ODYSSEY 201712

In New Mexico, families and their children thrive when offered a family-centeredapproach to education and when programs are culturally responsive. Two families,

one Hispanic and the other Native American, exemplify this success. Here we share their stories.

When Angelique Quiñonez was 18 months old, her family started receivingservices from the New Mexico School for the Deaf (NMSD). Angelique’s familylived in Anthony, a small town in the southwest part of the state and a four-hour drive from the main campus, and the services they received occurred rightin their own home. NMSD’s early intervention staff, deaf mentors, and earlyintervention specialists who live in the southwest part of the state visitedAngelique’s family regularly, helping her parents and brother to learn AmericanSign Language (ASL) and teaching them how to interact and communicate withtheir deaf child. Angelique also entered a preschool branch of NMSD in LasCruces, New Mexico, which was close to their home, giving her additionalexposure to language and communication through ASL.

When Angelique was 5 years old and ready for kindergarten, her parents made the difficultdecision to move away from their extended family so that Angelique could receive the besteducation they believed possible and attend school at NMSD’s main campus in Santa Fe.NMSD’s family housing program supported the transition. In this program, a family lives oncampus until their child is old enough to live without family present in NMSD’s residentialprogram or the family is able to move to Santa Fe. Angelique’s brother Jason, who is hearing,became part of the sibling program; he attended preschool on campus with deaf and hard ofhearing children, was immersed in ASL, and learned how to fluently communicate with hissister. Angelique’s family—and the teachers and staff of NMSD—ensured she grew up in a milieu

Photos courtesy of Rosemary Gallegos

RosemaryGallegos, EdD, issuperintendent of the NewMexico School for the Deaf(NMSD). She grew up inTaos, New Mexico, andearned a master’s degree indeaf education from theUniversity of Arizona anda doctoral degree ineducational leadershipfrom the University ofNew Mexico. Her 30+years of service to NMSDinclude teaching,instructional supervision,special educationcompliance, andcultivating NMSD’sstatewide Birth-3 andoutreach programs.Gallegos’s goal is to ensureall deaf and hard ofhearing children in NewMexico have access tospecialized resources,quality education, and theopportunity to engage in acommunity of deaf andhard of hearing peers andadults. She welcomesquestions and commentsabout this article atrosemary.gallegos@nmsd.k12.nm.us.

By Rosemary Gallegos

Early contact, languagE accEss,

and Honoring EVEry culturE:

A Framework for

Student Success

2017 ODYSSEY

that was rich in language, both at home and inschool. She communicates easily with Jason, herparents, her peers, and her teachers. Hercommunication and language skills areconstantly improving, as is her self-confidence,and she excels in math, English, and art.Angelique is involved in many extracurricularactivities and loves to play volleyball and soccer.One of Angelique’s most exciting experienceswas when she represented her Mexican heritagethrough Folklórico dance with the Aspen SantaFe Ballet company. Last fall, Angelique dancedwith this company of classically trained artistswhen the company performed on NMSD’scampus for the 16 de Septiembre celebration ofMexican independence. When other studentsasked her why she was chosen to perform, shesaid proudly “because I am Mexican.” Angeliquehas expressed that she would like to go tocollege at Gallaudet University in Washington,D.C., and study to become a math teacher and aprofessional volleyball player. At 9 years old, shehas high expectations and aspirations for herfuture. Elias Curley, who was born on the Navajo

reservation innorthwestern NewMexico, began receivingNMSD’s early interventionservices when he was 2 yearsold in his home. He alsoattended our preschool branch inFarmington, New Mexico, which is close tothe Navajo reservation. His family’s home isfour hours away from the main campus. Hisparents speak Navajo, and they are a part of asupportive extended Navajo family. Hismaternal grandparents are learning to signbecause they want to share the Navajo cultureand stories with their grandson. Elias’s mother, Krystle Curley, said theirfamily “wants Elias to be a well-rounded childwho will appreciate and embrace the Navajo andDeaf cultures” (personal communication). Theyadded that, at the beginning, what helped themmost was support from immediate family andhome visits from NMSD early educators, deafmentors, and other parents who were goingthrough the experience of raising a deaf child. Curley said that NMSD became a part of their

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at left and below:

Students present

information about Navajo

traditions during NMSD’s

American Indian

Celebration Day; an

instructor gives her

students a big “thumbs-up”

on the work they are

doing together on an iPad.

ODYSSEY 2017

lives while they were living on thereservation so they decided to enrollElias in NMSD’s main campus. Throughmany NMSD supports, including thefamily housing program, they were ableto transition to Santa Fe and becomeimmersed in the Deaf community. Eliasis now 7 years old. His family noted thathe has become increasingly expressive,telling them his wants, needs, andfeelings, and he interacts moremeaningfully with his friends. Mostimportant, they say that they havegrown as a family; they support eachother more, they have learned moreabout each other, and in addition tocommunicating in English and Navajo,they communicate with a new language,ASL.

The People Within theFrameworkAs a majority minority state, NewMexico is approximately 48 percentHispanic, 38 percent white withoutHispanic or Latino heritage, 10 percentNative American, 2 percent AfricanAmerican, and 2 percent Asian. The

state celebrates diversity withindiversity; there are seven main NativeAmerican languages and 22 NativeAmerican tribes, including Pueblos,Apache, and Navajo. Within theHispanic community, some individualsidentify as culturally Mexican, others asculturally Spanish, and still others asculturally New Mexican. NMSD reflects the state’s majorityminority populations: 57 percent of thestudents are Hispanic and 15 percent areNative American. These students arealmost all influenced by Spanish or by aNative American language in theirhomes. For example, families may speakEnglish and either Spanish or a NativeAmerican language, or they may betrilingual but only use their Spanish or aNative American language when seniorfamily members are present. Fifteen ofthe 140 families on NMSD’s maincampus request written materials inSpanish and Spanish interpretationduring school meetings and events. The NMSD early intervention andearly childhood specialists live in and area part of each child’s community. They

come from thecultures of thechildren and families,or they have frequentinteractions withmembers of thesecultures. NMSD’searly interventionprograms strive toemploy earlydevelopmentalspecialists and deafmentors who not onlyspecialize in deafeducation and earlychildhooddevelopment and arefluent in ASL, butwho are also fluent ina Native Americanlanguage or Spanish. The Curley andQuiñonez familiesreport that the trustthey developed withNMSD providers made

their move to NMSD’s main campuspossible. Once they and families likethem arrive, NMSD strives to offeracademic programs within a culturallyresponsive educational framework. Theoverwhelming majority of instructionalstaff on the main campus are not NativeAmerican or Hispanic, and most of ourteachers and administrators did notgrow up with life experience or culturalnorms that are similar to those of ourstudents. For this reason, it is importantfor NMSD and all its programs to have aframework that honors the culturalmilieu of each student and provides eachNMSD employee the opportunity tointeract and grow within it. We knowthat interaction between diverse culturalgroups helps decrease prejudice andincrease empathy (Pettigrew, Tropp,Wagner, & Christ, 2011; Rodenborg &Boisen, 2013), so we structureopportunities for this interactionbetween our staff and New Mexicochildren and families. Further, this framework offers teachersand staff guidance in exploring biases

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above: NMSD students Jaqueline Sanchez, Antonia Maria Martinez, Angelique Quiñonez, and Julian Aranda-Sotelo perform

with the Folklórico dance troupe from the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet during NMSD’s Mexican Independence Day Celebration.

and assists them as they develop culturalknowledge. This allows us to beculturally responsive and moreeffectively interact with the students andfamilies we serve. Teachers andadministrators make decisions for andabout students on a minute-by-minutebasis. Without training and interactionbetween staff and families to developknowledge of students’ cultural origins,staff may not be bringing theappropriate information to theimportant work they do (Lipsky, 2010). NMSD teacher Laurie Andersondescribed her experience in coming towork at NMSD as follows:

Prior to living in New Mexico, I hadnever met or had contact with NativeAmericans. Since moving to New Mexico,I have learned that not all NativeAmerican tribes practice or believe thesame things, nor do they uphold the sametraditions. Each tribe has its own set ofunique beliefs that are held sacred andprivate.

As a Caucasian female, I havelearned that I am not to ask much aboutNative Americans and their beliefs or atleast I need to maintain some distancebetween their culture and my questionsand curiosity. To be invited to a NativeAmerican reservation is a great honor,one that I have experienced and holdspecial in my heart. When visiting aNative American reservation, Ilearned that it is proper to alwaysbring something to share, such asa dish or a watermelon, as away to express appreciationand respect; I also learnedthat when you are offeredsomething at a NativeAmerican’s home, it is politeto accept the offer, whether itbe drink or food, regardlessof whether or not you are inthe mood to drink or eat. Tonot accept their offer or gift isconsidered rude.

I have also learned that NativeAmericans do not always use direct eyecontact in the way I am accustomed to or

was taught. There is a quiet andsensitive silence that I often receive frommy Native American students that Ithink reflects the respect they maintainfor their elders. In my experience ofteaching Native Americans, I have oftenfound that students need extra time toprocess questions and ideas in order torespond. Some Native American studentsreadily respond to questions and

participate in discussions, while othersshow greater reservation.

Finally, I learned that for NativeAmericans, certain cultural and familyevents supersede the importance ofattending school. For example, if there isa cultural event planned on thereservation, students’ families placeattending this event as a priority overattending school in order to maintainand hold their culture and traditions inhigh regard.

I am from a different culture andthus have learned to avoid placing myown values or expectations on mystudents, especially when it comes tofollowing certain social norms. Instead, Ihave learned to respect their values, and Ihave developed a sensitivity/awareness ofwhat is more comfortable for them.(Personal communication, 2017)

A key aspect of NMSD’s multiculturalframework is ensuring families havelanguage access for meetings,presentations, and events. At NMSD,four out of nine staff interpreters aretrilingual. It is their responsibility tointerpret conversations and interactionsin ASL, English, and Spanish. Ourinterpreters are always available tofacilitate communication, and they raiseawareness when our environment is notculturally responsive. For example, atthe urging of its interpreter team,NMSD provides two screens anddisplays all PowerPointpresentations in both Spanish andEnglish. Although trilingualinterpreting is extremelycomplex (Annarino, Aponte-Samalot, & Quinto-Pozos,2014), NMSD’s interpretingteam has committed to honingthis skill and has been asignificant influence onincreasing language accessibility,inclusivity, and respect fordiversity at NMSD.

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Without training and

interaction between

staff and families to

develop knowledge of

students’ cultural

origins, staff may not

be bringing the

appropriate

information to the

important work they

do (Lipsky, 2010).

left: A student shows the student life

educator her caterpillar, which will soon

transform into a butterfly.

2017 ODYSSEY

ODYSSEY 2017

Developing a MulticulturalFrameworkThe first step in developing amulticultural framework isestablishing a school philosophythat honors diversity, viewsculture as an asset to studentsuccess, and has high expectationsfor all children. To achieve this,teachers and staff must have theopportunity to explore their ownidentities and core values so that theycan begin to eliminate their own biasesand examine some of their ownstereotypes. They also must have theopportunity to interact with individualsin other cultural groups and to listen totheir stories. Shira Grabelsky,curriculum specialist at NMSD,explained it this way:

I’ve learned that students are anembodiment of the cultures they grow upin, both at home and at school. It is notpossible to separate the student from his orher culture, to look at the student inisolation. I’ve also learned that culture isnot only about beliefs and values but alsoabout how time is spent. Students whospend time on the rodeo grounds, forexample, have the culture of bull riding intheir blood, and students who spend timetraveling to family in Mexico have U.S.-Mexican transnational family culture intheir blood. You cannot separate thatcomponent of culture from the person.

These things I learned throughconversations with students. I spend thefirst few minutes of every class checkingin, and it is during these check-ins that Ilearn so much about my students; theyshare more when classroom content isrelevant to them. (Personalcommunication, 2017)

When expectations are set forhonoring diversity, strategies andprograms can be tailored to fitindividual students and their families.At NMSD, we have found that earlychildhood specialists working and livingin the communities where children areborn engenders the trust of families, andthis trust relationship enhances the

families’ ability to support the languageand communication development oftheir children, which in turn leads to thechildren’s effective transition to school-age services. On the NMSD campus,activities such as honoring culturalholidays, drum making, and providinglocal cuisine at the cafeteria areimportant to acknowledging localculture and building students’ self-esteem. However, we know strategies forbeing culturally responsive must go

beyond the things that we see;they must address “deep culture”(Hanley, 1999). Educationalsystems must include ways toensure families have languageaccessibility so they can fullyparticipate in their child’seducation. We must ensure ourstaff members have the opportunityto engage in self-analysis and toexplore their own identities, and wemust listen carefully to our students andtheir families so that our instructionalstrategies are responsive to appropriatecultural norms. We must also make it apriority to interact personally with ourstudents’ families, to experience theircultures, to build trust, and to reducebias. Only then can we shape theeducational environments that provideAngelique, Elias, and all of our studentsevery opportunity for success.

The author would like to thank NMSDteacher Laurie Anderson, curriculumspecialist Shira Grabelsky, and NMSDparents Claudia Hernandez and KrystleCurley for their contributions to this article.

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References

Annarino, P. G., Aponte-Samalot, M., & Quinto-Pozos, D. (2014). Toward effectivepractice: Interpreting in Spanish-influenced settings. National Consortium of InterpreterEducation Centers. Retrieved January 10, 2017, from http://www.interpretereducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Toward-Effective-Practice-Interpreting-in-Spanish-Influenced-Settings.pdf

Hanley, J. H. (1999). Beyond the tip of the iceberg: Five stages of culturalcompetence: Reaching today’s youth. The Community Circle of Caring Journal, 3(2),9-12.

Lipsky, M. (2010). Street-level bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the individual in public services.New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Pettigrew, T. F., Tropp, L. R., Wagner, U., & Christ, O. (2011). Recent advancesin intergroup contact theory. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35(3),271-280. doi: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.03.001

Rodenborg, N. A., & Boisen, L. A. (2013). Aversive racism and intergroup contacttheories: Cultural competence in a segregated world. Journal of Social WorkEducation, 49, 564-579. doi: 10.1080/10437797.2013.812463

left: Elias Curley with his parents,

Krystle and Tim.