Coach Brown went to a conference on teaching English Language Learners (ELLs). There's a hidden assumption in many of these conferences, and that is the overwhelming power of racism:
problem in the ELL system is the idea that race is the primary reason that ELL students are not learning English. This came up, as it does all the time at Content Area Conferences, when teachers start addressing variables in kids' lives that they can't control. When conversations started drifting in that direction, I stated that the incoming culture needs to assimilate to their new culture and be less resistant [snip]
[he gave the examples of failing to speak English in the homeand taking students out of school for a month to visit the country of origin] to accepting it. The reaction from most of the teachers, and one conference presenter, was akin to a hornet's net being hit by a baseball bat. Comments from these people? You betcha. And here they are, verbatim. Remember, ladies and gentlemen, these are educators.
Go read the comments. Are you more in Coach Brown's camp, or the people he quotes.?
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