Cultural Identity

MayZin was not in school again today. I continued to sit in her seat and I worked with some of her tablemates. One is a young man who has been very quiet the past few weeks I have visited the classroom. MayZin and him are often working on the same lesson sheet when I am helping MayZin, and I have noticed that he occasionally listens to our conversations when MayZin does not understand a problem. As I worked with him today I noticed that he struggles with many of the same things MayZin does. There is a language obstacle for him, too, but I think his is more of a vocabulary obstacle. MayZin and this young man are both in the foundations of Algebra section of math lab, so they are just beginning to learn different Algebra rules and terms. I believe that some of these terms are hard for him to understand. I see this mostly in working with units. Many early Algebra problems manipulate units, and it can be difficult to grasp if a student does not have a solid grasp of the vocabulary. When I reworded the questions, so the units of measurement would be able to sort out he was able to solve the problem, similar to MayZin. I do not know this young man’s background, so I do not know if this is an English language learning obstacle or a general vocabulary obstacle. Guiding questions were helpful for him, and he was able to get to the answer on his own.

This week was the third week MayZin was not in class during my visits. I began to assume this week that MayZin does not want to take advantage of the help I am offering her. We only get a few short weeks to work together, and I am ready to help her with anything she may need help with, but she is not coming to class when I am available for her. I assume this is because she does not want my help. However, I do not know much about her home life. It is possible that Wednesday nights are long and difficult for her. She may not come to school Thursday mornings, because she may have responsibilities outside the classroom the night before or during Thursday mornings. I will explore more, and see if I can learn more about her home life. There may be a very good reason why she keeps missing Thursday math classes.

I have noticed that MayZin seems to be more bicultural. Jean Phinney defines biculturalism as “the approach that involves developing a dual identity, one based in the ethnic group of origin and one based in the majority culture, in the formation of ethnic identity” (Arnett, 2013, p. 168). A great example I have to show this is in her dress and how she communicates with her friends. MayZin’s clothes are typically completely western attire, except for a brightly colored hijab that she wears along with her western clothes. She is keeping her culture from home by continuing to wear a hijab, but she also wears shirts and jeans one would expect a teenager from American majority culture to wear. She blends both cultures in her dress. Another part of her life where it is evident that she has embraced both cultures is the way she communicates with her friends. MayZin has a fifteen-minute break every morning between her math and reading 180 classes. During this break MayZin will often talk to her friends, young girls around her age who are also Burmese. The group of girls mostly speaks in Burmese, but I often hear a few English words in their conversations. MayZin and her friends have adapted to using both languages in everyday speech. They have embraced both languages, and use them interchangeably. MayZin has an identity in both cultures and blends them everyday.

I wasn’t able to help MayZin with the WIDA standards this week, because she was not in school. I plan to continue working on her writing with her, by asking her to give me the answer to the problem orally and then having her write it down. After she writes the answer down I will proof read it, and give her suggestions that will help her answer be grammatically accurate.

Works Cited:

Arnett, Jeffrey J. (2012-07-02). Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood (Page 168). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.