Por que no puede leer Juanito? - Why can't Johnny read? - US education system and cultural diversity - includes related article on international communication

Communication World, May, 1991 by Keith A. Sheldon

This human mosaic represents a demographic profile where nearly 30 languages are spoken and more than 90 percent of the student body is bilingual.

Not only are educators faced with the challenge of effectively teaching content and context, but they must now cope with the prospect of having to face a classroom filled with an array of smiling faces reminiscent of a Norman Rockwell painting.

And behind each of these beguiling grins is a fertile mind just hungering to take in the best their early years of wonder have to offer. Unfortunately, without the wisdom of Solomon, teachers are finding it increasingly difficult to determine whether the messages they are attempting to communicate are, in essence, the same messages being received by their culturally diverse students.

This cultural communication chasm was particularly evident earlier this year when the newly elected California Governor Pete Wilson visited Marian Anderson Elementary School in Sacramento to show his interest and support of statewide education.

The occasion should have been an excellent photo opportunity for Wilson. It wasn't. The visit should have infused parents and the educational community with a sense of confidence. It didn't. The second-grader poised at a computer terminal should have been able to say a few words to Wilson. He couldn't. The young boy, whose family comes from the mountains of Laos, didn't speak English.

It was a poignant scene to be sure. Rather than exchange greetings and information, all they could exchange was blank stares and a stony silence.

The stark reality is that similar exchanges of blank stares between teachers and students are occurring in classrooms throughout the culturally rich face of the US.

The continual educational conundrum of "Why Can't Johnny Read?" is taking on new meaning in what Newsweek magazine recently termed "America's Classrooms of Babel."

USA Today recently published a four-page supplement focusing on education and the challenge of bridging the culture gap. According to an article by Jeff Kleinhuizen, throughout the US, minorities now account for at least 30 percent of public school enrollments, up from 24 percent in 1976.

Newsweek recently reported that more than 5 million children of immigrants are expected to enter US public schools during the 1990s. On a national scale, about 3.5 million schoolchildren are from homes where English is not the first language. By current estimates, nearly 75 percent of language minority children are Hispanic.

It is further estimated that more than 150 languages are represented in US schools. From the perspective of education, this panoply of languages and cultures is perhaps the most formidable challenge to face the educational system. From the perspective of private industry, the prospects for a well-trained and well-educated multicultural work force in tomorrow's factories and offices could be startling.

Futurists such as John Naisbitt contend that the US' ultimate corporate strength lies in its diverse work force. The belief is that from such a rich cultural mixture a myriad of ideas, skills and perspectives can emerge.

Judy Rosener, author of "Workforce America," believes that "few US institutions seem adequately prepared today to deal effectively with this momentous change, the increasing cultural diversity of the US work force." As she notes, "people of color" will account for the majority of the nation's work force growth in this decade and beyond.

Clearly, part of the solution to the dilemma facing educators must come from corporate America. Bold ideas and new teaching techniques must be forged through an effective alliance between industry and education. One such approach is an innovative curriculum recently developed for Southern California Edison by Dan Fichtner, Ph.D., a noted junior and senior high school teacher.

Edison, one of America's largest electric utilities, provides electric service to a population of more than 10 million people. The utility's 50,000square-mile service area contains more than 5,000 schools, colleges and universities. Through various demographic studies conducted by the California Department of Education Bilingual Education Office and recent census statistics, it was determined that at least 30 percent of the utility's customers do not speak English or use English as a second language. Further, one out of six students in the state does not speak English.

With more than 100 languages spoken in southern California schools, the opportunity to help bridge these language barriers was clearly evident. In fact, research showed that many children were being pulled out of school to assist with language-related family responsibilities which included helping their parents translate and conduct everyday business transactions such as grocery shopping, obtaining a driver's license and paying their utility bills. Learning Safety and Language at die Same Time It became obvious that these "Little Interpreters," their non-English-speaking schoolmates and a large population of adults were in need of immediate and special attention. With the assistance of Fichtner, the California Department of Education, a panel of leading bilingual educators and Edison's long-standing educational advisory council, the Language Connection was born.