Return-Path: <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id h85NXs718980; Fri, 5 Sep 2003 19:33:54 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 19:33:54 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <000501c37406$3c79d8f0$1a01a8c0@cccchs.org> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Sylvan Rainwater" <sylvan@cccchs.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-ESL:9432] Re: Accept English Only donation? X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook, Build 10.0.4510 Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 3359 Lines: 66 I didn't say "alone," I said "in their own way." That's very different. It addresses the issue of choice rather than what support each student needs. We make support available to students, of course, and we must do so. But to force people to do things in a predetermined way is not acceptable. Here's a non-language-learning example. I worked with an immigrant from Vietnam at one time. This was before we had classrooms, and I was doing frequent home visits to tutor her in English. For various reasons, the regular Head Start home visitors weren't doing many home visits, and this woman was getting more and more depressed because her husband was gambling and she didn't know what to do. I repeatedly gave her what resources I could, but she didn't make the phone calls. One day I went in and she was in tears. I did basically therapy for an hour and a half, and she felt better. But after I left and reviewed what had happened, I realized that she had given me four separate messages that she wanted to kill herself (and one that she would kill her children first). After consulting with other Head Start staff, we went to pick her up and take her to the hospital. This was a clear case of needing to take choice away from her in order to protect her and her family (the medical model). We set her up with a counselor, had her sign an agreement not to kill herself, and hoped for the best. All of that was appropriate. What happened next was interesting. Instead of continuing with the counselor, as we had expected, she went and talked with her husband's relatives and told them what was going on. They talked to him, and things got better. Eventually the family made the decision to move to a different area, to change the dynamics. The intervention we did acted as a catalyst for her to solve her problems in her own way. It got her unstuck. So she had support. But then she used it to make her own decisions in her own way, to rely on family networks rather than counselors. That's what I mean by everyone having to decide in their own way. One thing I tell my students about holidays is that everyone, no matter what country they are from, has to make decisions about which holidays and how to celebrate in their new family. When they move to a new country, the issues intensify, but they are still things that everyone has to decide. I will not make that choice for anyone but myself. I will give as much information as possible about the possible choices and resources and ways and skills, etc. What they do with all of that is totally up to them. I have to respect the students' own choices. ------- Sylvan Rainwater mailto:sylvan@cccchs.org Program Managaer Family Literacy Clackamas Co. Children's Commission / Head Start Oregon City, OR USA -----Original Message----- From: nifl-esl@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-esl@nifl.gov] On Behalf Of ttweeton Sent: Friday, September 05, 2003 2:02 AM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-ESL:9412] Re: Accept English Only donation? "The question is the same question: why don't these people change to become like us? My question is: why should they? They have to figure out how to navigate this huge change in their own way." NO Sylvia , immigrants do NOT have to nagivate the system alone. That is precisely why ESL classes are set up for them, to HELP them "navigate the system."
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