I work with teachers who first language is Spanish. I am so sorry I am not bilingual as they all are. They have such a great advantage and are such a powerful resource for both the families and the children for they can communicate with the English learning parents and children in their home language and that is a huge. For me as an English only speaker with only a few conversational Spanish words at my tongues tip I have to listen very hard to my children as well as the teachers for the accents are difficult at times for me and I end up saving pardon me, more times than I feel comfortable with. I have many children who are learning English and they speak to me in Spanish. Sometimes I have to get another child or teacher to translate for me, or help problem solve with them. I do feel frustrated that I am unable to communicate fluently. However,this helps me to be able to empathize with the children and families and the struggle they are going through with language and being able to communicate effectively.
Some strategies I could use to help me communicate more effectively is to attempt to think and feel what the families teachers and children are thinking and feeling. I will have to strength my interpretation of body language and non verbal cues.I must recognize the fact that we are all cultural beings who have a completely different realities. Therefore I must get to know each person , their personality, values, emotional dispositions , and how to try and look through their eyes , withholding judgement so I can to gain a deeper understanding of their reality.
You are right, we must do what we can to attempt to think and feel like families without passing judgment. Although this can be difficult at times, it is imperative to do this. Families want to feel as if educators can communicate regardless of their differences.
ReplyDeleteBeing multilingual is definitely a powerful tool, it is extremely useful and valuable in the workplace. When I worked in a special education classroom we had nonverbal children that would use sign language. They were young children so they usually just signed different words, not full sentences. I would spend quite a bit of time looking up how to say different things so that I was able to be a better help to them. It was so frustrating for them sometimes to try and communicate with us because they lacked the words. This is the same across all different languages, it is frustrating not being understood.
ReplyDeleteBeing bilingual defiantly has its advantages, but I am not bilingual so instead I try to find out as much information I can about the culture which allows me to open up dialogues with families even if I do not speech their language. Acting out what you are trying to say goes a long way!!
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