Ya. I've tried initiating conversations, and I've tried being polite, and pretty much everything else. There is just one more day of kiln building and then I'm pretty sure we don't have to work as a group after that.
This is a pretty rigorous college I'm at. The ESL students are all quite proficient in English, although not perfect. There are two guys and one pretty girl who seems to be a Queen Bee type. The guys don't want to go against her, because apparently she gets cranky. And she's the one who refuses to try to speak English, and further she refuses to see that speaking Chinese shuts me out. That it isn't the tasks or the work on the kiln that is the problem. It's the apparently intentional exclusion of the one non-Chinese member of the group that's the problem. And, even though she states that not knowing the English word for something is one of the reasons she won't speak English, she has no problem arguing that point and others with absolutely no hesitation... so ya... it's not really so much the lack of English as it is the lack of caring to include the non-Chinese speaker.
It's really their loss. I'm only taking the class because it's required for some of the Art Therapy programs that I intend to apply to. I have a passable level of skill when it comes to ceramics. Everything but throwing, in fact. I've spent almost two years apprenticed in an informal way with a friend who was an architect, painter, former college professor and a master potter. That only ended when he got too ill to work any more. I've actually built a kiln before. Two, in fact - although both were very different from the one this class is building. So I could have helped them quite a bit. But they've shut me out.
I'm considering going to the professor with this, even though I don't think teamwork is part of the grade. Mostly I'm considering going to the prof because when working in any shared art space it's extremely poor form to be insular and unhelpful.
Well firstly, I should say what you're doing sounds really cool. <3 And I'm sorry that's the case with the other students. I would agree that going to your prof is a good idea, maybe at least in the future, the prof can take that into consideration and try to integrate more teamwork into the course...who knows? Wish it worked out better for you, though. x.o!
This is a pretty rigorous college I'm at. The ESL students are all quite proficient in English, although not perfect. There are two guys and one pretty girl who seems to be a Queen Bee type. The guys don't want to go against her, because apparently she gets cranky. And she's the one who refuses to try to speak English, and further she refuses to see that speaking Chinese shuts me out. That it isn't the tasks or the work on the kiln that is the problem. It's the apparently intentional exclusion of the one non-Chinese member of the group that's the problem. And, even though she states that not knowing the English word for something is one of the reasons she won't speak English, she has no problem arguing that point and others with absolutely no hesitation... so ya... it's not really so much the lack of English as it is the lack of caring to include the non-Chinese speaker.
It's really their loss. I'm only taking the class because it's required for some of the Art Therapy programs that I intend to apply to. I have a passable level of skill when it comes to ceramics. Everything but throwing, in fact. I've spent almost two years apprenticed in an informal way with a friend who was an architect, painter, former college professor and a master potter. That only ended when he got too ill to work any more. I've actually built a kiln before. Two, in fact - although both were very different from the one this class is building. So I could have helped them quite a bit. But they've shut me out.
I'm considering going to the professor with this, even though I don't think teamwork is part of the grade. Mostly I'm considering going to the prof because when working in any shared art space it's extremely poor form to be insular and unhelpful.
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