Jumping

the
Barrier
By Grant, Kane, Rachelle and Tanya.

Praz Bala and his family lived in Sri Lanka.

They were a very wealthy and influential family, with a beautiful home, surrounded by many fine
and expensive things.

Praz was often in trouble for playing soccer inside, he always managed to break one of his
mothers expensive trinkets.

The house was always full of people, and there was always someone for Praz to talk to or play
soccer with.
Prazs best friend was a boy from his school, they loved to play together.

One day some bad people came, and Praz and his family were forced to flee their home.
They decided to head for Australia where they would be safe from harm.

It was a long and perilous journey, but eventually Praz and his family arrived
safely.

Once safe in Australia, Prazs parents decided he should go to school to meet some new
friends and learn about Australia and the Australian way of life.

On his first day of school, Praz was very nervous, and worried that the other kids would
not like him, as he did not speak their language or look like them.
I cannot eat my breakfast today, Praz exclaimed, There is no room with the butterflies.

When Praz arrived at his new school, everything looked and sounded strange to him.
He could not really understand what anyone was saying, and was scared to ask for help and
directions to class.

In the classroom, the teacher - Miss Osbourne - announced, Class, we have a new student
joining us today. Id like you all to say hello to Praz.
Praz was asked to stand in front of the class and introduce himself. He took some time to
compose himself, but still had great difficulty speaking. Hu, Hullo. My name is Praz. I... I from
Sri Lanka.

All the kids laughed and snickered at him.

Thats enough, thank you everyone! shouted Miss Osbourne.
Praz stared at his feet.

Miss Osbourne then asked, Steve, could you come up the front please? Id like you to be Prazs
buddy, so you can show him where everything is and how it all works around here.

Steve showed Praz around the school during recess. All the while, the other kids
pointed and laughed at Praz.

Dont mind them, said Steve, theyll soon get tired of making fun and find
something else to do, just ignore them.

That night at dinner, Praz told his parents that he hated it here and he wanted to go home.
Everything and everyone was weird and strange. Hed never fit in and never have any friends
or anyone to play soccer with.

I hate it
here! I want
to go home!

I wish you had have taught me to speak English, then I wouldnt have any trouble making
friends! protested Praz.

But Son, you must understand, your language is an important part of who you are and where
youre from. English will come to you in time, his dad replied.
And by that time Ill be old enough to have finished school, without having learned anything or
making any friends! Praz rebutted.

The next day at school, Praz kicked the soccer ball to

himself and did not interact with the others.

I miss Sri Lanka, thought Praz, At least I had

people to play soccer with there.

As he played, Praz noticed the other children gathering around to watch him. He tried not to
let this bother him, but it did. He wanted to tell them to go away, but he didnt, for the fear of
saying the wrong thing.

The others continued to stand around and stare.

Suddenly, his buddy, Steve, appeared and joined Prazs soccer game on the field. The other
students continued to watch the both of them play, and to Prazs surprise, some of them
started to join in the soccer game as well.

He noticed that some other students still kept their distance.

Back in the classroom, Miss Osbourne was teaching the students their mathematics skills
through the topic of graphs. For Praz, this was a topic he hadnt been taught in Sri Lanka and
he was finding it difficult to understand.
Can someone please explain what a pie
graph is? asked Miss Osbourne.
A pie graph is circular and is divided into
sections to show data, explained a
student.
Very good! Thats correct, now lets
move on to the next graph, Miss
Osbourne announced.
The class seemed to be progressing in their graphs topic from how they were confidently
answering the questions, which pleased Miss Osbourne.

But as soon as Miss Osbourne was about to continue the discussion with the class, she
glanced over at Praz and saw a confused look on his face.
Praz, would you like extra time to write
that down? suggested Miss Osbourne.
Um, yes please, said Praz in a shy quiet
voice.
While Praz was writing, he noticed the
other students sighing around him in a
frustrated tone, as they wanted to
continue with the lesson without having to
wait on him. This made Praz feel
embarrassed and annoyed at himself for
not being able to keep up with the rest of
the students.

The school day came to an end, and Miss Osbourne was in her office when another grade 4
teacher came to visit her to speak about Praz, as she knew Miss Osbourne was having issues
with Prazs progress in class.

The grade 4 teacher comforted Miss Osbourne, letting her know she
understood the difficulty she was going through to help Praz, as she
had had past experience with English as a second language (ESL)
students.

English might be the superior language, but the students must know that its not the only
language in the world, discussed Miss Osbourne. She was really concerned. How can I inspire
and encourage the students to empower other cultures and their bilingual skills?

The grade 4 teacher understood Miss Osbournes concern and told her, From
having ESL students in my past classes, I found that incorporating other
cultures into the class by having each student bring in something from their
culture for show and tell will help open the minds of students to appreciate the
different cultures around them to learn new and interesting things...

Miss Osbourne smiled and looked over at the teacher in excitement, thanking her for the
great idea of a culture show and tell. Miss Osbourne was also pleased to tell her that she had
already started a buddy system for Praz, to which the other teacher nodded approvingly.
The other teacher then
suggested to Miss Osbourne to
apply for a Multicultural
Education Aide (MEA) if she was
still having issues with Praz in
class. She confidently explained
this to Miss Osbourne.
The MEA could support Praz by helping communication between the school and Prazs
family, by helping to assist Praz individually or in small groups of students in the class,
and also helping to assist you as a teacher with the development of materials.

That sounds great! beamed Miss Osbourne. From your advice, I think a
parent/teacher interview would be a good idea to help not only support Praz but his
family as well, especially to help assist in Prazs improvement in his school work and his
English, noted Miss Osbourne.

Best of luck! smiled the teacher as she exited Miss Osbournes office.

A parent teacher interview was later arranged after school with Praz, his parents and
Miss Osbourne to speak about Prazs school performance and progress with his English.
Good afternoon, Mr and Mrs Bala, its great to finally meet you, please have a seat, said
Miss Osbourne.
Once seated, Miss Osbourne introduced the school interpreter for Praz and his parents
to join the parent/teacher interview.

Thankyou for joining me this afternoon. I arranged this interview to discuss

Prazs progress with his school work and his development with his English,
explained Miss Osbourne.

While Miss Osbourne spoke, the interpreter would interpret for Prazs parents.
From observing Praz in school, from educationally to socially, I have noticed that he applies
himself continually but has trouble following new topics in subjects and understanding English
terms, which has a big impact on understanding his school work and making new friends,
explained Miss Osbourne.
How can we help Praz improve with his school work? Prazs father asked.

A way to both help improve his school work and English would be to have an English tutor
who is proficient in both languages who can act as a role model and teacher to Praz outside
of school, Miss Osbourne told them.

Miss Osbourne explained that with an English tutor who was fluent in both Sri lankan and English,
Praz would hopefully improve his school work by being taught English and understanding his
school work, while also being around a role model who was proud of their culture and bilingual
skills. This might influence Praz to improve his social skills by becoming more confident. She also
noted to Praz and his parents that even though he was to improve his English, it was still very
important to keep his native language and to always be proud of where he came from.

Miss Osbourne then stopped and smiled at Praz and his parents and asked, Are you okay
with these plans Praz? I only want to help you in anyway possible, implied Miss Osbourne.

Yes, I really want to learn English from a tutor and do better at my school work, Miss
Osbourne, smiled Praz.
He then looked up at his parents and reassured them that this would help him improve his school
work and his English, and being around a tutor with similar interests would influence him
positively. Prazs parents and Miss Osbourne then shook hands and agreed on making these
changes for Praz right away.

The next day, Miss Osbourne decided that it was time to teach her class about the different
cultures of the world.
She asked her class to name another country other than Australia.

Greece, Sarah said confidently.

Korea! Steve shouted out.
Mexico, Tim said, rather hesitantly.
To Miss Osbournes surprise, and delight, Praz put up his hand.

Yes, Praz? Miss Osbourne smiled.

Sri Lanka, Praz said.
Thats right, Miss Osbourne nodded. You are all right. Each country has its own
culture, which makes them different from the other countries.

What about Australia? Tim asked.

Australia has its own culture too, Miss Osbourne explained. But it is also made up of
many different cultures, because many people from different countries live here.
Like Praz, Sarah blurted out. Is Praz different then?

Praz frowned. He knew he was different, but he didnt like it when the others pointed that out.
All he wanted to do was fit in. Miss Osbourne noticed his change in behaviour.

Everybody in this room has a background, and a different culture, which makes us all
different, Miss Osbourne told them. Over the weekend, Id like you to ask your parents
about your background, and on Monday, I want you to bring in something from your culture
for Show and Tell.
Praz knew what he had to do, but had no idea what to bring. He needed to find something
that would not make the others laugh...

On Monday morning, Praz sat nervously amongst his classmates, waiting to see who Miss
Osbourne would call on to share first. Tim volunteered.

He held up a bowl of spaghetti.

My mum told me that her mum is Italian, and thats why she makes the best spaghetti in the
world.

Steve went next. He had brought in a football that he said belonged to his father, who
played professionally. He then passed around some Anzac Biscuits that his mother had
baked.

Sarah was called on next. She passed around a cricket ball that was her grandfathers. She
explained that her father had been born in England, which made her half-English.

Finally, it was Prazs turn. He stood at the front of the class and carefully took out a picture
frame. He took a deep breath.
This is a picture of my family, Praz said. Here is my mother, and my father... He drifted off.
Miss Osbourne nodded at him encouragingly.

Um, this picture

Represents? Miss Osbourne suggested.
Represents...who I am and...my culture, Praz finished.
Miss Osbourne clapped, and the other students soon followed her lead.

Language is also a big part of culture because it is how we communicate with each other and
participate in everyday conversations, Miss Osbourne told her class. You know how you all
do Indonesian as a LOTE subject?
A few students nodded.

Well, by doing LOTE, youre learning a different language to add onto English, Miss
Osbourne explained. With Praz, he already knows another language, and now, he is
learning English.
Do you really know how to speak a different language? Tim turned around and
whispered to Praz.
Praz nodded. Tim looked quite impressed.

When a person can speak more than one language, they are bilingual, Miss Osbourne said.
Why is that important?
Sarah put up her hand. Because, if you go to another country, you can speak their
language...
Yes, thats right, Sarah, Miss Osbourne said. Like I said, language helps us to communicate.
Without it, the world would come to a stop.

She looked around at them all and her eyes landed on Praz.
Help Praz with his English, but dont discourage him from speaking his own
language. You never know, you might learn something new. Miss Osbourne smiled,
Now, onto our first topic for the day...maths.

Last week, we learnt about graphs. Today, I want you to make your own graph about our
favourite sports, Miss Osbourne said. I want you to go around the class and survey your
classmates, asking them what their favourite sport is
As the class went on, Miss
Osbourne noticed that Praz was
more willing to participate in this
class than any other. She had
deliberately incorporated sports
into the lesson to see how hed go,
and he was handling it better than
she thought that he would. She had
a feeling that if she included his
interests into her classes, hed find
them more enjoyable. This maths
lesson proved it.

Praz was indeed enjoying himself. He followed Steve around the class, and discovered
soccer was quite a popular sport. Some of his classmates even asked him to play with
them at lunchtime. That made Praz feel very happy.

I love Australia
now!
Im so happy to be
Australian and Sri
Lankan!

The End.

References

Department of Education, Victoria (2007). The ESL handbook. East Melbourne, Victoria: Multicultural Programs Learning.
Retrieved from: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/principals/curriculum/eslhandbook.pdf

Foreman, P. & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2014). Inclusion in Action, 4th ed., pp. 9, 267. South Melbourne, Victoria: Cengage
Learning.

Hill, S. (2012). Developing early literacy: assessment and teaching. 2nd ed., pp. 390, 394-95. South Yarra, Victoria: Eleanor
Curtain Publishing.

Pang, S. (2014). Supporting the Oral Literacy Development of Young ESL Children. Practically Primary, vol. 19, iss. 1, pp.
42-44. Retrieved from: http://search.informit.com.au.ezproxy.lib.monash.edu.au/fullText;dn=870311377077220;
res=IELHSS

Phillips, J., Lampert, J., & Healy, A. (2004). Chapter 9: How do culture and race influence literacy? New questions for
contemporary teachers taking a socio-cultural approach to education. pp. 113-121. Frenchs Forest, New South Wales:
Pearson Education Australia.

Srinivasan, P. (2006). Practitioner Perspective: The inclusion of linguistic diversity in early childhood settings. International
Journal of Equity and Innovation in Early Childhood, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 104-112.