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You may occasionally find a teacher or a principal who will understand the importance, value, and beauty of bilingualism, but don't expect it. If you do find one consider that you have located a treasure.

Most of them just don't understand.

That would be bad enough if they would simply not realize the importance and mind their own business. But that is not the case. Very often they have opinions and they try to force their opinions on you, the parents. You, of course, know the importance of bilingualism so it means that you have a battle trying to push your way into it.

Case Study Number One

A student is sent to an ultra religious school and given assignments to study certain things in English during one recess during the day. The child does this willingly because he appreciates his bilingual training at home. However, he is caught by the assistant dean who threatens to remove the material and calls up the parents telling them that he is not permitted to bring in material in another language to school. When the parent protests, the assistant dean says, "Look, I only spoke Hebrew and Yiddish when I was young and then when I grew older and I had to deal with people who came to visit the yeshiva from abroad I learned English and my English is just fine now. And he can do the same if he has to know English."

He just doesn't understand.

Case Study Number Two

A ninth grader enters an Israeli high school and is told that she will have to be placed in the English speakers group. The parents have made a point of avoiding the English speakers group following the same guidelines and reasoning as used in this very website. The parents protest. The educators says, "Look, we're professionals here. We know what we're doing. We have a lot of experience. We have top level teachers in this school and we have decided that it is best for your child to be in the English speakers class and you just don't understand."

The parents did understand. They understood quite well. But the school guidance counselor who had made this fuss was adamant and the girl was indeed placed in the English speakers class. This placement was the beginning of a long series of crushing deterioration in the social development of this child who, because of the forced imposition of the school, felt out of place both at home and in the school. The school's decision led to some severe behavioral problems which never were corrected. The school never accepted the blame, insisting that they knew what they were doing and that it was the parents' fault for trying to raise a bilingual child in the first place in their own way.

These horror stories are copied over and over again when dealing with the educational establishment. Do not expect them to be of any assistance or support. They just don't understand.

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