Bringing immigration information to the classroom

“…This session gave me a larger picture to understand what I feel intuitively about sharing what we as Americans have… [It] really opened my eyes and the data was great. Your work directly impacts the face of America in the future and I am privileged to be ‘jump-started’ by you.”

- Alice Nelson, ILC/UMass Boston online course participant

 

 

As the diversity of student populations in the United States increases, the need for a more creative, inclusive and informed curriculum and teaching becomes imperative. One in five K-12 students in the U.S. is from another country or born in the U.S. to non-native parents. Community and K-12 educators are faced with the challenge of both delivering credible information on immigration to their classes and reaching out to students whose native languages, cultures and religions are increasingly diverse.

From 2004 to 2011, The ILC Public Education Institute has helped more than 200 teachers better understand immigrants and immigration issues through our innovative two-day workshop. Titled “Teaching Immigration across the Curriculum,” these free workshops assisted educators in enhancing their teaching methods and reaching out to immigrant students. Participants were also rewarded with 12 professional development points (PDPs) for devising creative lesson plans based on what they learned at the Teacher Forum.

In 2012, The ILC Public Education Institute Teacher Forum moves from the classroom to the World Wide Web. This online format will extend the reach of the Teacher Forum to engage educators in every state, giving them the opportunity to learn what previously could only be accessed at The ILC in Malden, Massachusetts.

Here’s what took place at the 2011 Forum:

• The history of U.S. immigration, demographic information of Massachusetts immigrants and the latest news on immigration policies were presented by The ILC Public Education Institute Director Marcia Hohn, EdD.
• Guest speaker Sophia Kim, MEd, adjunct lecturer in the Asian American Studies Program, University of Massachusetts Boston, led the discussion on “The Sociology of Immigration.”
• Lorna Rivera, PhD, associate professor of Sociology and Community Planning, University of Massachusetts Boston, spoke on “Issues of Integration and Assimilation.”
• Participants broke out into groups to discuss what they learned, share their experiences and network.

Our most recent Teacher Forum took place on July 13-14, 2011. Read about it here.

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