April 17, 2024 • 52 mins
Join the conversation with the visionary Brandon Locke, 2024's World Language Supervisor of the Year, and embark on a linguistic journey that spans the icy expanses of Anchorage, Alaska. Unlock the transformative power of language education as we discuss Brandon's instrumental role in nurturing linguistic diversity within a school system that bridges cultures and connects communities on a global stage. His leadership highlights the unique challenges in fostering native and foreign language programs, deftly navigating beyond the scope of traditional English language learning initiatives to champion a more inclusive and culturally rich educational landscape.
Venture with us into the heart of Alaska, where language is not only a tool for communication but a gateway to unparalleled opportunities. Discover how Anchorage's robust language programs are not just shaping careers but are actively contributing to global change and national security. From students managing international teams to aiding FBI investigations, the compelling narratives we share underscore the undeniable impact of multilingual education on young Alaskans' futures. It's clear that beyond the accolades, the real prize is the flourishing of a generation poised to make their mark on the world, armed with the gift of tongues.
As we close out our enlightening session with Brandon Locke, we leave you inspired to become language warriors in your own right, fostering understanding and appreciation across varied cultures. If your curiosity has been piqued, delve deeper into the insights and resources available at Fluency Consulting, and join us in celebrating the efforts to revitalize indigenous languages like Yupik. With an appreciation for the weight of words and the songs of different tongues, we invite you to step into the role of cultural custodian, embracing the rich tapestry of human expression that language weaves.
Venture with us into the heart of Alaska, where language is not only a tool for communication but a gateway to unparalleled opportunities. Discover how Anchorage's robust language programs are not just shaping careers but are actively contributing to global change and national security. From students managing international teams to aiding FBI investigations, the compelling narratives we share underscore the undeniable impact of multilingual education on young Alaskans' futures. It's clear that beyond the accolades, the real prize is the flourishing of a generation poised to make their mark on the world, armed with the gift of tongues.
As we close out our enlightening session with Brandon Locke, we leave you inspired to become language warriors in your own right, fostering understanding and appreciation across varied cultures. If your curiosity has been piqued, delve deeper into the insights and resources available at Fluency Consulting, and join us in celebrating the efforts to revitalize indigenous languages like Yupik. With an appreciation for the weight of words and the songs of different tongues, we invite you to step into the role of cultural custodian, embracing the rich tapestry of human expression that language weaves.
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Website: https://fluency.consulting
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
There's life in our communities, but there's life
also beyond our communities, inthe whole world.
Language and culture opens theeyes of young and old to this
worldwide humanity.
My guest for this week, brandonLocke, is a language warrior
(00:25):
that has that vision and hasbrought it so clearly through
his work in the Anchorage Alaskaschool system and beyond that.
He was selected the WorldLanguage Supervisor of the Year
for 2024.
Enjoy his poignant stories andhis clarity of mind and think to
yourself where am I?
(00:47):
A warrior for the language andculture that helps to make our
planet more peaceful and humane?
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Welcome to.
It's About Language, episode124, hosted by Nora Lulich-Jones
, where the transformative powerof language is discovered.
By Nora Lulich-Jones, where thetransformative power of
language is discovered, you areinvited today to join in a
conversation with Brandon Locke,an advocate for linguistic
diversity.
His work in Anchorage, alaska,has bridged communities globally
(01:14):
, proving that language connectseveryone to a wider humanity.
Come listen and stay tuned asthe episode explores how
language is not just a tool forcommunication, but also a vital
link to diverse cultures andshared heritage.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Brandon, it's a great pleasure to have you here today
.
Thanks so much for theconversation that we're about to
have.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for theinvitation.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
It's been fun and I'm enthusiastic about your
leadership.
So I want to start with makingsure that those who may not be
aware of the joy that came uponthe group and the great cheering
when we were at the NationalWorld Language Meeting back in
November of 2023, when youreceived the NADSTFUL, that's
(01:59):
the National Association ofDistrict Supervisors of Foreign
Language Award for being theDistrict Supervisor of the Year
for Anchorage, alaska Schools.
Congratulations again.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Thank you so much.
It was a huge, huge honor.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
And Brandon tell the audience listening audience
around the world what it is thatyou do with the Anchorage
School District and what thataward helped to reflect as far
as the impact that your work hashad.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Sure, so my job title is Director of World Languages
and Immersion Programs for theAnchorage School District.
So what that means is I overseeall language programming in our
school system.
We're a district of about45,000 students, largest
district in the state of Alaska,but we're also, I mean, in
(02:55):
Anchorage, half of the state'spopulation lives in Alaska.
So really we are the schoolsystem here.
Quite frankly, we're largerthan our State Department of
Education, and so in thedistrict of about 45,000
students we have about 8,000students that are enrolled in
(03:18):
either one of our world languagecourses or in one of our eight
different K-12 languageimmersion programs.
So I oversee French, german,spanish, chinese, japanese,
russian, asl and Yupik, which isan Alaska native language.
We have 20 official nativelanguages in Alaska.
(03:38):
Yupik is the most prevalent andmost widely spoken and I
oversee about 200 teachers inthat arena, including the
English partner teachers of ourimmersion programs.
One thing that I do not oversee, that many colleagues around
the country do, is the ELL orESL population.
(03:59):
We have our own director forthat, because we have a very,
very large ELL population inAnchorage.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Interesting.
Okay, so that delineation isnot necessarily true of other
districts in other states, butthe size alone helps to well
provide for the specialization,as well as for not overloading
you in a supervisory role, aswell as for not overloading you
in a supervisory role.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
You did ask, though, about the award, and you know I
have to.
I go back and reflect on that,and I think awards are
interesting.
They I always see an award asan award for the profession as
opposed to an award for a person, because I know, for me
(04:45):
personally, I could not do myjob without the support of
friends and colleagues aroundthe country, as well as within
my state and within my district,and I just happen to be the
person that's in this position.
But the work is really a jointeffort and I do see a large
portion of my work as that ofadvocacy, and so when somebody
(05:09):
gets an award, I think it'sreally important to highlight
that, because it benefits all ofus and it benefits the
profession as a whole, and itreminds others outside of our
world that we do exist and thatwhat we do is important for our
students every day.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Thank you, Brandon.
And that's both, of course,both compassionate and also a
real reflection of thecollaborative and communal work
that goes into languageeducation.
So, when we take a look at whatis being celebrated, what is
being awarded, what is it thatexcites the language community
(05:46):
and what does that mean forthose who are not specifically
in the language educationcommunity?
Many of my listeners are thosethat are interested in language
but not necessarily part of thelanguage education community.
So, both within and withoutwhat impact is it that's
happening that is so celebratedhere?
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Wow, that is the million-dollar question, I think
, for people around the worldoutside of the United States.
We don't have an officiallanguage in the US, even though
English is definitely the mostprevalent.
That said, we have 50 stateswith 50 different educational
systems and within thoseeducational systems, at the
(06:32):
state level it goes down to thedistrict level, which is all
about community needs andbeliefs and politics set aside.
The challenge in this countryis that we have a very
ethnically and linguisticallydiverse country as a whole, but
(06:58):
yet English is still the mostprevalent language.
Profession I feel spend a hugepart of their career doing that
advocacy and outreach, showingor trying to show and tell the
importance of being bi ormultilingual, because it's not
just about the United States,it's about the world that we
live in, and I mean you knowvery well that people around the
(07:20):
world grow up speaking two,three, four different languages
or studying those languagesbecause it's just an expectation
in their home country, and inthe United States that's not the
case.
And so what I think about is youknow all of my.
I mean, before I was in mycurrent position, I was an
(07:41):
elementary principal for a while, but before that I was a French
teacher and I think back to myown students and trying to help
open their eyes to the world.
And I know that that's what my,my friends and colleagues
around the country do, becauseit's not about right here, right
now in my community, but righthere, right now in my community,
(08:01):
is where we are preparing theseyoung minds to go off and
explore the world and do greatthings, hopefully for the bigger
community and not just fortheir own city or town Not that
there's anything wrong with thatbut at that point it becomes a
choice.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
It does, indeed.
A look at Anchorage, when wetake a look at the commitments
that you have and that youyourself celebrate and have been
celebrated.
What is the message that thestudents say?
That this is about my community, but also, almost in an
advocacy direction, from theirpoint of view as well.
(08:39):
This is the reason why beingmultilingual, multicultural,
makes a difference in the world,as well as my community.
What's their message?
How do they spread?
Speaker 3 (08:50):
it.
I think it might sound cliche,but I think that using those
individual personal storiesabout unique experiences and the
impact that exposure tolanguages has had on people, I
think is really huge.
You know me personally.
I started learning French inmiddle school and it was just
(09:15):
truly by chance that I did, butmy very first French teacher
really changed my trajectory inlife and I went through high
school and college knowing thatI wanted to be a French teacher.
That said, there are many otherprofessions in the world that
you can do if you speak Frenchor any other language, so it's
(09:36):
not about being a languageteacher.
Definitely we need languageteachers to teach language.
Of course, I don't want tominimize that, but I do think
that we need to realize that ourstudents not everyone in our
classes wants to be a Frenchteacher or a Spanish teacher,
but they can go off and they cando great things in an area that
(09:57):
they're passionate about, andthat additional language just
doubles their opportunities.
And that additional languagejust doubles their opportunities
.
I'll give you one quick example,and this really is a true story
.
This goes back to when I wasteaching early in my career.
I was teaching middle schoolFrench and this young lady.
(10:21):
Super, super smart young ladycomes up to me toward the
beginning of the year and saysMr Locke, just so you know, the
only reason that I'm taking yourclass is because I want to be a
pediatrician in West Africawhen I grow up.
Wow, and she stuck with theFrench.
She went off to college.
She went off to medical school.
She came back to visit herparents.
She paid me a visit and shesaid do you remember me?
(10:42):
I said absolutely.
She said do you remember what Itold you?
I said yes, I do.
And she said well, I'm doing it.
I'm a pediatrician in WestAfrica.
Wow, wow.
I mean, that's just one story,but it's something like that
that, I think, just, really justmultiplies.
And you know, that's one younglady's story.
(11:07):
But think about how many ofthose stories are out there,
from different languages,different communities and now
different parts of the world.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Absolutely right.
So what has happened inAnchorage?
You have a multiplicity oflanguages that you listed at the
beginning.
You have these kinds of storiesand support.
What has happened in Anchoragethat you have gotten this
support?
And what happens because ofyour national experience, what
(11:33):
happens in the United States andother areas that keeps that
support from happening?
Do you think, what do you know,what do you conjecture?
However, you wish to take this.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Well, I have to give you a super brief history and
geography lesson.
So Alaska is the 49th state,hawaii is the 50th.
But when people come to visitAnchorage they're often a little
confused by the layout of thecity, and that's because there
was really no official cityplanning.
Our city is very new actually,it was established in 1913.
(12:04):
So really not that old.
And we had like sort of threelarge booms.
One was the first, one was goldand the gold rush.
The second was World War II andthe building of the Alaska
Railroad.
And that all came about becauseof Alaska's physical, strategic
(12:30):
location on the planet, becausewe're very polar and we're very
, very centrally located betweenEurope and Asia, if you
consider the pole, the NorthPole.
And then the third one, in the70s and early 80s, was the
discovery of oil.
And so our community has beenvery transient over the last 100
(12:50):
years, with a lot of peoplefrom the military coming and
going, a lot of people from theoil industry coming and going.
And then, before the collapse ofthe Soviet Union, our city had
a massive international airportand we were called the
crossroads of the world becausewe really were the stopping
(13:12):
point for refueling for flightsto Asia and to Europe.
And so I think back to thebeginning of our Japanese
immersion program in 1989.
The school where it's located isvery close to the airport and
Japan Airlines had a hub hereand we had a lot of pilots based
here and their wives were notlegally allowed to work and yet
(13:36):
they had families, and so theseJapanese families would go to
school and they went to theclosest school, and so my
predecessor had this vision ofwow, let's develop an immersion
program so that we can provideEnglish support for these
Japanese families but alsoprovide Japanese instruction for
(13:56):
English speakers, and that,like I said, began in 1989.
So that's the history andgeography.
But the other piece is ourschool district does have a very
long history of providingstudent choice and parent choice
, and so our community is alwayslooking for new programs,
(14:20):
something different, and withthe beginning of that Japanese
program in 89, our programs havejust taken off in popularity
and now they live off of theirown you know, reputations and
what have you, and so I do thinkthat that history and that
longevity of programs helps tomaintain and then start new ones
(14:44):
, and I think that that's whatmakes it very different.
And you know, we physically areattached to North America, but
we're a very isolated state and,yes, we know we're part of the
United States, but things arejust different here, and so I
think that that just kind ofgoes hand in hand with providing
(15:05):
different opportunities foreducation for our students.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
What a fascinating story, and I plan to go both
historical and future.
Historical I'm talking aboutancient world and Middle Ages,
(15:32):
where people tookmultilingualism for granted as
part of the experience ofeconomic interchange.
Experience of economicinterchange, be it people were
traveling on their own volitionor they were forced to travel in
(15:57):
various places and they, oneway or another, had to learn at
least the basics of otherlanguages in order to be able to
accomplish their economicwell-being and to stay alive.
It reminds me so much of that.
There's that sense of immediateapplicability, the.
I'm looking for your responseto what I'm about to lay in
front of you.
Brandon, as far as whether thisis being seen correctly or how
(16:22):
you might best say it, thecontiguous 48, there often seems
like such a sense of we'rereally not part of.
Other countries are not aroundus.
We don't.
We're not like Europe, whereyou can turn on the TV and hear
all of these languages.
We're fine with having Englishas the major language and we
(16:46):
don't really need to move inthat direction because we don't
have the urgency that I justdescribed from a historical
point of view or that you justdescribed from an Anchorage and
Alaska point of view.
Help me here and help ourlisteners here.
Is it a sense that Alaska andAnchorage have something to say
(17:07):
to the lower 48 and to otherswho do not necessarily consider
the urgency of languages becausethey're doing just fine
economically on their own orculturally?
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Yeah, I think the physical isolation is one area
or speaks to that.
One thing that I didn't mentionwhen I mentioned the military
and the oil industry.
We also fishing is a huge, hugeindustry here, and by fishing I
mean, like seafood and shippingseafood worldwide, and also
(17:43):
tourism.
Tourism is huge here, and so itis very common to walk around
Anchorage and hear multiplelanguages being spoken, and the
languages that are spoken sortof have changed over the decades
.
I remember being a young kidand walking down in downtown
Anchorage and hearing French andGerman and Norwegian and
(18:05):
Japanese, and that was theflight crews that were here on
their layovers, you know.
And now the languages that wehear, the top languages that are
spoken by our ELL students andI'm going to say these five in
no particular order because theykind of change, but Samoan,
(18:26):
tagalog, hmong, korean and Yupik, which is again that Alaska
native language, and those areafter English and Spanish, and
so the transiency of the of thepopulation here has continued.
Um, the reasons why itcontinues have changed again
(18:46):
over the decades.
Like I said, but you can't, Imean I guess you you can, but it
is.
I was going to say you can'treally live in Alaska and not
travel Like.
You have to travel and youcan't just get in your car and
drive from LA to San Franciscoor from DC to New York.
(19:07):
If you want to drive anywhere,like to Seattle, you have to
plan a good seven days.
It's not an easy drive.
A good seven days it's not aneasy drive.
And so I say that because youpeople here, you just have you
get on a plane and you just goplaces, and that's just how it
is to live here.
I, I have to go to Seattle topretty much go anywhere and and
(19:34):
I think people are just used totraveling here and they're used
to having languages from aroundthe world spoken all around us
and, um, and I think just thatphysical isolation makes it sort
of just part of who we are, um,and, and you know we don't have
counties and sometimes I knowcounties can over, you know,
(19:56):
kind of go over state line.
We don't have that here.
We're just one big, huge stateand we're huge.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
And you are indeed huge.
You gave a story about a smartyoung woman who took that French
and ran with it.
What are some other ways inwhich the experiences of this
interaction, these expectationsof Anchorage and Alaskans, what
(20:25):
stories can help inform theadvocacy that you referred to at
the beginning, so that othersmay be aware of the importance
of the attitude and theopportunities that these
cultivate?
Speaker 3 (20:40):
So every spring, before all of our high school
graduations, each of ourimmersion programs does their
own graduation where thestudents, they receive a
completion cord and they give aspeech in their target language.
It's projected in Englishbehind them so that family
members and guests can see itand read it.
And I speak at each of thosecelebrations and I always try to
(21:05):
explain and share anecdotalstories, hopefully motivational
and helping kids sort of see thesuperpower that they really do
have in their language skills.
So I'll give you three superquick examples, all right.
Example number one Young ladywho's the daughter of one of my
(21:28):
colleagues went through Spanishimmersion, graduated high school
with her Spanish immersionbackground, also started
learning German while she was inschool in high school,
continued her Spanish studies incollege as well as computer
science.
And when she graduated fromcollege she got a job with
(21:51):
Facebook Europe and relocated toEurope and was making gosh more
money than me as a 23,24-year-old and speaking
multiple languages, and shebecame the manager of Facebook
Europe while being over there.
Another one is a graduate ofour Japanese immersion program.
(22:16):
Um went abroad, studied,continued her Japanese studies.
Um applied for an FBI positionand her story is that her
application surpassed 30 othersfor the same exact job because
of her language abilities, andshe was stationed in Tokyo and
(22:41):
in Seoul and in Copenhagen, andnow she's back in Anchorage and
raising her own children who goto the Japanese immersion
program.
And then one last one, and thisis sort of a newer one, but we
have a very large joint AirForce Army military base here in
Anchorage called J-Bear and,unbeknownst to me, we have a
(23:06):
national security agency officehere, and right before COVID hit
they reached out to me andwanted to talk to me because
we're one of the few places inthe country that has a Russian
immersion program.
And so now we have developed astrong partnership with them and
we have high school seniorsthat receive I mean, they apply
(23:28):
and they go through very, veryextremely rigorous background
checks and security screenings,but they actually work on the
base.
They receive high school creditbut they work as Russian
linguist interns.
They get paid for theirposition there and through this
partnership, if they choose togo to college locally, the NSA
(23:50):
will pay for them, and if theychoose to go outside of the
state which is very common forAlaskan students they can come
back in the summer months andwork and then also maintain
their employment full time oncethey earn their bachelor's
degree.
So those are just a coupleexamples of our graduates using
their language skills in reallife situations and then sort of
(24:11):
paying it forward to like theFBI agent Now her children are
in the program and what's instore for them in the future.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
You know, I just had a visual of windows and doors
flying open, all of theseopportunities coming about.
It's astonishing what thelanguage, especially the
immersive program, can do.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
You know, I do have a story of a non-immersion
student, another former studentof mine in French, and she was
always a really, really goodstudent, very, very
conscientious of her French inmy class.
But her real passion wasperforming arts, dance, theater,
(24:58):
music and um.
She graduated from high school,went off to college, double
majored in, I think, theater andFrench.
Um ended up working for Disneyand uh performed on Disney
cruises as one of many differentprincesses, like you know,
jasmine from Aladdin, forexample.
But those cruise ships are fullof people from around the world
(25:20):
, and so she found herselfbehind the scenes teaching her
new friends.
You know English or French, or,and so she's picked up multiple
languages over the years as well.
And she met me for coffee a fewyears ago and she said you know
languages over the years aswell.
And she met me for coffee a fewyears ago and she said you know
, I can't be a princess all mylife.
(25:44):
I'm going to outgrow this role,but I have learned that I
really like teaching language,and she's now interested in
becoming a French teacherbecause of what that experience
has meant for her.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
See the surprises continue, right, brandon, and
you spoke there about a studentthat took language in a more, we
would say, I guess, atraditional way, starting in,
say, middle school, and youcertainly have shared stories
about immersion, which weunderstand mean that they
(26:14):
started at a younger age,kindergarten or first grade, et
cetera.
What do you see in thedirection of understanding how
language programs work,nationally based on, or the
state of Alaska as well, pleasethe future, but the national
(26:36):
state which you would recommendas far as?
Where do you see language usgoing with language instruction?
What hopes do you have?
What do you see that mightblock what you consider should
happen?
Speaker 3 (26:49):
please, Well, I think what's really interesting to me
is, as you mentioned you know,immersion programs typically
start at the younger grades andthere's definitely fewer
immersion programs in thecountry than there are sort of
more traditional programs.
However, I think that immersionprograms tend to be cultivated
(27:10):
and taken care of much more andin a better way, because I think
that they're seen as this sortof unique opportunity and again,
we're putting ourkindergartners and our first
graders in these programs withthe expectation that it's going
to be a long term opportunityand experience for them to
(27:31):
become highly proficient in thelanguage and also culturally,
you know, competent, if you will.
What I think is interesting isthat that's a very small piece
of our overall population andthe vast majority of the
population, I would guess,doesn't value language to that
(27:55):
level and therefore either seesnot taking a language as totally
fine or that mindset of takeSpanish it's the easiest and
just get your two years in anddone so that you can get into
college.
And that's the part that Ithink is really frustrating,
because in Anchorage we do nothave a language requirement for
(28:21):
graduation.
But this is my 24th year inpublic education as a language
educator and still to this day Ihear stories of counselors
telling kids you don't need alanguage or you just need two
years.
Well, that's not.
That's not a true statement,and there are thousands of
(28:42):
colleges and universities inthis country, and every single
one of them has their ownadmission requirements.
So telling somebody two yearsand you're done is not accurate
for many of those institutions.
And so, like the young lady thatI mentioned who became a Disney
princess you know, she juststarted as a seventh grade
(29:02):
student and just fell in lovewith the language, but she
stayed with her passion, whichwas that performing arts, and
she learned how to mesh the twotogether.
And that's what we need to makesure that we are providing that
type of opportunity for ourstudents.
We need doctors and lawyersthat can speak other languages.
(29:23):
My office gets calls all thetime from the community for
these unique needs.
We need a French interpreter inthe court system.
Do you have anyone that you canrecommend?
And one of these days I'm goingto keep a log of all of the
different requests that I get,but it just tells me like yes,
(29:44):
we need people in this countrythat speak multiple languages
and we need to value those andwe need to support our younger
generation in getting to thatlevel.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
The image I had there is of what kind of toolkit do
we allow our children to carry?
Do we only allow them to have ahammer, or are we going to
expect that they might have needof other tools in that tool kit
in order to be able to reallytake care of building and
repairing what needs to be doneand why we would limit them to a
(30:20):
little kid's hammer?
Speaker 3 (30:21):
You know, I think it goes.
I'm a history buff and I seethings in cycles and I know that
the parents of our youngchildren today it was their
grandparents or greatgrandparents that were part of
that group of initial immigrantsto this country that came over
from Germany and Scandinaviancountries and Ireland, and and
(30:46):
they were, they were forced toassimilate quickly and to forget
their language as quickly aspossible so that they become, so
that they could become, quoteunquote American Um, lose your
Danish, lose your Norwegian,learn English as quickly as you
can.
And that's what they did, andthat changed the trajectory of
(31:08):
their family history and it justbecame, I mean, it was just an
expectation and it was allowedat that point.
Similarly, our nativepopulations, our American Indian
, alaska Native, nativeHawaiians they were here first,
(31:28):
but they were also forced toassimilate and to forget their
languages and their cultureshave moved to this country or
that are not even immigrantsanymore.
They're second or third year,second or third generation
(31:54):
immigrants, and and the wealthof, of, and and richness of the
language and culture that ishere today, our country would
not be the same without that,and that's what we need to give
our students.
We and and you know it doesn,and you know it's not about what
language you quote, unquote,choose or have in your back
pocket.
We know that if you arebilingual that the ability and
(32:16):
the chances of you picking up athird or a fourth language are
that much easier.
So you know you could be aDanish American, live here and
speak English and Danish butalso pick up German pretty
quickly because of your Danishbackground.
It's just you know.
I mean again, I hate to soundso cliche and so like, oh,
(32:38):
everything is happy and go luckyis our, our language
experiences are really ourfoundation for the future of of
really our livelihoods, of wherewe live, how we raise our
families and and where we live,quite frankly, all around the
world.
And I think even covid hasprovided that, that um entry or
(33:06):
that entree into globalizationthrough technology.
So, even though travel mightnot be as needed as it was
before, the communication isstill there and the
communication need is stillthere.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
And will continue to be there.
In particular, Such a goodcatch the technological
connections around the world,globalization in that way.
You mentioned, Brandon, thevery difficult story that is
being now, we hope, reversed,namely the indigenous languages
(33:44):
of this continent.
Reversed, namely the indigenouslanguages of this continent.
And UPIC you have mentionedseveral times during this
conversation, it's one ofseveral others that are within
the territory of Alaska andtherefore the purview of
Anchorage.
What is the trajectory ofhelping those speakers, help to
(34:06):
hold on to their language and orculture?
Speaker 3 (34:11):
That's an excellent question.
So we do have 20 officialAlaska Native languages in
Alaska, but that's just 20official.
We have hundreds of variationsand dialects and a lot of them
are really truly based on likewaterway systems.
So if you go 20 miles north upsuch and such river, you speak a
(34:35):
different dialect than yourneighbors.
20 miles south Yupik isdefinitely the most prevalent.
It is in southwestern Alaska isdefinitely the most prevalent.
It is in southwestern Alaska.
And to give your listenersaround the world an idea, alaska
I always love to superimpose amap of Alaska on the lower 48.
(34:57):
I mean, really the top ofAlaska would be like the top of
North Dakota and southern partis all the way down to Texas.
So when people say, well,what's the weather like in
Alaska, I say well, what's theweather like in the United
States?
Because weather in Floridalooks very different than
weather in Maine or in Alaskafor that matter.
(35:21):
And I say all of that becauseour native population is still
alive and very, very prevalentin Alaska.
But we have dying languages allthe time, and so one of the
programs that I'm the most proudof in my tenure in this
position was starting a Yupikimmersion program in Anchorage
(35:42):
School District.
We did it through, we startedit, I should say, with initial
grant funding from the federalgovernment, but really it's
designed to revitalize and todevelop a new generation of
speakers of the language.
So again a brief history lesson.
(36:03):
When Westerners moved to Alaskain the early part of the 20th
century I should say Americans,because the Russians were here
before us we didn't have schoolsystems at the high school level
for indigenous kids, so theywould go to elementary school
(36:24):
and if there was one, and thenthey would be plucked up and
sent away to boarding schools inthe lower 48.
And they were a fish out ofwater there because they were
forced to assimilate and losetheir language and learn English
and lose their culture.
And then many of them came backand they were a fish out of
water back in Alaska becausethey were no longer longer
(36:45):
native and they no longerunderstood the culture.
And so we're trying toresurrect that, or I should say
reverse that, and provide theopportunity for new learners of
that language so that they cancontinue.
And and you know you have tostart somewhere.
So we're physically not onYupik land where we are in
(37:10):
Anchorage, we're on Dena'inaland, but there are not nearly
as many Dena'ina speakers, norare there resources available,
and so we chose the languagethat was the most prevalent, the
most widely spoken, the mostpublished and hopefully, our
program.
Like I said, you have to startsomewhere.
Hopefully it can serve as amodel for other districts.
(37:32):
The thing that makes ourprogram unique is that we're a
we're a UPIC.
I should say our UPIC immersionprogram is an indigenous
revitalization program open toanyone in an urban public school
.
So we are not.
We don't have reservations inAlaska, but if we did, we are
not the type of program whereyou have to be a Native American
(37:55):
and live on the reservation toattend this school.
This is open to anyone AfricanAmericans, asians, caucasians,
native students, native studentswho are Yupik, native students
who are not Yupik, you name it.
We have them in our program.
Speaker 1 (38:08):
That is such an important statement about the
importance of language in allpeople's lives and not reserved
for specific groups to justfocus on their own.
I can see where there's atremendous pride in that.
Do you perceive other programsdeveloping for those who are not
(38:30):
as widely spoken or spoken byas many?
Speaker 3 (38:35):
I do.
Actually there are well, I wasaware of one, but now I'm aware
of two.
There are two other Yupikimmersion programs in the state
of Alaska, both out in veryrural Alaska and when I say
rural, I'm not talking about theGreat Plains and driving 300
(38:56):
miles to your next neighbor InAlaska.
Many of our communities are noton road systems, so the only
way of getting there is by plane, sometimes boat, sometimes snow
machine or that's what we callsnowmobiles up in Alaska.
And by plane.
I'm not talking about a jetplane, I'm talking about a small
(39:18):
, tiny little plane that goesfrom a large town to a remote
village of maybe 500 people orless.
And so, yeah, I do believe thatlanguage is definitely
something that different partsof Alaska are experiencing and
experimenting with.
(39:40):
One thing that I always strugglewith and as a Caucasian person,
I really struggle with, and asa Caucasian person, I really
struggle with trying to say thisin a way that's like you should
do it this way.
But one thing that I havenoticed in working with a
variety of indigenous groups isthat it seems like each group
tends to try to recreate thewheel on their own rather than
(40:02):
benefit from lessons learned andtrials and tribulations of
others.
You know we implemented ourprogram based on our model for
our other language programs, butall of our language programs
might follow a similar model of50-50 throughout the day
half-day English, half-day thelanguage but every single one of
(40:24):
them is culturally unique andour UPIC program is no exception
to that.
It's extremely unique and Iwould love to be able to have
and we have.
We've had indigenous groupsfrom other parts of the world
come and visit us, includingJapan, which they only have one
indigenous group there andthat's the Ainu people on their
(40:45):
Northern Island of Hokkaido.
They've come to visit ourprogram to see how we do it.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
Do you have, along with the logistics, the
description?
Do you have stories that theyhear from the students, from
parents, the communities, thestudents from parents, the
(41:12):
communities where this abilityto grow and develop again the
language has made a difference?
Speaker 3 (41:15):
Yes and no.
Again, a lot of anecdotalconversations over the years.
I will say just on an aside,it's sort of an apropos question
, but I'm currently working onfinishing my dissertation, and
my dissertation study is allabout indigenous revitalization
in urban public schools, and soI have just completed about 30
(41:37):
different interviews withvarious stakeholders teachers,
administrators, but also membersof our language, of our
language, of our excuse me ofour native community, elders,
and also parents of studentsthat are in the program, some of
whom are non-native.
And one of the questions andit's all about public
(41:58):
perceptions because, you know,I'm hoping to develop some sort
of a sustainability plan andmodel for other programs but one
of the questions that I foundto be the most fascinating is
why parents chose to put theirchildren in the program.
We've got a couple teachers atthe school who are Caucasian and
(42:22):
they just put their child therebecause they teach there and it
was convenient, and the sideeffect of what they're getting
is just it's mind blowing.
And and some of these peoplewell, the people I'm talking
about, they're not languageeducators, they don't know the
background of second languageacquisition and so the fact that
(42:45):
their children are learningYupik, they're showing a sense
of pride, a sense of community.
It's helping them with theirself-esteem and from the parent
perspective.
You know, take that secondlanguage and go off and learn a
third or a fourth one.
You've got that background now,but you've seen the world
through two sets of eyes yourYupik set and your natural set.
(43:11):
And it's just it's.
It's like I said, it's mindblowing to hear, hear the impact
of what the program has done.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
Well, changes hearts, changes lives.
I'm looking when you write,when we exchange emails.
I'm looking at the fact thatyou have what appears to me to
be an indigenous languageappendation to your Brandon
(43:41):
Locke name.
Can you tell us a story aboutthat particular bird?
Speaker 3 (43:47):
Absolutely, and you know I debated on whether I
would add that to my autosignature or not and I actually
asked permission of the nativewoman who gave me that name and
she said that she would behonored if I did.
But the story, so the name isKea Cook and it's not just my
(44:08):
little nickname that I createdbecause I thought it would be
cool.
I was actually at a when ourprogram was first starting.
I brought our team to it wasactually a Carla Institute in
Minneapolis, for it was calledImmersion 101 back then.
I don't believe it existsanymore and I brought our very
(44:29):
small team of UPIC teachers, tas, principal to this week-long
workshop and it was in a big,huge ballroom full of different
languages French, german,spanish, from around the country
.
Ironically, there was also agroup from Bethel around the
country.
Ironically, there was also agroup from Bethel, alaska, there
.
That's where one of the otherUPIC programs is from and we
(44:51):
were wrapping up for the day andagain.
Imagine yourself in a largeballroom full of all these round
tables kind of shoved together,and as we were wrapping up, my
teacher I mean the, you know theteacher I'm referring to was
standing next to me.
But the woman from Bethel, whowas considerably older and
(45:12):
considered an elder, starteddoing something and at first I
thought you know, I, yourlisteners don't know that I
don't have any hair.
I've got a shaved head.
But the teacher next to me puta little cup of water on my head
and started rubbing it aroundand I at first I thought they're
they're teasing me because Idon't have any hair.
And then she whispers to methis is serious, listen.
(45:34):
And the elder across the tablefrom me was saying something in
Yupik to me and everyone aroundme at the table and there were
several other Caucasian people,but mostly Yupik people were
looking with completeseriousness and um, and then it
was done, and my teacher whoended up she was our, our first
(45:57):
kindergarten teacher in theprogram she told me that I just
went through a naming ceremonyand that I was given a Yupik
name and the name she gave she'sthe one the elder performed the
ceremony, but she's the onethat assigned the name and the
name is Kayakuk, named after hergrandfather, and he was
(46:19):
considered by.
This is her story.
He was considered a languagewarrior for his village and she
said you're our language warriorfor our language in our city.
And it brought me to tears.
And in Yupik culture the waythat it works is when somebody
is born and given a name, theyare given a name and he passed
(46:41):
away the year I was born.
So she had asked me thesequestions earlier like what year
were you born?
Blah, blah, blah and that'sthat's where it comes from is
when a child is born, they arenamed after somebody who passed
that same year as a way of sortof having that sort of legacy
live on.
And many of our students in theprogram, some of them, are
(47:06):
given Yupik names when they'reborn.
They're native names, but wehave a lot of non-natives, as I
mentioned, and so they do anaming ceremony every year.
But they ask permission of thefamilies.
You know, would you like yourchild to receive a Yupik name?
And then they're verymethodical about their traits
and their characteristics andtheir personality to assign the
(47:27):
correct name to each student.
And some of the non-nativeteachers in the building have
also been gifted Yupik names.
It's a very after it happenedto me, I did some research on
the whole naming ceremony andit's a big deal research on the
(47:49):
whole naming ceremony and it's abig deal.
And so when I I put it on myauto signature as a draft and I
texted her a picture of it and Isaid is this presumptuous or
inappropriate if I put this here?
And she said absolutely not.
Kea Cook, you should be proudof that name.
Speaker 1 (48:01):
Oh, you have brought me to tears on that story, how
moving and how powerful, and thefact that this is not only a
wonderful experience of your own, but also that which these
students whose eyes are beingopened can have experienced as
well, and your community as awhole.
Phenomenal, brandon.
(48:23):
Thank you so much for sharingthat, that absolutely a stunning
story.
Well, as we wrap up, what is itthat you want to make sure that
the listeners hear from you orthat you reiterate?
However you wish to take thatso that they leave knowing what
(48:44):
you want them to have heardclearly.
Speaker 3 (48:47):
Yeah.
So I think the context iseverything, and since you
mentioned that you havelisteners from around the world,
I know that many, manydifferent countries have lots of
different languages and theircontext is very different.
You know, growing up, learningtwo or three or I should say not
learning, but learning andspeaking two or three languages
is pretty common.
Some countries have a lot lessimmigration than others, and so
(49:14):
it's, you know, it's a very like.
I'm thinking of Japan, forexample.
There's not a lot of peoplethat are not Japanese that moved
to Japan.
But I guess what I want yourinternational community to take
away is that language iseverywhere and we have to put it
into context.
We have to make it right for ourown community and make it
(49:36):
meaningful for our own community, but always keep that larger
picture out there.
So what we're doing here inAnchorage, alaska, yes, it's for
our Anchorage students, butit's really ideally for them to
be able to take with themwherever they go in life and for
for those of your listenersfrom the United States, if
(49:59):
you're listening to this,obviously you have some sort of
a passion for languages and Ijust want you to keep fighting
the good fight for showing theneed for the importance of
language learning, not just forlanguage learning, for what it
actually provides the person asa whole and the skills that it
(50:22):
provides for them for theirfuture.
It kills me when I hear aboutthese state initiatives for
English only or making itillegal to have an immersion
program, and that's soshort-minded in my opinion.
Again, it doesn't matter whatthe language is.
Providing the students at theyoung age the opportunity to
(50:46):
open their eyes to the world andsee that there is life beyond
Anchorage or Alaska or theUnited States, I think, is the
best thing that we can give ourstudents.
Speaker 1 (50:55):
Brandon, thank you so much the passion and compassion
that you've provided.
Speaker 3 (51:01):
Thanks for sharing all of that with us today it's
been my pleasure, thank you forthe invitation and I, as always,
I love chatting with you, nora,so this was even extra special,
so thanks for the invitationthank you for listening to this
podcast with my guest, brandonlock.
Speaker 1 (51:18):
Check out my website, fluencyconsulting, for more
information about brandon and tofollow the links and to check
out the resources that he hasshared with us.
Let's all become languagewarriors.
Until next time, thank you.
There's life in our communities, but there's life
also beyond our communities, inthe whole world.
Language and culture opens theeyes of young and old to this
worldwide humanity.
My guest for this week, brandonLocke, is a language warrior
(00:25):
that has that vision and hasbrought it so clearly through
his work in the Anchorage Alaskaschool system and beyond that.
He was selected the WorldLanguage Supervisor of the Year
for 2024.
Enjoy his poignant stories andhis clarity of mind and think to
yourself where am I?
(00:47):
A warrior for the language andculture that helps to make our
planet more peaceful and humane?
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Welcome to.
It's About Language, episode124, hosted by Nora Lulich-Jones
, where the transformative powerof language is discovered.
By Nora Lulich-Jones, where thetransformative power of
language is discovered, you areinvited today to join in a
conversation with Brandon Locke,an advocate for linguistic
diversity.
His work in Anchorage, alaska,has bridged communities globally
(01:14):
, proving that language connectseveryone to a wider humanity.
Come listen and stay tuned asthe episode explores how
language is not just a tool forcommunication, but also a vital
link to diverse cultures andshared heritage.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Brandon, it's a great pleasure to have you here today
.
Thanks so much for theconversation that we're about to
have.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for theinvitation.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
It's been fun and I'm enthusiastic about your
leadership.
So I want to start with makingsure that those who may not be
aware of the joy that came uponthe group and the great cheering
when we were at the NationalWorld Language Meeting back in
November of 2023, when youreceived the NADSTFUL, that's
(01:59):
the National Association ofDistrict Supervisors of Foreign
Language Award for being theDistrict Supervisor of the Year
for Anchorage, alaska Schools.
Congratulations again.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Thank you so much.
It was a huge, huge honor.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
And Brandon tell the audience listening audience
around the world what it is thatyou do with the Anchorage
School District and what thataward helped to reflect as far
as the impact that your work hashad.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Sure, so my job title is Director of World Languages
and Immersion Programs for theAnchorage School District.
So what that means is I overseeall language programming in our
school system.
We're a district of about45,000 students, largest
district in the state of Alaska,but we're also, I mean, in
(02:55):
Anchorage, half of the state'spopulation lives in Alaska.
So really we are the schoolsystem here.
Quite frankly, we're largerthan our State Department of
Education, and so in thedistrict of about 45,000
students we have about 8,000students that are enrolled in
(03:18):
either one of our world languagecourses or in one of our eight
different K-12 languageimmersion programs.
So I oversee French, german,spanish, chinese, japanese,
russian, asl and Yupik, which isan Alaska native language.
We have 20 official nativelanguages in Alaska.
(03:38):
Yupik is the most prevalent andmost widely spoken and I
oversee about 200 teachers inthat arena, including the
English partner teachers of ourimmersion programs.
One thing that I do not oversee, that many colleagues around
the country do, is the ELL orESL population.
(03:59):
We have our own director forthat, because we have a very,
very large ELL population inAnchorage.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Interesting.
Okay, so that delineation isnot necessarily true of other
districts in other states, butthe size alone helps to well
provide for the specialization,as well as for not overloading
you in a supervisory role, aswell as for not overloading you
in a supervisory role.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
You did ask, though, about the award, and you know I
have to.
I go back and reflect on that,and I think awards are
interesting.
They I always see an award asan award for the profession as
opposed to an award for a person, because I know, for me
(04:45):
personally, I could not do myjob without the support of
friends and colleagues aroundthe country, as well as within
my state and within my district,and I just happen to be the
person that's in this position.
But the work is really a jointeffort and I do see a large
portion of my work as that ofadvocacy, and so when somebody
(05:09):
gets an award, I think it'sreally important to highlight
that, because it benefits all ofus and it benefits the
profession as a whole, and itreminds others outside of our
world that we do exist and thatwhat we do is important for our
students every day.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Thank you, Brandon.
And that's both, of course,both compassionate and also a
real reflection of thecollaborative and communal work
that goes into languageeducation.
So, when we take a look at whatis being celebrated, what is
being awarded, what is it thatexcites the language community
(05:46):
and what does that mean forthose who are not specifically
in the language educationcommunity?
Many of my listeners are thosethat are interested in language
but not necessarily part of thelanguage education community.
So, both within and withoutwhat impact is it that's
happening that is so celebratedhere?
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Wow, that is the million-dollar question, I think
, for people around the worldoutside of the United States.
We don't have an officiallanguage in the US, even though
English is definitely the mostprevalent.
That said, we have 50 stateswith 50 different educational
systems and within thoseeducational systems, at the
(06:32):
state level it goes down to thedistrict level, which is all
about community needs andbeliefs and politics set aside.
The challenge in this countryis that we have a very
ethnically and linguisticallydiverse country as a whole, but
(06:58):
yet English is still the mostprevalent language.
Profession I feel spend a hugepart of their career doing that
advocacy and outreach, showingor trying to show and tell the
importance of being bi ormultilingual, because it's not
just about the United States,it's about the world that we
live in, and I mean you knowvery well that people around the
(07:20):
world grow up speaking two,three, four different languages
or studying those languagesbecause it's just an expectation
in their home country, and inthe United States that's not the
case.
And so what I think about is youknow all of my.
I mean, before I was in mycurrent position, I was an
(07:41):
elementary principal for a while, but before that I was a French
teacher and I think back to myown students and trying to help
open their eyes to the world.
And I know that that's what my,my friends and colleagues
around the country do, becauseit's not about right here, right
now in my community, but righthere, right now in my community,
(08:01):
is where we are preparing theseyoung minds to go off and
explore the world and do greatthings, hopefully for the bigger
community and not just fortheir own city or town Not that
there's anything wrong with thatbut at that point it becomes a
choice.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
It does, indeed.
A look at Anchorage, when wetake a look at the commitments
that you have and that youyourself celebrate and have been
celebrated.
What is the message that thestudents say?
That this is about my community, but also, almost in an
advocacy direction, from theirpoint of view as well.
(08:39):
This is the reason why beingmultilingual, multicultural,
makes a difference in the world,as well as my community.
What's their message?
How do they spread?
Speaker 3 (08:50):
it.
I think it might sound cliche,but I think that using those
individual personal storiesabout unique experiences and the
impact that exposure tolanguages has had on people, I
think is really huge.
You know me personally.
I started learning French inmiddle school and it was just
(09:15):
truly by chance that I did, butmy very first French teacher
really changed my trajectory inlife and I went through high
school and college knowing thatI wanted to be a French teacher.
That said, there are many otherprofessions in the world that
you can do if you speak Frenchor any other language, so it's
(09:36):
not about being a languageteacher.
Definitely we need languageteachers to teach language.
Of course, I don't want tominimize that, but I do think
that we need to realize that ourstudents not everyone in our
classes wants to be a Frenchteacher or a Spanish teacher,
but they can go off and they cando great things in an area that
(09:57):
they're passionate about, andthat additional language just
doubles their opportunities.
And that additional languagejust doubles their opportunities
.
I'll give you one quick example,and this really is a true story
.
This goes back to when I wasteaching early in my career.
I was teaching middle schoolFrench and this young lady.
(10:21):
Super, super smart young ladycomes up to me toward the
beginning of the year and saysMr Locke, just so you know, the
only reason that I'm taking yourclass is because I want to be a
pediatrician in West Africawhen I grow up.
Wow, and she stuck with theFrench.
She went off to college.
She went off to medical school.
She came back to visit herparents.
She paid me a visit and shesaid do you remember me?
(10:42):
I said absolutely.
She said do you remember what Itold you?
I said yes, I do.
And she said well, I'm doing it.
I'm a pediatrician in WestAfrica.
Wow, wow.
I mean, that's just one story,but it's something like that
that, I think, just, really justmultiplies.
And you know, that's one younglady's story.
(11:07):
But think about how many ofthose stories are out there,
from different languages,different communities and now
different parts of the world.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Absolutely right.
So what has happened inAnchorage?
You have a multiplicity oflanguages that you listed at the
beginning.
You have these kinds of storiesand support.
What has happened in Anchoragethat you have gotten this
support?
And what happens because ofyour national experience, what
(11:33):
happens in the United States andother areas that keeps that
support from happening?
Do you think, what do you know,what do you conjecture?
However, you wish to take this.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Well, I have to give you a super brief history and
geography lesson.
So Alaska is the 49th state,hawaii is the 50th.
But when people come to visitAnchorage they're often a little
confused by the layout of thecity, and that's because there
was really no official cityplanning.
Our city is very new actually,it was established in 1913.
(12:04):
So really not that old.
And we had like sort of threelarge booms.
One was the first, one was goldand the gold rush.
The second was World War II andthe building of the Alaska
Railroad.
And that all came about becauseof Alaska's physical, strategic
(12:30):
location on the planet, becausewe're very polar and we're very
, very centrally located betweenEurope and Asia, if you
consider the pole, the NorthPole.
And then the third one, in the70s and early 80s, was the
discovery of oil.
And so our community has beenvery transient over the last 100
(12:50):
years, with a lot of peoplefrom the military coming and
going, a lot of people from theoil industry coming and going.
And then, before the collapse ofthe Soviet Union, our city had
a massive international airportand we were called the
crossroads of the world becausewe really were the stopping
(13:12):
point for refueling for flightsto Asia and to Europe.
And so I think back to thebeginning of our Japanese
immersion program in 1989.
The school where it's located isvery close to the airport and
Japan Airlines had a hub hereand we had a lot of pilots based
here and their wives were notlegally allowed to work and yet
(13:36):
they had families, and so theseJapanese families would go to
school and they went to theclosest school, and so my
predecessor had this vision ofwow, let's develop an immersion
program so that we can provideEnglish support for these
Japanese families but alsoprovide Japanese instruction for
(13:56):
English speakers, and that,like I said, began in 1989.
So that's the history andgeography.
But the other piece is ourschool district does have a very
long history of providingstudent choice and parent choice
, and so our community is alwayslooking for new programs,
(14:20):
something different, and withthe beginning of that Japanese
program in 89, our programs havejust taken off in popularity
and now they live off of theirown you know, reputations and
what have you, and so I do thinkthat that history and that
longevity of programs helps tomaintain and then start new ones
(14:44):
, and I think that that's whatmakes it very different.
And you know, we physically areattached to North America, but
we're a very isolated state and,yes, we know we're part of the
United States, but things arejust different here, and so I
think that that just kind ofgoes hand in hand with providing
(15:05):
different opportunities foreducation for our students.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
What a fascinating story, and I plan to go both
historical and future.
Historical I'm talking aboutancient world and Middle Ages,
(15:32):
where people tookmultilingualism for granted as
part of the experience ofeconomic interchange.
Experience of economicinterchange, be it people were
traveling on their own volitionor they were forced to travel in
(15:57):
various places and they, oneway or another, had to learn at
least the basics of otherlanguages in order to be able to
accomplish their economicwell-being and to stay alive.
It reminds me so much of that.
There's that sense of immediateapplicability, the.
I'm looking for your responseto what I'm about to lay in
front of you.
Brandon, as far as whether thisis being seen correctly or how
(16:22):
you might best say it, thecontiguous 48, there often seems
like such a sense of we'rereally not part of.
Other countries are not aroundus.
We don't.
We're not like Europe, whereyou can turn on the TV and hear
all of these languages.
We're fine with having Englishas the major language and we
(16:46):
don't really need to move inthat direction because we don't
have the urgency that I justdescribed from a historical
point of view or that you justdescribed from an Anchorage and
Alaska point of view.
Help me here and help ourlisteners here.
Is it a sense that Alaska andAnchorage have something to say
(17:07):
to the lower 48 and to otherswho do not necessarily consider
the urgency of languages becausethey're doing just fine
economically on their own orculturally?
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Yeah, I think the physical isolation is one area
or speaks to that.
One thing that I didn't mentionwhen I mentioned the military
and the oil industry.
We also fishing is a huge, hugeindustry here, and by fishing I
mean, like seafood and shippingseafood worldwide, and also
(17:43):
tourism.
Tourism is huge here, and so itis very common to walk around
Anchorage and hear multiplelanguages being spoken, and the
languages that are spoken sortof have changed over the decades
.
I remember being a young kidand walking down in downtown
Anchorage and hearing French andGerman and Norwegian and
(18:05):
Japanese, and that was theflight crews that were here on
their layovers, you know.
And now the languages that wehear, the top languages that are
spoken by our ELL students andI'm going to say these five in
no particular order because theykind of change, but Samoan,
(18:26):
tagalog, hmong, korean and Yupik, which is again that Alaska
native language, and those areafter English and Spanish, and
so the transiency of the of thepopulation here has continued.
Um, the reasons why itcontinues have changed again
(18:46):
over the decades.
Like I said, but you can't, Imean I guess you you can, but it
is.
I was going to say you can'treally live in Alaska and not
travel Like.
You have to travel and youcan't just get in your car and
drive from LA to San Franciscoor from DC to New York.
(19:07):
If you want to drive anywhere,like to Seattle, you have to
plan a good seven days.
It's not an easy drive.
A good seven days it's not aneasy drive.
And so I say that because youpeople here, you just have you
get on a plane and you just goplaces, and that's just how it
is to live here.
I, I have to go to Seattle topretty much go anywhere and and
(19:34):
I think people are just used totraveling here and they're used
to having languages from aroundthe world spoken all around us
and, um, and I think just thatphysical isolation makes it sort
of just part of who we are, um,and, and you know we don't have
counties and sometimes I knowcounties can over, you know,
(19:56):
kind of go over state line.
We don't have that here.
We're just one big, huge stateand we're huge.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
And you are indeed huge.
You gave a story about a smartyoung woman who took that French
and ran with it.
What are some other ways inwhich the experiences of this
interaction, these expectationsof Anchorage and Alaskans, what
(20:25):
stories can help inform theadvocacy that you referred to at
the beginning, so that othersmay be aware of the importance
of the attitude and theopportunities that these
cultivate?
Speaker 3 (20:40):
So every spring, before all of our high school
graduations, each of ourimmersion programs does their
own graduation where thestudents, they receive a
completion cord and they give aspeech in their target language.
It's projected in Englishbehind them so that family
members and guests can see itand read it.
And I speak at each of thosecelebrations and I always try to
(21:05):
explain and share anecdotalstories, hopefully motivational
and helping kids sort of see thesuperpower that they really do
have in their language skills.
So I'll give you three superquick examples, all right.
Example number one Young ladywho's the daughter of one of my
(21:28):
colleagues went through Spanishimmersion, graduated high school
with her Spanish immersionbackground, also started
learning German while she was inschool in high school,
continued her Spanish studies incollege as well as computer
science.
And when she graduated fromcollege she got a job with
(21:51):
Facebook Europe and relocated toEurope and was making gosh more
money than me as a 23,24-year-old and speaking
multiple languages, and shebecame the manager of Facebook
Europe while being over there.
Another one is a graduate ofour Japanese immersion program.
(22:16):
Um went abroad, studied,continued her Japanese studies.
Um applied for an FBI positionand her story is that her
application surpassed 30 othersfor the same exact job because
of her language abilities, andshe was stationed in Tokyo and
(22:41):
in Seoul and in Copenhagen, andnow she's back in Anchorage and
raising her own children who goto the Japanese immersion
program.
And then one last one, and thisis sort of a newer one, but we
have a very large joint AirForce Army military base here in
Anchorage called J-Bear and,unbeknownst to me, we have a
(23:06):
national security agency officehere, and right before COVID hit
they reached out to me andwanted to talk to me because
we're one of the few places inthe country that has a Russian
immersion program.
And so now we have developed astrong partnership with them and
we have high school seniorsthat receive I mean, they apply
(23:28):
and they go through very, veryextremely rigorous background
checks and security screenings,but they actually work on the
base.
They receive high school creditbut they work as Russian
linguist interns.
They get paid for theirposition there and through this
partnership, if they choose togo to college locally, the NSA
(23:50):
will pay for them, and if theychoose to go outside of the
state which is very common forAlaskan students they can come
back in the summer months andwork and then also maintain
their employment full time oncethey earn their bachelor's
degree.
So those are just a coupleexamples of our graduates using
their language skills in reallife situations and then sort of
(24:11):
paying it forward to like theFBI agent Now her children are
in the program and what's instore for them in the future.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
You know, I just had a visual of windows and doors
flying open, all of theseopportunities coming about.
It's astonishing what thelanguage, especially the
immersive program, can do.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
You know, I do have a story of a non-immersion
student, another former studentof mine in French, and she was
always a really, really goodstudent, very, very
conscientious of her French inmy class.
But her real passion wasperforming arts, dance, theater,
(24:58):
music and um.
She graduated from high school,went off to college, double
majored in, I think, theater andFrench.
Um ended up working for Disneyand uh performed on Disney
cruises as one of many differentprincesses, like you know,
jasmine from Aladdin, forexample.
But those cruise ships are fullof people from around the world
(25:20):
, and so she found herselfbehind the scenes teaching her
new friends.
You know English or French, or,and so she's picked up multiple
languages over the years as well.
And she met me for coffee a fewyears ago and she said you know
languages over the years aswell.
And she met me for coffee a fewyears ago and she said you know
, I can't be a princess all mylife.
(25:44):
I'm going to outgrow this role,but I have learned that I
really like teaching language,and she's now interested in
becoming a French teacherbecause of what that experience
has meant for her.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
See the surprises continue, right, brandon, and
you spoke there about a studentthat took language in a more, we
would say, I guess, atraditional way, starting in,
say, middle school, and youcertainly have shared stories
about immersion, which weunderstand mean that they
(26:14):
started at a younger age,kindergarten or first grade, et
cetera.
What do you see in thedirection of understanding how
language programs work,nationally based on, or the
state of Alaska as well, pleasethe future, but the national
(26:36):
state which you would recommendas far as?
Where do you see language usgoing with language instruction?
What hopes do you have?
What do you see that mightblock what you consider should
happen?
Speaker 3 (26:49):
please, Well, I think what's really interesting to me
is, as you mentioned you know,immersion programs typically
start at the younger grades andthere's definitely fewer
immersion programs in thecountry than there are sort of
more traditional programs.
However, I think that immersionprograms tend to be cultivated
(27:10):
and taken care of much more andin a better way, because I think
that they're seen as this sortof unique opportunity and again,
we're putting ourkindergartners and our first
graders in these programs withthe expectation that it's going
to be a long term opportunityand experience for them to
(27:31):
become highly proficient in thelanguage and also culturally,
you know, competent, if you will.
What I think is interesting isthat that's a very small piece
of our overall population andthe vast majority of the
population, I would guess,doesn't value language to that
(27:55):
level and therefore either seesnot taking a language as totally
fine or that mindset of takeSpanish it's the easiest and
just get your two years in anddone so that you can get into
college.
And that's the part that Ithink is really frustrating,
because in Anchorage we do nothave a language requirement for
(28:21):
graduation.
But this is my 24th year inpublic education as a language
educator and still to this day Ihear stories of counselors
telling kids you don't need alanguage or you just need two
years.
Well, that's not.
That's not a true statement,and there are thousands of
(28:42):
colleges and universities inthis country, and every single
one of them has their ownadmission requirements.
So telling somebody two yearsand you're done is not accurate
for many of those institutions.
And so, like the young lady thatI mentioned who became a Disney
princess you know, she juststarted as a seventh grade
(29:02):
student and just fell in lovewith the language, but she
stayed with her passion, whichwas that performing arts, and
she learned how to mesh the twotogether.
And that's what we need to makesure that we are providing that
type of opportunity for ourstudents.
We need doctors and lawyersthat can speak other languages.
(29:23):
My office gets calls all thetime from the community for
these unique needs.
We need a French interpreter inthe court system.
Do you have anyone that you canrecommend?
And one of these days I'm goingto keep a log of all of the
different requests that I get,but it just tells me like yes,
(29:44):
we need people in this countrythat speak multiple languages
and we need to value those andwe need to support our younger
generation in getting to thatlevel.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
The image I had there is of what kind of toolkit do
we allow our children to carry?
Do we only allow them to have ahammer, or are we going to
expect that they might have needof other tools in that tool kit
in order to be able to reallytake care of building and
repairing what needs to be doneand why we would limit them to a
(30:20):
little kid's hammer?
Speaker 3 (30:21):
You know, I think it goes.
I'm a history buff and I seethings in cycles and I know that
the parents of our youngchildren today it was their
grandparents or greatgrandparents that were part of
that group of initial immigrantsto this country that came over
from Germany and Scandinaviancountries and Ireland, and and
(30:46):
they were, they were forced toassimilate quickly and to forget
their language as quickly aspossible so that they become, so
that they could become, quoteunquote American Um, lose your
Danish, lose your Norwegian,learn English as quickly as you
can.
And that's what they did, andthat changed the trajectory of
(31:08):
their family history and it justbecame, I mean, it was just an
expectation and it was allowedat that point.
Similarly, our nativepopulations, our American Indian
, alaska Native, nativeHawaiians they were here first,
(31:28):
but they were also forced toassimilate and to forget their
languages and their cultureshave moved to this country or
that are not even immigrantsanymore.
They're second or third year,second or third generation
(31:54):
immigrants, and and the wealthof, of, and and richness of the
language and culture that ishere today, our country would
not be the same without that,and that's what we need to give
our students.
We and and you know it doesn,and you know it's not about what
language you quote, unquote,choose or have in your back
pocket.
We know that if you arebilingual that the ability and
(32:16):
the chances of you picking up athird or a fourth language are
that much easier.
So you know you could be aDanish American, live here and
speak English and Danish butalso pick up German pretty
quickly because of your Danishbackground.
It's just you know.
I mean again, I hate to soundso cliche and so like, oh,
(32:38):
everything is happy and go luckyis our, our language
experiences are really ourfoundation for the future of of
really our livelihoods, of wherewe live, how we raise our
families and and where we live,quite frankly, all around the
world.
And I think even covid hasprovided that, that um entry or
(33:06):
that entree into globalizationthrough technology.
So, even though travel mightnot be as needed as it was
before, the communication isstill there and the
communication need is stillthere.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
And will continue to be there.
In particular, Such a goodcatch the technological
connections around the world,globalization in that way.
You mentioned, Brandon, thevery difficult story that is
being now, we hope, reversed,namely the indigenous languages
(33:44):
of this continent.
Reversed, namely the indigenouslanguages of this continent.
And UPIC you have mentionedseveral times during this
conversation, it's one ofseveral others that are within
the territory of Alaska andtherefore the purview of
Anchorage.
What is the trajectory ofhelping those speakers, help to
(34:06):
hold on to their language and orculture?
Speaker 3 (34:11):
That's an excellent question.
So we do have 20 officialAlaska Native languages in
Alaska, but that's just 20official.
We have hundreds of variationsand dialects and a lot of them
are really truly based on likewaterway systems.
So if you go 20 miles north upsuch and such river, you speak a
(34:35):
different dialect than yourneighbors.
20 miles south Yupik isdefinitely the most prevalent.
It is in southwestern Alaska isdefinitely the most prevalent.
It is in southwestern Alaska.
And to give your listenersaround the world an idea, alaska
I always love to superimpose amap of Alaska on the lower 48.
(34:57):
I mean, really the top ofAlaska would be like the top of
North Dakota and southern partis all the way down to Texas.
So when people say, well,what's the weather like in
Alaska, I say well, what's theweather like in the United
States?
Because weather in Floridalooks very different than
weather in Maine or in Alaskafor that matter.
(35:21):
And I say all of that becauseour native population is still
alive and very, very prevalentin Alaska.
But we have dying languages allthe time, and so one of the
programs that I'm the most proudof in my tenure in this
position was starting a Yupikimmersion program in Anchorage
(35:42):
School District.
We did it through, we startedit, I should say, with initial
grant funding from the federalgovernment, but really it's
designed to revitalize and todevelop a new generation of
speakers of the language.
So again a brief history lesson.
(36:03):
When Westerners moved to Alaskain the early part of the 20th
century I should say Americans,because the Russians were here
before us we didn't have schoolsystems at the high school level
for indigenous kids, so theywould go to elementary school
(36:24):
and if there was one, and thenthey would be plucked up and
sent away to boarding schools inthe lower 48.
And they were a fish out ofwater there because they were
forced to assimilate and losetheir language and learn English
and lose their culture.
And then many of them came backand they were a fish out of
water back in Alaska becausethey were no longer longer
(36:45):
native and they no longerunderstood the culture.
And so we're trying toresurrect that, or I should say
reverse that, and provide theopportunity for new learners of
that language so that they cancontinue.
And and you know you have tostart somewhere.
So we're physically not onYupik land where we are in
(37:10):
Anchorage, we're on Dena'inaland, but there are not nearly
as many Dena'ina speakers, norare there resources available,
and so we chose the languagethat was the most prevalent, the
most widely spoken, the mostpublished and hopefully, our
program.
Like I said, you have to startsomewhere.
Hopefully it can serve as amodel for other districts.
(37:32):
The thing that makes ourprogram unique is that we're a
we're a UPIC.
I should say our UPIC immersionprogram is an indigenous
revitalization program open toanyone in an urban public school
.
So we are not.
We don't have reservations inAlaska, but if we did, we are
not the type of program whereyou have to be a Native American
(37:55):
and live on the reservation toattend this school.
This is open to anyone AfricanAmericans, asians, caucasians,
native students, native studentswho are Yupik, native students
who are not Yupik, you name it.
We have them in our program.
Speaker 1 (38:08):
That is such an important statement about the
importance of language in allpeople's lives and not reserved
for specific groups to justfocus on their own.
I can see where there's atremendous pride in that.
Do you perceive other programsdeveloping for those who are not
(38:30):
as widely spoken or spoken byas many?
Speaker 3 (38:35):
I do.
Actually there are well, I wasaware of one, but now I'm aware
of two.
There are two other Yupikimmersion programs in the state
of Alaska, both out in veryrural Alaska and when I say
rural, I'm not talking about theGreat Plains and driving 300
(38:56):
miles to your next neighbor InAlaska.
Many of our communities are noton road systems, so the only
way of getting there is by plane, sometimes boat, sometimes snow
machine or that's what we callsnowmobiles up in Alaska.
And by plane.
I'm not talking about a jetplane, I'm talking about a small
(39:18):
, tiny little plane that goesfrom a large town to a remote
village of maybe 500 people orless.
And so, yeah, I do believe thatlanguage is definitely
something that different partsof Alaska are experiencing and
experimenting with.
(39:40):
One thing that I always strugglewith and as a Caucasian person,
I really struggle with, and asa Caucasian person, I really
struggle with trying to say thisin a way that's like you should
do it this way.
But one thing that I havenoticed in working with a
variety of indigenous groups isthat it seems like each group
tends to try to recreate thewheel on their own rather than
(40:02):
benefit from lessons learned andtrials and tribulations of
others.
You know we implemented ourprogram based on our model for
our other language programs, butall of our language programs
might follow a similar model of50-50 throughout the day
half-day English, half-day thelanguage but every single one of
(40:24):
them is culturally unique andour UPIC program is no exception
to that.
It's extremely unique and Iwould love to be able to have
and we have.
We've had indigenous groupsfrom other parts of the world
come and visit us, includingJapan, which they only have one
indigenous group there andthat's the Ainu people on their
(40:45):
Northern Island of Hokkaido.
They've come to visit ourprogram to see how we do it.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
Do you have, along with the logistics, the
description?
Do you have stories that theyhear from the students, from
parents, the communities, thestudents from parents, the
(41:12):
communities where this abilityto grow and develop again the
language has made a difference?
Speaker 3 (41:15):
Yes and no.
Again, a lot of anecdotalconversations over the years.
I will say just on an aside,it's sort of an apropos question
, but I'm currently working onfinishing my dissertation, and
my dissertation study is allabout indigenous revitalization
in urban public schools, and soI have just completed about 30
(41:37):
different interviews withvarious stakeholders teachers,
administrators, but also membersof our language, of our
language, of our excuse me ofour native community, elders,
and also parents of studentsthat are in the program, some of
whom are non-native.
And one of the questions andit's all about public
(41:58):
perceptions because, you know,I'm hoping to develop some sort
of a sustainability plan andmodel for other programs but one
of the questions that I foundto be the most fascinating is
why parents chose to put theirchildren in the program.
We've got a couple teachers atthe school who are Caucasian and
(42:22):
they just put their child therebecause they teach there and it
was convenient, and the sideeffect of what they're getting
is just it's mind blowing.
And and some of these peoplewell, the people I'm talking
about, they're not languageeducators, they don't know the
background of second languageacquisition and so the fact that
(42:45):
their children are learningYupik, they're showing a sense
of pride, a sense of community.
It's helping them with theirself-esteem and from the parent
perspective.
You know, take that secondlanguage and go off and learn a
third or a fourth one.
You've got that background now,but you've seen the world
through two sets of eyes yourYupik set and your natural set.
(43:11):
And it's just it's.
It's like I said, it's mindblowing to hear, hear the impact
of what the program has done.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
Well, changes hearts, changes lives.
I'm looking when you write,when we exchange emails.
I'm looking at the fact thatyou have what appears to me to
be an indigenous languageappendation to your Brandon
(43:41):
Locke name.
Can you tell us a story aboutthat particular bird?
Speaker 3 (43:47):
Absolutely, and you know I debated on whether I
would add that to my autosignature or not and I actually
asked permission of the nativewoman who gave me that name and
she said that she would behonored if I did.
But the story, so the name isKea Cook and it's not just my
(44:08):
little nickname that I createdbecause I thought it would be
cool.
I was actually at a when ourprogram was first starting.
I brought our team to it wasactually a Carla Institute in
Minneapolis, for it was calledImmersion 101 back then.
I don't believe it existsanymore and I brought our very
(44:29):
small team of UPIC teachers, tas, principal to this week-long
workshop and it was in a big,huge ballroom full of different
languages French, german,spanish, from around the country
.
Ironically, there was also agroup from Bethel around the
country.
Ironically, there was also agroup from Bethel, alaska, there
.
That's where one of the otherUPIC programs is from and we
(44:51):
were wrapping up for the day andagain.
Imagine yourself in a largeballroom full of all these round
tables kind of shoved together,and as we were wrapping up, my
teacher I mean the, you know theteacher I'm referring to was
standing next to me.
But the woman from Bethel, whowas considerably older and
(45:12):
considered an elder, starteddoing something and at first I
thought you know, I, yourlisteners don't know that I
don't have any hair.
I've got a shaved head.
But the teacher next to me puta little cup of water on my head
and started rubbing it aroundand I at first I thought they're
they're teasing me because Idon't have any hair.
And then she whispers to methis is serious, listen.
(45:34):
And the elder across the tablefrom me was saying something in
Yupik to me and everyone aroundme at the table and there were
several other Caucasian people,but mostly Yupik people were
looking with completeseriousness and um, and then it
was done, and my teacher whoended up she was our, our first
(45:57):
kindergarten teacher in theprogram she told me that I just
went through a naming ceremonyand that I was given a Yupik
name and the name she gave she'sthe one the elder performed the
ceremony, but she's the onethat assigned the name and the
name is Kayakuk, named after hergrandfather, and he was
(46:19):
considered by.
This is her story.
He was considered a languagewarrior for his village and she
said you're our language warriorfor our language in our city.
And it brought me to tears.
And in Yupik culture the waythat it works is when somebody
is born and given a name, theyare given a name and he passed
(46:41):
away the year I was born.
So she had asked me thesequestions earlier like what year
were you born?
Blah, blah, blah and that'sthat's where it comes from is
when a child is born, they arenamed after somebody who passed
that same year as a way of sortof having that sort of legacy
live on.
And many of our students in theprogram, some of them, are
(47:06):
given Yupik names when they'reborn.
They're native names, but wehave a lot of non-natives, as I
mentioned, and so they do anaming ceremony every year.
But they ask permission of thefamilies.
You know, would you like yourchild to receive a Yupik name?
And then they're verymethodical about their traits
and their characteristics andtheir personality to assign the
(47:27):
correct name to each student.
And some of the non-nativeteachers in the building have
also been gifted Yupik names.
It's a very after it happenedto me, I did some research on
the whole naming ceremony andit's a big deal research on the
(47:49):
whole naming ceremony and it's abig deal.
And so when I I put it on myauto signature as a draft and I
texted her a picture of it and Isaid is this presumptuous or
inappropriate if I put this here?
And she said absolutely not.
Kea Cook, you should be proudof that name.
Speaker 1 (48:01):
Oh, you have brought me to tears on that story, how
moving and how powerful, and thefact that this is not only a
wonderful experience of your own, but also that which these
students whose eyes are beingopened can have experienced as
well, and your community as awhole.
Phenomenal, brandon.
(48:23):
Thank you so much for sharingthat, that absolutely a stunning
story.
Well, as we wrap up, what is itthat you want to make sure that
the listeners hear from you orthat you reiterate?
However you wish to take thatso that they leave knowing what
(48:44):
you want them to have heardclearly.
Speaker 3 (48:47):
Yeah.
So I think the context iseverything, and since you
mentioned that you havelisteners from around the world,
I know that many, manydifferent countries have lots of
different languages and theircontext is very different.
You know, growing up, learningtwo or three or I should say not
learning, but learning andspeaking two or three languages
is pretty common.
Some countries have a lot lessimmigration than others, and so
(49:14):
it's, you know, it's a very like.
I'm thinking of Japan, forexample.
There's not a lot of peoplethat are not Japanese that moved
to Japan.
But I guess what I want yourinternational community to take
away is that language iseverywhere and we have to put it
into context.
We have to make it right for ourown community and make it
(49:36):
meaningful for our own community, but always keep that larger
picture out there.
So what we're doing here inAnchorage, alaska, yes, it's for
our Anchorage students, butit's really ideally for them to
be able to take with themwherever they go in life and for
for those of your listenersfrom the United States, if
(49:59):
you're listening to this,obviously you have some sort of
a passion for languages and Ijust want you to keep fighting
the good fight for showing theneed for the importance of
language learning, not just forlanguage learning, for what it
actually provides the person asa whole and the skills that it
(50:22):
provides for them for theirfuture.
It kills me when I hear aboutthese state initiatives for
English only or making itillegal to have an immersion
program, and that's soshort-minded in my opinion.
Again, it doesn't matter whatthe language is.
Providing the students at theyoung age the opportunity to
(50:46):
open their eyes to the world andsee that there is life beyond
Anchorage or Alaska or theUnited States, I think, is the
best thing that we can give ourstudents.
Speaker 1 (50:55):
Brandon, thank you so much the passion and compassion
that you've provided.
Speaker 3 (51:01):
Thanks for sharing all of that with us today it's
been my pleasure, thank you forthe invitation and I, as always,
I love chatting with you, nora,so this was even extra special,
so thanks for the invitationthank you for listening to this
podcast with my guest, brandonlock.
Speaker 1 (51:18):
Check out my website, fluencyconsulting, for more
information about brandon and tofollow the links and to check
out the resources that he hasshared with us.
Let's all become languagewarriors.
Until next time, thank you.
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