Our course, Cross Cultural Issues in Education was put on By the   Sociology department and the  Ethnic Studies  department here at OSU  . During the week I learned many things about the cross cultural issues that are affecting Oregon's schools.  This class was very beneficial to me because I was able to learn about issues that are important for Oregon's schools to succeed, as well as  leadership skills, and patience.  Most  of all, I was able to learn in an atmosphere that most people don't ever have the chance to be a part of. The learning while listening classes are set up in a way that you learn how to work with others,  listen to others and come to a consensus on many topics.  This class was good for me because normally i don't talk much during class, and as the week went by, I found myself giving my opinion about various topics.   Below is or group picture.  As you can see, We all got to know one another pretty well by the time the week was up!

There were many issues that we regarded as being important during our week together.  The topics that were repeated over and over by the stakeholders were the ones that will stick with us as we leave school, and become educators, or as we work with people throughout our lives.

 Important issues we covered:

CIM  CAM
                                               AND
  Many of the stakeholders we interviewed throughout the week had ideas about CIM and CAM.  The main issue that we were concerned with was whether or not CIM and CAM testing was culturally biased.  Some of the stakeholders that worked with children of different cultures agreed that CIM and CAM was biased in many ways.The most important idea was that children who do not speak english fluently, or have english as a second language are going to run into problems with the tests. The translations between English and Spanish are different, so when a question on the test is translated  into spanish, it may not have the same meaning, or may be confusing to the person taking the test. Another reason that CIM and CAM  is hard for students is that many students have test anxiety.  Test anxiety is increased when you have to take a test in another language, or when you are from a different culture. After careful consideration, I agree that CIM and CAM is culturally biased.  Are you confused about what CIM and CAM is?   Here are some links to further explain  CIM and  CAM.

Bilingual Education

   Bilingual education was an important idea that we talked about during the week.  Many of the stakeholders we talked to were involved in some type of bilingual education.  There are three major types of bilingual education that we discussed.

1.  Total immersion programs-  These programs are where the spanish speaking student is put into an english speaking classroom.

2.  50/50 programs-  This program is one in which the classes are taught 50% in spanish and 50% in english.

3.  90/10 programs- This program starts off as 90% spanish, and 10 % english.  As the yerars go by, the ideal is to have the class run as 50% spanish and 50% english
Here is a link if you would like to know more about Bilingual and migrant education.
Bilingual/Migrant Education

The most important ideas that were said over and over during the course by many different people is that the teachers who are teaching children in our schools need to show the children that they care about them.  It is very important for children to have a mentor, and When a teacher is around these children every day, they need to be a positive influence on the children.