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Asían refugees is in California's Orange County.
Schools in this area have risen to the challenge of
catering for the influx of hundreds of non-English–
speaking students. Principal of the Spurgeon lnter–
mediate School in Santa Ana, Dan Salcedo, invited
me to talk with sorne of the refugee s tudents at his
school.
Huyen is a shy little eighth grader. She has only
been in Santa Ana for eight months. Her parents
and most of her family are still in Vietnam. Mr.
Salcedo showed me the beautifully written story of
her escape- the horrors of the boat ride, attacks by
pirates, the uncertainty of the months in the refugee
camp. Without her parents, cast up in a strange land,
one would expect Huyen Bui to be an emotiona l
basket case- and an underachiever. S he is not. She
is quiet, respectful and composed. OccasionaJly she
looked to a Vietnamese teacher for help in under–
standing, but considering she has been in America
for only e ight months, her grasp of English was
incred ible.
Tu-quyen Nguyen has been in America for two and
one-half years. She is fortunate-both her parents are
here too. When she arrived, she spoke only Vietnam–
ese. But now the 14-year-old eighth grader conversed
with me in fluent , rapid-fire clipped English. Tu–
quyen was excited. She had learned sorne things about
Eins tein's theories of relativity, and she wanted to
share them with me.
Hang Lor is also an eighth grader. He is Cambo–
d ian, and before he entered the seventh grade of Spur–
geon lntermediate, two years ago, he had not been
inside a classroom in bis life. Today Hang speaks
articulate, grammatically correct English. His goal is
to be a doctor.
Little Sisouvanthong is Laotian. She and her family
escaped from their homeland just more than two years
ago. But like the others, Sisouvanthong speaks clear,
logical, fluent English and is one of the top students in
the school.
Mouaphoua and Mouatheng are cousins. Their par–
ents are Hmong tribesmen. Before leaving their bornes
in the mountains of Laos, these youngsters received no
formal education whatsoever. But after only a few
months at Spurgeon Intermediate they are more than
holding their own.
All these young people are above average academi–
cally for their grades. They have exceeded aJl expecta–
tions. Yet, with possibly one exception, they are not
above average in brilliance. How is it then that they,
and thousands like them, have come so far, so fast, in a
school system that is criticized for turning out inferior
products?
l asked these young people what they liked, and
what they did not like, about American schools. Their
answers are revealing. All the children, without excep–
tion, had nothing but praise for their school and their
teachers. They aH agreed vociferously that what they
appreciated most in the classroom was the freedom.
They didn't mean political freedom- mos t are too
young to understand the nuances of that. But, in
America, they explained, the students are free to talk
32
to the teacher, to ask questions a nd to discuss the
subject matter.
Khamchong Luangprasuet , supervisor of the lndo–
chinese Program for the Santa Ana School District,
explained that the youngsters have not met anyone
quite like thei r American teachers. In a traditionaJ
Asian teaching situation, the teacher, not the s tu–
dent, is the most important person. He is an auto–
c ratic figure, whose word is law,
never
to be ques–
tioned. He is to be looked up to by s tudents
and
their parents. He is the master, the guru, but rarely
a friend. Much learning in Asían schools is done by
rote. The s tudents have to concentrate. The emphasis
is on memorization, rather than unders tanding. But
teaching
with unders tanding,
according to Mr.
Khamchong, is the American schools' great strength.
lnformation is presented in an interesting way. Lat–
eral thinking is encouraged . All the young Asians
said that they really appreciated their teachers ' con–
cero· for them as individuals.
Did tbey like the school? They Ioved it. So clean.
Plenty of books. A libra ry. Do they have to study too
hard? No. Is there too muc h homework? N o-if you
want to learn you have to study, they said . And the
teachers will always help you learn more.
So what, 1 asked them,
don't
you like about your
American schools?
Once again the answer was almost unammous.
Somctimes tbe otber students won't let the teacher
teach. They make noises in class or won't keep stil l.
They don' t like todo their homework and don' t seem
to be interested in their lessons.
These youngsters have shown Americans something
about their schools that we would do well to heed .
It
is easy to blame the schools and teachers for a
young person's poor performance.
lt is true
that not all
teachers are competent {although
most
are, given a
chance).
l t is true
that much time has been wasted
fooling around with academically irrelevant courses
that are entertaining but offer nothing of substance.
American educators are beginning to awaken to this.
There is a move to get back to basics.
lt
is also true that schools are too often hamst rung
by regulations and administrators that protect the
incompetent and give sanctuary to the inept.
But in those same schools, refugee children have, in
general, done well.
Their teachers say they are a joy to teach. They are
poli te, they listen and they do their homework. Stu–
dents like this give teachers sorne hope.
To be a high school teache r in America or Europe
can be a thankless task. Day after day, you may have
to stand in front of a group of unmotivated, turned–
off, supercilious, belligerent adolescents who aren't
interested, don't like you and have no desire to learn .
Dare to discipline them, and you r isk a beating up
after school (or having your morning coffee laced
with acid, as happened to a teacher in Britain not
long ago).
As one high school teacher told me recently, " It is
said that we leave tbe profession because the pay is not
good enough. But most of
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The
PLAIN TRUTH