|
Written by Dr. David Penberg
|
There is a rumor hovering cloud like above elementary school. It is that we are going to have art, music, and PE classes conducted in Spanish. Unless such curricular decisions were made without informing me----I can say no such a change has even been contemplated.
But misinformation aside, it does raise a fundamental question: What does it mean to be a multilingual school?
The answer has come to me in at least two different places. First the lunchroom. Sit in there on any given day. You will find clusters of children chattering in Spanish, Catalan, Punjab, French or Japanese. Then a teacher passes by and the same child talking in Catalan will request more water or a second helping in flawless English. And on the patio, during break or lunch It is a veritable language lab with children switching from one tongue to the next, with the ease of translators while they play basketball (this years game of choice), eat bocadillos or trade pokemon cards.
Above all else, being a multilingual school is part of who we are, what makes us singular, and what makes living and learning here such a broadening experience. The spirit of the multilingual and the multicultural, is not only a method of instruction but a way of teaching children to build community and be in the world.
Yes. English is our primary language of instruction. Yes, we adhere to a policy of expecting fluency in English by the time student’s complete 5th grade. Yes, we approach EAL instruction from a constructivist framework. And YES, this is why parents send their children to this school. We do this very well. We understand language acquisition and fluency. But, we also strongly support the value of knowing additional languages and believe that multilingualism is an important linguistic and intellectual accomplishment. You will not hear a teacher in an elementary classroom admonish a student for speaking in their first language. Nor will you ever hear the arrogant refrain: ”We only speak English here.”
Of the more than 150 research projects conducted during the last 35 years strongly support what Goethe, the German philosopher, once said: The person who knows only one language does not truly know that language.
So not to worry that there is any new language policy in the works. We are a school that wants children leaving as polyglots —not as one-dimensional speakers/thinkers. |
|
Last Updated on Wednesday, 11 November 2009 17:27 |
RSS Feed