Open letter to the Greenwich Board of Education from Carmen Lissette Gutierrez, Greenwich
Dear All,
I mean it. Dear all, because we are ALL in this together. I’ve been hearing that there will be more teacher cuts in the district, specifically in GHS, and even more specifically, in the World Language Department. Why? Why World Languages? “To lower costs,” someone said. “To help balance the budget,” I heard. “In the name of efficiency”, I read. Efficiency?? Is that not supposed to mean achieving the best possible result with the least waste of time, effort, energy, or money? Is it not about being competent and productive, finding smart ways to do things well, to save costs and improve performance. …? I think I’ve just defined the gift of instruction in any language at Greenwich High School!
I would like to focus my thoughts on the consequences to the student body of Greenwich High School, if the decision is made to cut the language program in any way.
Do you all know the importance of having options to learn a second language? Let’s review that it has been empirically proven that learning a new language boosts brain power (memory, multitasking, focus), which only supports all skills needed for STEM; It is all connected.
In a fascinating world where Artificial Intelligence is replacing many, many jobs done by humans, having a robust language catalogue to choose from is critical. Students can use our teaching model of “backwards design” to focus their language studies purposefully. This is a teaching model where you start with the end goal (what students should know/do) and work backward to design lessons and activities that lead to that goal, making instruction intentional, and much more than just content coverage. What I mean is this: We, as parents, will most probably help our sons and daughters identify opportunities for future personal and career development, right? Chances are that in our interconnected world we will learn of opportunities in multinational companies that may open doors to work IN or WITH companies from Spain, Germany, China, Italy, France, anywhere in the world, and we’ll think of our children’s work opportunities in those companies. When we identify an opportunity (the end goal) requiring (at least) professional knowledge of any language, then we can start planning our students’ choice of language at GHS.
Doors will open the minute your child can interact, even lightly, in any of a variety of languages, from ASL to Romance languages, to Sino-Tibetan language, as well as their mother tongue, whether it is English, or any other. To illustrate with personal experience: Valentina, my daughter, was born in a household with Spanish as her mother tongue, learned English here in Greenwich, and studied a third language at Greenwich High School. In her first day as a member of an international team based in New York, she was able to unlock, for her team, ideas that had been on ice for months for one simple reason: she wasn’t working against a language barrier; she understood the language, as well as the cultural nuances of the business unit abroad. The company had never had a bilingual person in her position. She bridged the language gap because she grew up bilingual. The international team was enriched by her presence. It is as real as that.
Furthermore, and complimenting the previous position, the understanding of language other than your mother tongue deepens cultural understanding and empathy, which are also imperative qualities in this new world where artificial intelligence “thinks” that it can take the place of humans. I promise you that it cannot. The authentic phrases, gestures, and cultural nuances taught by our language teachers will make a difference in all sorts of academic, business, and socio-emotional interactions that our students will have whenever they pursue interests at home, or internationally, with multicultural partners. In my summer abroad during my MBA at Boston College, we visited a number of businesses in Italy. I was the only young woman from Latin America in our group of students; during the Q & A after the presentation at the FIAT factory plant, I stood up to ask my question. I simply stood up. It was a cultural reflex I brought with me. Before leaving the factory, my professor had been asked my name, and whether I would consider working in Italy. Cultural understanding is ageless and it can make or break relationships of all sorts.
Learning languages could also make individuals more marketable, giving them an advantage in industries such as international travel, and positions that require being able to speak multiple languages. But don’t take my word for it. This has been quoted by Janet Nicol, PhD linguistics professor at the University of Arizona.
And, on a separate note, let’s not forget how quickly time passes. Learning one or more languages is a workout for your brain that builds new neural pathways, potentially delaying cognitive decline and boosting creativity and adaptability throughout life. This seems especially important in a world where we are living longer than caretaking systems can adapt to this reality.
On these notes… Let us keep our World Language offering at our schools on an upward curve, not the opposite. The opposite is definitely not “Efficiency”.
So, when I say “Dear all”, I do mean all of us. Languages, and the diverse cultural worlds they unlock, bring our brain activity to a different level. This learning supports skills needed for STEM, for global business, for culture understanding.
I mean all of us, because it is, and we are, ALL connected.
Carmen Lissette Gutierrez