Born Not Made notes

Born not made: the nativist myth and teachers’ thinking
Catherine Scotta* and Steve Dinhamb

Notes that inform my practice: "...pertinent is the lack of language or framework with which to discuss classroom practices, which partly has its origins in the apparent isolation of the classroom."

"People have culturally conditioned biases in the way they make attributions."

"...culturally differing causal theories seem to be rooted in more pervasive, culture-specific mentalities in East Asia and the West."

"In the context of education, understanding the consequences of people’s models of human traits and characteristics is extremely important. Education is, after all, about changing people – what they know, think and can do – but if one believes that certain aspects of people are entities – inborn and unaffected by environmental factors – then this powerfully influences one’s expectations about what can and cannot be achieved with students."

For me, I think it's incredibly important to be aware of how my identity as a teacher fits into the broader discourses of Western thinking and use this to inform my practice particularly in my ESL classrooms. Although I might be automatically predisposed to a certain way of thinking I think technology provides ample ways of bridging the gaps. If students can express themselves through myriad mediums than there is more chance for cross cultural learning to take place.