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Reflection: Standard 2. Culture as it affects Student Learning.

The artifacts I chose from Standard 2 came from ESC 769- Latinos in US Schools. One
is my based on my Teaching Philosophy, and the other is a culture study I completed on
Dominican youths in United States schools (particularly New York).
My teaching philosophy paper addresses how cultural group and individual cultural
identities affect language learning and school achievement. I attributed my research/philosophy
to Mariella Espinoza-Herolds book Isues in Latino Education. She advocates heavily for
students maintaining cultural ties as a strong indicator of success.
When youngsters arrive here, they are met with new norms, language and identity. What
Espinoza-Herold suggests is a strong tie to culture will assist student learning. A teacher cant be
threatened by students tie to culture. This signals that being Dominican, Puerto Rican, Mexican,
etc. retains high value in their lives and shouldnt be degraded. A push to be American is not
meeting their needs for self-actualization and self-esteem. Ultimately, this push wont help
learning achievement.
Warmth and welcoming atmosphere is important. Because these children may have
already experienced some culture shock, learning/school environments may be hostile for them.
A teacher who tries to mimic the family in some way, will produce more results than one who is
cold and aloof.
Because of the demands of teaching, I dont always successfully produce a warm
atmosphere. My sense of being too busy or too focused on deadlines takes precedence over
rapport. And I realize thats not optimal for the learning environment. Children need to feel
cared for in order to learn fluidly and joyfully. I realize the other type of classroom can be ripe
for anxiety. And unfortunately, Ive been guilty of doing this.

A school which does, in fact, produce a warm environment in the Gregorio Luperon
School for Science and Mathematics, located in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. It
opened in 1994 to newly arrived immigrants needing to develop basic English. However, it
eventually became a four-year school in 2001.
The hallmark of Luperon is its focus on creating a family-like atmosphere for students
who are newly arrived in the US. They care deeply about their students and go to great lengths to
help them. Also, teachers tend to be immigrants themselves, so they understand the students
struggles. Students love the school so much, in fact, that they will often stay very late in the
evenings. It really does help ease the shock of coming into a new culture, with barely any
language skills.
Both artifacts relate to the Standard because it addresses how cultural identity
influences self-esteem, and how cultural groups and individual cultural identities affect
language learning and school achievement. These artifacts dont ignore the fact that culture is
strong tie for newcomers; and to attempt to eradicate it is hugely detrimental on student success.
Also, Luperon is a great example of what the standard indicates as: involving students families
and community members in students learning.
Im relatively familiar with Dominican culture, but I could use more training on other
Hispanic ethnic groups, especially those from South and Central America. Also, it would benefit
me to acquire more instruction on those cultures which Im not familiar with at all. Particularly
those from African and Asian countries. With the influx of these immigrant groups, Id be a
more effective educator with some knowledge of their cultural customs.