The Rodriguez family eventually mastered English after quite a struggle and constant practice, but at what cost to their family culture? Thus, I will now be analyzing learning about the culture of schooling.
ANALYSIS.
Methods, ideals, goals, and values of teaching and learning vary from community to community and country to country. Children learn and are inevitably taught by teachers, parents, peers, and other outside influences, and these experiences differ across the globe as well. During class, we have discussed many topics and watched videos concerning various teaching techniques in other countries, as well as our own.
When Richard first entered school, he was not accustomed to the way the American classroom was run. He really didn't seem to think he fit in with those in his school environment. He "wrongly imagined that English was intrinsically private, [he] easily noted the difference between classroom language and the language at home. At school, words were directed to a general audience of listeners .Words were meaningfully ordered- (Rodriguez). Richard, having come from a different culture, wasn't used to these more "American- ways, and he didn't really know what to expect, or what was expected of him. He found it very difficult to adjust and find a way to fit in comfortably.
In the video, The polished stone: K-5 Math Achievement in Japan and Taiwan, I learned that children in Asian countries put more of a focus on math studies, and children know exactly what is expected of them. Teachers spend more time working with those individuals who do not catch on as quickly. If a child fails to learn a particular lesson, the blame falls on the teacher, not the student. Various methods are used as well, there is not one single way that is acceptable, any approach is possible, as long as the result is a lesson learned.
In connection and conclusion, perhaps a classroom environment closer resembling that of some Asian school systems would have been more conducive to Richard's learning process.
