Scan barcode
A review by nothingforpomegranted
Education Across Borders by Jalene Tamerat, Marie Lily Cerat, Patrick Sylvain
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
This was very interesting, but definitely not what I was anticipating. I was hoping for an exploration of multicultural classrooms with insights from the teachers who have been successful in that context. While certainly there were references to the classroom (and I admire Sylvain and Tamerat for their role in the classroom and their commitment to their students), this was more of a history of Haitians in America. I learned about the waves of immigration, tensions with Dominicans, and the overlap and distinctions with African Americans. I appreciated the way that the authors placed Haitian immigrants in the context of American blackness and culture. The relevance of education is mostly in the fact that all of these adolescents go to school and experience the classroom, often racialized as Black, assumed to be English language learners, and assigned special education status.
The authors referenced several education authors I was familiar with, including Marc Lamont Hill, Thomas Delong, Jonathan Kozol, and several others. It was meaningful to have this put in conversation with other books I’ve read, even if those are not authors I’m intensely familiar with.
There were definitely interesting takeaways here about making connections with students and their families, and I loved how the authors clearly articulated the funds of knowledge that these students often come to school with, particularly with regard to family events, group dynamics, and planning. In addition, there were some important lines about the significance of support students’ bilingualism and creating opportunities for their success within an English speaking school environment, particularly emphasizing using student strengths for greater learning. I think this would have been significantly more relevant and beneficial to me if I were still teaching in New York. Because I am now teaching in Israel, this was mostly just an interesting summary of a subset of the American (urban) school system.
Elements of this reminded me of…
Americanah - Black immigrant experience in Black America
Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire - commitment to the classroom and the cultures of the students, willingness to do something different for student success, high expectations
The authors referenced several education authors I was familiar with, including Marc Lamont Hill, Thomas Delong, Jonathan Kozol, and several others. It was meaningful to have this put in conversation with other books I’ve read, even if those are not authors I’m intensely familiar with.
There were definitely interesting takeaways here about making connections with students and their families, and I loved how the authors clearly articulated the funds of knowledge that these students often come to school with, particularly with regard to family events, group dynamics, and planning. In addition, there were some important lines about the significance of support students’ bilingualism and creating opportunities for their success within an English speaking school environment, particularly emphasizing using student strengths for greater learning. I think this would have been significantly more relevant and beneficial to me if I were still teaching in New York. Because I am now teaching in Israel, this was mostly just an interesting summary of a subset of the American (urban) school system.
Elements of this reminded me of…
Americanah - Black immigrant experience in Black America
Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire - commitment to the classroom and the cultures of the students, willingness to do something different for student success, high expectations