Immigration from a Social Justice Perspective

Drawing on a curriculum by Rethinking Schools, The Line Between Us, Teaching about the Border and Mexican Immigration, central Vermont educators Carolyn Shapiro and Jean Lathrop designed a curriculum that includes looking at the phenomenon of Mexican workers living shadow lives here in Vermont. They co-taught with two teachers of sophomore social studies classes, one for two weeks and the other for five weeks. They arranged to have guests visit the classes including a Mexican immigrant, an American born Mexican-American who is now a PhD but was a migrant worker as a child, a Vermont farmer using Mexican labor, and the co-director of Vermont Refugee Assistance. One teacher used his classroom budget to buy each student a copy of a short book, Crossing the Wire, about a teenage Mexican boy who in desperation decides he has to go to the US to earn money to send back to his family and the ensuing dangers he faces crossing the border. Students were very involved and wrote insightful evaluations. “I think this unit was really great and made me think of things that are going on now that we can potentially fix instead of like history which we can’t change.” (image courtesy of Vermont Folklife Center)

Carolyn and Jean compiled this resource list from the work mentioned above and also from their association with The Golden Cage exhibit at the Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury (http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org/):

Web-based Resources:

The American Friends Service Committee has a section of their Web site at http://tamejavi.com/immigrants-rights/ devoted to immigrants’ right in the United States, which includes
· AFSC blog on immigration policy
· Project Voice E-Newsletter: Real Immigration Stories
· numerous articles and reports
· resources such as Echando Raices/Taking Root, a bilingual DVD documentary on immigrant realities and immigrant rights

The Web site of the National Immigration Forum at http://www.blogger.com/ww.immigrationforum.org/ includes:
· Press releases
· Facts on immigration
· Backgrounders, issue briefs, and legislative analysis
· Immigration reform resources

A 15-page fact sheet on migration from Mexico through March 2007 prepared by the Pew Hispanic Center can be found at http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/33.pdf.

Teachable Moment Web site presents free, timely topical activities and lesson plans for the K - 12 classroom offered by the nonprofit Educators for Social Responsibility. These include lessons on social responsibility, critical thinking, etc. and can be found at http://www.teachablemoment.org/.

Witness for Peace seeks to educate the U.S. public and policymakers about the root causes of immigration, and to change U.S. trade and economic policy that contributes to migration. Online resources at http://www.witnessforpeace.org/article.php?list=type&type=121 include reports, news, and publications.

Teaching for Change online catalog at http://www9.mailordercentral.com/teachingforchange/ offers hundreds of carefully selected books, films, and posters for teaching from a social justice perspective.

Books:

Will Hobbs, Crossing the Wire (published by Harper Collins) is a story for young adults about a Mexican boy who crosses the border to find work to help his family in Mexico. Also an online teacher’s guide for Crossing the Wire at http://www.harperchildrens.com/

Bill Bigelow, The Line Between Us: Teaching About the Border and Mexican Immigration is available from Rethinking Schools Online. The Line Between Us explores the history of U.S-Mexican relations and the roots of Mexican immigration, all in the context of the global economy. It shows how teachers can help students understand the immigrant experience and the drama of border life. It's also about imaginative and creative teaching that gets students to care about the world.

Ann Jaramillo, La Linea (published by Roaring Brook Press) is a moving story about the Herculean efforts of two Mexican teenagers to reach the Promised Land, the United States, to be reunited with their parents.

Films:

El Norte, directed by Gregory Nava, 1984, available on DVD.
A teenage brother and sister escaping violence in Guatemala flee to "El Norte" (the USA) by truck, bus and other means to reach Los Angeles, where they try to make a new life as young, uneducated, and illegal immigrants.

El Imigrante, written, produced, and directed by John Sheedy, David Eckenrode, and John Ekenrode, 2005.
This is a documentary film that examines the Mexican and American border crisis by telling the true story of Eusebio de Haro, a young Mexican migrant who was shot and killed during one of his journeys north.

• From what other perspectives do you teach about immigration?
• Do you teach about current immigration and/or migrant labor issues in Vermont? If so, what resources do you have to share with us?
• Do you have any concerns or advice about teaching about current immigration issues?

2008 VASS Conference - A Success!

Last Friday's VASS conference at the Equinox in Manchester was a great success. It was fun to see so many familiar faces, attend some really great presentations, and listen to our thought-provoking keynote speakers.

Richard Long from Kurn Hattin School in Westminster sums it up best when he says, "I believe the VASS conference was the best I have ever attended and I have been attending for several years. The variety of breakout sessions and topics covered were excellent. Everything seemed to go off without a hitch. The materials I received I was able to put to use right away in my classes. Thanks for a great professional experience."

To see some photos from the conference go to http://www.tahvt.org/VASS2008Photos.htm (thanks to the Teaching American History program at Castleton for these photos).

Ndakinna Cultural Center in East Calais

From Charlene McManis at the Ndakinna Cultural Center:

Sitting Bull once said, "Let us put our minds together and see what life will make for our children." For many generations, his words served our native community.

Here at NDAKINNA CULTURAL CENTER, we endeavor to continue his goal of offering Native American Heritage for Vermont’s children. Programs like the drumming circle and beadwork classes merge artistic training with native teachings. Our web site (http://www.ndakinna.org/) provides a Wabanaki directory with valuable resources for education, research, and so much more.

For more information, you may phone 802-456-8884 or visit us at 34 Moscow Woods Road in East Calais. Gici oliwni (Many thanks)

21st Century Skills and Social Studies

I received the following email from a social studies teacher here in Vermont. I'm interested in your reactions, comments, and feedback:

Hi Sigrid,

I just read over the DOE Transformation document and the 21st Century Skills document again and here's my thought. I'd like social studies to take the lead in creating and implementing plans for these goals to be obtained. The integrated nature of the content with emphasis on packaged skills is right up our alley.

The last time DOE began an initiative, (Standards), we were dragged kicking, screaming and late to the meeting. The fallout has been that we have been marginalized and made adjunct English teachers. We can do better.

Let's embrace this stuff and move forward with it. Form a committee of people around the state that can look at these documents through the lense of classroom teachers who consistently synthesize relevant topics, pursue inquiry and cause students to create meaningful, integrated presentations.

On our best days that's what social studies does.

• Your thoughts?
• Click on the link to the VT DOE Transformation document for more info: http://education.vermont.gov/new/html/dept/transformation.html

Obama Inspired by, Compared to Lincoln

By Philip Rucker, Washington Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

He was a boy with a distant father, raised in a family of modest means. He had a curious intellect, devouring history and memorizing passages from Shakespeare. He became a lawyer and settled in Illinois, where he was elected to the state legislature. With relatively little political experience, he decided to run for president. Few believed he stood a chance of winning a primary campaign against the party's heir apparent, a senator from New York.

But the gangly, bookish Illinoisan galvanized millions across a country in crisis with his soaring rhetoric, speaking in big strokes about transcending partisan politics and creating America as it ought to be. He rose from obscurity to clinch his party's nomination and the presidency. The New York senator returned home deeply disappointed and bitter, having fallen to a shrewd political tactician.

Sound familiar?
Read the rest at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/18/AR2008111803854.html

Watch Doris Kearns Goodwin talk about these connections at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/doris_kearns_goodwin_on_learning_from_past_presidents.html

• What do you think about this premise (the connections between Obama and Lincoln)?
• How can you use this information in your classroom?

International Education Week

November 17-21 is International Education Week.

Like any other commemorative week or month (or year, for that matter) of some merit, the question arises "why just one week (or month or year)?" Today, international/global education is so essential that it should be incorporated into all subject areas spanning many if not all grades.

We all know this, but according to a recent report from the Committee for Economic Development our students, upon graduation, will be: selling to other countries, buying from other countries, working for international companies, managing employees from other cultures and countries, collaborating with people around the world in joint ventures, competing with people around the world for jobs and markets, and tackling international problems such as climate change, diseases, and disaster recovery.

For some good online resources, go to http://delicious.com/sigridlumbra and click on the tag "Global Studies" in the right hand tool bar.

• How do you address global education in your classroom?
• Is your school and/or district supportive?
• What resources, methods, or advice to you have for your colleagues who want to expand global education within their schools?
  

Online Election Resources

The following web sites are good resources for integrating 21st century skills and the election:

• The Living Room Candidate: Web site sponsored by the Museum for the Moving Image that provides clips of presidential-campaign commercials from 1952 through today, as well as background and historical information about campaign advertising.
• National Association for Media Literacy Education: The national membership organization promotes media-literacy efforts. It offers suggestions for teaching about the election.
• Glassbooth: An online quiz that analyzes a user’s position on social, political, and economic issues to see which candidate’s views he or she is most aligned with.
• Mouse: A New York City-based nonprofit organization that supports research, policy initiatives, classroom resources, and training programs for teachers and students that promote the use of technology to enhance instruction.
• Presidential Election Wiki: A wikispace, or collaborative Web site, that includes resources and Web links for teaching about the election process. The site is administered by Joyce Valenza, a library information specialist at Springfield Township High School in Pennsylvania.
• YouTube: The video-sharing Web site has a channel dedicated to the election hosted by YouTube that includes clips of the candidates on the campaign trail and in debate, as well as video commentary by both prominent and unknown pundits.
• Media Construction of Presidential Campaigns: Curriculum materials from Project Look Sharp, the media-literacy program at Ithaca College. It includes a detailed teacher’s guide and downloads for units covering media issues in presidential campaigns since 1800.
• Access, Analyze, Act—A Blueprint for 21st Century Civic Engagement: The Public Broadcasting Service’s resources include a teacher’s guide for developing lessons that tap social media to teach media-literacy, critical-thinking, communication, and technology skills. The site, created by the Media Education Lab at Temple University in Philadelphia, also includes podcasts and interactive simulations on campaign issues.
• Factcheck.org: The searchable Web site from the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania monitors the factual accuracy of statements, advertisements, interviews, and debates related to the presidential campaign.
• Get My Vote: A Web site sponsored by National Public Radio that allows citizens to write, record, or videotape their views about issues they deem important to the election.
• The Internet Archive: The site contains historical collections in digital format. It includes video, audio, and print documents, as well as software and Web page archives.
• eLECTIONS: An online, multimedia game offered by Cable in the Classroom in which players are candidates and choose their party affiliation and positions on key issues, then analyze polling maps and choose campaign strategies.
Source: Education Week

• What other good online resources are you using in your classroom?