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  • Essay / Challenges of educating indigenous people

    Teaching students from the upland barangay of the city is quite a challenge because a teacher has to familiarize himself and herself with the dialect and culture of the people, including of their children. This is what I experienced during my assignment to a remote school. For over a decade, I have been around indigenous peoples and have noticed and encountered certain problems. First, I felt uneasy and uncomfortable crossing a muddy road and high ground leading to the school. There were inadequate facilities conducive to learning, crowded classrooms for students in multiple grades, inadequate textbooks, and insufficient school supplies were some of the big problems I encountered. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get an original essaySecond problem covered on the language used by my IP students. On my first day of teaching, I could hardly ask my students to speak. I discovered that adults have their own language and students have theirs. I was upset as I admitted that it was a failure on my part and even deprived them of the right and privilege of using their own native or local language. It was impossible for us to understand each other because I didn't even know how to speak their own dialect. I actually didn't understand the words they were saying. I designed a simple and forced strategy. I insisted that they speak “Tagalog” or “English” so that we could communicate and then understand each other. To my dismay, no positive results were obtained. They just looked at me. I knew full well that what I had done was a violation as an educator. They preserve their dialect as an integral part of their culture. The innocence of their dialect and culture is no excuse to catch them. In one case, I asked them to look at me after I spoke to them. Unknowingly, it was disrespectful for Aboriginal children to look directly at adults. Their culture was so unique, but I got to know their habits gradually. Even though they have gone through many textbooks, they still cannot find a reflection of themselves, their family and their culture. This was an unwritten or unrecorded culture that they had to preserve over the centuries. The good news is that they still exist even if they are marginalized according to their own tastes. The answer and solution to this problem, I know, lies in the hands of effective school leaders. I believe in the idea that “there are no ineffective students, only ineffective teachers.” The No Child Left Behind policy states that "it is practical for parents of children who attend low-performing schools that are not improving to send their children to another, higher-performing school." Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.Get a custom essayA new teacher can necessarily adapt to the system if he wants to get cooperation from his students who certainly come from diverse cultures. Know that respect is not imposed, it is earned. Multicultural education differs from the traditional way of teaching. Broader knowledge and understanding is required for students to respond positively..