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Seeking the future of world language learning at the intersection of comprehensible input, project-based learning, global education, and love.
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Ethics in the language class – we aren’t their parents

Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell June 20, 2011 9 Comments
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I have a question for you – where do you draw the line in your language class as far as ethics?

Here’s my bias: I teach at a private faith-based (Christian) school, and I have to be very careful about what I show to my students and expose them to. More than that, I have personal convictions (actually much higher those of most of my students) that prevent me from showing many things I could show them without really getting in trouble with my school. I won’t show commercials or news clips that show women in very revealing clothing. I won’t show videos with suggestive dancing or themes, even in our favorite songs like Espacio sideral and No te pido flores and Sigo con ella (a song I love to use in class because of its actual positive depiction of faithful love- hard to find in almost any genre).

Aside from my personal convictions, and my school’s guidelines, my perspective on the field in general is that we are not their parents. Parents have a special responsibility to filter our child’s world, which is why we set rules, disallow certain clothing, prevent them from buying certain music or video games, and don’t expose them to too much too soon. I don’t know what the filter is that my students’ parents have set for them, but I do know that it is not my place to violate that filter.

Here are some items I’ve come across in my teaching experience with music and film that I would choose not to allow in my classroom.
Now, I’m not against rated R movies just because they are rated R. I show my senior class Pan’s Labyrinth every year as part of a series of activities to expose them to the truth about the Spanish Civil War and contrasting fantasy and reality. But when I was in the AP Spanish workshop a few years ago, the leader showed us a film that she used in her classes, even lower-level classes. The film was De eso no se habla, and the plot basically goes like this, if I remember correctly – an older, well-traveled man settles in an Argentinian village where he falls in love with a talented, 15-year-old midget. He fights his attraction for her in several ways, including traveling and regular visits to the local brothel, where he also runs into the [married] town mayor. He is able to marry her, but then she is for some reason unhappy, and in the end he watches as she runs away on the circus train to be with people who are like her. Sounds great, eh? I mentioned in the workshop that if I showed the movie I’d be fired. Another teacher said she taught at a public school but because of her personal convictions she’d never show it. I thought to myself, exactly what principles and life lessons are in this movie that I want to expose to my students? Because everyone knows that we aren’t just there to teach them language, and that’s certainly not all they learn from us.

I think of Ricardo Arjona as the Shakira of Guatemala. His music is very well done and mostly trashy. I actually used to use at least part of two of his songs, Quién (excellent for listening comprehension of numbers) and Pingüinos en la cama (which has the rare feature of using almost every option for continuous present in the space of about three sentences). I thought, hey, I’ll just play certain parts and leave out the rest, or the language is too advanced and they won’t get it, or surely they won’t look up the video. Yeah, right. The first year I tried this, I had a student, we’ll call him Enrique, who decided he loved Arjona, looked up the songs and their videos and their lyrics, and you can imagine how that went. I put the songs away and never used them again.

So there’s me; I just can’t in good conscience let myself take the place of my students’ parents in the name of ‘exposing them to other cultures’ and ‘well, they’re getting worse at home anyway.’ What about you? What’s your ethical standard?

Photo credit: Simon Q

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9 Comments

  1. Sra. Spanglish says:
    June 21, 2011 at 12:14 am

    I showed them "Duele" by Kalimba…if it weren't for the scandal, I don't know if they would have given it a second thought, as all clothes stayed on and they were really just dancing kind of close, not even really kissing.

    As for ethics beyond sex? I definitely got a charge out of teaching the narcocorridos unit. It was, after all, you that taught me to go for topics that grabbed them! I think my style is a little more political and less personal than yours, though. So far, so good…

    Reply
  2. martinabex says:
    June 21, 2011 at 3:06 pm

    This is an enormous struggle for me, as I am more naive than most of my students! I often find myself watching a video over and over and over, trying to take myself back to sixth grade and imagining what I might have thought if I had watched that video in class. I had several traumatizing moments throughout middle and high school and college as I was exposed to material beyond my comfort zone. Most concepts appear in many songs or videos–you may not be able to use the "best" one, but usually there is an acceptable alternative that is appropriate for school. I think that it is far more important to match your ethical barometer to the most innocent students rather than to the majority. Their parents have worked hard to maintain it, for whatever reason, and it would be a professional failure to the parent if I spoiled their years of hard work. I am NOT their parent, and so I must defer to the parent’s wishes for their children. If I plan to show or study anything controversial, I notify parents and ask them if they would like for me to make special arrangements for their child. I also think that it is also important for teachers to have conversations with their students about morals and why we choose to show some videos but not others. It helps them begin to reflect on ethics and develop their own personal ethical code. What is it about those videos that I don't want students to see? Why do I see that thing as a problem? What message is the singer trying to convey–and what are the subliminal messages being delivered along with it? Do my students agree or disagree with my view and with the views of the artist? Use the opportunity to teach media literacy to your students! You could even use it to begin a conversation about censorship…and that could go in any number of cultural, political directions!

    Reply
  3. Sra Cottrell says:
    June 21, 2011 at 8:54 pm

    Sometimes the key for me is the topic – and trying to imagine what my students' minds will do with it – but often the key for me is the purpose or principle in the content. I love using Jesse y Joy and Juan Luis Guerra because their music is so positive. I try to avoid using songs like, say, Irremplazable that have a theme of you did me wrong, so screw you and let's see how I can hurt you back. Songs like Labios compartidos and Tarde o temprano that give such a twisted "I don't care who has you as long as I get to have you too" view of love. I once heard Rene whatever-his-name-is from Calle 13 slip in an interview wit the comment that there was a "balance" to be found in sexist lyrics, and I've never played a single song by them, clean or not, because I won't patronize someone who thinks there's any room for degrading women in lyrics.
    I guess my point is that we're trying to foster sensitive, responsible adults, and sometimes just the attitude that's in a song or video will prevent me from using it.
    On the other hand, we talked in depth about the 'femicide' in Juárez and the violence there, the drug wars and terrorist activity in Colombia, deep subjects that aren't candy, but I think are important for students to understand the culture and be able to relate to its people.
    But sometimes it is a fine line! Thanks for your comments.

    Reply
  4. Ken & Diana (plus one) says:
    June 23, 2011 at 4:39 pm

    Thanks for the post! I have taught at a public school and am now at a Christian private school and have seen the two sides. Although I am not as conservative as most of my fellow Christian teachers, I am still very selective in regards to what videos I show my students. It seems as though it is getting harder to find new material though as the videos are getting worse and worse. There are a lot of great love songs but some of them talk about things that high school students shouldn't be hearing.
    Thanks for recommending Jesse & Joy; I had never heard of them before!

    Reply
  5. martinabex says:
    June 23, 2011 at 8:57 pm

    Yes, we definitely discuss difficult/controversial/mature topics in class, and I think that those conversations are very significant components of any curriculum. As you said, it helps us understand the culture and relate to the people, but also allows for self-reflection and expands the students' minds to see that the world is much bigger than the city in which s/he lives!

    I think that the problem with using "scandalous" or possibly inappropriate songs or videos lies in using them for isolated language purposes without discussing the context in which that language appears–even when you remove morals from the equation. Again, I think it goes back to media literacy and being smart consumers. Students need to examine the subliminal messages that are delivered to them through media, and how that could possibly affect their thoughts and actions in the future, even subconsciously. This is an important component of any curriculum, not just world languages. So learn the songs if you must (I'll pass, thank you!), but at least have that conversation with your students so that they are not innocent lambs being led to the slaughter. (And I would still argue that it is only appropriate to keep parents informed.)

    Reply
  6. Sra Cottrell says:
    June 27, 2011 at 3:50 pm

    Just out of curiosity, @martinabex – what 'slaughter'?

    Reply
  7. Carolina Viviana Alayo Hidalgo Schulz says:
    June 29, 2011 at 5:49 pm

    Hola

    A mí tampoco no me gusta pasar uchas músicas , aunque aqui en Brasil estás cosas son counespasar cualquer tipo de música , pero hoy en día están uy complicados los clips , cuando trabajo en informática y ellos quieren com fondo musical para su trbajo sólo les pido que no me pongan videos con malas palabras en as letrsde las músicas , aunque aquí se escucha la música americana y yo no domino el inglés .

    Reply
  8. Kathy Griffith says:
    March 31, 2015 at 12:19 pm

    Excellent thoughts and comments. Our responsibility is great, and I have changes to make. (again)

    Reply
  9. #AuthResAugust: New(ish) Music! | Musicuentos says:
    August 15, 2016 at 4:19 pm

    […] am not a teacher who will play anything the students will like.  Sometimes it’s for reasons I think are good like playing positive […]

    Reply

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      • Book review: Teach Like A Pirate
    •  September (7)
      • Interacting with authentic materials: a guide
      • Using audio-lingua
      • Seven keys to a great story
      • Stations: Exploring music
      • It's a myth: Equipping students to communicate with... themselves
      • Turn a Novice Song into "Spanish Class Idol"
      • Is your lesson plan out of whack?
    •  August (12)
      • Children's literature for the world language class (Helena Curtain)
      • App review & Giveaway! High School Spanish
      • Choice in homework, updated
      • Back to school: Proficiency posts
      • App Review: Storykit (bonus - meet my family!)
      • Back to school: Evaluate traditions
      • Back to school: Blogs with great ideas
      • App review & giveaway: Word Magic dictionary and thesaurus
      • My authorized AP syllabus
      • Back to school: Musicuentos "first days" posts
      • Back to school: Give them signals
      • Going back to school with Musicuentos
    •  July (6)
      • Tips for the New AP
      • Don't be fooled! What the AP does and doesn't measure
      • Illustrating proficiency with a laugh
      • Snag some free apps while you can!
      • Stop asking for unnatural language
      • Fun video: Animals, present, feelings
    •  June (9)
      • Targeting problems with a pop quiz
      • Song, irregular present, part 4: Tengo tu love
      • It's my birthday - check out our presents!
      • A meaningful approach to grammar
      • Websites for creating online magazines
      • A world with no magazines
      • Guest post: Coaching with choice
      • Screencast: Photopeach
      • Communicative grading made easier
    •  May (10)
      • Health infographic: Novice - Intermediate Activity
      • A lesson in finding authentic sources easily
      • Tips and songs for past participles
      • Foster higher-level thinking from the beginning
      • Summer: Language for the fun of it
      • Novice high vs. intermediate low
      • E-magazines with learner appeal
      • Step outside the textbook: Tell a story
      • Repost: Novice description with Jengibre and Pin Pon
      • Interpersonal communication by choice
    •  April (11)
      • Novice speaking: Describing self with Sie7e
      • Can you control vocabulary?
      • Activities from authentic resources: Future tense
      • Why I love mistakes
      • Maternity leave!
      • Lots of your class gone? Pick up a book.
      • Abandon the multiple-choice question
      • Songs for future tense
      • I choose béisbol: sample "homework" report
      • 300 times thank you
      • Reporting like kindergarten
    •  March (11)
      • Training in circumlocution: Ban the dictionary
      • Fun activity #9: A leer
      • Last tips on avoiding burnout
      • Cortometraje for narration
      • Make developing curriculum even easier
      • Even more tips on avoiding burnout
      • Authentic resource: trivia games
      • Still more tips on avoiding burnout
      • Two more ways to ease into developing curriculum
      • Song, irregular present, part 3: Carmelina
      • More tips on avoiding burnout
    •  February (10)
      • Intermediate news activity for all three modes
      • Easing into developing curriculum
      • If you don't pay attention to comprehensibility...
      • Burning out or burning bright?
      • Keeping the class engaged: Change activities
      • Fun activity #8: A cantar
      • Twitter/relationships activity, just in time for Valentine's
      • Tech tools gone wrong
      • Grading regular free-topic writing
      • Add more music to homework choices
    •  January (9)
      • Spot-checking conversations
      • Song, irregular present, part 2: Hace tiempo
      • Four habits that enrich vocabulary
      • Paragraph form
      • Myths 8 & 9: I don't do it because they can't handle it.
      • Assigning homework
      • Song, irregular present, part 1: Sigo con ella
      • More choice every day
      • A novice cross-curricular activity from authentic materials
  •  2012 (39)
    •  December (2)
      • 5 New Year's resolutions for every WL teacher
      • It pays to have a focus
    •  October (2)
      • Best and worst games I've seen
      • Example: authentic text for novices
    •  September (7)
      • Success with Stations
      • More student choice in homework
      • Prezi: The Choice is Theirs (KWLA 2012)
      • Prezi: Kick the Vocab Quiz (KWLA 2012)
      • Take the leap to standards-based assessment
      • Fun activity #7: Conecta cuatro
      • A song for feelings
    •  August (11)
      • Screencast: Edmodo
      • Myth #7: Spanish Mike is a taco.
      • A study in motivation, part 2: Self-assessing abilities
      • It's my blogiversary - but you get the gift
      • Menus
      • Reading guides: Cajas de cartón & Esperanza renace
      • A re-post for your first days back: Abecedario
      • Screencast: Finding authentic sources for prompts
      • Maintaining personal proficiency
      • Ideas for the first days of school
      • AP redesign: Units & EQ's
    •  July (9)
      • A study in motivation
      • Advice for teachers in training
      • More uses for Amor de mi tierra
      • Book review: The Talent Code
      • Songs for 'duele'
      • The Case for Commands
      • Got idioms?
      • Like Musicuentos? Like it on Facebook.
      • Very short times with very young kids
    •  June (1)
      • 5...4...3...2...1... LAUNCH!
    •  March (4)
      • Another change: Survey says...
      • Design your own final exam
      • What I'm changing this week
      • Repost for CSC12: Increasing target language
    •  February (1)
      • A storytelling success story
    •  January (2)
      • Not going to ACTFL again, but for the best reason ever
      • Free Ebook for WL educators
  •  2011 (57)
    •  November (1)
      • Dear novice-learner teacher - love, an AP teacher
    •  October (3)
      • Learning from #langchat
      • Not your average health unit
      • Presentation: Target Language: Expect More, Say Less
    •  September (6)
      • Spanish 3 assessment documents
      • For KWLA 2011: Media from Reel to Real
      • Accuracy vs. proficiency: an illustration
      • Fun activity #6: A escribir
      • App review: Tour Wrist
      • Myth #6: Memorizing vocabulary
    •  August (5)
      • Trending topic = authentic comprehensible input
      • Got the rubric!
      • New year, new units, new assessments
      • Jumping on the Animoto bandwagon
      • Rethinking "late" work
    •  July (1)
      • A song made for early Spanish 1
    •  June (9)
      • Proficiency & tacos
      • Proficiency levels shouldn't be a secret
      • Flipbook illustration
      • Ethics in the language class - we aren't their parents
      • Activity #5: Gira la botella
      • Symbol Illustration
      • Connecting your classroom
      • Myth #5: The textbook is all I need
      • Taking paperless to the blog
    •  May (2)
      • Combat the 'este tiempo' monster
      • Children's DVD giveaway!
    •  April (6)
      • Activity #4: Drama Inmóvil
      • Myth #4: The Time Whine
      • Have you used PhotoPeach?
      • The myths aren't going to ACTFL
      • Fun activity #3: ¡Arriésgate!
      • Fun activity #2: A conversar
    •  March (3)
      • Dismantling Myths 2 and 3: Learning about language and its cousin, Grammatical Terms
      • Activity 1: Cuento poco a poco
      • (Trying to) Make learning fun
    •  February (10)
      • Two new options for out-of-class fluency
      • Great resource from la Sra. Birch
      • Dismantling Myth #1: What's a qualified teacher?
      • Keep singing: 189 pages of Spanish lyrics
      • #Charlando para aprender
      • Vote for this week's #langchat topic
      • It's time for them to use their time
      • For tonight's #langchat: A game for description
      • Short listening activity tailor-made for beginners
      • Ciudad de las bestias: Guides public & streamlined
    •  January (11)
      • Instead of the vocab quiz
      • Best songs for stem changing irreg. present
      • Do something drastic - kick the vocab quiz
      • Topic for #LangChat 1/27
      • Topic for the first #LangChat 1/20
      • Low-level learners can't understand authentic media, what?
      • They can't speak, and it's our fault: Dismantling the myths
      • Don't teach a health unit without this song
      • New: A language teachers' weekly chat on Twitter - choose our first topic!
      • Since I stopped teaching to the [AP] test
      • Faith and Culture: help me decide our AP topic
  •  2010 (38)
    •  December (4)
      • 9 ways to increase students' TL use
      • I love collaboration
      • The problem with translation (from a student)
      • Why music is more powerful than anything (& how to use it)
    •  November (2)
      • iPad giveaway!
      • A collaborative project for our Spanish-teacher PLN
    •  October (2)
      • And the winner is...
      • In the spirit of open source: Ciudad de las bestias
    •  September (10)
      • Books recommended as 'easy'
      • Pure present tense & at least 22 repetitions of 'ya no'
      • For a conference attendee: resources in math
      • Searching BBC Mundo
      • Prompts with Power: writing/speaking prompts
      • Prompts with Power: Prezi
      • Prompts with Power: German & French resources
      • Prompts with Power: Dating in high school
      • KWLA Presentation: PLN-ology
      • Tweet with double objects
    •  August (6)
      • Interactive comic creator using Maya & Miguel
      • Ads of the World | Creative Advertising Archive & Community
      • Added some great new links
      • First 12 days of Spanish 1
      • My supply list
      • Scope & sequence, word list for Spanish 1
    •  July (4)
      • 5 tips for increasing (your own) target language use
      • A warm-up from @samocamila: por vs. para
      • Camila's all on board! (well, on Twitter)
      • Getting vocabulary from a tweet
    •  April (3)
      • Huge toy giveaway from SpanglishBaby
      • A case for avoiding "pet" grammar
      • Authentic audio with future tense
    •  March (2)
      • Interesting blog post about iPod as language lab
      • News article: appeal + subjunctive for influence
    •  January (5)
      • A high-interest exercise for imperfect/pasado continuo
      • A song with 17 verbs in past subjunctive
      • My corporate Spanish links, all in one place
      • "Adora la Exploradora"-the week we didn't feel like a boring past-tense review
      • My level 1 and 2 stories (for Bethanie, and whomever else)
  •  2009 (80)
    •  December (2)
      • A song with 37 repetitions of "más que"
      • Switch to a communicative set-up
    •  November (10)
      • Print & audio sources for AP synthesis essay re: efficient energy
      • Two songs for voy + a + infinitive
      • A case for free-topic blogging
      • It's 19 de noviembre!
      • Camila's new single: "Mientes" (release date 11/24!)
      • A case for pleasure reading
      • Noviembre - a popular month for songs
      • Zachary Jones's "Clozeline"
      • Two songs + resources for Ojalá + subjunctive
      • A song just for @mamitati
    •  October (13)
      • You can't buy this in a textbook
      • Cultural connections: Four songs to explore using Google Earth
      • David Bisbal's YouTube channel
      • Correction on Pin Pon in Shrek
      • Four songs for contrasting que & lo que
      • Nominados en la 10a entrega de los Latin Grammy
      • Story and songs for subjunctive: indefinite/negative antecedent
      • AP sythesis essay sources: Los indocumentados y el sistema de salud
      • Blog that does what I do, only better
      • My October playlist
      • We must not ignore the Paz Sin Fronteras (video)
      • Build your perfect tenis (en español)
      • Video with por, haber, past participles, commands, from Coca Cola
    •  September (10)
      • Latin Grammy website gets a cool makeover... and nominations!
      • Songs for the elusive 3rd pers. sing. preterite
      • I just made my first Yodio
      • KWLA Fall 09 Conference presentation
      • Found Juanes on Twitter
      • For you French teachers
      • Bilingual toy giveaway, gracias a @mamitati
      • Keeping your eyes open for gold nuggets
      • CNN launches Latino in America
      • Bob Esponja on Mundonick
    •  August (4)
      • A correction on the correction of La Frase Tonta
      • I am in technology heaven
      • An AP oral presentation, with past tense: "Consecuencias"
      • I love crossover songs
    •  July (2)
      • Raimundo, the bilingual Latin American snail
      • A song for object/refl pronoun 'te'
    •  June (6)
      • A song for your hip-hop fans
      • Developing world citizens
      • Follow me on Twitter
      • Aquí Estoy Yo: video oficial
      • A new group on my radar
      • Two months later, back to the blogosphere (with a companion)
    •  April (5)
      • A most fantastic performance at Premio Lo Nuestro
      • The heroes speak Español
      • A brilliant pair of songs contrasting por/para
      • Useless grammar I used to teach
      • Adding some links--check 'em out
    •  March (7)
      • Negative commands + culture
      • Winds of change
      • Our students aren't the only ones who have speaking problems!
      • Activity: News interaction (present perfect)
      • A new smash hit with a subjunctive benefit
      • A shout out for Jacob & Joshua
      • El campesino y la princesa (a Spanish 3 story test, with a bit of subjunctive)
    •  February (15)
      • More interactive websites, courtesy of my students
      • A product I love
      • Good stories for commands
      • a story for imperf. vs. pret. and subjunctive influence
      • Interactive websites: practicing house/location/color vocab
      • Subjunctive for doubt: Story, song, activity
      • A good story for 'tiene'
      • A song for subjunctive/nosotros commands
      • A story for demonstratives
      • Rules in a communicative class
      • Cause and effect
      • Relating everything to English
      • A correction on La Frase Tonta
      • Equipping and informing, for free
      • A project based on motivation
    •  January (6)
      • "How much is estuvo de pie?"
      • One more song for subjunctive
      • A couple more subjunctive songs
      • An example of vocab
      • Internet scavenger hunts
      • A Spanish 2 story test
  •  2008 (51)
    •  December (7)
      • Videos from Jesús Adrian Romero
      • Alex Campos's YouTube channel
      • A story test
      • A video for Navidad
      • Great new song for subjunctive
      • ¡Nueva música!
      • A fantastic blog post
    •  November (14)
      • Ever heard of Patito feo?
      • Two groups you just can't go wrong with
      • Things to be thankful for
      • Grammar learning vs. acquisition
      • Forced to give grammar tests?
      • High aptitude is a beautiful thing
      • Another Spanish 1 reading
      • New media list!
      • At the ACSI conference in Dayton
      • Story success: Huevos verdes con jamón
      • Another story source!
      • Words we don't use
      • Song success: Hace tiempo
      • El carro de sus sueños
    •  October (12)
      • Overgeneralizing, again
      • Spanish 2 Story: La llama se llama...
      • Song success: Me voy
      • Not posting lately
      • overgeneralizing
      • The outcome of Pin Pon
      • Pin Pon in Shrek?
      • Best practices
      • Reading in Spanish 3
      • SCORE!
      • My media list
      • Awesome YouTube video
    •  September (18)
      • KWLA '08: Assessing comprehension without English
      • Song success: La llave de mi corazón
      • Spanish 1 Story: Insectos grises para el almuerzo
      • Finding stories
      • How do I find the music?
      • Modeling the billingual lexicon
      • Summaries of some classroom SLA articles
      • Love/Hate Krashen
      • Another article that rocked my world
      • More sunshine
      • When it's not all coming up roses
      • What on earth is going on here?
      • So, what are the cuentos?
      • The verdict on pop test 1
      • People I love
      • A pop test
      • Some assumptions
      • Starting to share my journey

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