Serving Multicultural Needs

Paras Help Bridge Cultural Gaps Between Schoolwork and Students

By Dave Arnold

Our schools are a reflection of our diverse society. No one knows this better than paras.

Your school is “too white,” a substitute teacher once told me. We were talking about what she liked and disliked about the elementary school where I work.

It was an unusual way of stating things, but I knew what she meant. Our elementary school in Brownstown, Illinois is not racially diverse. It is 90 percent Caucasian. Always has been.

Geographic Segregation

We are somewhat isolated in our Southern Illinois rural backyard. We have our way of doing things, that is, we operate pretty much the way our parents did. While this isn’t anyone’s fault, I’m ashamed to admit that I grew up unaware of cultures and races outside my environment.

What I did learn from my parents, teachers and neighbors involved a considerable amount of prejudice, fear, and mistrust of minorities. I pray that I’ve overcome any deep-seated prejudices I may have been exposed to in my formative years.

Even more, I hope that I did not pollute my children’s thinking or behavior with any unhealthy views of people who were different than us. I pray hard for that.

Paras Challenged

Today, the majority of our schools are a reflection of our nation’s citizens, neighborhoods, and immigration trends. America is a blend of world cultures.

No one is more aware of this than paraeducators. The para usually works with the children who are at-risk or lagging behind the rest of the class. Also, when a student doesn’t speak or understand English as well as the rest of the class, then they are likely to be placed under the guidance of a para pro.

Not grasping English does not mean that a child is a slow learner or inferior in any way. In fact, it could imply the opposite. This child has some understanding of two or more languages, which is better than most adults I know.

Placing a child with the para will help the child learn quicker. Can’t beat tutoring for intense learning. There are approximately 771,000 paraeducators working in the nation’s K-12 public schools, according to NEA statistics. They make up 34 percent of the K-12 ESP work force.

Even with these numbers, paras I talk with say it is difficult to help a student who doesn’t speak English when the para doesn’t speak the student’s first language.

The language barrier is compounded by differences in cultures, which can also be a hindrance to understanding course material.

Insider Knowledge

This fact was brought to my attention at the 2004 NEA ESP Conference in Charlotte. We were in a session conducted by Gene Grooms, NEA staff, concerning how to deal with difficult people.

A para stood up and told the group about a problem she had. She explained how she was having difficulty with a Hispanic student, even though she was fluent in Spanish.

He wasn’t doing his homework. She had trouble communicating with this child because he would seldom look at her. Another lady in the session, also a para pro, offered an explanation.

As a Mexican-American, she understood the subtleties of the Hispanic culture. She explained that it was customary for Hispanics to keep their head and eyes lowered as they spoke to a person who held a place of authority. She said the boy viewed his teacher that way. He bowed to her as a show of respect.

This was fantastic. Two people coming together, speaking out, and helping one another to have a better understanding of each other’s cultures and heritage.

ESP Roundtable

Then a light came on in my brain. Why can’t we have a discussion like this again, except on a larger scale? Why not include discussions like this at future conferences?

At many conferences, NEA sponsors an excellent session on diversity through its National Diversity Training Seminars. In fact, of the 25 or so facilitators, 15 are ESP.

However, I’m speaking more in terms of a roundtable discussion with ESPs from a variety of cultures and races. A skilled moderator would engage them in sharing their problems while offering an understanding of their cultures.

I believe every conference in every state could benefit from such discussion. In turn, we could better serve the multicultural, multiracial student population found in our nation’s schools.

(Dave Arnold, a member of the Illinois Education Association, is head custodian at Brownstown Elementary School in Southern Illinois.)

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NEA or its affiliates.