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I and inquiring about cultural identity did I learn some-thing so essential to Jayden’s identity: his name.

This experience made me wonder how I could further enrich the curriculum to help students feel a sense of belonging in the classroom. While I had already planned to share texts focused on cultural conflict, I feared that simply having students read short stories and write about them would not ade-quately require grappling with cultural diversity within themselves, in our classroom community, and in the broader community. I wondered what the students and I could learn about how our lives are shaped by cultural experiences if we not only focused on reading global texts but also moved toward telling our own stories and, further, toward inquiring about the experiences of others.

I found that student engagement in a series of culturally relevant and multimodal literacy- building activities, involving reading, drawing, questioning, discussing, and writing, supported their growth as “cosmopolitan intellectuals” (Campano and Ghiso 175). Often, when we focus on finding ways to incorporate students’ outside- of- school lives into the curriculum, students are reporting out on their own experiences or storytelling (Torrez et al. 44). Rarely do we as teachers ask students to cross the invisible social borders that exist within classroom spaces and interact with peers around topics such as cultural identities and conflict. These are the “sociocivic skills” (Gay 21) students need for effective member-ship in multicultural communities and important

n preparation for my next class to arrive, I prop my classroom door open. Just as the bell rings, I receive an alert on my phone from The New York Times, saying that the US president

has ordered 5,200 troops be sent to the southern US border to prevent a caravan of families from Honduras from entering the country (Shear and Gibbons- Neff). I greet each student as they enter the room: “Good morning, Noemi. Welcome back, Hideo. Good morning, Chris.” (Student names are pseudonyms.)

I pause when I see Jayden, protected by his mas-sive headphones, which are held together at the top with masking tape.

“Good morning, Jayden,” I say, as he pulls the headphones around his neck. “Or, should I call you Emilio?” The previous day Jayden had mysteriously signed an unfamiliar name at the top of his page.

“You can call me Emilio,” he replies with a grin. “That is what my family calls me at home. This is what I was called in Honduras.”

“Just like Santha in the story we read?”“Yes, I thought of it when we read the story.”

Jayden’s grin grows into a proud smile.Before this, I thought I knew Jayden. He was a

student who showed up in my classroom to talk during my lunch period. Jayden shared the poetry he wrote on his cell phone with me. Jayden confided in me when he was struggling with other students or teachers. Yet, not until the curriculum introduced texts and activities that specifically focused on examining

When a teacher encouraged discussions

of individual cultural identities, she found that

student relationships in her classroom grew

more complex.

Cosmopolitan Conversations in a Multicultural and Multilingual Classroom

DEIRDRE FAugHEY

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students can grow as “cosmopolitan intellectuals” (Campano and Ghiso 175).

As DeJaynes argues, students can spend signifi-cant amounts of time with their classmates and still know little about one another (48). With this exam-ple, I emphasize not only the value of the opportu-nity for students to connect across difference but also the challenges presented by such an effort. I further emphasize the value of this work by calling attention to the ways in which my reconceptualization of the classroom helped me to see my teaching role as one of a cosmopolitan intellectual as well.

TEXT- TO- SELF CONNECTIONSThe short story that inspired Jayden to share his family name with me was called “By Any Other Name,” by Santha Rama Rau. In this story, set in India, two young girls are sent to what is called an Anglo- Indian day school. On arrival at their new school, the girls are asked to change their names:

The headmistress had been in India, I suppose, fif-teen years or so, but she still smiled at her helpless inability to cope with Indian names. Her rimless half- glasses glittered, and the precarious bun on the top of her head trembled as she shook her head. “Oh, my dears, those are much too hard for me. Suppose we give you pretty English names. Wouldn’t that be jolly?” (20)

This excerpt illustrates the cultural conflict the girls in the story experience in their new school. To fur-ther illustrate and discuss what was happening in this scene, I modelled a text- to- self connection by using my family as an example for the students. My mother moved from Ireland to the United States in 1966 and was also urged by her teacher to change her name, so that it fit better with the culture of her new country. While she was called Cait (pronounced Caught) in Ireland, she changed her name to Cathy to sound more American.

Similarly, her brother was known as Liam in Ire-land but became known as Bill here. My mother and her siblings were also given speech therapy to remove their Irish brogues (accents). This evolved into a class discussion about names and the students discussed my first name, Deirdre. Many of the students were

goals for culturally responsive pedagogy (Gay). In this article, I argue that when students engage in what Ninni Wahlström calls “cosmopolitan oriented conversations” (45), or opportunities to reflect on one’s life by taking an interest in the life of another, they develop a greater sense of belonging in the English language arts (ELA) classroom and explore their identities.

In this unit, some students began to emerge from their protective or defensive shells and meet a num-ber of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)/International Literacy Association Stan-dards, especially those that focus on reading texts to build understanding of diverse cultures: reading to understand human experience (Standard 2), drawing on interactions with others and prior knowledge to analyze texts (Standard 3), creating nonprint texts (Standard 6), and generating questions and synthe-sizing data from a variety of sources (Standard 7).

COSMOPOLITANISMI share the results of a project I developed with a diverse group of eighteen students in one tenth- grade ELA class in the fall of 2018. Three of the stu-dents are from Honduras, one is from Taiwan, and one is from Japan. The other students are primarily English speakers, with the exception of two students whose first language is Spanish but who are now proficient in English. Three students in the room also have individualized education plans (IEPs) for learning disabilities. Many struggle with attendance; the majority say they hate reading and school in gen-eral. Yet by making an effort to get to know each other, we have developed a wonderful rapport.

Cosmopolitan theory emphasizes the idea of global citizenship as a form of moral responsibil-ity toward humanity. Educational researchers such as Gerald Campano and Maria Paula Ghiso (175), Lalitha Vasudevan (64), Tiffany DeJaynes (48), and Wahlström (32) have argued that when educators value student diversity as a kind of superpower, stu-dents can find unprecedented ways to build on their experiences with difference and their knowledge of others, to cultivate belonging in the classroom. I build on the ideas of these scholars to show how

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found: Depression and Other Magic Tricks by Sabrina Benaim. (Later, Karla told me that the Benaim collec-tion was special to her, because she felt that it showed exactly what she was going through at the time.)

The girls began telling me stories of life at home and at school. As the four of us stood casually in a cir-cle, I learned about their communication frustrations with parents and siblings. The story that stood out the most, however, was about their frustration with stu-dents at school who, as they saw it, were “pretending to be so American.” These students, they said, would be in their Spanish- language class and pretend not to know how to speak Spanish, but then they would be able to pronounce the Spanish words perfectly. The girls laughed, saying that they could not understand people who could speak two languages, but would pretend to only be able to speak one.

“Come on, I know your parents don’t speak English!” Noemi exclaimed.

This moment gave me new insight into the student community and taught me more about the dynamics between students in my classroom. When I analyze this interaction using the lens of “multi-modal cosmopolitanism” (Vasudevan 50), I pay close attention to our modes of communication— the ways in which our stance in a circle, our laughter, and our storytelling about shared experiences help us to develop what Audrey Osler and Hugh Starkey highlight as a form of “cosmopolitan citizenship” (246), or a space where citizenship as members of a community is a given, rather than a benchmark.

JUXTAPOSITION AND IDENTITYAfter reading “By Any Other Name,” a story about cultural conflict that can occur at school, we exam-ined a painting that showed how cultural conflict can exist within ourselves: Self- Portrait on the Border between México and the United States by Frida Kahlo. In this portrait, Kahlo is standing on the border between Mexico and the United States. Parts of her figure in the composition are linked to each coun-try and the juxtaposition between the two countries/identities reinforces the intersectionality of her iden-tity. I invited the students to respond to this art by creating their own multimodal self- portraits, using

unfamiliar with my name; we spoke about how the “rdr” sound in the middle of my name does not really exist in some languages, making it difficult for some people to pronounce.

I shared my family history to provide the stu-dents with a model for their thinking and as a way of showing that our “cosmopolitan oriented conver-sation” (Wahlström 45) was ongoing. By sharing, I signaled to students that they could also share their stories. In another example, I shared that my family emigrated from Ireland. My grandfather came first,

then my grandmother with the three young-est children; then two more children were sent for every year until all nine children

were brought to the United States and the family was reunited. Telling this story sparked a connection with Noemi, who explained to me privately after-ward that she was concerned about her brother, who was behaving differently since reuniting with their parents in New York a few years ago after emigrating from Honduras. At the end of the day, a group of three girls from Honduras was waiting for me in my classroom: Noemi; Karla, whom I had as a student the year before; and Emely, whom I didn’t know.

“¡Hola, Señora!” Noemi greeted me with a smile as she came in to get a copy of a book she wanted to read: I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez. Noemi had begun speaking to me in Spanish, since she knew that I wanted to learn the language.

“Hola, Noemi,” I responded. “¿Cómo estás?” “Bien. ¿Y usted?”“Bien . . . ” I froze, not knowing what to say next.“You are getting better!” Noemi reassured me,

and we laughed. I signaled to Karla that I had a book I wanted to

share with her. Even though Karla was not in my English class,

she was in my study hall, and I used the time to share books and articles with her. Karla told me that she was struggling with depression and her mother did not understand. I gave her a copy of a new poetry book I

By sharing, I signaled to students that they could also

share their stories.

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the concept of juxtaposition to show some aspect of their cultural identity.

Some students seemed to have no trouble diving into this project, but I circulated the room to sup-port students who struggled to think about how to show their cultural identity. One student, Joseph, said, “This is impossible!”

As I walked toward him to ask why, he contin-ued, “How can I show a culture that I know nothing about?” Joseph explained that his father is Jewish, and he is close with his father’s family and celebrates their holidays and traditions; however, his mother is Filipino and he knows little about her background or culture.

Noemi drew a two- sided person who was half- native Indian and half what she called Español (see Figure 1). She explained to me that she wanted to

draw the same crown over the divided figure to show that they are both kings, thereby using the concept of juxtaposition to compare and contrast two identi-ties, while also using the crown as a symbol to convey meaning.

Liz represented herself as divided between Amer-ican, Peruvian, and Honduran identities (see Fig-ure 2). This is significant because while I have known Liz for over a year now, we have never discussed her cultural heritage. With this activity, we began what Wahlström calls a “cosmopolitan oriented conversa-tion” (45), in that the students were sharing unique cultural identities in meaningful engagements. Fur-ther, the students demonstrated their understanding of the concepts of juxtaposition and cultural identity, and they communicated their understanding using visual literacy skills.

FIGURE 1.

Noemi’s self- portrait used symbolism and imagery to convey the juxtaposed identities.

FIGURE 2.

liz’s self- portrait represents herself as divided among three identities.

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INTERVIEWSAfter reading about human experiences with cul-tural conflict and exploring the concept of juxta-position to understand cultural identity, I invited the students to formally interview a classmate to learn more about life experiences that shape cul-tural identity. I explained that they would use what they learned in the interview to write a reflection in which they compared their own experience to that of their interviewee (see Figure 3). Right away, students

began to eye each other and make plans; however, a few students requested to interview people outside of the room. Joseph wanted to interview his mother because doing the self- portrait made him realize that he did not know much about her culture. Jessica wanted to interview Claudia, a senior, because she was a close friend, but they had never spoken about their cultural background.

Before conducting the interviews, I asked stu-dents to develop a list of ten questions that would serve as a protocol for their conversations. Through conferencing and with a shared bank of questions, students developed unique lists. Some students drew questions from those provided, but many developed their own questions for deeper inquiry (see Figure 4).

As the students shared their interview pro-tocols with me, I opened the door to the hallway and allowed partners to use the space outside of the classroom to record their interviews. I found myself darting back and forth across the classroom thresh-old so that I could keep the conversations in the hallway within sight and still check in with those working in the classroom. When complete, the students uploaded their recordings to our Google Classroom site. The recordings, combined with the written reflections the students shared afterward, allowed them to understand each other as unique members of the classroom community. The inter-views also demonstrated that they could partici-pate in a collaborative discussion with a partner on a complex topic, as indicated in Next Genera-tion Speaking and Listening Standards (9- 10SL1). Moreover, they practiced a cosmopolitan oriented conversation.

Some students shared that the conversations helped them find ways in which they were similar to their classmates. For instance, Michael learned that Carlos was born and raised in the same town as he was, but in a Spanish- speaking household. Kwame Anthony Appiah argues that these are the types of cosmopolitan conversations we need to embrace because they hold the potential to bridge bound-aries (78). Further, these conversations can be sites for “ongoing reflection and discovery about the self

Investigating Cultural Identity

In this unit, we have been learning about cultural identity and looking at several examples of artwork and writing that have been influenced by the author’s cultural identity. Now, you will deepen your learning by taking what you know about cultural identity and use it to investigate the real world.

Part I: Interview

You are going to conduct an interview with someone about their cultural identity. It might help to think of someone who has moved in their lifetime, to a place where the culture is different.

You will need to:

• Create an interview “protocol,” or a list of questions that you will ask this person.

• Have your interview protocol signed by (the teacher).

• Record the interview on your phone. Share this recording with your teacher on google Classroom.

Part II:  Reflection

You will write a reflection in which you share what you learned while conducting your interview.

• What did you learn about your interviewee’s cultural background?

• How does the interviewee’s background compare with your own?

• In what ways have you both experienced cultural conflict (if at all)?

• How might you use a particular cultural element (food, language, clothing, etc.) as a metaphor or central idea to focus your essay?

FIGURE 3.

Instructions for the classmate interviews and written reflection were prepared for the students.

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gandules, and other stuff. I love these foods. I literally eat them every day”), who traditionally cooks them (“My parents cook them, but I help”), and the music associated with his culture (“A lot of Salsa!”). When Mateo asked Brian similar questions, he didn’t have much to say. Brian is of Irish and Italian descent, and he is of the second generation in his family to be born in the United States. Mateo asked him if he felt a connection to these countries (“Um, no, not really, but for the most part, yeah, I guess”). Brian had so little to say about his cultural identity that the two boys began to laugh about it.

Wahlström might call this interaction a moment with “potentiality” (45); it introduces a possibility for an unknown and unpredictable encounter. Fur-ther, Glynda A. Hull et al. might notice the “micro- moment” (349) of meaning- making across differ-ences to be found in embodied forms of interaction such as laughter, physicality, and physical proximity.

For Mateo, this short interview prompted him to consider ways in which a friendship could exist between people who are different: “We’re basically nothing alike and we’re friends.” These interactions create opportunities for students to grow as cosmo-politan intellectuals while simultaneously reinforcing listening and speaking skills and an understanding of multiple perspectives from different cultures.

The conversation between Noemi and Amy proved a bit more complex because while the other students were describing cultural identities handed down from grandparents and parents who were born in other countries, the conversations between stu-dents who immigrated to the United States them-selves showed that they are still trying to understand the cultural differences that they are experiencing every day. For example, Noemi and Amy are both expanding- level multilingual students who are in most of their classes together; Noemi refers to Amy as the “kindest person she has met,” and Amy refers to Noemi as her “best friend in the school.” Noemi is from Honduras and came to this country when she was about twelve. Amy was born in the United States but was then sent back to Taiwan to be raised by her grandparents. Amy returned a few years ago.

and the world” (Vasudevan 55). This was evident in Michael’s reflective essay when he highlighted the connections: “Our grandmas and moms make the most delicious food. His family makes tacos, enchila-das, and burritos. My family makes fresh pasta sauce, lasagna, and meatballs.”

While Michael found that he and Carlos had similarities in their background, in another inter-view Mateo struggled to find a connection with his partner Brian. Brian asked Mateo about the types of foods he eats (“Rice, beans, steak, fried plantains,

Interview Questions

 1.  Do you have any family members who immigrated here? What parts of the world are they from?

 2.  Is your cultural identity a “big deal” to you? Can you elaborate on that more?

 3.  Did you interest yourself in your cultural identity or did your parents push it on you?

 4.  Would you say your grandparents and extended family are more into the culture than you are?

 5.  What was it like for you moving to a new country?

 6.  Did moving to a new country affect your cultural identity?

 7.  Do you ever feel disconnected from your culture?

 8.  Why is culture so important to you?

 9.  Do you dislike other countries’ music or food?

10.  How do you feel when people celebrate holidays that you don’t?

11.  What do you think about my culture?

12.  Does it feel the same to do all of the things you used to do in your country? like celebrating holidays?

13.  Does your name identify your culture?

14.  Do you think that your culture is better than other ones?

15.  If someone asked you to pick your culture or your religion, which one would you pick?

FIGURE 4.

The students generated questions to learn more about the cultural identities of their classmates.

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cultural awareness. This learning is also key to understanding works of literature and vital to under-standing our beautifully diverse and ever- changing US and global society. As teachers, we need to rec-ognize the cosmopolitan nature of our classrooms and begin to rethink our professional development as a process of becoming cosmopolitan intellectuals as well.

WORKS CITED

Appiah, Kwame Anthony. Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers. Norton, 2006.

Benaim, Sabrina. Depression and Other Magic Tricks. Button Poetry, 2017.

Campano, Gerald, and Maria Paula Ghiso. “Immigrant Students as Cosmopolitan Intellectuals.” Handbook of Research on Children’s and Young Adult Literature, edited by Shelby A. Wolf et al., Routledge, 2010, pp. 164– 76.

DeJaynes, Tiffany. “‘What Makes Me Who I Am?’: Using Artifacts as Cosmopolitan Invitations.” English Journal, vol. 108, no. 2, 2018, pp. 48– 54.

Gay, Geneva. Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research and Practice. 2nd ed., Teachers College P, 2010.

Hull, Glynda A., et al. “Cultural Citizenship and Cosmopolitanism Practice: Global Youth Communicate Online.” English Education, vol. 42, no. 4, 2010, pp. 331– 67.

Kahlo, Frida. Self- Portrait on the Border between México and the United States. 1932, The Philadelphia Art Museum, Philadelphia.

“NCTE/ILA Standards for the English Language Arts.” National Council of Teachers of English, 2012, ncte.org/standards /ncte- ira.

Osler, Audrey, and Hugh Starkey. “Learning for Cosmopolitan Citizenship: Theoretical Debates and Young People’s Experiences.” Educational Review, vol. 55, no. 3, 2003, pp. 243– 54.

Rau, Santha Rama. “By Any Other Name.” The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 1951, pp. 26– 28.

Sánchez, Erika L. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2017.

Shear, Michael D., and Thomas Gibbons- Neff. “Trump Sending 5,200 Troops to the Border in an Election Season Response to Migrants.” The New York Times, 29 Oct. 2018, nyti.ms /2CRwsjp.

Torrez, Estrella J., et al. “Comunidad de Cuentistas: Making Space for Indigenous and Latinx Storytellers.” English Journal, vol. 108, no. 3, 2019, pp. 44– 50.

Vasudevan, Lalitha. “Multimodal Cosmopolitanism: Cultivating Belonging in Everyday Moments with Youth.” Curriculum Inquiry, vol. 44, no. 1, 2014, pp. 45– 67.

Wahlström, Ninni. “Cosmpolitanism as Communication? On Conditions for Educational Conversations in a Globalized Society.” Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, vol. 60, no. 1, 2016, pp. 32– 47.

The girls conducted their interview at a desk I placed in the hallway for them and, as they spoke, I heard laughter. However, afterward, when I asked Noemi about the interview, she said that the experience made her think differently about her friend. Noemi had asked, “Do you think that your culture is better than other ones?”

Amy replied, “Yes.” From the audio record-ing, I could tell that Noemi was surprised by Amy’s response.

Noemi shared in her written reflection: “Some-thing that did surprise me was that way that she thought about others culture. I don’t mean like insulting others, but thinking that her culture was better than others, that was really surprising. . . . I just had to take that feeling with me.”

While I don’t think Amy intended for her response to be hurtful to Noemi, it clearly was.

When Amy interviewed Noemi, she asked her if she was proud of her cultural identity.

Noemi replied, “I will say I feel proud of my cul-ture. I won’t say I feel proud about how other people act about my culture.”

Noemi’s words told me something about what was on her mind when she was asking Amy questions and analyzing her responses: Noemi was looking for support and understanding from Amy, but I’m not sure that Amy really understood that she needed to provide Noemi support, or that Noemi might have felt that she was not being supportive. Perhaps due to differences in language and beliefs about culture itself, the relationship between the two girls became more complex. Yet, in this complexity there is also the opportunity for individuals to “get used” to one another; understanding does not require that we come to agreement (Appiah 78).

REFLECTIONThis unit taught me more about the students in my classroom. It also showed me that to welcome my students as complete individuals, I need to do more than greet them at the doorway with a smil-ing face. Classroom experiences that promote inter-action and inquiry between students and teachers can help students build relationships and develop

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READWRITETHINKCONNECTION Lisa Storm Fink, RWT

There are lots of sayings about names, and most of them are at best only partially true. In this lesson, students investigate the meanings and origins of their names to establish their own personal histories and to explore cultural significance of naming traditions. Students begin by writing down everything they know about their own names, and then the teacher shares details about his or her own name story. Next, students use an online tool to research their own or someone else’s name and share their findings with the class. Finally, students write about their own names, using a passage from Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street as a model. http://bit.ly/2ahWQTk

DEIRDRE FAugHEY is an English teacher at Oyster Bay High School in Oyster Bay, New York, and completed her doctorate in Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College Columbia University in 2017. She has been a member of NCTE since 2005 and can be reached at dfaughey@gmail.com.

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