Multicultural Content and Multiple Perspectives

Spanish teachers have an incredible opportunity and a critical responsibility to introduce students to multicultural content and multiple perspectives through lessons that reflect the diversity of the community, region, country, and world in which we teach. Young students are enormously receptive to seeing the ways in which their lives are similar to or interestingly different from the lives of others, in their community or in other places around the world. By planting the seeds of language and cultural competence in our students, we have the unique chance to help them see themselves as bridge-builders in a world that desperately needs them.

One of the things that I most love about the approach to lesson planning that the Teach NOW program requires is that I must always include in my plans the “big ideas” that are driving my lesson. I am finding that these ideas drive my planning to be, in fact, “big”-ger, and they keep me honest in the work of teaching lessons which are rich in value beyond the simple translation of language. They push me to ensure that our work in language is grounded in culture, and that each lesson will further develop students as citizens of the world and of the new century. Some of the “big ideas” that have driven my lesson planning thus far are:

• Speaking Spanish opens doors! It allows you to be a connector, a friend, a diplomat, a person who is successful in work and in life, someone who brings clarity and builds connection among people.
• Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world! It is the national language of 23 countries, is spoken widely in the US, in Illinois, in Chicago and here at our school!
• To be 21st Century citizens of the world, it is important to understand the historical and cultural hallmarks of the people who speak Spanish in the US and in other countries.
• To be 21st Century citizens of the world, we must know where Spanish is spoken in the world and we are in relation to other countries.
• Learning Spanish is easy and fun! By the time we leave class each day and at the end of this course, we will already be speaking Spanish that you can then use with anyone! Immediately!
• You are going to be very good at Spanish 😊.

I find that when these ideas are in my lesson plan and thus in the front and back of my mind, that the act of lesson planning takes on a fluidity, a life of its own. The lesson evolves as I write it because these driving questions are there, demanding that I address them internally and externally, and that I shape the substance of my lesson to show that I know that they matter.

It is so important to allow students to engage with lesson content from multiple perspectives, and in a Spanish classroom, this just feels remarkably simple and exceptionally possible – especially in the age of the internet. The world of education is so different than it was for me the last time I was in the classroom. I taught for four years some 20 years ago, and that time around, I didn’t have access to the rich collection of perspectives that are available via technology – video and online resources – not to mention the fact that my local library had nowhere NEAR the selection of books that my local library does now – books in both Spanish and English which explore the culture of the places where people speak Spanish, and which provide so many perspectives on life in Spanish-speaking homes, communities or countries. Beyond that, access to community organizations which offer instruction and performances based in Spanish-speaking cultures are now ever-present, and frequently reasonably priced. Additionally, as I have come to teach in a school with a rising population of Spanish speakers and I myself must be a translator and bridge-builder to parents who come into the office daily, I find that the connections I am building with individuals and families is such that I could ask their help in coming in to speak to the class, make recordings, and teach students about some of the rich traditions of their lives IN the language.  Doing so would allow students to see parents and community members who speak Spanish to be experts and authorities, people with valuable experiences and insights to share.