A handy excuse.

---

I wouldn't be surprised if the natives/immigrants metaphor sprang up as a defense mechanism, as a means of justifying the reticence of technology-leery teachers to learn to use computers and integrate them into their classrooms. After all, if using computers comes naturally to our pupils, but is (because we're immigrants, remember?) "naturally" difficult for us, why shouldn't we just let them learn to use these tools by themselves? If both pupils and teachers have the same capabilities, there's really no excuse for teachers not doing what they're expected to do - teach. But then along comes the natives/immigrants excuse which takes the teachers off the hook. It tells them that they'll never understand and use these tools as well as their pupils, so why try? Whether this is actually the reasoning that led to the distinction between natives and immigrants is, of course, quite open to question. On the other hand, chances are good that it's this reasoning that's kept the distinction alive well beyond what would appear to be its viable lifetime.

---

Go to: You don't have to be a native to ..., or
Go to: Carrying cognitive baggage from the old country