Cultural Competence With Language Skills

Some treats that participants in the Guatemala program made for the school.

Lyn Gatz has been teaching at MOUNT DESERT ISLAND HIGH SCHOOL in Maine for about fourteen years. Her subject areas are Spanish and yoga with Sanskrit, a rather interesting combination. She has maintained yoga separate from Spanish in order to allow more students to take the course, so they don't need to be fluent in Spanish.

Lyn has always combined Spanish language skills with knowledge of the cultures whose primary language is Spanish. The objective is to impart a respect for other cultures, while building knowledge. In this regard, she has developed an elective Guatemala Studies and Services Program, which is accepting applicants among her students for the 2016-2017 school year.



Of course, there is the classroom portion of the program, which envelopes students in the culture of Guatemala and builds on the pre-existing level 2 Spanish language communications skills of the students in the program. The heart of the program is the two-week service trip in the spring, which involves student presentations, service projects, and direct communication with their host families. When they return to the US, they are equipped to explore the fundamental issue of their ability to communicate information, ideas, beliefs,culture, and their own identity.

Lyn has stated her hopes for this program, "I love it when [students] come away with the sense of how we are so alike and connected, and that we have much to learn from what people are doing and applying in small communities to address local problems." Her Guatemalan service program goes far to incorporate cultural understanding into her students' learning experience.

Thanks to this article from Pollination Project: https://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/lyn-gatz-mount-desert-island-high-school-mount-desert-island/, and MDIHS web page with information about the Guatemala program: https://sites.google.com/a/mdihs.u98.k12.me.us/program-of-studies/world-languages.

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