[ Article ]

How teachers’ language affects children.

By Guillermo González M.

When we listen to children talking to each other, we often hear some bad words that make
us ask ourselves, “Where did he/she learn that?” We often assume that they learned that
from a classmate, or even from TV. In order to avoid that or those words to come up again,
we punish them. That way, we think that the problem has been solved, but, is it? Are
punishments the way to stop bad language?
Once, I had to go to a private school as an observer. My classmates and I split in order to
see more classes in order to share our experiences later. I had to go to a biology class. To
my surprise, the teacher used an obsolete and derogatory term to refer to children with
Down’s syndrome. The teacher referred to them as “mongólicos”, which caused the
children laughter. I thought that she was going to correct herself telling them it was
inappropriate. But she did not. I was shocked. Those children now believe that to say that a
person with Down’s syndrome is a “mongolico” is correct. They do not acknowledge it is
aggressive and hurtful.
Teachers and educators tend to ignore the fact that their use of language is being incorrect. I
am not talking about misspelling or mispronunciation but proper words on a determined
context. Sexism, classism, or racism could be encouraged by us, without even telling. For
instance, if a teacher makes a reference to a child with African ascendancy, by saying “he is
black” instead of saying “Afro-American”, can create the idea of people as a color. This
may be due to the fact that teachers have an inherent socio-cultural background themselves.
That background has obviously influenced them by creating prejudices and preconceived
ideas of the world. It is due to that influence that their duty, as teachers, is to have constant
retro inspections in order to keep themselves aware of what they know and how that affects
They must realize that most of the times children look at them as the
“law”. Whatever a teacher says or does will be correct. Teachers must be aware of their
actions. There is a thin line that divides good and bad.
Knowledge is power. And words are the way how that power it is transmitted. As Ben
Parker, the uncle of the fictional character Spider-Man, said: “With great power, comes
great responsibility”. That responsibility is for us to take and keep, because it is a lie that
sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me. It is for all that has
been mentioned that I must say that punishment is not the answer for changing our
children’s language. We as future teachers must be aware of what we say and what we are
teaching. Children are the future and we are their guides.

Editorial

So, we are touching our students?

Recently I found a very fascinating book called "Dangerous Minds" by LouAnne Johnson, a former US marine and nowadays, a teacher. It was really interesting to read a chapter in particular, entitled "One hug or two?". In this chapter, Misses Johnson presents the case of a student who lacked of affection, and so forth failed constantly on achieving good results. After showing him some affection (in terms of hugging and cuddling him), he presented some remarkabe progress. But, is "psysical affection" the answer to solve children's problems? And beyond that, is it correct to keep physical contact with them?

News has shown during this past 10 years how cases of molested children at school have increased. Many of them have been misunderstandings because of teachers who have implemented Misses Johnson's methods. Male are ofted acused of those charges more than women, due to the fact that we live in a chauvinist society, in which women must represent the role of "mothers", with affection, tenderness and kindness, and men are the "father figure", represented as strict and tough. We must agree that male teachers that are too affective with students, especially female students, are constantly "accused" of being flirting, and on the other side, female teachers are seen as fulfilling their natural tasks as (future) mothers.

We must realize that those aspects are totally cultural and not attached to laws. For that, we as members of the society have the required tools to improve or ways of seeing things. The idea is for us to grow and mature as a society in order to see that affection is one of the basis for our children to learn and grow up in a good environment.

Guillermo González M.

Editor in Chief

[ Letter to the Editor ]

Mister or Misses Editor:
I have seen the behavior of some kids at school, thanks to Mrs. Johnson’s experience and I must say that the way she handled them was remarkable. Many times we see how problematic children roll over teachers’ authority and think they are “the bosses”. The idea is not that teachers see themselves as dictators and keepers of discipline but as guides and mentors. Teachers must acknowledge themselves, not as robots who are meant to talk and talk about certain contents but, as humans: with problems, a social background and specially, feelings. Teachers should never forget that they were students once, and that they are dealing with children. Even though, they must also be aware that sometimes, teachers can not save everyone, and sometimes they might be “selling a dream, that those kids can not afford”. And by this, I do not mean that they should not try, just be aware that failure is a possibility.

Guillermo González M.
English Pedagogy Student
16.822.479-6

[ Salvador Dali´s Crucifixion Hypercube ]

This painting portrait in a very unique way a man that represents Jesus, floating in front of an unfolded hypercube that represents the cross in which Jesus was crucified. A hypercube is a geometrical form that could be defined as a “four dimension cube”. This painting has no certain meaning and it is open to interpretation. When exhibited in 1954, religious people said it was blasphemy and stated it was outrageous. It is, for me, just a surrealistic impression of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion.

I like this painting due to the fact that I really enjoy surrealism. The representation of the world as something unique and different is something that I really value. Since I was a teenager I had a fixation with religion. I have spent a lot of time reading and researching about it; Buddhism, Judaism, Catholicism where the main issues I’ve researched. When I saw this painting I felt like I have found a new way of looking at religion. Dalí represented on it’s painting a singular and personal way of seeing things. To see things and appreciate them in an alternative way is what we as future teachers should be able to do.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercube

[ Autobiography ]

I was born in a small town in the seventh region of Chile named Parral on September the 30th, 1987. I am the youngest of 4 siblings. For that I am a spoiled boy. My mother is a housekeeper. She works doing handicraft and bakery. My dad is an environmental engineer. He works as a Health Inspector for the Health Ministry.

As a young boy I had many economic problems. I used to live in a very bad neighborhood. As time went by, things started to be better. Nowadays my family owns their own house in a good and nice neighborhood.

I studied in a semi private school. It was a Catholic School. I was always a pain in the neck for all the teachers and people that worked there. I was expelled from school several times. My mom always managed to get me back on classes. During school I made awesome friends. I keep them until these days. Teachers used to sign me up for lots f workshops, such as “Acting”, “Poetry”, “Singing”, and so on. Mother Superior on my school also made me go to church. Due to this I became an altar boy when I was fourteen. I quit being an altar boy, because I did not feel happy with religion. Nowadays I consider myself an agnostic.
When I finished school, I had to come to live here in Santiago. I livewith my older brother, in a small room downtown. It affected me a lot. I was so used to a small town. I was also used to always hang around with my friends and family. I came here to become an English teacher at Alberto Hurtado University.

Two years ago, my parents split. They are not divorced yet. This affected, and affects me enormously. This event took me into a deep depression. Thanks to my depression I had to stop studying for a year. I stopped during the whole 2008. During that time I worked as a receptionist at a Hostel. It has been one of the best experiences I have ever had.
I wish I could finish my career without too many problems. Travel around the world. To get embedded on the different cultures of the world is the goal of my life.