Active Citizenship and the EAL Classroom

Yaw Amoah-Gyampoh and Kaleigh Quinn

The University of Winnipeg

Objectives of this Session

1. Discuss the varied conceptions of ‘citizenship’ and refine our own understanding of the term.

2. Discuss the relevance of this issue in the current context of Adult EAL in Manitoba.

3. Analyze the connection of ‘active citizenship’ to adult EAL, and clarify the role it could play in the EAL classroom.

4. Compile strategies and activities to help students both develop language and engage more actively as citizens.

To take home: 1 lesson/task with both language and citizenship objectives.

Questions for Reflection

Using a post-it note, write a definition of citizenship; what does it mean to be a citizen of a country?

Post your definition on the board to compile with other participants’ definitions when complete.

1. How would you define citizenship? From this definition, is citizenship education possible? (Is it possible to develop ‘citizenship’ through an EAL class?)

2. To what extent are EAL teachers responsible for ‘citizenship education’?

Citizenship: Conceptions and Programming

O Citizenship as status

O Citizenship as identity

O Citizenship as exhibiting civic virtues

O Citizenship as agency (Active Citizenship)

Students study national facts

(depends on) Multicultural or intercultural approach

Students develop set values of a ‘good citizen’

Students engage in community involvement, informed collective action, and active citizenship.

Adult Citizenship Education: An Overview of the Field, Daniel Schugurensky

Active Citizenship

Small Group TaskRevise previous definition of citizenship: O What does it mean to

be an active citizen?O What does an active

citizen do? O What benefits does

this offer? (the person and the community)

1. Civil participation

2. Civic engagement

Our Definition: Active Citizenship

Active citizenship involves people engaging in action that works to promote community cohesion, empowerment, engagement, and social inclusion in a particular country, area, or community.

Adapted from: http://changesuk.net/themes/active-citizenship/

Active Citizenship and the EAL Classroom

Language Learning

ContentParticipati

on

How can we help our students become more actively engaged

in their community?Learning. Watching. Valuing. Doing. Discussing.

Thinking. Reflecting. Trying. Teaching. Understanding. Practicing. Explaining. Showing.

Working. Meeting. Helping. Feeling. Caring.

Model: Active Citizenship Development

EAL Classroom

Active Citizenshi

p

Volunteering

Voting

Community Events

Including active citizenship goals in the classroom is about “making connections between individuals’ learning and the potential for collective social goals.”(Changes: Facilitating change that brings positive impact to people’s lives)

Activity: Gallery Walk There are ideas posted around the room on different ways you could incorporate active citizenship concepts and activities into the EAL classroom. They relate to:

O VotingO Community EventsO Volunteering

Visit the three stations, review the activities, and add your own ideas!

Then, return to your desk, and we will compile new “activity banks” for other topics related to active citizenship.

Small Group Task

Compile an “activity bank” for the selected topic as has been modeled with volunteering, voting, and community events.

We will collect these, and distribute them to all presentation attendees.

In your group, select another topic that relates to active citizenship, such as:

• Recycling• Human Rights• Environmental Issues

• Equality in the Workplace

• Making a Difference

• Consumerism• Eating local

Topic: VotingPromoting Active Citizenship in the EAL Class

Students complete a webquest to locate resources online or events in their community that can support them with the voting process. Students must find an event or resource, summarize it, and share it with the class.O Internet skillsO Writing

Students can read about the candidates running in their riding. Compare the candidates in a paragraph using subordinating and coordinating conjunctions and sentence connectors.O ReadingO WritingO Grammar

Students can read an article about newcomer involvement in voting such as one of these from the Free Press. They can build particular reading skills such as skimming or inference, depending on questions. Discuss follow up questions with a group, practicing functions for sharing opinions, and listening and paraphrase skills. O ReadingO SpeakingO Functions (giving an opinion)O Listening

Practice simple future tenses receptively (or future real conditional) by examining candidates and parties’ platforms and promises. Then, extend this to communicative or productive practice by having students write their own campaign speech on what they will change in their community. O Grammar O WritingO Speaking

Students can learn vocabulary relating to voting and working together to improve communities. Use this vocabulary to watch a video on what one political candidate is doing to try to work together to improve her community.O VocabularyO Listening

Read article explaining why new Canadians may be reluctant to vote. Discuss with group members is they know anyone who doesn’t want to vote, and to make a list of ideas that might encourage them to vote. Use modals to express possibilities and suggestions.O ReadingO Speaking O Grammar

Write out the directions to your voting station on a note to a family member or neighbour. Then, explain the process that will be followed when they vote. Use the imperative to write the directions. Refer to landmarks in your community to help your neighbour find the location. O WritingO GrammarO Vocabulary

Do a role play of the interaction at a voting station, and modeling the process to follow at the voting station. Students can listen to or use the imperative for giving and following directions, and asking/responding to personal questions. O SpeakingO Listening

Prepare case studies of positive and negative campaign advertising to examine slander and promises. Promoting critical thinking by discussing these issues, and having students debate or complete a report on the topic. O Critical thinking

Plan an election in the classroom. Students must decide what positions they will elect for, write the tasks for those positions, and all students must run for a position. They can prepare a speech for the class; students follow the election process to select candidates for the positions. O WritingO SpeakingO Listening

Voting – Letter to an MP

O Have students pick a topic they are concerned about (i.e. landfill site near park). Learn about structure of a formal letter.

Topic: Community Events

Promoting Active Citizenship in the EAL Class

Examine the ‘events’ section of a newspaper to create a calendar for upcoming events. Students can practice sentences, days of the week or simple future tense (as examples) to use the language & ideas from the calendar in practice.O WritingO Grammar

Calendar of Events

Incorporate ‘community events’ into your routine. Each day, one student is responsible for research and sharing with the class an upcoming event. They must answer the 6 “WH” questions in their presentation. Rotate through students so everyone gets a chance to present, and to learn about a variety of events.O Reading O SpeakingO Research

Have students create a ‘community journal’ where they can log and describe events they attend in their community. This communicatively practices simple past tense. Collect these each month to comment, and encourage students to try to seek out 2-3/month. Provide students with a monthly opportunity to share their highlights.O Grammar O Writing

Attend an event together as a class. Use the Language Experience Approach to create a book after attending an event. Students can either each contribute one page, all write it together, or each create their own book to showcase the experience.O Writing

Students complete an oral presentation on an event that they attended. This can be a chance to practice both simple past tense and public speaking (in front of the class or a small group). Other students need to prepare information questions to ask the presenter.

O SpeakingO ListeningO Grammar

Write about upcoming events for a weekly/monthly class newsletter. Use the computer lab to research events. Incorporate pictures, and write to event organizers to try and acquire tickets for events. O WritingO ReadingO Computer skills

(If students attend an event, highlight it in the class to encourage attendance.)

Community Events – Multicultural Festivals

O Language Task: Have students volunteer to speak to community members about their country.O Formal – PresentationO Informal – at a booth answering

questions

Topic: VolunteeringPromoting Active Citizenship in the EAL Class

Conduct a discussion about the importance/value of volunteering for both the individual, the organization, and the community. Have students brainstorm in groups and create a list of the values to share with the class. Have students share their experiences with volunteering in their home country and in Canada.O Speaking

If applicable, have students share their experiences with volunteering in their home country and in Canada. Write either an expository paragraph about their experience, or a compare/contrast paragraph about both.O WritingO Speaking

Have students visit the volunteer Manitoba website and browse various organizations and groups that require volunteers and report on their findings (written or orally, using a prepared template. As a class, compile ~5-10 interesting volunteer positions, or opportunities that they might want to take part in. O WritingO Speaking

Arrange a field trip to volunteer with an organization as a class. Depending on the level of the students, students can write reflections on their experiences after the field trip, or can prepare a book about this experience after, using the language experience approach.O Writing

Have students complete a Volunteerism Survey like the one below. This can be used with other students in the class, or with friends/colleagues/others in the community:

1. Do you do any volunteer work in your community?(If you do volunteer work, please answer Questions 2-5; if you do not do volunteer work, go to Question 6.) 2. List the volunteer activity or activities in which you participate. 3. Approximately how many hours per week do you volunteer? 4. How did you get started in volunteering? 5. Why do you volunteer? 6. List as many volunteer organizations in Manitoba that are familiar to you. 7. How can volunteering help you to achieve your professional goals? 8. How can volunteering help you adjust more easily to life in Canada?9. What keeps you from volunteering or doing more volunteer work?  

O Speaking

Adapted from: http://learningtogive.org/lessons/unit128/lesson2_attachments/1.html

Have student complete a form for volunteering at an organization (to practice filling out forms). Students can also prepare for an interview at a volunteer organization. Encourage students to submit an application to a volunteer organization that requires volunteers.O WritingO Speaking

Bring in a panel of volunteers or organizations that require volunteers, such as Winnipeg Harvest, Siloam Mission, and Immigrant Centre. Students can listen and take notes, prepare questions to ask these individuals, and then make an action plan after listening to brainstorm ways to get involved for themselves in the organization that most interests them.O ListeningO Grammar O Speaking

Have students write a persuasive text (paragraphs, essays, reflection papers, etc…) about the value of volunteering . This would incorporate elements of the text structure that they have previously worked in class. (i.e. topic sentences, sentence connectors, etc.)O Writing

Students can employ the ‘SMART’ acronym to help set goals to attain jobs. Ask students to consider how volunteering can help support them in this process. And to incorporate volunteering into their goal.

S SpecificM Measurable

A Attainable

R Relevant

T Timely

Community Events – Multicultural Festivals

O Language Task: Have students volunteer to speak to community members about their country.O Formal – PresentationO Informal – at a booth answering

questions

Community GardeningO Write a letter to a city counsellor asking for land for a community

garden (writing skills).O Telephane a civic office to inquire about a community garden

(speaking),O Research online etc. planting/climate conditions conducive to area

(reading)O Introduce idea by planning a field trip to a local garden (garden

vocabulary and question forms to be taught).O Scheduling – plant growth period and maintenance for shared

responsibility. Making a schedule (computer based) and graph (numeracy, computer skills).

O Group work on decision-making – how to distribute the food (food banks, sell at market, etc.)

O Do a presentation to promote the garden (S/L)O Reading – on composting, water conservation, organicO Mentoring - experienced gardener with non-experiencedO Presentation on a different vegetable from your culture/country

Making a DifferenceO Letter to the editor on the topic discussed in

the class (immigration, etc.)O Volunteer for your children’s school for an

evening event (eg. Family fun day). Report back.

O Analyzing a note from your MLA: reading, discussing the questions, researching the topics.

O Attending community meeting (listening, cultural awareness). Prep the students with vocabulary, and what is acceptable/not).

Active citizenship in Universities/Colleges

O Student newspaper – reading and writing tasksO Events on campusO Student government (similar to voting tasks)

O Write a speechO Get candidates to speak in classO Attend a debateO Discuss issues

O Participation in classO Build decision-making into class (students own

curriculum more interest)O Attend a student-group fairO Attend free public lectures

Fostering Neighbourhood Community

O Block parentsO Welcome WagonO Community gardensO Parent & Child groupsO Garage Sale/clothing swapsO Block partyO Neighbourhood associationsO NewsletterO Greening WinnipegO Take pride Winnipeg – paint mural over graffitiO Neighbourhood safetyO Guest speakers

Eating LocalO Field trips and presentationsO Research St. Norbert Farmer’s MarketO Research local chefs and their restaurantsO Local farmsO 100 mile dietO Local organic coopsO Gardening locallyO Berry picking in MBO FishingO CSA (community share agriculture)O Book on local farmersO Field trip to local farmsO Landless farmers

ConsumerismO Survey Canadians (out of the

classroom) about their favourite places to shop (each group could have a different type of store – clothing, thrift store, groceries). They should go to the top two places and prepare a critique of that store that includes a comparison of prices, selection, etc.O Intonation – asking questions,

comparingO Language focus: opinions

PovertyO Food distribution activities

O Some students represent 1%, other students represent the majority (use jelly beans)

O U of W has a food bank (or WPG Harvest)O Visit to see and understand what/how food is distributed

O Speeches – canvassing activitiesO Students visit classrooms with prepared presentations to help get students

involvedO Lots of vocabulary can be developed here (eg. Non-perishables)O Safe environment in classrooms

O Surveys – lots of room to ask students on a campus questioning and developing questions

O Volunteering in Canada vs. their home countriesO Real world activities:

O 30 our famineO Budgeting:

O Live off a particular budget for a dayO Create a budget

O Look at roots of poverty in Canada

Advocacy Resource Objectives of

resource:

By the end of this lesson/package, students will be able toO Give advice to a partner

on writing formal lettersO Write a formal letter to

an elected official on an important issue of their choice (advocating, requesting, or thanking)

Prepared package available to use with a class or independently

to promote EAL and active citizenship goals.

Letter-writing unit available as hard copy and electronic

copy.

ResourcesO Take Part: http://

www.takepart.org/manageContent.aspx?object.id=10229&mta_htm=home

O CHANGES: Facilitating Change that Brings Positive Impact to People’s lives http://changesuk.net/themes/active-citizenship/

O The Teaching and Workshop Guide for ESL Teachers and Settlement Counselors: http://bccla.org/our_work/the-teaching-and-workshop-guide-for-esl-teachers-and-settlement-counselors/

O Citizenship handbook: http://bccla.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/2008-BCCLA-Report-Citizenship-Handbook.pdf

O Take Part: Active Learning for Active Citizenship: http://www.takepart.org/contentControl/documentControl/13155_active%20citizenship_SW1.pdf

O Global Dimensions: http://www.globaldimension.org.uk/

Questions or Comments?

Kaleigh QuinnO k.quinn@uwinnipeg.caO 789-1484

Yaw Amoah-GyampohO y.amoah-gyampoh@uwinnipeg.caO 789-1433

Thank you!!