Historical Implication Reflection

Historical Implication Reflection - Polish Americans

Kathy Frechette
TESOL 507
January 9, 2015
Christina Nguyen

Historical Implication Reflection

Moving is not easy to do; especially if you are moving to a new country where you do not
even speak the language. America is a special place because this country was built upon by
immigrants. Regardless of where someone comes from, one thing immigrants have in common
is they are in search of opportunity and a better life for themselves and their family. Most
immigrant groups have experienced some sort of stereotyping and discrimination. Polish
immigrants were no exception.
There were many stereotypes associated with Poles in the United States. The Polish Joke
said that all Poles were slow, stupid, undependable, volatile drunks. When Polish immigrants
first settled in the United States, they were accused of not wanting to assimilate, holding closely
to their language, culture, and religion. Poles were marginalized because most did not speak
English, they were Roman Catholic, and may have dressed differently from a population of
people who were Anglo-Saxon Protestants. They were also accused of taking jobs away that
would otherwise be filled with people who already lived in the community. This was a common
accusation that was made with any of the newcomers. There was a constant fear of losing jobs.
Immigrants were desperate for jobs and were willing to work hard for less pay; especially since
they may have been traveling from a country that did not have a lot of job opportunities.
Fortunately for Poles, this fear and hostility that they felt died down as factories were flourishing
with employment opportunities in the late 1800s and early 1900s and various other cultural
groups were beginning to integrate into American society.
Teaching immigration as a part of American history must be incorporated in the curriculum.
This country was built upon the blood, sweat, and tears of immigrants. Our classrooms are a
great reflection of the communities where families live and work. Granted some areas in our
country are more diverse than others, but that does not mean teaching diversity or exposing

Historical Implication Reflection

children to a multicultural education should not be done in less diverse classrooms as well.
There are many approaches that a teacher can take to incorporate immigration when teaching
about American history. Older students can do a similar type of research project that has them
pick a culture group and focus on the impact of that culture group on a specific period in
American history (American Revolution, Great Depression, World Wars, etc.). Students can also
learn more about their own culture group and the contributions that their cultural group made on
American history.
Immigration should not be taught just in the upper grades. It should be something that is
incorporated in the primary grades as well. Teaching about immigration can begin in the primary
grades where children can explore their own culture and backgrounds. Some of the overarching
concepts that are focused in the primary grades are topics about themselves, communities they
live in, and the state they live in. Lessons that incorporate cultural groups that make up the
community students live in and contributions of these cultural groups in the community can
become the first building blocks of learning about immigration and its impact on American
society/history.
A culturally responsive classroom begins with how we as educators set up our classroom
from the very beginning of the year. We need to create an environment where all students and
families feel welcomed, safe, and valued. One way to build these strong relationships is by
including the cultural traditions of the students and their families. For example, if you have
students that celebrate Chinese New Year, one thing you can do is invite their family into the
classroom to share some of the traditions and celebrate with them as a class family. Also if a
teacher is aware that she has students that are Chinese American, celebrating Chinese New Year
is not enough. She/he must also use this information and incorporate it throughout the year.

Historical Implication Reflection

For example, if a teacher in kindergarten is teaching about fairy tales, making sure that fairy tales
from the Chinese culture are also included in the unit. Not only will this validate her students
who are Chinese American, but it will expose the rest of the class to this culture and create
diverse dialogue amongst students about similarities and differences they noticed in fairy tales
between a wide range of cultures.
Supporting English language learners and their families with materials in their native
language is another way to build strong school-family relationships as well as build a culturally
responsive classroom that levels the playing field for all students. In the primary grades,
homework directions / assignments can be translated in a students native language so parents
can better support their child at home. Teaching children sight words can be very challenging,
especially if parents cant read in English. One way to support them is by sending home sight
words and phonetically writing out how to read it in their native language so they know how to
read it when working with their child.
Most of the time the curriculum does not focus on multiculturalism so there is a lot of work
on the teachers part to make sure to incorporate an education that focuses on diversity and
multiculturalism. One big way teachers can do this is to plan lessons/units that incorporate
books with multicultural themes and different cultural perspectives. Not only will culturally
diverse literature expose students to different perspectives and experiences, it will also teach
students that regardless of our difference there are common themes through all cultures
(importance of family, searching for a better life, friendships, use of the arts to express emotions
and experiences, etc.)

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5
References

Purdy, E. (2014). Polish Immigrant Families. In M. Coleman, & L. Ganong (Eds.), The social
history of the American family: An encyclopedia. (Vol. 16.pp.1044-1047). Thousand Oaks, CA:
SAGE Publications, Inc. doi:
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/10.4135/9781452286143.n422

Scott,C.(2007). Polish Americans in Cities. In D. Goldfield (Ed.). Encyclopedia of American

Urban history. (pp.583-585). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi:
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/10.4135.9781412952620.n327

Schaefer.R.(2008).Polish Americans. In R. Schaefer (Ed.),Encyclopedia of race, ethnicity, and

society. (pp. 1056-1060) Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi:
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/10.4135/9781412963879.n432

*Powerpoint Slides images came from google images