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Poetry in Motion

Poetry has been written and celebrated both as artistic expression and as a form of civil disobedience.
Some overarching questions to consider include, how do these poems disturb what could be perceived as peace? How do they address issues of resistance, equity, and acceptance? More importantly, how do they instill confidence and value in one’s culture and language?

SAY MY NAME
 By Dr. Jacqueline Marshall
 Say My Name
 My name matters, my name is relevant, my name will be in the history books. 
 Say My Name. 
 Why do you think I do not matter? 
 Do I not exist in your eyes? 
 I was born in the likeliness of God yet, you can’t say my name. 
 My blood line runs deep.  
 My dark skin is smooth as silk and is rich like chocolate that has kissed the sun over again.
 My talent and intellect add value to the world. 
 My name was birthed from many nations. 
 My name sings beauty, strength, and love. 
 My name matters, my name is relevant.
 Say my name.

Dr. Jacqueline Marshall is an educator, parent, and dedicated champion for children. For over two decades she has expressed a passion for words through poetry. She believes that each student is destined for greatness and deserves the best; “we cannot predict the future, but we can create it.”

Guiding questions:

  • How might students write poems about their name, heritage, race, ethnicity, and sense of self as part of language instruction?
  • What words and phrases does the poet use that resonate with you most? Explain.
  • What images come to mind after reading and listening to this poem?
  • How does the poet use language to create those images?
‘Speak Properly’
 By Faith Popan 
 “Okay, your class is about to begin”
 My mother would say to me.
 “Sit straight, pay attention, take notes,
 And remember 
 If your teacher should ask you any questions
 Speak properly.”
 “Speak properly,” an instruction I was forced to follow as if it came so easy.
 “Don’t go and talk broken and embarrass me,” she says.
 “Remember to pronounce you ‘ed’s’ and ‘th’s’
 Remember to make your subject and verb agree
 Remember… Remember… Remember…
 Because black boys from poor homes, speaking broken
 Are often seen as problems 
 Before they are seen as students.
 So try your best to not let your teacher see you as one then.”
 Class begins.
 
 We are encouraged that “black lives matter”
 But how can black lives matter 
 When we can’t even accept our own black culture?
 We view the language of black people as uneducated, broken, and inferior 
 Then surprised when we are treated in like manner.
 How can we teach the children to love their blackness
 But refuse to recognize their language as valid?
 How can we, in Trinidad and Tobago, teach comfortably 
 In an education system that exalts
 Standard English
 Above our own
 Trinidadian English Creole?
 Or do we even recognize that term?
 Tell me how much a people know about their own language
 And I will tell you how much they know about their own identity.
 Black lives cannot matter unless
 Black culture matters.
 Black culture cannot matter unless
 Black language matters.

Faith Popan is the author of “El Idioma of Beauty: What are some of the features of code switching among Latin American speakers in Trinidad?” and an active member of Action TESOL Caribbean. She currently works as an English and literature tutor in Trinidad.

Guiding questions:

  • This poem starts with the mother’s directives. What can we infer about the mother?
  • What does the mother value? What is she expecting from her child?
  • What is being expressed about linguistic imperialism?
  • What examples from the poem address this?
  • What does it mean to matter?
  • What questions does the poet ask that specifically call out injustices?

A Voice for English Teachers in Africa

America-jin desuka? Nai, Africa-jin desu.

Back in 2009, as I sat at a train station in Kobe, Japan, waiting for my train, a young boy aged about six traveling with his mother sat next to me and asked if I was American. I replied no, that I am African. He said I wasn’t African and must be an American. I reaffirmed that I was African and could not be American, but the next question took me aback. He asked why I was wearing clothes. Surprised, I asked why I shouldn’t wear clothes. He went on to say that Africans don’t wear clothes and he still didn’t believe I was African because I had clothes on. I argued that we wear clothes in Africa, and his mother even joined in the discussion to confirm that people in Africa wear clothes.

Perceptions and misperceptions. Nevertheless, in digesting the boy’s understanding of Africa, I couldn’t help but appreciate the fact that his mental picture of Africa is shaped by the visual representation of the continent in the electronic media. The focus by the global television network on famine, wars, diseases, and other ills that have plagued the continent leaves little or no room to highlight aspects of life remotely appealing to the eyes, especially those of young children growing up in other parts of the world. Disney shows, Teletubbies, and Cartoon Network have no African settings and none emanates from within; hence I cannot fault the little boy’s (mis)understanding of the African continent. In spite of its limitless amount of sunshine, Africa is often termed the “Dark Continent,” and at other times the “Forgotten Continent.”

The year 2020 was remarkable in many ways because the COVID-19 pandemic elicited a global response to a situation in a manner never witnessed before. While we applaud the developed economies for making a COVID-19 vaccine available within a year, this feat has been prompted by the fact that they are directly impacted by the pandemic. The argument that it takes two or more years for a vaccine to be certified fit for humans is no longer tenable, and the reaction to the COVID-19 virus shows that where there is the will, there will always be a way. The sad reflection of this advance in medicine is that malaria has killed millions in Africa over several decades, and the story of a malaria vaccine is still a work in progress. It is therefore evident from the COVID response that if malaria were endemic in the Western world, a malaria vaccine would have been on the shelf 50 or more years ago. This is the plight of Africa.

Education infrastructure varies throughout the world; while high-tech learning environments may be commonplace in the developed world, learning takes place nonetheless in other regions that lack such facilities. Africa boasts of individuals who have excelled professionally in different parts of the world because of the enabling environment, and many more migrate to the West, with a good number dying in the process, to prove themselves in the ever-competitive global labor market. Notable are the diaspora of Africans who are products of an education system that is inherently African and go largely unreported or unknown to the outside world. This brings to the fore the question of equity—global equity where world citizens ought to have a sense of inclusion in world affairs.

From Africa, Wole Soyinka of Nigeria was the first Black man to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986, followed by Naguib Mahfouz of Egypt in 1988. In the English language teaching and learning field, Africa lacks a figure of global eminence because not much is reported from the continent to the wider global audience, for many reasons. Lack of interest in exploring language-classroom practices in the African continent, dearth of resources, general apathy both within and outside Africa, poor technological infrastructure, and lack of wherewithal for personal and professional development of English teachers account for the under-reporting of Africa in the wider English language teaching (ELT) community.

In addition to formal training, language teacher associations exist all over the world to support the professional development of teachers. The conceptualizations of language teacher associations (LTAs) in the Western and non-Western contexts differ in terms of representations, nature of activities, and relationships with external bodies (Padwad, 2016), but their goals and activities are similar even when these differ in quality. Members of these associations have specialized knowledge and resources which they share toward the achievement of a common goal. Membership of such a body comes with personal and professional benefits such as the development of interpersonal, management, leadership, communication, and time management skills (Bailey, 2002). Similar to what occurs in developed countries, LTAs in developing countries provide teacher training and development opportunities for school teachers. Overall, the common denominator is the annual conference organized by the LTA, which serves as the main professional development activity for its members. Among the big players are TESOL International Association, based in the U.S., and IATEFL in the UK. TESOL International Association’s annual convention draws participants from all over the world and has membership from over 100 countries. Its convention serves as the global “go-to” event where networking opportunities abound for language teachers and the latest research findings and cutting-edge classroom practices are shared.

Over the years, African English teachers have not benefited much from these opportunities available only in the international arena. Among the thousands who attend these events annually, only a handful from Africa are sponsored by the U.S. State Department through the Regional English Language Office (RELO) to attend TESOL conventions, while the British Council (BC) supports a few to attend IATEFL conferences in the UK. In all cases, the African teachers participate as attendees, not as presenters with the aim of sharing what English teachers are doing in Africa. This professional news blackout has been persistent over the years, but for how long will it continue? In 2010, I attended the TESOL Convention in Boston and realized only four LTAs in Africa were affiliated with TESOL International Association. A continent comprising 52 countries with only four representative LTAs was simply not good enough. The absence of Africa on the global stage can be attributed to poor national economies, lack of political will by the local education authorities to invest more in teacher education, and at the individual level, the opportunity cost of daily survival instead of investing in the professional development of oneself.

With such a poor showing of Africa at the TESOL Convention in Boston and with no understanding of how LTAs function because this was my first time attending a conference, I wrote an angry email asking the TESOL president at the time to justify why Africa had only four affiliates in such a big international organization. He did respond and outlined the effort by the organization to reach out to the underrepresented regions. Rather than be an armchair critic, I opted to get involved to understand the workings of an LTA, with the sole aim of bringing Africa to the global ELT arena. My journey and involvement with the TESOL Association began at that moment. Subsequently, I went on to form Africa TESOL in 2015, a continental body that would bring English teachers in Africa under one umbrella to ensure they can be not only seen but heard by fellow professionals in and outside Africa. More on the formation of Africa TESOL is documented in Elsheikh and Effiong (2018, p. 74). Africa TESOL is in its fifth year, four successive conferences have been held in four African countries, and in 2020, a virtual symposium was held in August.

The main goal of setting up the continental body was to address the inequity in opportunities for professional development taken for granted by colleagues in more advanced countries. The annual conferences offer a platform for teachers on the continent to share their research findings and classroom practices with other African teachers. The multicultural and multilingual contexts in which these teachers work in Africa make such information sharing more enriching and rewarding for attendees of Africa TESOL conferences. Colleagues and friends of Africa TESOL from Europe and the U.S. offer their support by self-funding trips to these conferences to give workshops, thereby allowing the African teachers to access knowledge that would otherwise be accessible only by attending the big international conferences. Africa TESOL was inaugurated in 2015 with four affiliate countries or LTAs, but it now has 23 affiliates in its fold, and as it continues to add value to what it does, the number will grow. In addition to enhancing research, conducting in-service training for teachers, and sharing experiences and best practices to improve the standard of English language teaching, the leaders of these affiliates also share their challenges (Elsheikh and Effiong, 2018).

As a fledging body, it has its challenges, such as finance, volunteerism, and political bottlenecks. Without a physical secretariat or the financial resources to operate one, Africa TESOL is currently virtual and the leaders of the affiliate LTAs communicate via a WhatsApp group. Another forum on the Telegram app has recently been set up because a WhatsApp group cannot accommodate all our members. The organization has a basic but functional website (http://africatesol.org) and a board of dedicated volunteers charged with steering the organization into the future. Despite the negative impact of the pandemic on all facets of life, Africa TESOL was able to provide a webinar series for its members in 2020 on professional and leadership development. It has expanded its membership base, and members are more engaged than in previous years. It has also engaged in mentoring programs that benefit teachers in Africa. For instance, it collaborated with IATEFL ReSIG (Research Special Interest Group) to mentor 26 teachers from eight African countries who work together to develop contextually appropriate solutions to specific classroom challenges through action research in their different classrooms. Some of the mentees shared their research findings at the 2020 Virtual Symposium.

Africa TESOL in collaboration with EVE (Equal Voices in ELT) is engaged in a female leadership mentoring program to equip female African teachers with the presentation and public speaking skills necessary to present at international conferences and local professional development events. Many of the mentors are friends of Africa TESOL based in Europe and the U.S. who give their time to promote the profession in Africa. In effect, the mentoring programs highlight the work done by these teachers, which is capable of inspiring others and gives them the confidence to become professional conference presenters. It is through such presentations they can share their stories with the wider ELT community. Africa TESOL has also developed a strategic partnership with TransformELT, UK, and Bridge Education Group, USA. Bridge Education Group offers free short professional development courses that help to keep teachers’ skills current and provide fresh ideas for the classroom.

An open-access journal is desirable, to share with the world what goes on in the Africa ELT community and to be accessible to the English teachers in Africa who cannot afford the subscription fees of good international journals. Nevertheless, the future landscape of ELT in Africa will be bright as long as the broad vision of Africa TESOL is maintained and sustained. The challenges are enormous but not insurmountable because where there is the will, there will always be a way. Africa TESOL must not suffer the same fate as malaria.

References
Bailey, K. M. (2002). “What I Learned from Being TESOL President.” In J. Edge (ed.), Continuing Professional Development: Some of Our Perspectives (pp. 32–38). Kent: IATEFL.
Padwad, A. (2016). “The Cultural Roots of Teacher Associations: A case study from India.” ELT Journal, 70(2), 160–169.
Elsheikh, A., and Effiong, O. (2018). “Teacher Development through Language Teacher Associations: Lessons from Africa.” In A. Elsheikh, C. Coombe, and O. Effiong (eds.), The Role of Language Teacher Associations in Professional Development (pp. 71–86). Cham: Springer.

Dr. Okon Effiong is the founder and past president of Africa TESOL. He is currently serving as a board member of TESOL International Association.

Anti-Racism Resources

Dismantling Racism: Working from the Inside Out

Ayanna Cooper provides resources that support anti-racism, equity, and access in the U.S.

The Weaponization of English

Kisha C. Bryan and JPB Gerald examine coded language, position statements, and the Black Lives Matter movement in the spirit of acknowledgement and reconciliatio

Begin from Within

In the third installment of our Pass the Mic series, Lavette Coney explains how self-examination with a racial lens can help educators redirect their teaching

And Justice for ELs

And Justice for ELs is an essential resource for school leaders

Questions to Ask Ourselves

In the fourth installment of our Pass the Mic series, Jolisa Beavers examines the role of language in constructing a homeplace in challenging times

A Voice for English Teachers in Africa

Okon Effiong describes efforts to boost professional development both by and for English language teachers from Africa

Leading and Learning

Kia Myrick McDaniel examines the practitioners, systems, and structures in educational equity

Poetry in Motion

Ayanna Cooper introduces this Pass the Mic, featuring poems by Jacqueline Marshall and Faith Popan that can be used as part of language and social justice education

New Site Chronicles Endangered and Under-Documented Languages

The Pangloss Collection, an open archive containing more than 3600 audio and video recordings in 170 languages from across all continents, is now being revamped with a new website.

Examples from the archive include stories and songs in Xârâgurè (New Caledonia), conversations and tales in Kakabe (Guinea), and cooking recipes in Koyi rai (Nepal) and Na-našu (Italy)—a total of 780 hours of listening.

The archives are the result of more than twenty years’ work by linguists and ethnologists who, in their own field of study, are working to collect and preserve the world’s linguistic heritage. Some of the documents come from the digitization of old magnetic tapes. Nearly half of the recordings are transcribed and annotated, some with contextual elements or translations into other languages. The site is open to contributions from both academic and non-academic experts, who are encouraged to improve the corpus by contributing to transcriptions and translations.

In order to be more accessible to the general public, who can freely listen to and download these precious documents and hereby get a sense for the world’s linguistic diversity, the redesigned pangloss.cnrs.fr website can now be consulted via two levels of access. As the content is largely under a Creative Commons license, it is available for use in museographic projects or audio creations.

Beyond its heritage aspect, this collection is also part of an open science approach to facilitate the conservation, referencing, and availability of primary data for researchers. Its purpose is to limit the loss of scientific data (a “second death” for extinct languages) whilst also encouraging collaboration with other disciplines: computer scientists interested in automatic language processing can access the files they need and take part in the co-development of tools (e.g. for automatic transcription). The site is fully bilingual (French–English) and also includes partial translations in other languages, including Chinese for records in certain Asian languages.  

In addition to contributions from various laboratories associated with the CNRS, the Pangloss Collection is supported by the recently created Institute for Linguistic Heritage and Diversity at the EPHE-PSL, and data are stored in the archive of the large research infrastructure (Très grande infrastructure de recherche –TGIR) Huma-Num. The Pangloss Collection is a member of the international Digital Endangered Languages and Musics Archives Network (DELAMAN). It is hosted by the Cocoon platform, Collection de corpus oraux numériques, which is one of the participating archives of the Open Language Archive Community (OLAC). 

ALAS to Host Conference on Language and Literacy: Mitigating Learning Loss

The Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS) is hosting a virtual mini-conference for superintendents Jan. 20- 21, 2021 to delve into the topic of “Language and Literacy: Mitigating Learning Loss.” The event will focus on how school leaders can evaluate the impact of the pandemic on student learning and how to help students catch up. 

The event will kick-off with a panel discussion about data with prominent school leaders – Chancellor Richard Carranza (New York City Dept. of Ed.), Susana Cordova (superintendent, Denver Public Schools), Guadalupe Guerrero (superintendent, Portland Public Schools), and Dr. Christina Kishimoto (superintendent, Hawaii State Dept. of Ed.). Media will have the opportunity to ask questions.

Registration Price:
Virtual Individual: $49 Early Bird; $60 Regular
Virtual District Packages: $1,000 for unlimited number of attendees

Join in LIVE or plan your own PLC/PD day with the recorded workshops*

Register here

Israeli Policy to promote Arabic Language Education

Skyline of the Old City at the Western Wall and Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Israel.

A member of the Israeli legislature, the Knesset, has submitted a bill that would require Israeli children to study Arabic in school. Currently, it is common for Israeli children to study Arabic throughout middle and high school, however it is not a subject required by law.

The new bill, which was proposed at the end of last year, would make it mandatory for Israeli children to begin Arabic studies in elementary school all the way through the end of their schooling, according to an article published in the Jewish News Syndicate in December 2020.

“It is imperative for our children to be able to communicate and engage with Arabs in Israel and neighbors in the region,” said Michal Cotler-Wunsh, the Knesset member behind the policy, in an interview with JNS.

Currently, Arabic is recognized by the Israeli government as a minority language with special status and government documents are published in both Hebrew and Arabic. From the beginning of Israel’s statehood in 1948 to 2018, Arabic had served as an official language alongside Hebrew, however the Basic Law, which went into effect in 2018, downgraded Arabic’s status. Alongside the large population of Palestinians, many Israeli Jews hail from predominantly Arabic speaking regions and as a result, approximately 20% of Israel’s population speaks Arabic.

Cotler-Wunsh sees the policy as a potential means for Israelis to bridge cultural and linguistic gaps with Palestinian Arabs and Israel’s other neighboring countries, where Arabic is the predominant language. According to JNS, the policy would emphasize written and spoken skills in the language in order to better facilitate communication with Arabs living in and around Israel.

“I am hopeful that this will provide the path forward to mutual recognition, enhanced conversation, coexistence and sustainable peace with additional peoples and countries in our region and beyond,” Cotler-Wunsh said.

Parting Blow to Fair Federal Funding

According to The New York Times and The Washington Post, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is trying to do away with the disparate impact rule when it comes to federal funding approvals in the last days of the Trump administration.  

The DOJ has reportedly submitted for presidential approval a change to how it enforces Title VI of the Civil Rights Act 1964, which prohibits recipients of federal funding for schools, housing, and other programs from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin. (“No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000d). Instead of the DOJ enforcing the law’s protection where a program or practice has a “disparate impact” on minority groups, the amended rule would only protect against intentional acts of discrimination.

According to civil rights groups, the disparate impact rule has been cited by as one of the most important protections of the law, as it includes practices or policies that may initially appear neutral but end up disproportionately impacting certain minority groups. For example, the protections against disparate impact were vital to the U.S. Department of Education’s investigation into disproportionate discipline rates among Black and Latino students in schools. However, the Department of Education recently rescinded guidance on school discipline, suggesting that they will no longer enforce disparate impact liability.

English-only policies have often been overturned based on the disparate impact rule and there is a lot of money at stake—in FY2020, the federal government delivered almost $750 Billion in grants (“federal financial assistance”) to private and public sector companies and agencies.

According to The Washington Post, the Trump administration had considered adopting the change for years but submitted it with just days to go until the inauguration of President-elect Biden. 

Creating Community by Reading Aloud

The COVID-19 pandemic has unearthed so many challenges for our loved ones and our communities. In my work as a literacy advocate, I think about our children who have been so deeply affected by school closures, remote learning, and social isolation. One of the most powerful ways we can bring children together to experience a sense of community during this unprecedented time is through shared stories in the form of reading aloud. And nearly everyone enjoys it—in fact, the Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report: 7th Edition™ shows that more than 80% of both kids and parents love or like read-aloud time because they consider it a special time together.

The beauty of a read-aloud is that it can happen anywhere, any time, and with anyone. One of the largest read-aloud moments happens each year on World Read Aloud Day. This year, the celebration will take place on Feb. 3, 2021, and will call attention to the importance of sharing stories by challenging participants to grab a book or share a story of their own, find an audience, and read aloud.

World Read Aloud Day was founded twelve years ago and it has remained relevant and needed more than ever. The day was founded from an experience I had in a classroom when I was reading aloud to a group of children. They were fully immersed in the read-aloud experience, full of joy and responding enthusiastically to the story I was sharing with them. The read-aloud truly created a feeling of warmth and fellowship among us. Afterwards, one of the children approached me. “Mrs. Allyn,” he said earnestly, “why can’t we do that every day, all day? It feels so good to be read aloud to.” I said to him, honestly, with the glow of his heart motivating me, “I think sometimes we forget how important the read-aloud really is. It helps us to feel good and learn about empathy. It should be celebrated by everyone.” He smiled. And then he said these momentous words: “Well, when it’s my birthday I get a lot of attention and people are reminded about why I’m important. Let’s have a big celebration for the read-aloud to remind the world why it is so important.” These wise words from an inspired reader mark the moment World Read Aloud Day was born.

Now, as an annual tradition in over 173 countries and counting, World Read Aloud Day is a global movement that brings people together around stories. This year’s celebration will be especially critical, because the shared experience and connection of reading aloud is so needed in all of our communities.

This is because the experience of reading aloud is a profound exchange—the company of one another in the experience, to talk about the text, to marvel over a riveting excerpt, to laugh together over a funny part, or to cry over something sad. These are all emotions that, when shared with someone else, create a bond wrapped in empathy and a love for reading. It is part of a lifelong journey of reading and sharing experiences to learn about the world.

I have read aloud to students in every corner of the globe, traveling with books in my hands and on my phone to share stories with children of all ages. I’ve found that younger children enjoy the storytelling experience when I animate my voice and bring all of us into the story. I’ve seen older children respond by bringing complex and deep thoughts and emotions into the read-aloud experience by asking questions and taking a piece of the story with them as they move about their days. For some children, regardless of age, my read-aloud is the first storytelling moment they’ve had, and they experience a profound response to the feelings it evokes and the sense of safety and comfort it inspires. For all children, read-alouds create community through a shared experience, but they also help bolster literacy skills and our understanding of the complex aspects of language: grammar, vocabulary, structures, and punctuation. All of this is brought to life through the read-aloud.

What I love to see most is when the read-aloud becomes important to a family, to a class, or to a community. Something begins to happen. Trust builds, and the human voice carries a feeling of joy and a sense of caregiving. Now, perhaps more than ever before, the read-aloud can bring us closer to one another, even in socially distant virtual spaces. This summer, I carried The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet by Carmen Agra Deedy with me as I read aloud to groups of children over Zoom. It was extraordinary to see the children joining into the world of the story. Even as socially distant as we were, the read-aloud brought us together, and this is a very real and authentic way to promote social-emotional learning.

Research shows the importance of prioritizing social-emotional learning in our teaching and learning. For example, findings from the Scholastic Teacher & Principal School Report: 2nd Edition indicate that 98% of educators agree that for students to reach their highest academic potential, their social-emotional needs must be met, and nearly all educators (97%) agree that literacy is critical to students’ health and emotional wellness. In the same report, educators share that their top COVID-19-related concern is the impact on students’ social-emotional wellness (86%).

Literacy is a critical and inspirational way to link social-emotional learning to the education experience. Reading, writing, and storytelling bring a confluence of the social-emotional learning skills children need to grow and flourish. At the same time, they are building skills that help them comprehend text and build their own hypotheses and ideas around that work. Here, I identify seven social-emotional strengths we will bolster by providing children of all ages with plentiful access to read-alouds.

Belonging: The read-aloud can be a selection that is above, below, or at a child’s formal reading level, which creates a sense of belonging when students are not judged for taking risks or for staying comfortable, knowing that this is all part of being a reader and the experience is shared. The children can process and experience the beginning, middle, and end together; the challenge of navigating the plot and deconstructing characters; and analyzing the author’s perspective and point of view. In addition, joy is conveyed by the read-aloud. The joy in the experience is palpable and sends the message that everyone belongs here.

Curiosity: The read-aloud offers a platform for everyone to have a question or a wondering. The very nature of the interaction gives a rhythm to the experience, where voices are welcome and questions can be asked and answered.

Kindness: Point out the helpers in the stories you read. Focusing on acts of kindness can be a solace in this challenging time. There are many examples across all genres of characters connecting with one another or doing heroic or small things that transform the lives of others.

Friendship: Children will form a bond by experiencing and discussing a story together. Even during virtual read-alouds, children have the opportunity to “be together” and laugh together. We know children are craving these opportunities.

Confidence: Use the read-aloud as a chance to really engage kids in learning by asking for input, such as guesses for what will happen next, ideas for how a character may be feeling in a given moment, or what they liked most about the story. Celebrate their responses to affirm their confidence in reading experiences.

Courage: It takes courage to overcome fear and navigate this new world. Read-alouds create space to talk about courage, to see simple, ordinary efforts as courageous, and to invite children to name their own acts of bravery. Read-alouds also help children see that we are all navigating texts with our own strengths and that getting through the hard parts requires courage too.

Hope: A child’s imagination is a powerful tool that allows them to create a story, build a new world, and solve problems. The read-aloud will nurture a child’s imagination. Encourage children to draw and write about the story they have just heard to practice creative thinking and envisioning new worlds.

Reading aloud and sharing stories is one of the most powerful ways to support our kids in this challenging moment because the shared storytelling experience brings us together. This is key for developing the social-emotional skills needed in life, especially now. As Feb. 3, 2021, approaches, let’s come together with our colleagues and our children to select a story, find an audience, and read aloud together, on World Read Aloud Day and beyond.

Pam Allyn is a literacy expert, author, motivational speaker, and founder of the literacy nonprofit LitWorld. Pam is also the creator of World Read Aloud Day, which calls attention to the importance of sharing stories, hosted by LitWorld and Scholastic.
For free resources for teachers and families and to learn about how to get involved in World Read Aloud Day, visit scholastic.com/worldreadaloudday. Find out more about Pam’s work or connect with her at pamallyn.com.

Canada’s New Indigenous Language Office

The Canadian government has created an Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages and is calling for applicants to fill new positions, including that of commissioner and up to three directors. Qualified candidates must have “the knowledge and understanding of Indigenous communities, cultures, and the languages and dialects associated with them, including an understanding of language vitality and endangerment.” The new office is a result of the Indigenous Languages Act, passed in 2019, and includes C$334 (US$264) million in funding over a five-year period.

The hiring committee includes First Nations, Inuit, and Métis representatives. Karliin Aariak, Nunavut’s languages commissioner, told Nunatsiaq News that she is looking for Nunavut or Inuktut representation. “I definitely think it would be beneficial to ensure that not only someone from Nunavut, but someone who is an advocate for Inuit language rights, is present on that national level,” she said.

“The appointment opportunity for the commissioner and directors of Indigenous languages achieves a concrete milestone in the implementation of the Indigenous Languages Act. The feedback we received through our consultations with Indigenous peoples will be reflected in this selection process, and I am confident that the selection committee—which includes strong Indigenous representation—will recommend the best candidates to help First Nations, Inuit, and Métis in their journey to reclaim, revitalize, maintain, and strengthen their languages,” commented Steven Guilbeault, minister of Canadian heritage.

According to the Department of Canadian Heritage, the commissioner and the directors will work with Indigenous peoples and their respective governments; other governing bodies, communities, and organizations; the governments of Canada and the provinces and territories; and all Canadians to support the self-determined work of Indigenous peoples in reclaiming, revitalizing, maintaining, and strengthening First Nations, Inuit, and Métis languages. However, the law does not designate Inuktut as an official language in Canada’s Inuit regions in federal spaces, and Aariak says, “No real substantive rights are set out for Indigenous peoples and no obligations are imposed on the federal government to ensure that languages are protected, enhanced, and used by Indigenous groups.” Inuit organizations opposed the Indigenous Languages Act when it was introduced. In 2019, Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said, “Despite being characterized as a reconciliation and co-development initiative, the government of Canada engaged Inuit in bad faith throughout this legislative initiative. The absence of any Inuit-specific content suggests this bill is yet another legislative initiative developed behind closed doors by a colonial system and then imposed on Inuit.”

Mexico and Spain to Promote Spanish in U.S.

The Instituto Cervantes and the Mexican government’s Cultural Diplomacy unit have begun collaborative activities for the international promotion of Spanish and its culture in 2021, following last month’s signing via videoconference of an action protocol between the two organizations.

In the agreement, they committed to developing joint actions on the Spanish language (and the culture created through it) in countries around the world, through the Ibero-American Regional System of Cultural Diplomacy, of which Mexico holds the Executive Directorate in 2021, and through the Cervantes international network.

The director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero, stressed that it was “fortunate to be able to collaborate with Mexico, and more so now that with the pandemic, cooperation is essential.” In addition, he pointed out that Spain and Mexico share “the same outlook towards the future where what matters is the role of social justice, democracy, and equality.” He added that this agreement “is the way to open the way to a sister relationship with the other Latin American countries.”

Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, after mentioning her recent visit to Mexico, commented that “both countries are united by a common language and by a culture that shares values back and forth” and that they must work “with a marked Pan-Hispanic accent” for the promotion of Spanish in the world. “Mexicans and Spaniards see languages as spaces for dialogue and not for confrontation,” she declared.

For his part, the executive director of Cultural Diplomacy, Enrique Márquez, stressed “the promotion of intercultural dialogue through the international promotion of our language.” In this project aimed at the Mexican and Latino communities, Mexico will have “the great experience of the Cervantes Institute,” he stressed.

The accord states that after the cultural crisis caused by the coronavirus “it is essential to redouble efforts” to reposition culture as the “main factor of social cohesion and dialogue between nations.”

Among the objectives of the agreement, it is worth highlighting the implementation of joint projects and campaigns to promote Spanish in the U.S. through the Cervantes centers in the country and the soon to be created César Chávez Digital Institute for Spanish in North America, the purpose of which is the cultural promotion of Mexican communities and their native peoples to consolidate their identity.

In addition, the Cultural Diplomacy of Mexico will soon launch the 2021 Radio and TV Network, which will integrate all the associated stations of the 50 Mexican consulates in the U.S. and serve as a broadcaster for the César Chávez Digital Institute.

Since last July, Mexico has coordinated the Ibero-American Network for Cultural Diplomacy, which represents 22 countries, opening them up to cooperation with various cultural institutions in the region and worldwide.

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