OSU Students Learning to Listen to Cross Cultural Issues in Education
by Beth Phillips
Through the course of a one week seminar, this group of college students was able to overcome their differences, come to consensus, and form a sensitive, diverse learning team. By way of a non-traditional course at Oregon State University, we as a team studied cross cultural issues in education; primarily how minority students have been treated in the Oregon school system.Learning through listening being the cornerstone of the course, we interviewed many stakeholders (people involved in the Oregon education system) in order to get a broad perspective of education in Oregon. The people we interviewed included: State senators, superintendents, principles, bilingual teachers, students, parents, and community activists. Throughout this interviewing process, we learned about certain programs that help and hinder minority students, problems that effect minority students, and possible solutions to these problems faced by Oregon minority students.
The stakeholders that had the most impact on me were the community activists. Not held back by political rhetoric, or fear of job loss, they were able to speak up about problems that their communities faced. Of these activists, Anthony Veliz was one of the most inspiring. Being a migrant worker from Woodburn, Oregon, Veliz beat the odds to attain his masters degree and become a representative of a major corporation. An impressive feat in itself, Veliz decided to give it all up to return to his community to help others like him have a chance. Veliz now runs a high school equivalency class for migrant workers in Woodburn. Through the course of his interview, Veliz talked about some of the problems facing Latino students in his community. The largest problem Latino students face everywhere is especially a problem in Woodburn, a high dropout rate. The Latino dropout rate is high across the country, however in Woodburn, it's 50%. Where do these students go? Most of them leave school to work in the fields to help support their families. Others faced with constant discrimination, feel detatched from the learning process and simply give up. Veliz had many solutions to help fight the dropout rate, citing the need for a more diverse teaching staff as the primary solution. According to Velix, 98% of the teaching staff in Woodburn is White, and the cultural barrier between the White teachers and minority students is a huge part of the high dropout rate. By increasing the numbers of bilingual and minority teachers, school districts would be taking a huge step towards breaking the cultural barriers between students and teachers. And thus, hopefully lowering the dropout rate for minority students.
The most important lesson I learned during our spring break class, was how important support is in the success of minorities in education. Instead of thinking of a high dropout rate for minorities as "somebody else's problem," it is important to realize that all students are "our" students, therefore problems minority students face are "our" problems. By people gathering together to support our children financially, mentally, and emotionally, we can combat issues in education as a unified whole. When students realize that they are not in this alone, they are more likely to succeed.
Links to other pages:
