY4U), Gr.12 International Business (BBB4M), Gr.ll Canadian Law (CLU3M), Gr.11 Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology (HSP3M), Gr.I0 Civics (CHV20), Gr.I0 Careers (GLC20) and Gr.10 Canadian History (CHC2D). As a result, having the opportunity to work as a full-time high school teacher, whilst taking on the duties as the head of the Social Sciences department, I have learned to incorporate my background experiences into creating lessons that support ‘multiple identities’ in the classroom.
Hence, in regards to my social and cultural self, I have come to better understand, through my public service, educational and teaching experiences, that we need to continue to acknowledge / support ‘multiple identities’ in the classroom. I would like to share a quote from Franson & Holliday, which emphasizes this:
“Student-teachers need to be made aware that learners bring multiple identities to the classroom, and to language learning and use, and to consider how they can use this knowledge to develop responsive curricula and pedagogy.”
(pg.43, Franson & Holliday: Leung, Harris, and Rampton, 1997)
Overall, the authors of Ch.4 ‘Social and Cultural Perspectives,’ by Franson and Holliday, clearly indicate that there is need for teacher education programs to promote awareness of the ‘power of language,’ as teaching ESL can inherently carry a political, social and economic connotation:
“In addition, teacher education programs should include opportunities to investigate more fully the concept of culture as a dynamic, multifaceted, ideological, and political construct.” (pg.44, Franson & Holliday)
Prior to completing both of my teacher education preparation programs, the B.Ed from OISE and TESOL from UofT, I found that volunteering, working and being extensively active within the GTA community helped me to better acquire my appreciation for multiculturalism.
As a result, I have been extensively active within the community, especially through volunteerism and public service, which has provided me with a background to create lessons that are ‘responsive’ to the needs of multicultural classrooms. For instance, I have been active with CCVT (Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture), IRB (Immigration and Refugee Board), CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada), South Asian Family Support Services, the Nelson Mandela’s Children’s Fund, ICNA, Culture Link, Scarborough General Hospital (Celebrating our Diversity) and ATIO – Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario. As a result, I have sincerely volunteered hundreds of hours of my time to the overall betterment of the community and way of life. In addition, I have even received two Ontario Volunteer Awards from the Honourable Premier of Ontario.
By and large, as Franson & Holliday emphasize throughout Chapter 4, the teacher needs to acknowledge / support ‘multiple identities’ in the classroom. I have taught several sections of intensive university / college prep and academic courses to native speakers of English and ESL students. These include: Gr.12 Canadian and World Issues (CGW4U), Gr.12 Canadian and World Politics (CPW4U), Gr.12 World History (CHY4U), Gr.12 International Business (BBB4M), Gr.ll Canadian Law (CLU3M), Gr.11 Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology (HSP3M), Gr.I0 Civics (CHV20), Gr.I0 Careers (GLC20) and Gr.10 Canadian History (CHC2D). As a result, having the opportunity to work as a full-time high school teacher, whilst taking on the duties as the head of the Social Sciences department, I have learned to incorporate my background experiences into creating lessons that support ‘multiple identities’ in the classroom.
Hence, in regards to my social and cultural self, I have come to better understand, through my public service, educational and teaching experiences, that we need to continue to acknowledge / support ‘multiple identities’ in the classroom. I would like to share a quote from Franson & Holliday, which emphasizes this:
“Student-teachers need to be made aware that learners bring multiple identities to the classroom, and to language learning and use, and to consider how they can use this knowledge to develop responsive curricula and pedagogy.”
(pg.43, Franson & Holliday: Leung, Harris, and Rampton, 1997)
Overall, the authors of Ch.4 ‘Social and Cultural Perspectives,’ by Franson and Holliday, clearly indicate that there is need for teacher education programs to promote awareness of the ‘power of language,’ as teaching ESL can inherently carry a political, social and economic connotation:
“In addition, teacher education programs should include opportunities to investigate more fully the concept of culture as a dynamic, multifaceted, ideological, and political construct.” (pg.44, Franson & Holliday)