I firmly believe that language is at the heart of teaching and learning. Students in my classroom should not feel like they need to hide their life at home, and especially the language they speak at home. Students should be proud of their identity, all parts of it. I want students to share with my what makes them who they are, their culture, and what languages they speak at home. I am aware that students from different cultures come with different values, and I am hoping to create a space where these values are recognized and celebrated. Based on Paul Freire’s critical pedagogy, I believe that students and teachers are learning from each other. The students are not just learning from me, but we are learning together. In my classroom, I am the educator, but I am also the agent of socialization. I am capable of creating a space that is safe and positive for my multilingual learners. I want my students to be respectful of each other, and to also view being multilingual as a positive attribute.
Students should not have to “get rid” of their identity in order to get along with students in my classroom. I think that is something that I need to unlearn from being in school in Massachusetts for my academic career. Speaking another language in a class was actually not allowed until recently, which made it so teachers were not able to value other languages that students spoke. If students did not speak English, then they were seen as outcasts, lazy, and not smart. I am working to get rid of this type of thinking in my classroom, viewing multilingual identities as positive and amazing. That is the last thing that I want in my class. This tendency to want to wipe out the home language of students is hurtful and can make students feel invisible and not welcome. I want my students to be respectful of different languages and use it to their advantage. Students who are multilingual learners carry a set of amazing skills, like translating at home and working extra hard to learn content in a new language.