Running head: FINAL ESSAY CURRICULUM IN THE BORDERLAND

Final Reflective Paper

Critical Pedagogy: A curriculum for diversity in the borderland
By
Jorge E. Orozco
UTEP - TED5313
July 28, 2015
Dr. Csar A. Rossatto

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Inequalities in Border Education among Latinos students

Education has been long touted as one of the best ways to improve ones life and achieve
future personal success. Theoretically, our society is structured in a way that a better education
leads to a better job, more money, a better standard of living, and a brighter future for following
generations. However, what happens when one community that already faces a number of
challenges, as violence, death, pain, and lost, encounters immense barriers to the education that
may set them forward? Hispanic students in El Paso-Juarez Public Schools system are dealing
with an increasingly difficult education system that further complicates their K-12 careers.
Additionally, students are struggling with the standardized tests as well as writing either
oral presentation in English Language. Moreover, they felt that not have identity because are not
completely gringos or Mexicanos. Although their parents belonged to Mexico, they have
identity and racial problems.
Traditional and Hide Curriculum in the Borderland
The school system in the United States of America is not equally and balanced for everyone.
In the borderland context, the education is not equal because lower social class not received the
same level of education as higher class students. It is supposed curriculum and assessment worked
in the same way for every school. However, the analysis of results in many test as regular,
standards brought the fact that social lower class achieved lower scores, which of course are part
of minorities groups as Latinos. Curriculum should be to include diversity as well as standardsbased instruction.
Teacher-directed Instruction: reinforcing the white supremacy
The decision of which approach to adopt in the classroom is complicated by factors intrinsic
to the Borderlands teaching environment, which may include students that are frequently
multilingual, sometimes lack basic literacy skills, and may have received a primary education

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from an economically impoverished school system with limited resource. However, it is necessary
break the traditional paradigm that states the relationship among teacher-student where teacher is
the principal nexus to start the learning. Students in the borderland should be the key to awake the
learning with the instruction by teacher only as facilitator and not dependable on their knowledge.
But the hard part could be to break the white paradigm and move to one inclusive.
Creating Curriculum that Reflects Diversity
The crucial issue in cultural diversity and learning is the relationship between the minority
cultures and the American mainstream culture. He think that multiculturalism in education should
go beyond comprehension and understanding of minorities groups. Teachers should be help
students to develop their ethnic identity either competency in both cultures. He pointed that
school is a bridge between students from minorities groups and the Americans. Also, school and
teachers be carefully when apply curriculum to this specific students. It is a complex thing because
for one side educators are trying to teach minorities groups the dominant culture. On the other
hand, teachers are responsibly to maintain and conserve the native culture of minorities groups.
Communication is one of the best way to make relationships in education. Language
acquisition is part of communication. If our schools avoid the primary language of minority
groups it could to damage the identity and inheritance of them. Furthermore, the way to engage
the new culture from a Latino perspective could be: fight to fit into this society. Most of the
minority groups will nothing without origin language. They lost the foundation to interactive with
people surrounding them. It include a sociological and linguistic issues that will need discussed
and addressed within classroom. Moreover, politicians and administrators avoid the resources as
technology, innovative ways of learning, and critical pedagogy because they need to control the
minorities in the country.
Critical Pedagogy beyond Boundaries

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Border cities increased population as El Paso with an almost 70% of total people are
Hispanic from Mexico and other Spanish speaking countries. If you live in border cities not only
find the most diverse population, also you find a collision of cultures where past, present, and
future are mixed with identities and/or belief systems from both sides as Mexican/American
(Kazanjian, 2011). Border city is a unique place to learn about multiculturalism and
Multilanguage. Educators become cultural workers and they are involved beyond merely
knowledge (Giroux, 2005). Following this thought, it is necessary to innovate the learning
through border pedagogy beyond the boundaries.
Critical pedagogy in the border claim that teacher and students have an understanding of
boundaries of their knowledge and the relationship with their language (Giroux, 2005). It involved
redefine the knowledge and identity. In this sense, a border pedagogy without boundaries is when
teacher create a new perspective for historical and social apparatuses of the border. In other
words, students and teachers learned their limitations and qualifications. They are able to create a
connection between social relations and political institutions.
Teachers would be listened and observed carefully the needs of students living in both
sides of border. Curriculum should be relate to their identity and help them to build a
multiculturalism world. The only way to integrate other language and culture into the classroom is
when teacher understand that humankind have the power to determine their future. Education is
about allow students work with their spirit, mind, and body; is a way to integrate through
experimental method, democracy and free thinking. School with liberty and justice for all!
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