Bilingualism/Biculturalism in American Education: An Adventure in Wonderland

• Author: Fred G. Burke
• Published date: 01 March 1981
• Date: 01 March 1981
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/000271628145400114
• Subject Matter: Articles

164

Bilingualism/Biculturalism

in

American

Education:

An

Adventure

in

Wonderland

By

FRED

G. BURKE

Fred

G.

Burke

is

commissioner

of

education

for

the

state

of New

Jersey.

He

was

formerly

dean

of

international

studies

at

the

State

University

of

New

York

at

Buffalo

and

had

also

served

as a

professor

of

political

science

at

the

Maxwell

Graduate

School

of

Syracuse

University.

His

Ph.D.

is from

Princeton

University,

and

he

has

also

studied

at

Oxford

University

in

England.

Among

his

books

are

Africa

(1970),

Sub-Saharan

Africa

(1966),

and

Africa’s

Quest

for

Order

(1964).

ABSTRACT:

Bilingual

education

has

been

in

practice

in

this

country

since

colonial

days,

but

the

movement

has

always

been

embroiled

in

controversy.

Is

it

pedagogically

sound?

Is

it

not

divisive?

Why

should

linguistic

minorities

be

so

"pampered"?

National

policies

have

depended

on

the

na-

tion’s

sense

of

security;

regional

policies

have

reflected

societal

attitudes

toward

certain

groups.

A

different

phenome-

non,

manifested

during

the

past

decade,

raises

a

new

concern.

With

the

Hispanic

population

increasing

rapidly,

demog-

raphers

predicting

Hispanics

will

outnumber

Blacks

by

the

turn

of

the

century,

Hispanics

themselves

calling

the

eighties

their

decade,

and

the

emphasis

on

"maintenance"

instead

of

"traditional"

programs,

non-Hispanic

Americans—both

White

and

Black—have

reasons

to

view

bilingual

education

as

part

of

a

larger

thrust

aimed

at

giving

Hispanics

increased

visibility

and

political

influence.

Dr.

Diego

Castellanos,

one

of

the

leading

advocates

of

bilingual

education,

characterizes

the

movement

as

an

ideological,

sociological,

economic,

and

political

strategy,

as

much

as

a

pedagogical

approach.

A

brief

case

study

of

the

New

Jersey

experience

with

Puerto

Ricans

and

Cubans

demonstrates

the

growth

of

Hispanics

in

numbers

and

sophistication.

Without

a

federal

policy

on

bilingualism,

the

nation

is

sure

to

get

somewhere—as

the

Cheshire

cat

said

in

Alice’s

Adventures

in

Wonderland—but

it

may

not

be

where

it

wants

to

go.