Adult educators looking to retake the immigration narrative got proven strategies from The ILC Public Education Institute’s Denzil Mohammed. At the Massachusetts Coalition for Adult Education’s NETWORK 2017 Conference in Marlborough, MA, on May 12, 2017, Denzil equipped teachers and administrators with “Stats and Strategies to Change the Immigration Conversation.”
Using findings from The FrameWorks Institute and The Opportunity Agenda revealed in the Institute’s February 23 webinar, Taking Back the Narrative, Denzil outlined research-based strategies for talking about immigration that educators can employ in and outside the classroom:
- To promote a new narrative, always start with the facts and don’t repeat the myths when refuting them.
- It is imperative that we frame immigration in terms of American values, such as shared prosperity or humanitarianism.
- Offer pragmatic solutions to perceived problems and emphasize how other options are impractical.
When asked whether changing the conversation was feasible given the repeated rhetoric in the national immigration discussion, Denzil explained that countering the narrative will require a sustained approach rather than just one conversation.
For more messaging strategies and techniques, see:
(PDF)
(video)