Vandreia Montano

ESC 708
Spring 2015

Reflection 2

The artifacts that meet the TESOL standard 2. Culture as it affects Student Learning that I
selected were developed for the class ESC 769 Latinos in U.S. Schools, from the spring of 2014.
The artifact entitled Philosophy statement on teaching diverse students was a paper
assignment for which I was asked to write about my beliefs regarding teaching Latino students
and my understanding and commitment with the issues of a diverse classroom. After doing some
research and reflecting about the topic, I was challenged to reformulate my misconceptions of
race and ethnicity, and I was inspired to look at students diverse backgrounds and how this can
shape their beliefs, self-esteem, and life aspirations. Developing the assignment helped me to
understand how students cultural backgrounds can influence the value that they put in education,
besides shaping their beliefs and even their self-esteem. It also helped me to think about ways of
addressing these issue in the classroom, how to learn about my future students culture in order to
understand their attitudes in the classroom, and how help them to develop their learning ability.
This experience shaped my views of teaching a multicultural classroom, making me aware of the
different issues and different ways of teaching multicultural students. This is in accordance with
the TESOL standard 2 which states: Candidates know, understand, and use the major theories
and research related to the nature and role of culture in their instruction. Because of the way

cultural identity influences self-esteem, candidates understand how cultural groups and
individual cultural identities affect language learning and school achievement.
The second artifact, Immigration: Puerto Ricans in the U.S. and education, was a paper
assignment for which I was supposed to research one or more Latino groups, analyzing and
describing their history in the U.S. educational system. The group I chose to learn about was
Puerto Ricans. With this assignment, I was able to understand a little more about the Puerto
Rican - American connection and how Puerto Ricans struggle with the same problems as
immigrants from other countries even though they are part of the commonwealth of the United
States. I was able to see that they have similar needs to other minority groups in the U.S.
educational system, such as the language barrier, and low economic status. Developing this
artifact, I learned how to investigate the different cultural groups that might compose a
multicultural classroom, as a way to include the students culture in the curriculum and make
them feel respected and motivated to pursue education. This demonstrates that I meet the TESOL
standard 2 regarding the following point:

They (candidates) use a range of resources to

discover more about their students backgrounds. Candidates know that students learn more
readily when cultural factors are recognized, respected, and accommodated, and they
demonstrate this knowledge in their curriculum planning, material selection, and teaching. They
involve students families and community members in students learning.
In conclusion, the artifacts described above helped to enrich my ability to work with a
diverse group of students, widening my understanding of the minority groups and their diverse
backgrounds. It was important for me to see how different cultures have different beliefs
regarding education and social concerns, among others, which made me realize the importance
of learning about the students and respecting each culture.

As a future ESL teacher I surely will be working with students from many different
nationalities and ethnic backgrounds, and I would like to be open to learn about the different
cultures that might be present in the classroom and try to accommodate each student in a
welcoming and respecting classroom environment. I would also like to keep all of the cultural
differences in mind while preparing the materials to be worked with the students.