EESL 614 Julie Murray's Presentation

Teaching Values in Action: : 

A content-based, Activity-Based Human Rights Unit for Adolescent ESL Students Isle Slotin & Seonaigh MacPherson Presented by Julie Murray Teaching Values in Action:

Introduction : 

Introduction Chapter 10 of Penny McKay’s text is a summary of the curriculum designed by Isle Slotin for a year-long ESL pullout class in a Canadian middle school. It is written with the help of her mentor, Seonaigh MacPherson. Slotin describes the entire process she used to create the unit, from brainstorming the needs of her students and carefully consulting the Manitoba Ministry of Education outcomes (standards), to planning individual tasks and lessons.

Introduction continued : 

Introduction continued Central to the chapter is Slotin’s use of a year-long unit to unify the content of the ESL class, and in particular her choice of human rights as that content. She includes samples of individual lessons, student work, and some of the struggles she faced while teaching the unit. Sources are listed at the end of the chapter, such as the narratives and expository texts used with the students, Manitoba standards, teacher resources, and human rights resources are also included.

Introduction Continued : 

Introduction Continued Slotin organized the chapter into five areas: 1. Motivation for the unit 2. The curricular context 3. Unit design and adaptation 4. Sample Curricular Products 5. Conclusion

Motivation : 

Motivation Slotin’s motivation to create this human rights unit was to integrate language, content, and intercultural communication skills, as well as to address students’ more personal needs as second-language learners. The content is meaningful, and could be adapted both for adults and younger children.

Who are the students? : 

Who are the students? There are approximately 550 ESL students in the school including children from China, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, Sudan, Vietnam, and Canadian Aboriginal students. The students fall into three main groups: Foreign ESL learners Immigrant and refugee ESL learners Aboriginal and indigenous ESL/standard English as a second dialect (SESD) learners

What are the students’ needs? : 

What are the students’ needs? Slotin’s students need basic language instruction, such as vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. Students need to learn and practice sociocultural competency (appropriate communication). Students need to fulfill the academic requirements of Manitoba’s mainstream curriculum. Students need to address the social and cultural struggles of living in a new culture.

Why study human rights? : 

Why study human rights? Slotin chose human rights education as a year-long unit that would integrate language, content, and sociocultural competency. It is an effective topic for adolescents, who are often idealistic It addresses bullying and discrimination It allows English language learners (ELL) to participate in activities as leaders in the school community It is specifically listed in the social studies outcomes (the “state standards” of Manitoba) and so covers required curricula It teaches democratic citizenship

The Curricular Context : 

The Curricular Context Slotin believes that ESL must be more than sheltered English strategies for teaching content. Curriculum must also address the special needs of students who negotiate multilingualism and interculturalism. These nonlinguistic goals are not met accidentally. She planned instruction throughout the year to support student growth in these areas, as well as language and content areas.

The Curricular Framework : 

The Curricular Framework In keeping with Slotin’s belief that an activity-based curriuclulm would integrate all of the desired goals, the tasks for the human rights unit were developed with the model on the next slide. The unit was able to fulfill specific outcomes (standards) from the language, social studies, and holistic guidelines set by the Manitoba Ministry of Education for middle school students.

Model for Developing Activity-Based ESL Tasks : 

Model for Developing Activity-Based ESL Tasks

FORESEE : 

FORESEE Slotin also used the Foresee approach to design her curriculum. It comes from a document published by the Manitoba Ministry of Education titled Sourcebook for integrating ESL and content instruction using the Foresee approach (Kidd & Marquardson 1994). The following table is included in the chapter and helped her design instruction.

Components of en ESL unit: Foresee Approach : 

Components of en ESL unit: Foresee Approach

Unit Design and Adaptation : 

Unit Design and Adaptation In order for students to easily connect the ESL lessons with their mainstream classes and their world, the unit is structured by month. Each month a different theme is used as a basis for learning. The topics connect school and civic activities with the lives of the students.

Thematic Units over the Calendar Year : 

Thematic Units over the Calendar Year September Getting to know one another October UNICEF November Remembrance Day, Ramadan December Chanukah, Christmas, International Human Rights Day January Chinese/ Vietnamese New Year February Black History Month, Tibetan New Years, Valentine’s Day March Human Rights Day, Holocaust Memorial, Land Mines

Thematic Units Continued : 

Thematic Units Continued April Homophobia May May Day June Aboriginal Day Slotin integrated the four approaches to multicultural and anti-racist education described by Coelho (2003, p.44): (1) a heroes-and-holidays approach, (2) a multiculturalism-as-a-subject approach, (3) a multiple-perspectives approach, and (4) a social-action approach.

Sample Lessons : 

Sample Lessons UNICEF Components of the UNICEF theme

Components Continued : 

Components Continued

UNICEF : 

UNICEF During the UNICEF theme students: activate prior knowledge and use a Knowledge Chart (graphic organizer) read narratives research UNICEF using the internet, the library, and interviews Learn paragraph writing skills

UNICEF continued : 

UNICEF continued distinguish desires and needs and justify opinions Explore the definition of children’s rights Practice communication skills Requesting donations Communicating the value of UNICEF Trick-or-treating

Conclusion : 

Conclusion In the conclusion to her unit, Slotin explains that the second largest challenge to teaching human rights and ESL is time. She recommends that teachers delve deeply into one or two aspects of human rights, instead of surveying a larger quantity of material. She believes students are best able to move from receptive to productive tasks when given adequate time for activity-based learning.

The Greatest Challenge : 

The Greatest Challenge The greatest challenge of the human rights unit is best expressed by the author herself: One of the greatest challenges of human rights education in ESL contexts is to introduce topics without offending or marginalizing students with conflicting cultures or values. This entails teaching critical thinking with respect to culture and values while respecting students’ limits and their need to conserve a sense of belonging and identity beyond the classroom…

: 

…At the same time, we as teachers are limited in our ability to appreciate the strengths and greatness of diverse views... Any human rights education project should focus on enhancing students’ ability to participate meaningfully and intentionally in the best of culture...(p.205)

References : 

References Coelho, E. 2003. Adding English: A guide to teaching in multilingual classrooms. New York: Pippin Press. MacKay, Penny. 2006. Planning and teaching creatively within a required curriculum for school-age learners. Alexandria: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.