Diego Rivera: Grandfather to Austin Public Art (My First Digital Story)

The digital story as an authentic assessment is a great alternative to a written discovery learning project.  In the Spanish III curriculum unit I have been creating in graduate school, “¿Cómo te expresas?”  (How do you express yourself?), during which we learn Spanish vocabulary for the arts as well as learn to talk about self expression in the arts (all sorts, including Latino hip-hop/reggaeton, Pop Latino, Tango, painting, etc.), the students spend 6 weeks working on a really cool project based learning (PBL) activity in which they find themselves as consultants and media promoters for local businesses (museums, theaters, galleries, or concert promotion such as ACL or SXSW.)  Creating digital stories during those six weeks is a key to their PBL success.

The above digital story is the first that I have ever made (and to this point the only one). I think that it’s pretty good.  There are a couple parts I really like, but there a few moments when I wonder if I couldn’t have deleted more.  That being said, my model will most likely become obsolete as there will be students (if not all) who will expectedly create superior examples of digital storytelling as time progresses.

Hi! How are you, Austin?

For the students’ project based learning during the unit, they will take the role of a consultant, a media/music promoter, etc.  The projects start out as individual and then students work in groups.  As groups, the students will try to have an idea implemented in the school or the community (e.g., have an exhibit of Diego Rivera art at the AMOA).

During the individual phase, students choose a unique topic in the parameters of the present unit (e.g. Diego Rivera) and then create a digital story the tells why the art form/artist/musician/etc. is relevant.  The digital story that I created for this assignment would be the initial model for the class.  I would expect that soon enough, I’ll have student samples that are much better than what I have created.  The students then share their digital stories with their group and they come to a concensus as to which topic they will work on as a group.

FYI: The groups may want to create another digital story for the group project, which is fine.  However, they will have the option to create a different artifact.

Famous Austin Mural

***this is all, of course, dependent on having the technology***

The photos: the pictures of the Austin murals are from my personal collection.  The others are sourced at the end of the story.

The software: I used the free MicroSoft download software, Photo Story 3.  I chose this software because it was free and had been recommended.  It was very user-friendly.  I used some step-by-step instructions found at jakesonline.org.

The music: Photo Story 3 has a really cool feature that lets you create your own soundtrack based on preset loops.  You can have several customized soundtracks in one story (like my model has), plus add in clips from music files (mine features a modified loop sample from King Coya’s “Trocinto” that I hacked up with my free download of Audacity.

The hardware: I used the same Logitech ClearChat Style behind-the-head PC headset / handsfree mic that I used for my 1st podcast (see: Podcast to Another Language).  I liked it much better this time.  The difference may be in the software that I used, Audacity vs. Photo Story 3.  It may also be because I have had practice with it now.  Either way, don’t give up on that product.

– Mark Killingbeck

Podcast to Another Language

The following is a sample of how you can easily use today’s technology to podcast to another language.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST:

The above sample is my first podcast.  Sure, there were plenty of edits and versions, but this is my first published podcast.  I tell you this, because it really was simple enough for anybody with access to the technology to create; therefore, it should be a welcomed resource for foreign language education learning.

WORD ON CREATION & SOFTWARE: Creating a podcast was fairly simple using the free Audacity software (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/).  Creating my own looped music transitions, intro, outro using Garage Band was a worthwhile experience as well (http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/) (note: you need a plug and play music keyboard to use the software).

Creating a podcast was fairly simple. Stock photo.

THOUGHT ON MICROPHONE: It is also important to note that I do not think that using a hands free mic/headphone combination to record voice for the podcast is the best idea.  This type of mic makes it difficult for the speaker to have it at an appropriate distance from her or his mouth (I bought/used the Logitech Clear Chat premium behing the head headset/hands free mic and I do not recommend it for podcasting - notice in the podcast the annoying enunciation of the “S” and “T” that was difficult to edit out with the software or even adjusting input volumes, but could have been avoided with a different mic.)  (8/11/2010 update: MY THOUGHTS HAVE CHANGED regarding the microphone, and I may like it.  See next post on Diego Rivera (my first digital story) under “hardware”)

EDUCATIONAL USES: Because the podcast creation process was manageable, I would expect my students (assuming the availability of technology) to create their own podcasts using the one in this blog post as a very rough example.  Some students may want to create their own exercises to suit each one’s particular learning style.  I also expect that after a time, the podcasts would continue to improve – not just production value, but content – as we discover best practices and create new ones.

The podcast cannot substitute the practice of writing; however, it does offer a unique opportunity for the student to practice another language in and out of the classroom.  Students, when creating their own podcasts, must go through the process of scripting.  During which they have the opportunity to gain familiarity with the orthographical nature of the target language and therefore the podcast fulfills multiple roles.

NOTES ON THIS PODCAST: The present podcast is geared toward third year high school Spanish students; therefore, all instructions are in Spanish.  Based on my personal experiences and observations, by the third year, there should be very little meta-language teaching and simple instructions should be given in the target language – especially when the dialogue is repetitive (always saying “repite” instead of the English “repeat”.)

This specific podcast was created as very basic review of vocabulary that deals with the correlating Spanish III unit on the arts and self expression (using the Prentice Hall “Realidades 3, Texas edition” textbook (2005)) .  After the intro, we review several vocabulary words using the following format:

• To act
  • Actuar
  • Actuar
  • To act : Actuar
  • Repite: Actuar (Pausa)
  • Actuar (Pausa)
  • ¿Cómo se dice “ to act  ” en español? (Pausa) actuar

– Mark Killingbeck

Strategies for Teaching Literacy to Latino Limited English Proficient Adolescents: Psychological Justifications

In 2008, while volunteering for the Capital Area AIDS Legal Project (CAALP), I had an experience that profoundly impacted my current life path and my ideas about how English literacy needs to be taught to at-risk Spanish speaking adolescents in the United States. As part of my duties with CAALP, I was responsible for having clients fill out questionnaires regarding their current circumstances such as living conditions, income, and health

Why weren't my Latino clients filling out the questionnaires?

history. My methodology for having the questionnaires completed was to send them out via USPS and then wait for a response. In this process, my Latino clients consistently did not return them. I decided that I would translate the questionnaires to Spanish and then send dual language correspondence to all clients. Over a four month period of time, I saw no improvement in response. I then decided to call each client to find out how I could help them fill out the forms. I found that 100% of those Latino clients who did not fill them out were illiterate, not only in English, but also in their native Spanish. Over the course of the next several months, I got to know these clients intimately. During that time, I formulated the theory that this marginalized population would be best served by first providing culturally relevant curriculum and secondly by providing the opportunity to become literate in their first language (L1), Spanish, in order to facilitate literacy in their second language (L2), English. It was then that I decided that the challenge of providing literacy skills to at-risk Latino adolescents with a limited English proficiency (LEP) was an incredibly worthwhile pursuit.

Soon afterward, I began the masters of education program at Texas State University. As a student, I have written much regarding the validity of my theories in terms of empirical evidence and philosophical influences such as Jose Vasconcelos and Paolo Freire (Killingbeck, 2009; Killingbeck, 2010); however, I have never given consideration to my theories from a psychological perspective. This paper attempts to remedy the lack of connection between psychology and the teaching strategies that will allow this at-risk population to best learn.

In considering my strategies from a psychological perspective, it is important to begin with an explanation of the overall approach that I suggest for teaching literacy to LEP adolescents. It can be explained through psychological terms provided by Lev Vygotsky. L2 literacy can be facilitated through instructing within what he termed the “Zone of Proximal Development” (ZPD) – the space between what a person can learn on his own and the additional learning possible through the aid of an expert (in the case of education, this is the teacher) (Snowman, McCown, & Biehler, 2009). His theories, a developmental approach to teaching, give the underlying foundation for the specific strategies presented in the present paper. Jerome Bruner made the case of the importance of Vygotsky’s theories in justifying these strategies when he wrote:

When I remarked a quarter century ago that Vygotsky’s view of development was also a theory of education, I did not realize the half of it. In fact, his educational theory is a theory of cultural transmission as well as a theory of development, for education implies for Vygotsky not only the development of the individual’s potential, but the historical expression and growth of the human culture from which Man springs (1987, pp. 1-2).

Bruner’s remark helps one to understand that Vygotsky’s theories were not just cognitive in nature, but also a general theory of socio-cultural development. It is through this cognitive and cultural development that these at-risk students will best learn and are keys to understanding the psychology behind the following strategies.

Another key component to the following strategies is Erik Erikson’s theories on psychosocial development (1985). In particular, the stages of industry versus inferiority (generally correlating to ages six to 11 years) and identity versus role confusion (ages 12 to 18 years). Based on Erikson’s theories, a person’s psychosocial development progresses as the person masters a particular challenge in each stage. During the industry versus inferiority stage, the student “learns to win recognition by producing things” which leads to a sense of industry (Erikson, 1985, p. 259). When the student successfully develops the sense of industry, she is capable of facing the next stage – identity versus role confusion. The goal at this stage is to develop the roles and skills necessary to take a productive place in society. However, if the student never fully masters the challenge of gaining a sense of industry she will be mostly unsuccessful in her attempts to achieve a sense of identity. Although the industry versus inferiority stage generally correlates to pre-adolescence, it is significant to the target at-risk adolescents because their illiteracy in L1 and L2 sets them up to stay at the inferiority end of the stage and therefore are unable to properly confront the next stage. These at-risk students, regardless of the fact that they are adolescent, still need to gain a sense of industry in order to be successful.

Every student needs to have an environment in which she or he feels safe to learn.

In regards to specific strategies, the at-risk Latino LEP student needs to have an environment in which she feels safe to learn – a positive atmosphere for learning. The feedback that I got from my clients was that they dropped out of school because they got sick of feeling stupid (inferior). It was not that they were underachievers; it was because they felt that they would go to school only to be told that they were incapable of learning. They came from cultures with traditions that differed greatly from mainstream American children. They not only had the challenge of learning English (and in the case of my sample, they did not yet have L1 literacy), but also that of adjusting to a different cultural setting and school. The importance of having a welcoming classroom environment is supported by humanist perspectives, especially Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. According to Maslow, people seek to fulfill the lowest level needs first (physiological, safety, and belongingness/love needs) before focusing on efforts to meet their higher level needs (esteem and ultimately self-actualization) (Snowman et al., 2009). In the case of my clients, I found that it was difficult, possibly impossible, for them to focus on higher level needs because they never felt safe and relaxed, nor did they have a sense of belongingness. The lack of these prevented them from gaining a sense of esteem or a sense of industry. Ultimately, they found perceived safety and belongingness through sex and drugs and dropped out of school. Therefore, it can be concluded that from a psychological perspective a welcoming classroom environment is imperative to helping these students find academic success. To that end, specific recommendations to help satisfy the students’ feelings of safety and belongingness include 1) learning the students’ names, 2) inviting their culture into the classroom, 3) using materials related to the students’ cultures, 4) assigning a peer partner, and 5) involving them in cooperative learning. Items 2 and 3 help to create a culturally relevant curriculum and can be accomplished simply by having multicultural images that relate to the students on the classroom walls, which is the next basic strategy for promoting both L1 and L2 literacy among Latino LEP adolescents.

When I mention cultural relevance in curriculum, I mean connecting the learner to the subject with images and ideas that are meaningful to the student. If the learner is not able to imagine himself as successful through positive, relevant examples or images, then the learner will most likely not be successful (CosmicRace, 2010). Zygotsky’s ZPD, Erikson’s theory of industry versus inferiority stage of development, and humanistic theories offer explanation to why this is true. ZPD plays a role in supporting the need for a culturally relevant curriculum in the terms of scaffolding (Snowman et al., 2009). In my interviews with CAALP clients, I learned that the curriculum that was often provided by teachers usually, if not always, gave examples of US pop culture to help illustrate skills and theories that the students were learning. The at-risk Latino LEP students generally had no idea what the references meant. Subsequently, not only did they not understand what they were supposed to be learning, but they found themselves even more confused. Scaffolding

Not only did they not understand what they were supposed to be learning, but they found themselves even more confused.

allows for the teacher to build on what the student already knows. The demand for culturally relevant curriculum is not absolute for all content, nor am I proposing that teachers stop using examples from pop culture; however, the need for cultural inclusion and a cessation of cultural alienation is. Erikson’s thoughts on industry versus inferiority help to justify this in that “if a student’s efforts are unsuccessful or treated as bothersome [in this case because not being able to connect to mainstream culture] feelings of inferiority result” (1985, p. 260). In the case of my clients, the feeling of inferiority was so great that they met the crisis by turning to risky behaviors such as drugs and sex, ultimately dropping out of high school. In regards to humanistic theories, a culturally relevant curriculum will also promote the feeling of belongingness. Some specific strategies to making curriculum more relevant to these LEP students mirror many of those for making the classroom an atmosphere of learning. They include inviting their culture into the classroom and using materials related to the students’ cultures. A culturally relevant curriculum also infers that teachers not rely solely on mainstream cultural references without scaffolding them for students that have not yet connected to those examples.

The next important strategy in attending to the academic needs of Latino LEP adolescents is to consider their L1 literacy abilities. I found that my clients had struggled with L2 literacy, because they had never learned the

I assert that these students would have been better served by having developed L1 literacy skills as scaffolding before having been immersed into an L2 curriculum.

fundamentals of literacy in L1; in fact, many of them had never even been to school before immigrating to the U.S. Current research indicates that learning an L2 is facilitated when the L1 shares similarities in orthography (Bialystok, Luk, & Kwan, 2005; Carlisle & Beeman, 2000), phonetics (Meschyan & Hernandez, 2002), and grammar structure (Gottardo, 2002; Geva, Yaghoub-Zadeh, & Schuster, 2000). According to that research, the skills in learning literacy in Spanish as the L1 are easily transferred to English as the L2 (and vice versa); however, because my clients had never gained a literacy proficiency or base in their L1, the texts given to them in instruction might as well have been Chinese (a language with completely different orthography, grammar structure, and phonetics) (Bialystok, Luk, & Kwan, 2005; Carlisle & Beeman, 2000; Yaghoub-Zadeh, & Schuster, 2000). At least 75% of my clients had been referred to learning disabilities programs because of their inability to learn English. For them, being considered to have learning disabilities was the point when they dropped out of high school. The inferiority was too much for them to accept. Based not only empirical evidence, but psychological theory, I assert that these students would have been better served by having developed L1 literacy skills as scaffolding before having been immersed into an L2 curriculum. Because these students already felt somewhat marginalized, which according to Maslow affected their lower level needs of safety and belongingness and because there was no scaffolding within their ZPD when met with the crisis of industry versus inferiority, inferiority prevailed and the students gave up (Snowman et al., 2009).

In summary, the current presentation of information proposes psychological justification for culturally relevant curriculum and a focus on L1 literacy skills to facilitate L2 literacy skills. Through consideration of Vygotsky’s thoughts on the zone of proximal development, Erikson’s crisis of industry versus inferiority, as well as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it can be concluded that Latino LEP adolescents can be served in a way that can alleviate the dangers of illiteracy (in either L1 or L2) in order to help them become productive members of society. Furthermore, by considering the personal experiences of my clients through psychological aspects allows for stronger justification of the strategies presented.

– Mark Killingbeck

References

Bialystok, E., Luk, G., & Kwan, E. (2005). Bilingualism, biliteracy, and learning to read: Interactions among languages and writing systems. Scientific Studies of Reading, 9, 43-61. doi:10.1207/s1532799xssr0901_4

Bruner, J. (1987). Prologue. In R. W. Rieber & A. S. Carton (Eds.), The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky (Vol. 1). New York, NY: Plenum Press.

Carlisle, J. F. & Beeman, M. M. (2000). The effects of language instruction on the reading and writing achievement of first-grade Hispanic children. Scientific Studies of Reading, 4, 331-353. Retrieved from http://www.erlbaum.com/Journals/journals/SSR/ssr.htm

CosmicRace. (2010, July 2). Do I have to be blonde to go to heaven? Retrieved from http://cosmicrace.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/do-i-have-to-be-blonde-to-go-to-heaven/

Erikson, E. H. (1985). Childhood and society. (35^th anniv. ed.). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.

Geva, E., Yaghoub-Zadeh, Z, & Schuster, B. (2000). Understanding individual differences in word recognition skills of ESL children. Annals of Dyslexia, 50, 123-154. doi:10.1007/s11881-000-0020-8

Gottardo, A. (2002). The relationship between language and reading skills in bilingual Spanish-English speakers. Topics in Language Disorders, 5, 46-70. doi:00011363-200211000-00008

Killingbeck, M. (2009). Supporting the English literacy of Latino limited English proficiency students: Predictors of literacy success. Retrieved from http://sites.google.com/site/killingbeckspanish3/home/unit-3—don-t-be-clueless/killingbeck-writing-portfolio

Killingbeck, M. (2010). La raza cósmica y la pedagogía del oprimido. Los exitosos: Success for one, success for all. Retrieved from http://cosmicrace.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/la-raza-cosmica-y-la-pedagogia-del-oprimido/

Meschyan, G., & Hernandez, A. (2002). Is native-language decoding skill related to second-language learning? Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 14-22. doi:10.1037//0022-0663.94.1.14

Snowman, J., McCown, R, & Biehler, R. (2009). Psychology applied to teaching (12^th ed.) Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

Help! Help! I’m Being Repressed . . .

It may be a heavy topic, but I can have fun with it once in awhile.

This clip is from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

As you watch, answer the following questions to yourself:

1) Have I ever felt like the king? (In regards to your political, social, or religious ideas)

2) Have I ever felt like the peasants? (In regards to your political, social, or religious ideas)

After watching it reflect: How do I want other people to feel?

____

– Mark Killingbeck

Now You See Her, Now You Don’t

(based on an experience from Fall, 2009 – Mark Killingbeck)

I determined she was maybe even prissy.

Bella was, from all outward appearances, everything I expected from a 16 year-old junior varsity cheerleading captain. From her pink leopard print designer bag instead of a backpack to her painted manicured and pedicured nails, I determined that Bella was all “girl,” in fact, maybe prissy. Her class binder was covered with carefully crafted paper hearts, and pictures of her football player boyfriend; the name Diego was creatively stamped on the front and back. I assumed that Diego was her boyfriend, but I thought wrong. I thought wrong about a lot of things when it came to Bella. The dichotomy that surprised me was when she mentioned to me that she had a boyfriend. Trying to show off my keen sense of observation, I said, “You mean Diego?”  She giggled, “No, silly, Diego is my pig.”  It was not just any pig; hers was a blue ribbon prize winning beast of a pig. Then, I also learned that she was a student officer in the Future Farmers of America. Because I was intrigued, I asked to see the other side of Bella. The next day, we went out to the stables where I saw it. She was just at home in her boots and gloves, rustling among the livestock, as she was in her cheerleader outfit. In fact, I learned that as she had deep desires to become a veterinarian she might actually feel more comfortable in the stables. I no longer saw Bella the prissy cheerleader. I saw Bella the way she wanted to be seen, a future veterinarian.

. . . hers was a blue ribbon prize winning beast of a pig

My experience observing Bella began because she was getting a low B average in Spanish class. Her mother, a Mexican immigrant, called the teacher often to find out why her grade was so low. When observational data from class offered only the inference that she was more interested in cheerleading and boys than school, I learned that having open dialogue with her revealed a lot more than I ever would have discovered otherwise. Her difficulty was not with learning or even the distraction of extra-curricular activities. Hers was rebelliousness. She did not want to study Spanish; she was studying it only to appease her parents. From this experience, Bella taught me not to judge people based solely on outward appearances. Of course, that was a lesson that I thought I had learned years ago, but somehow I had not applied it to the cheerleader. Through further interviews and observations, I learned that I need to ask my students who they are. She taught me that a teacher’s influence is important. She taught me that it is important to teach by example. She also taught me that motivation plays an important role in a student’s success and that not every student will be motivated just because her parents or I am. I had always considered myself as a nonjudgmental person, but my experience with Bella taught me that I had a lot of room to still grow.

We need to see people for who they are and not who we think they are.  I now have a better understanding that, as in the case with Bella, what you see is not always what you get.

The Impact of Cultural Literacy and the Written Word

“It is commonly recognized that cultural literacy plays a key role in the construction of knowledge.  What is difficult to ascertain is the fluidity of culture, how it is defined, how it is viewed, how it is produced and reproduced – created, transmitted, and maintained – and how it impacts cognitive development.  How someone views the world can affect their interactions with other individuals, as well as any of their encounters across social, economic, and political boundaries”   (Clark, E.R. and Flores, B.B., 2007, p. 8).

Cultural literacy, in my view, is not only knowing the social mores of generations of your family, it is being literate in the language – the ability to read it, write it, and speak it.  It is through that part of literacy that much of one’s cultural heritage can be passed on.  As our Spanish speaking learners take on the challenges of new cultures and new languages, we must make sure that they connect with their own heritage.  It is by understanding their immediate world, that the bigger world makes more sense.

(Quote from: Clark, E.R. and  Flores, B.B.  “Cultural literacy: Negotiating language, culture, and thought.”  Voices from the middle.  Volume 15, Number 2, December 2007.  Pp 8-14)

– Mark Killingbeck

Do I Have to be Blonde to Go to Heaven?

On Sundays, I go to a small Spanish speaking branch of the Mormon church.  The chapel where we meet is used for several Mormon congregations.  Ours is the only Spanish one.

A few weeks ago, I noticed a bulletin board in the chapel hall that is for the Spanish congregation (the “Rama Palm Valley”).  On it, there were pictures, lots and lots of pictures.  There were pictures of families praying, families eating, families going to church, families dressed in white for weddings; there were pictures of Boy Scouts and missionaries.  Yes, there were a lot of pictures.  The thing was, not a single picture on that bulletin board even remotely resembled any member of Rama Palm Valley.  Every single person in each picture was not only white, but blonde.

This made me think, “Gee, do I have to be blonde to go to heaven?”

When I speak of cultural relevance in curriculum, I mean connecting the learner to the subject with images and ideas that are meaningful to the student.  If the learner is not able to imagine himself as successful, then the learner will most likely not be successful.

To have a “Latino” bulletin board filled with images of blonde, white Anglos is, in my view, oppressive.  It is saying that this is how you should be and isn’t allowing for the person’s natural state.  In the case of the Latinos of Rama Palm Valley, the natural state is dark hair and generally a shaded skin color.

I am sure that this type of oppression is quite dysconcious (see King, Joyce E. “Dysconcious racism.” The journal of Negro education. 60.2 (1991): 133-146.).  However, as educators, we must be constantly vigilant that all students feel that they have voice and potential in society.  If we do not allow for the success of this one, we are diminishing the success for everyone.

There is diversity in heaven.

La raza cósmica y la pedagogía del oprimido

Al leer La raza cósmica es posible que uno desee descartar el análisis de la obra debido a que ésta se considere con un contenido hasta cierto punto racista. Es posible también rechazar la obra por el estilo pseudocientífico en el cual fue escrito o por la opinión de que es una fantasía romántica. Éstas son sólo algunas razones por las cuales, desde su publicación en 1925, La raza cósmica ha sido una obra polémica. Aunque críticas de la obra son duras en su juicio, algunas de las filosofías de Vasconcelos que fueron publicadas en su controversial ensayo son relevantes y aplicables en la actualidad. Si estas ideas son consideradas en un contexto de filosofía y no sociología y son analizadas en el contexto de las teorías de Freire que se encuentran en la obra La pedagogía del oprimido, uno puede ver un aspecto nuevo de La raza cósmica. Esto de hecho valida la conclusión de Freire de que existe opresión en el sistema educativo americano y que tal opresión sólo puede ser eliminada con la creación e implementación de una pedagogía multidimensional.

Es pertinente manifestar que algunos pedagogos argumentan que Paolo Freire, un educador brasileiro, es parte de una corriente de filosofías educativas progresistas que se inició con Vasconcelos. El anterior es considerado como uno de los filósofos educativos más reconocidos por quienes son estudiosos de la pedagogía en el continente americano. Su obra más conocida, La pedagogía del oprimido, publicada en portugués en 1970, se ha traducido a más de diez idiomas y se han vendido más de 750,000 copias a nivel mundial (McLaren 124-5; Mayo 1-9). El libro examina la justicia e igualdad del sistema educativo y propone una pedagogía nueva, la cual trata en parte el presente ensayo. “One suspects that the ideas and operations of Paulo Freire and his successors in the adult literacy movement in Latin America owe more than a little to the vision of José Vasconcelos” (Brock 5). Por estas razones y dado que ambos autores observaron una opresión educativa sería de beneficio para el campo de la pedagogía aplicar las ideas de Vasconcelos a las ideas de Freire y argumentar si éstas se validan.

Para entender mejor a que se refiere una nueva pedagogía multidimensional es preciso comprender “la concepción bancaria”. En La pedagogía del oprimido, Freire introduce el término y la define de tal forma que “de este modo, la educación se transforma en un acto de depositar en el cual los educandos[1] son los depositarios y el educador quien deposita” (72). Freire argumentó que dentro de los sistemas educativos existe una opresión donde al momento de la enseñanza se utiliza una pedagogía basada en el método bancario. En dónde el maestro y estudiante no se comunican sino que el maestro únicamente hace depósitos que el estudiante recibe pasiva y pacientemente, memorizándolos y repitiéndolos. Esta dinámica reduce el poder creador del educando al mínimo, “estimulando así su ingenuidad y no su criticidad, [por tanto] satisface los intereses de los opresores” (75). Freire propuso que para evitar esta situación, el maestro debe ser también aprendiz, y los alumnos maestros, para que se propicie una comunicación real (85).

Al leer las aseveraciones del Freire, se puede inferir que Vasconcelos hubiera estado de acuerdo. Hace casi cien años que Vasconcelos explicó que “la ciencia ya no es esotérica” (64). Dijo eso porque entendía que ya había llegado la época en la cual la tecnología pudiera ser comunitaria entre culturas y preveía la época en la cual habría un intercambio del conocimiento, la información, y la sabiduría. Avizoró un día en el que se daría este intercambio de ideas declarando que “aviones y ejércitos irán por todo el planeta educando a las gentes para su ingreso a la sabiduría” (65). Vasconcelos argumentaría que el recibir, memorizar, y repetir de la concepción bancaria es imitativa y por tanto opresiva. Aún cuando las creencias entre el educador y el educando sean distintas es importante comunicarse. Más aún aclaró, “en las diferencias encontramos el camino”[2], explicando que si solamente imitamos a quien piensa que es de un intelectual superior perdemos el camino y que es esencial a descubrir nuevos métodos e ideas y no ser satisfecho con los de otros para triunfar sobre la opresión (57).

Hay críticos de La raza cósmica que rechazarían la aplicación de este tema a las filosofías de Freire porque las consideran una fantasía de pleno (Ávila). Otros, aún cuando las estudian primeramente en términos de la genética y la evolución debido a que tiene un estilo seudocientífico (Jaén x), finalmente lo juzgan como la fantasía de un poeta (MacKenzie 304).

Sin embargo, “To reject his thesis only from the point of view of science and genetics is somewhat unjustified” (Jaén xi), especialmente puesto que hay filósofos educativos hoy en día que están de acuerdo con este concepto de Vasconcelos[3]. Ellos consideran que al compartir sus ideas constantemente, se lucha contra la opresión causada por la concepción bancaria. De la misma manera recuerdan a los espectadores que poseen el poder de utilizar el internet para un intercambio mundial e instantáneo de información.

Adicionalmente, otra teoría de Freire trata de la “deshumanización”. La pedagogía del oprimido relata que los opresores mantienen su tipo de esclavitud por medio del acto de deshumanizar, la cual es una de las consecuencias del método bancario de enseñanza. Ser así es ser privado de características humanas como la individualidad, compasión, o cortesía (32). Para anular el efecto, entonces, se necesita crear un “aula acogedora”, donde todos los educandos, sin importar la cultura distinta de cada uno, se sintieran aceptados (Colorín).

La raza cósmica ofrece una nueva perspectiva para establecer este tipo de ambiente de aprendizaje. Como lo explica, la misión transcendental de la raza humana es “de fundir étnica y espiritualmente a las gentes” para que todos tuvieran “la igualdad social y cívica” (59). Esta igualdad en la escuela se logra en un aula que es culturally responsive, lo cual es un término que abarca mucho más que sólo el concepto de ser multicultural (Weinstein 275). Estas son aulas acogedoras y así proveen oportunidades equitativas para el desarrollo y el aprendizaje para todos.

Hay personas que no desean que haya planes de estudio que sean así, y mantienen el paradigma de que su raza o cultura es superior, y por tanto, no debe ser contaminada por la mezcla con quienes son inferiores en su capacidad intelectual, o sin la motivación, o inmoral (Valencia). A esta creencia se le conoce como deficit thinking[4], lo cual ha sido de gran influencia para segregar a los estudiantes en las escuelas en los E.U.A. desde los años 1890 (Epstein 56). También es digno de mencionarse que durante la época cuando Vasconcelos escribió La raza cósmica, en los libros de texto oficiales en la educación pública mexicana implícitamente se enseñaban a los alumnos a creer que tenían que ser alguien diferente con respecto a su cultura. El hecho hacía que tuviesen una auto identificación negativa con respecto a su nacionalismo (56). Esta situación revela que la opresión educativa existía no sólo en los E.U.A. sino en México también, señalando que la pedagogía que dañaba la autoestima de los latinos había crecido hasta ser una epidemia del deficit thinking.

La epidemia era, y es actualmente, desastrosa en cuanto a la motivación educativa del educando latino. “De tanto oír de sí mismos que son incapaces, que no saben nada, que no pueden saber, que son enfermos, indolentes, que no producen en virtud de todo esto, terminan por convencerse de su incapacidad” (Freire 58-59). Para que los alumnos tengan éxito escolar, tienen que creer que pueden aprender. También tienen que comprender cómo lo que están estudiando es útil, relevante, y que tiene sentido para ellos. “This develops a self-directed learner who is confident in making the information his or her own” (Gregory 9). Otros sabios pedagogos están de acuerdo[5]. Esta es evidencia de que el no contar con un aula acogedora es una herramienta del opresor.

Hay otro instrumento opresivo que se usa en el sistema educativo, la cual es la deshumanización. Freire rechazó el método bancario alegando que éste hecho resultaba en la deshumanización. Además lo rechazó porque resulta en la autodesvalorización. El oprimido se auto deprecia cuando internaliza las opiniones negativas del opresor. “Hablan de sí mismos como los que no saben y del profesional como quien sabe y a quien deben escuchar” (59). Cuando el currículo demuestra tener una aceptación incluyente hacia todas las culturas, el individuo se empieza a auto apreciar y valorar. Esto sucede porque al conocer modelos positivos dentro de la propia raza o cultura, el individuo se percata de que él mismo puede ser exitoso en la escuela.

La noción de una raza cósmica, como la presenta Vasconcelos, parece explicar este concepto de inclusión más a fondo, pues personifica la diversidad étnica. Él enseñó que definir las raíces patrióticas de los Americanos Latinos como las que sólo llegan hasta los líderes de independencia así como Simón Bolívar o Miguel Hidalgo no era suficiente, sino que había que ir más lejos. Vasconcelos explicó que necesitaban darse cuenta que sus raíces eran mucho más profundas que los líderes de independencia de hace 200 años y por tanto tenían que identificarse no sólo con el azteca y el inca de los siglos XII a XIV, sino también con el español lo cual sería difícil porque aún se le consideraba como un opresor.

Algunos educadores argumentarían que el simple hecho de reconocer que existen otras culturas y celebrar las diferencias que existen entre ellas, como se presenta en este ensayo, sería un acto racista. Según Ladson-Billings, ellos argumentarían que son “daltónicos” o sea que no ven diferencias entre los colores de piel y afirmarían que estiman las raíces de todos las personas como iguales. Es irónico entonces, que ellos mismos consideren La raza cósmica como una teoría racista “for the encouragement of a people with deeply rooted feelings of inferiority” (Jaen x). Al contrario, como se presenta en el presente ensayo no es una teoría racista y de hecho Ladson-Billings juzgó a estas prácticas de ignorar costumbres diferentes, o peor aún, de que hubiera otras culturas como una pedagogía racista.

Ella sugirió que aquellos maestros y administradores educativos quienes fuesen daltónicos estarían equívocamente practicando un racismo dysconcious. Como dijo Joyce King, “Dysconsciousness is an uncritical habit of mind (including perceptions, attitudes, assumptions, and beliefs) that justifies inequity and exploitation by accepting the existing order of things as given.” Ella explicó que este tipo de racismo “tacitly accepts dominant White norms and privileges” (133). Sabiendo eso, se puede deducir que las ideas no racistas de Vasconcelos apoyan a las de Freire. Se concluye también que es necesario ayudar a los estudiantes a confiar en sí mismos utilizando el conocimiento derivado de sus raíces diversas.
La intención del presente ensayo es diseminar más ampliamente las ideas y filosofías tanto de Freire como de Vasconcelos promoviendo así el ojo crítico del lector para que desee tomar una posición activa contra la opresión en el sistema educativo de la actualidad. Para lograr este propósito, se introdujo La pedagogía del oprimido escrito por Freire como modelo para la introducción de igualdad al sistema educativo. También se presentaron las ideas de Vasconcelos incluidas en La raza cósmica para apoyar las filosofías presentadas en La pedagogía. Por medio de una síntesis comparativa de las dos obras y al considerar no sólo la crítica negativa de La raza cósmica sino la que podría haber por causa del mismo análisis se le da la oportunidad al lector de entender los motivos de fondo de Vasconcelos al escribir la obra. Después de considerar los datos que se dan en el presente ensayo, se puede concluir que la naturaleza de la previa no es el racismo, sino una llamada para que todas las personas con diferentes raíces se unan en espíritu, una predicción de una nueva época de la humanidad. En este sentido, la obra es profética e inspiradora y con esa visión se le debe leer. No se le debe considerar en un contexto de la sociología ni de la genética, sino en un sentido filosófico que aporte una nueva dimensión de la pedagogía libertadora que propuso Freire. Al darse cuenta de esta nueva perspectiva, se empieza a entender cómo las filosofías plasmadas en La raza cósmica puedan servir de base para crear un sistema educativo que sea justo, equitativo y no opresivo. De hecho, se da una nueva dimensión a la pedagogía de Freire.

[1] Aunque el Real Academia Española considera la palabra “educando” un adjetivo, la literatura del campo de educación la usa también como sustantivo. Otros diccionarios la define como el término formal de un alumno de un colegio u otro centro académico (VOX). En inglés, la palabra que más tiene el mismo sentido es pupil. En el presente ensayo “educando” está utilizado como adjetivo y sustantivo.

[2] Se refiere al camino que llega hasta una unificación de todas las raíces.

[3] Véase: Clark; Gregory 9-16; Ladson-Billings; Ornstein 312-30; Valencia

[4] Véase: Cooper; Gregory; Valencia. La palabra inglesa deficit significa “déficit” y thinking es un tiempo del verbo think lo cual significa “pensar”. Deficit thinking significa que uno piensa que otro tiene un “déficit de lo intelectual”.

[5] Véase: Ornstein 312-13; Orr 7-15; Caine 124; Weinstein 275; Banks

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