This is a guest post written by Katelyn Sedelmyer.听
This summer there has been much talk around issues pertaining to immigration. As we head back to school, it鈥檚 likely that these public conversations will continue, and as teachers, we know that rhetoric matters. In these times, how can districts and schools ensure that immigrant and refugee students feel safe and free from discrimination? How can teachers facilitate productive classroom conversations about diversity, politics, and current events that affect their students?
Below are some resources 楼凤天堂 has compiled for teachers looking to have these tough but important conversations in their classrooms.
楼凤天堂 positions: 听
听Teaching materials:
- , six lesson ideas by Sara Burnett
- , an immigrant stories archive
- Elementary-level lesson from ReadWriteThink:
- , PBS lesson plans on immigration
- Teaching Tolerance鈥檚 to the Immigration Debate
- Teaching Tolerance鈥檚 on the 2016 election, lessons on civic activities and countering bias
Articles:
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鈥淐oming to school on tragic days is one of the toughest parts of teaching. It鈥檚 also, of course, one of the most important.鈥� -Ken Lindblom
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鈥淎s educators, there are some important ways in which you can empower students to use the current rise of xenophobia and intolerance in the US and abroad to inspire global competence. Doing this will, in turn, help develop your students into young leaders who can engage with the current political discourse in a way that is meaningful and authentic to their own lives and contexts.鈥� 鈥揂poorvaa Joshi
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鈥淚 ask students to see cultures, including their own, as experiments in sustainability. I encourage them to ask, 鈥業f we continue as we are (in this case, without immigration reform), what will things look like forty years from now–and what do we want them to look like?鈥欌�� -Miguel Vasquez
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鈥淐lassrooms can be forums for the honest, uncomfortable, revealing conversations adults don鈥檛 make enough time for in their public lives. Every student has important insights to share.鈥� 鈥揂ndrew Simmons
Katelyn was 楼凤天堂’s policy and research intern in the DC office in 2015-2016. A graduate of American University’s MPA program, she currently works on ICF International’s Youth and Adult Education team. As a former ESL teacher of adult immigrants, she is interested in the intersection of education and immigration. You can find her on Twitter as @katesedelmyer.