Page 3 - Reflections on the Danger of a Single Story

Reflections on the Danger of a Single Story
Chimamanda Adichie
In Spring 2019, the students in Foundations of Bilingual Bicultural Education (course ESC 759) were required to watch, reflect and respond to The Danger of A Single Story, a TED Talk presentation by the Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie. This is the compilation of the amazing personal stories that the students shared.
The educators in this class were all selected from NYC middle and high schools in The Bronx to participate in the third cohort of the ALPHA program, which provides educators of English Language Learners with graduate coursework to enhance their knowledge, skills and pedagogical competence and confidence. Beyond improving their skills, the ultimate purpose of the program is to help teachers enact equity by ensuring that all English Language Learners, in their core subject classes in middle and high school, reach high intellectual proficiency and unleash their innate potential to thrive and flourish.
This first assignment was designed to help these educators develop a sense of empathy for what ELLs feel and experience when they enter school and are pigeonholed as a result of their race, ethnicity, culture, or language. Many of the teachers themselves had been the subject of a single story and/or had held single story narratives of others. Their reflections and responses were amazing -- they made me cry, laugh and cheer. They made clear that the middle and high school ELL students they serve in The Bronx are in good hands and that these educators are the ones our students need. They have known the pain of rejection, the joy of acceptance and the struggle to feel a sense of belonging to find their voice, just as many of our ELLs today experience. Throughout these stories, what stands out is their empathy and the resilience that has enabled the writers to thrive and excel.
After reading the stories and the responses from their peers, we felt the need to create a document that would capture and allow us to share all these wonderful narratives as a testament to the power of resilience.
Our work with children who enter our schools speaking a language other than English goes beyond reading, writing and arithmetic. It is about transforming their innate potential to prosper and contribute to this society.
I am humbled and grateful for the opportunity to have shared this semester with the ALPHA teachers and feel confident that they will transform the landscape of learning for our students.
We all hope you enjoy our stories!
Carmen Jimenez
Adjunct Professor
Spring 2019