As an ESL teacher in New York City, educator and author Manuel Hernandez saw that multicultural students wanted to learn, but classroom materials weren’t relatable to their own cultural experience. Hernandez tells of the significant difference in the classroom when culturally relevant materials were introduced into the learning experience and how we all can benefit. Learn more about #TEDxAM14 at http://bit.ly/1DZMWzo.

Early in his career as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher in New York City, Manuel Hernández Carmona had many students recently arrived from Latin American countries. He was tasked to teach these 10th graders, many who had been in the U.S. less than two years, the works of Hemingway, Poe and Shakespeare – and was excited to do it. But “after an intensive month of ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ I quickly understood that I had a major predicament on my hands.”

The problem was not the students’ desire to learn, but rather that, “Try as they might, my students continued to struggle with the plight of the star-crossed lovers, because their own social, cultural and personal backgrounds were so far removed from the lives of the Montagues and Capulets of Verona.” Determined to bridge that gap, Hernández Carmona discovered the power of Latino/a literature, which constructed bridges of understanding to teach his students to learn English, to read, stay in school and pass citywide Regents exams.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx