GLORIA MORRIS

'... made a lot of people think

JANE ROMANT

‘... We’re learning a lot...’

CHARLOTTE SALLADE

‘... a lot of soul searching...’

MABEL HAMM

‘... other groups will want help’

Black English ruling’s impact substantial

By Katherine Green

STAFF REPORTER

The black English ruling has certainly had a strong impact on Ann Arbor’s Martin Luther King Elementary School.

But its effect also apparently has spread far beyond that school’s walls as well.

King teachers revealed this in interviews with The News. They also discussed how implementation of U.S. District Judge Charles Joiner’s ruling is progressing at King.

The King teachers believe that since the suit of the 11 “Green Road children” was brought to court, teachers all over the country have examined themselves, their attitudes and the way they approach teaching black English-speaking students.

“I THINK EVERY teacher in the state of Michigan is looking at themselves and the way they teach,” said Gloria Morris, full-time language consultant for King school. Her position was created to implement the school district’s plan for implementing Joiner’s ruling.

"I feel good about the ramifications,” said Jane Romant, a sixth grade teacher. “The more we can learn about our language and the dialects, the better for us. We’re learning a lot about how we feel about the language and how language affects us.”

“There is a lot of soul searching being done everywhere,” said Charlotte Sallade, a fifth grade teacher.

Mabel Hamm, a third grade teacher, comments that wherever a King School teacher goes and mentions where she works, she is bombarded with questions.

The teachers are also concerned with other problems that may result from the ruling, however.

“I’m quite sure other minority groups will want help with their special problems,” said Ms. Hamm. “The child I had the most difficulty teaching reading to last year spoke Italian in the home.”

THE TEACHERS explained that there is a "lot of variety” at King School. Ms. Hamm showed photos of her students over the last three years, that included children from Italy, Venezuela, Ethiopia and the Far East.

On July 12, Judge Joiner ruled that the Ann Arbor schools must develop a program to help children who speak black English learn to read the standard English used in the mainstream of society. The school system responded with a plan, which was accepted by Joiner, to train the teachers in the structure of black English. This would enable teachers to recognize it as a legitimate language and learn to develop teaching techniques to assist children in learning to “code switch,” so that they could use standard English when necessary.

The teachers have already participated in nine of 20 hours of training. And each teacher will, possibly, receive a stipend of $320 for participation in the entire 20 hours of instruction. This figure, though, is subject to negotiation and an understanding that this will be nori-precedent setting for other staff development programs.

Ms. Hamm says that the most importaht question in her mind is "whether all teachers need to be trained in this subject.” She added that she believed it is helpful, but that teachers should be given the option to take instruction on a voluntary basis. For example, she said, teachers are now signing up for the courses that they want to take in a system-wide program on March 6,1980 and black English is one of the topics to be presented. The teachers agreed that many people would probably elect to take the course - voluntarily.

"ANN ARBOR SCHOOLS have put a great deal of emphasis on humaneness and multi-ethnic teaching. We feel we’re fortunate. When someone thinks we’re not humane in teaching reading, it leaves us wondering just how we need to change what we’re doing,” said Ms. Hamm.

“One of the difficulties is that we are dealing with a subject, social linguistics, that gives information on how it is used by speakers and how it impacts on speakers and listeners,” said Tom Pietras, director of language arts for the schools.

“What has to happen will be that teachers still have to teach reading, but now they have new information. We are providing information on language and how it operates in society. We cannot say that if a student speaks this form of English ‘do this,’ or another form, ‘do that.’ We’re providing background,” said Pietras.

“The teachers should be able, when they finish, to say, ‘Now I know this is a dialect statement, not an error,’ and take into consideration when they’re teaching,” he added.

“What we’re trying to eliminate are attitudes that these kids can’t learn,” he said. “But I don’t think any teachers hold that value. I don’t think they ever did.”

Ms. Sallade says that she has one of the plaintiff children in her class now, and “I don’t work with him differently.” She feels that the child has made progress this year. The language consultant, Mrs. Morris, works with him in a group, and he is receiving additional help from a reading teacher. The teachers do not believe that the child will be stigmatized by the additional help, because he is getting help along with a number of other children, both black and white.

“WITH KIDS GOING in and out for music and other special classes, the kids don’t notice when children are getting extra help in special subjects,” said Ms. Morris.

The teachers agree that the required reading for the workshop has been good for them, although they have had to read some pretty boring technical material on linguistics, they say. One of the books they are most impressed with is a compilation of articles in “Language Differences: Do They Interfere?” The book was edited by James L. Laffey and Roger Shuy (1973 International Reading Association).

Shuy, along with William S. Hall, will present a full day workshop for the teachers on January 15 and will assist teachers in developing lessons for the black English speaking students on Jan. 23 in a three-hour session. Shuy and Hall have each written a number of articles and books on the subject and are considered experts in the field. Hall is co-director for the Center for the Study of Reading at the University of Illinois. Shuy is associate director for the Center for Applied Linguistics and linguistics professor at Georgetown University.

“Something good is that we can talk about it. We can talk about how language affects us,” said Ms. Romant.

SO FAR, THE teachers say, the classes are a re-enforcement of what they already knew about teaching children to read, but they are also learning a lot about them-seWes. The most important thing the workshops have done thus far, they say, is to enable them to talk about their attitudes and the problems they have in teaching reading.

According to Ms. Hamm, a third grade teacher at the school, “One of the things we’re having the most difficulty with, is that we’ve been singled out to do this. In that sense, we feel defensive.”

The other three teachers interviewed agreed that is the part “that hurts.” They agreed, however, that they are doing what all teachers must do in order to continuously develop and change their techniques to meet the needs of their students - hearing the ideas of other educators.

“What everyone feels good about is that we get some input into what happens next,” said Charlotte Sallade, concerning the evaluations they give at the end of each three-hour session they have had so far.

Lee Hansen, acting superintendent of schools, said, “I continue to be pleased with the attitude of our staff. They are coming to grips with some tough issues. The teachers are doing the assigned reading, and we’ve had some very good, animated, healthy discussions. The teachers are asking some good questions and deserve answers.”