Interview with Dr. Jesus Cortez

Transcript

Giselle: Welcome to the Colorín Colorado podcast series, Meet the Experts. I'm Giselle Lundy-Ponce, and I'm here with the fabulous Dr. Jesus Cortez, Professor and Researcher at California State University at Chico. He's here to tell us how to get English language learners to love reading, and a little bit about teacher preparation too, which helps a lot. We're pleased to have you here, Dr. Cortez. Thank you so much for being here.

Dr. Cortez: Well, thank you very much, Giselle. Thank you for the invitation. It's a pleasure to be here.

Giselle: Teaching English language learners to read for functional purposes is hard enough. But somehow, I know that you manage to turn them into avid readers, hungry for more. How do you do it?

Dr. Cortez: Well, Giselle, that's a question that I've had in my repertoire of research questions for many, many years as I prepared to be a teacher of reading and working with English learners. I have found that in the experience of English learners, many times because they are learning the language, they are given programs or environments in which they tend to read synthetically, which is really a sound to symbol process. You get a reader who is able to decode. But in some situations, and relative to the English learner consistently, students who are not able to comprehend. And not only then comprehend, but then move to the lower… I mean to the more intrinsic levels of appreciating a love of literature and actually becoming critical creative readers.

So my journey as a teacher has been my love of literature, my love of music, my love of theater and trying to bring that into the classroom. Because I think that when we integrate listening, speaking, reading and writing and then make it enjoyable for students and then we connect it to their background experience, to their cultural experiences, and we can do this through literacy in choosing exemplary books, then the results I think are the avid readers that we've been able to identify who have shared their stories about wanting and loving literature.

Giselle: So what can schools do to help teachers along, to help the students to find reading more enjoyable? I'm sure that you've heard about rewards programs at schools, where maybe the child reads ten books and they get a toy or a sticker. What can you say about this?

Dr. Cortez: Well, we do know from the research and we do know from experience, that parents who read to their children, whether it be in the primary language, or whether it be in the native language or who involve children in the process of books where they're able to experience books, will create an environment where they see books as something that is pleasurable, something that can be fun.

If I were to give a recommendation to schools, I would say that they should have opportunities for teacher development and professional growth that allows them, for example, to look at literature, books, children's, adolescent and children's literature books, and look at how to select and evaluate and develop personal criteria for selection of these books in the classroom.

Many times, when I see that the teachers that I work with and the students teachers that I worked with and graduate students that I work with, the ones that use literature are the ones that like to read and also look for their personal criteria of what makes an exemplary book? And have it as something that they have developed for themselves. And from that process, they're able to select quality literature.

And so any process that involves a teacher in the in-service process or involves a teacher on their own experience to read that helps them develop their personal criteria. What makes reflectively thinking about… what makes a good book? Why am I reading this book? What is the genre here? Why do I always tend to pick this genre? Why do I tend to do this? And they're questioning their thinking and become reflective practitioners. I think that's relative to the literature piece is really important.

Because when we talk about literature, we're talking about the whole person. We're talking about being involved in a character, becoming that character and loving that character. So it's a process that takes a long time. But it's something that can be done, I think.

Giselle: And I want to follow up on that. Because now there's such an emphasis on getting the right reading score, on meeting certain standards and phonemic awareness and decoding and the like. So why should schools care about whether or not their students are avid readers at all? I would think that they would ask isn't it enough that they're turning out readers period?

Dr. Cortez: How can I say this in a way that I can articulate it? It's a passionate area for me. Because it's based on my philosophical belief of what literacy is. And so I think the approach that I would recommend is that teachers need to evaluate whether they have a balanced reading program. There is nothing wrong with presenting phonemic awareness, presenting students with the ability to read and to write with correct syntax and understand.

However, they need to ask the question: are they choosing literature as a filler? Something that you do before you go to lunch? Something that you do because there's other things that allow you time to do it? Or is it something that you integrate into your English language arts program? Something that you, in California, for example, we align to the English language arts curriculum with an English language development framework and standards. You can do both. But it takes a conscious effort from the teachers to find a balanced program. So that you don't wind up getting skewed on one side or the other, but really that balance. I see from my own experience that students, teachers, professionals, respond to the inclusion of literature in what they do. And so it would be something that I see over and over and over again. So the balance is what we're looking for.

Giselle: Great. I know that you work with the International Reading Association to select truly exemplary children's books. So what should educators at large of English language learners look for in children's literature?

Dr. Cortez: I work with two committees that are incredibly rewarding committees with the International Reading Association. And the first thing I would tell teachers is that they need to go on the website and look up the International Reading Association. And under that, look up two important committees. One is teacher's choices. And the other is children's choices. Teacher's choices are books that are read by teachers that might not be accessible to students, but teachers recommend. And there's an award given every year at IRA, a listing of those awards and wonderful books to look at.

The other is children's choices, which is one that I'll be working with in the next three years, which is children get to read and children pick and children evaluate. And it's their choices. These books come out every year and create the foundation I think for teachers. All of us who are working with mainstream classrooms as well as students with English learners to find wordless books, predictable books, that have quality, that have plot, that have story sequence, that have conflict, that have story character development, that have resolutions or sometimes not always resolutions. But create an environment that students see that a story has an interrelatedness between beginning, middle and end.

Giselle: So what are some specific book titles that you would recommend to educators of English language learners?

Dr. Cortez: I've been looking at a wonderful book. It's called "I Love the Rain". It's by Margaret Parks Bridges. So it's about looking and it's about the sounds. One of my background experiences as a young teacher was to be a director of Baile Folklorico. And part of that was the use of sound. And this book, "I Love the Rain" has many different sounds. So what I did with the teachers in one workshop that I did is I taught them Jesucito en Chihuahua through using "I Love the Rain". Because the dancing was the raindrops in the story. So we read the story and they learned how to do Jesucito en Chihuahua. So we had a lot of fun.

Another one is "My Secret Bully". Tracy Ludwick, I met her at IRA this last year. She is someone who has been looking into the area of bullying which is an area I've been looking at the last year. The case of bullying in schools has increased dramatically. And the whole area of cyber bullying and developing these kinds of experiences for students is something that seems to be pretty prevalent now. So I wanted teachers to experience, and this book in particular is in English and Spanish, for example.

But it really talks about these two young girls that have been best friends since little girls. And now they're in school. And one of them hates the other and calls… and is a bully to the other. It's called "My Secret Bully". And it gives the teacher an opportunity to develop issues of empathy. One of the other areas of research that I've been doing is developing a taxonomy with colleagues of mine, Dr. Sam Sylvester from the University of Washington, retired, in the area of looking at intrinsic values. What is it that avid readers do when they love to read? And one of the things that they look for when they read is developing empathy.

I think one of the things that this book, "My Secret Bully" does is help students and the teacher have a conversation, a dialogue, in which this teacher can focus on one of the areas and the taxonomy they've been working on, which is the awareness of empathy through the books.

Another one that I think is real important and I'll share is for older students. And it's by Russell Friedman. It's "The Voice of Challenged Nations". It's a non-fiction, the life of Marian Anderson. And Marian Anderson was an incredible opera singer who was not allowed to sing in federal buildings because of racial policies. And so Eleanor Roosevelt said, well, if you can't sing in the buildings, you'll sing outside. And that was one of the reasons that she sang in front of the memorial.

So these are stories that tell about our history, that tell about adventures and tell about courage and what people have done to change our country and make it the wonderful diverse country that we have.

Giselle: Those are great recommendations. And I especially think that the bullying book that you recommended would resonate a lot with some of our English language learners who experience taunting in the playground, in the classroom. And it's a great lesson that teachers can apply to their classroom when talking about other children's experiences and how they should make the experience better for them.

Dr. Cortez: In the handout, what we did in the workshop, was we did a role playing where we had three characters. One was a bully. One was a person being bullied. And the other was a person we call a silent participant. And in many situations, that's the way that bullying occurs. There is a bully, an identified bully. There is someone who is being victimized by being bullied. And then there are others who are observing the bullying. And they choose to be silent.

And so it gives the teacher a perfect opportunity to say is your participation or non participation in this event something you should be responsible for? It helps the teacher think, 'is this bad behavior?' Or is this something that happens over and over again? And we have the opportunity then to create these discussions relative to culture, cultural differences.

Dr. Cortez: Another exemplary book that I want to mention to you is a book called "The Green Apple" by Eve Bunting. Eve Bunting has won many awards. And she won an award from the International Reading Association for this book this last year. It's a beautifully told story of an immigrant girl, a Muslim girl, who is new to this country, is not very happy, does not know the language. And is very aware of the differences from her country to this new country that she's experiencing. For example, she doesn't understand why the girls do not wear a headpiece. She doesn't understand why the teacher would allow the boys and the girls to sit so closely together. She doesn't understand why her father has told her that they've come to this country and they're going to have a better life. She doesn't seem to see it at that point of the story. But the teacher in the story brings them together through cooperative work, through cooperative learning. And they go on a field trip to pick apples. In the process, they create apple cider. And they become a group. And also then the students begin to see her as someone that can be their friend.

So Eve Bunting's done a beautiful job. And this book is a really important book I think as we're looking at working with acculturation of students in schools, helping them understand the cultural conflicts from both sides. It's really creating the experience that is both sides of the cultural groups of students that participate in our schools. And presents not only an important story, but a well told story which is the other part of why we want to choose literature.

We just don't want to have multi-cultural books. We want to have multi-cultural books that are good stories. And there is a difference there, a very important difference. And that's the job of the teacher in selecting them.

Giselle: And speaking about multi-cultural books and the importance of relating to a child's experience, I know that you believe that Harry Potter is a book that children of all backgrounds can enjoy. And I know I've heard you say that Harry Potter the character is someone that children that are different can relate to.

Dr. Cortez: I love Harry Potter. And I teach a class at the university for graduate students. And on this reading list, it's a multi-cultural literature course. And one of the inevitable questions that I get from the teachers when they first come in when I have the Harry Potter books there to read, they say to me, well, this is a multi-cultural literature course. What in the world are you putting Harry Potter in here for?

I try to work very closely with teachers to help them be reflective teachers. What that means is that when something is selected, when we're looking at material curriculum, because in their situation they'd be looking at books selected for their school, for their environment. And they need to think about why these books were picked and chosen. And Harry Potter, for example, I think… and I'm out on a limb on this because this is my own personal belief… is I think Harry Potter is multicultural in the sense that it is about a little boy who is different. And it's about a little boy who has unique talents, but is afraid to tell other people that he has them, or to accept that he has these talents. We have our children, for example, that have their primary language that has deep cultural and historical roots. And they're often not aware of the importance and the beauty of their language and their culture.

And so one of the things that Harry Potter can do is say, look. This is a little boy who doesn't know he has these gifts, who resists these gifts, who lives in a world that has great diversity of characters and can create a magical world. I think multicultural education is a magical world. It's for the teacher to find that magic and bring it into the classroom.

Giselle: That is wonderful and something that a lot of educators would not think about. We are going to post all of your recommendations on our website at www.colorincolorado.org/podcast.

Giselle: Now, Dr. Cortez, I know you do other things besides read children's books all day. Because I happen to be very lucky to take a professional development institute from you some years ago in Albuquerque. And what I got out of that training has just been so valuable to me in my career as an advocate for educators. And I carry a lot of your messages with me to this day. And I want to know what's your approach with your novice teachers in your work at the university? What is your message to them?

Dr. Cortez: When I started working with young teachers as they begin their careers in teaching, one of the things I try to do is help them move through the process of becoming reflective teachers. A reflective teacher in the process of becoming a teacher is to understand why they want to be teachers. And the message that I try to give as we move through the process is that in my belief system, teaching is a calling. Teaching particularly working with English learners is a calling. It's not something that we're highly rewarded for.

It's not something that we're often noticed for. But it's something that changes lives I believe. And as we move through the experience of them having experience in the classroom, many times they're challenged maybe not to do their best. And my job as a mentor is to help them tell themselves as reflective teachers this isn't my best work. I can do better. And where is it that I can do better? Is it in my planning? Is it in my reading? Is it in my relationships with my colleagues at the university or at the school site or at whatever. So that they identify what makes them a professional.

The other thing that I try to tell them is that they're very powerful. I guess one very important message is that they are… sometimes they believe they have as teachers we don't have power. But we have power in that we change the lives of children every day. We tell our children you're worthwhile. We tell our children their culture is unique and it's important to us. And you tell them that they're important every single day. That means the difference in lives.

And I think that that's the message that we as teachers want to be giving our children. They're going to be our citizens. They're going to be the people that will lead us. And it's our job to prepare them.

Giselle: That is such an inspiring message. You're such an inspiring educator that has such a deep impact. So in your own experience, you talked a little bit before about being an English language learner. And what more could you say to that in terms of what made you successful? Which teachers in particular do you remember the most? Which activities?

Dr. Cortez: As an English learner, I began school. And the first impact of a cultural difference for me was because my name was Jesus, the teacher… it translates to Jesus. And for the teacher it was a strange for that teacher. And I remember saying that's a very strange name. And I thought, well, that's the name I've had forever since I've been alive. But I remember going home and telling my mother that the teacher thought that maybe I shouldn't speak Spanish. And I remember my mother saying to me, 'you have a beautiful culture. You have a beautiful language. And some day knowing Spanish will help you.' And I remember thinking now should I believe the teacher? Or should I believe my parents? And I believed my parents.

Things have changed dramatically, I think, over the years. And now we have a whole force of teachers that are working here with you in this union, working with you in your planning, that I'm working with in California, that have a very different view of language and culture and great sensitivity to multicultural education. So those messages are less and less.

And so for me as an English learner, the teachers that affected me the most were those teachers that had that sensitivity, that really had that sensitivity without any training, without any courses. And I remember them. I remember them as teachers that made me feel comfortable in the classrooms that thought that I could teach, that thought that I could learn. That thought that I could contribute in the classroom. That allowed me to paint and to draw and to be creative. Those were the teachers that I remember.

And I was fortunate. I did have good teachers, both in elementary school and in high school. And a wonderful mentor that I mentioned, Dr. Sam Sylvester, who I've known since 1974. And he is now someone that I continue to write with, that continues to inspire me. So I feel I've been a very lucky individual.

Giselle: Wonderful. Thank you so much Dr. Cortez. And thanks to our listeners. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Meet the Experts, a podcast series from Colorín Colorado. For more information on helping English language learners read and succeed, please visit www.colorincolorado.org. This podcast was made possible by the American Federation of Teachers.

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