NU tutors debate strategies to deal with difference in the classroom

Northwestern student tutors and mentors discussed the complexities of working with children from different backrounds at a workshop Tuesday.

The Center for Civic Engagement hosted the event, Encountering Differences, at Norris University Center. About 20 students gathered to examine their common obstacles to serving as tutors.

SESP senior Kathryn Anderson organized the workshop and said the idea originated from conversations with fellow tutors seeking a forum to discuss their experiences.

We needed a space to address the difficulties that arise from difference in background, particularly difference in privilege, Anderson said.

Anderson partnered with Melissa Pognon, a program assistant for AmeriCorps, and Yolanda Richards, a project manager at the Chicago Public Schools Office of School Improvement. Pognon and Richards also faciltated the workshop.

Pognon and Richards said they wanted to discuss differences in ethnicity, race, sexuality and age, and to have an honest conversation about how tutors can embrace these differences.

All of the workshop participants served as tutors or mentors for school-age children in Evanston and Chicago. Many were tutors with Jumpstart, an organization that works with young, low-income children to prepare them for kindergarten.

Weinberg freshman Amy Glazier-Torgerson, a member of Jumpstart, attended the workshop to learn about common issues tutors face.

I work with people from backgrounds that are very foreign to my own socioeconomically and culturally, she said. A lot of the students I work with hardly spe! ak any E nglish, so its important to learn how to bridge the gap beween cultures.

Richards and Pognon split the participants into groups and gave each a scenario that involved issues of religion, race and gender roles. Tutors debated different ways to approach these situations when dealing with children, their parents and fellow teachers.

Were so used to certain norms, and these types of interactions are opportunities to change these norms, Richards said.

During the second half of the workshop, participants discussed issues specific to language barriers. Facilitators screened the short film Immersion, which told the story of a Latino student struggling in an English-speaking classroom environment. The movie served as a basis for discussion for the tutors, many of whom, like Glazier-Torgerson, deal with language barriers in their own classrooms.

Tutors discussed potential ways to handle these situations, such as using bilingual students to help translate, learning more Spanish themselves and using translation guides.

To close the workshop, Richards asked the participants to reflect on what they had learned. Many expressed an increased appreciation for the complexities inherent in urban classrooms.

I realized that many of these differences that arise are based on values that have been instilled in you, so you have to approach them carefully, Anderson said.

McCormick junior James Sun said the workshop left him with more to think about regarding his work with Jumpstart.

Everything is so complicated, and anything I do could have an unintended backlash, he said. This has really made me think about this more and understand that some of these issues I cant tackle by myself.

ciaramccarthy2015@u.northwestern.edu