By Aekatherine A. Anadiotis
First names have always fascinated me. Perhaps that was because I had so many of them. As an immigrant child attending school in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, I was called by a name that was not my own. When I became a United States citizen, my naturalization certificate assigned me an Americanized name and listed my real name as an alias. Since then things have changed… At least on paper.
These days children’s names are seldom manipulated into more “Americanized White” versions. Ying is no longer Rebecca, Enrique is no longer Eric, and Abdulahi is no longer Dave. However, first names of English Language Learners, even for the most experienced and caring teacher, can evoke an implicit bias of which we must be aware. In today’s world, educators are challenged to be vigilant against these internal or implicit biases for the benefit of our students, schools, and communities.
Aekatherine A. Anadiotis is an English Language Specialist teacher at Village East Elementary School in Aurora, CO. She has spent the majority of her 18-year teaching career at Title 1 schools. She is the author of Justina Ford (Filter Press), the Patatouf series of Early Spanish Readers, and The 5 Senses/Los 5 Sentidos (Tattered Cover Book Store Indie Published Author).
