Equipped For The Future

Community Action Projects Teach Valuable Life Skills

Each semester, teachers face new challenges with endless possibilities. Every class is a blend of old and new faces, some with limited educational experiences and some with college degrees. Teachers face several dilemmas. It is not a question of WHAT we are going to teach, but HOW we are going to teach it. How can we keep and retain our students? How can we help the students learn better?

In my case, I teach ESL Level One. What and how I teach depends largely on the composition of the class and their goals. The Equipped for the Future (EFF) approach helps address the needs of adult students in our society by working with the three roles our students face: the family role, the worker role and the citizen role.

I have most enjoyed working on improving the learners' role as citizens. Although most of our students are Hispanic, we also have many Asian students. Some students have been in the US for a long time, but the majority are relatively new. I like to teach them not only the language, but also the culture by bringing the community into the classroom. I don't want "tourists" in my classroom; instead I encourage them to become active citizens involved in their community. This is a particularly effective way to teach many of the skills included in the EFF Standards, such as the Interpersonal Skills, Advocating, Influencing, and Cooperating With Others. EFF Lifelong Learning Skills such as Reflecting, Evaluating, and Learning Through Research are also developed through community action (Equipped for the Future Content Standards, p. 21).

Several times, I have had the opportunity of facilitating class projects to help members of our community or members of other nations in distress. At first, I was concerned that my students would quit the class once they heard of the project (some did), yet each time they worked diligently and took "the project" very seriously. Self-esteem is built as students develop EFF Decision-Making Skills such as Solving Problems and Making Decisions.

Each student works and contributes at his or her own capacity and is able to use their own past experiences. When we start a project, the dynamics of the class change. The energy is incredible and everyone feels needed. At the same time, they are learning basic conversation, grammar, reading, teamwork, and they are working toward a goal. The students learn to read newspaper articles, write letters, make telephone calls, speak in front of other classes and classmates, and organize food and clothes drives - all to help others in need.

As we progress through the projects, the students improve their Communication, Decision-Making, Lifelong Learning, and Interpersonal Skills - the four skill areas included in the Equipped for the Future Content Standards: What Adults Need to Know and Be Able to Do in the 21st Century, page 17. (A copy of this publication is available through the Adult Literacy Clearinghouse by calling (800) 441-7323.) The students learn to speak clearly and express their ideas, to plan, to make decisions and to solve problems. They are able to guide other students in the learning center and ask for their cooperation. Even students from different cultures who are not used to projects find themselves engaged in cooperative activity. I enjoy seeing the old and the young, the men and the women, and the different cultures working together. In some cultures, the women hesitate to even speak to another man in class, much less be in a group with them. I was surprised that this didn't happen while working on the projects. On the contrary, a sense of community developed and new friendships were made.

A good example of how these activities involve the different skills of students can be seen when they write letters requesting assistance from others in the community. During this time, a student who has a better command of oral English might take the leadership role, while another one with better spelling might help writing the letters. They can brainstorm ideas to be included in a letter and try to put them in order. In this way, everyone can contribute and participate. The result then is a true "class letter." Here, students are using the EFF Communication Skill, Conveying Ideas in Writing, as well as the Interpersonal Skill, Cooperating With Others.

After several years, many students who were involved in these projects have returned to school either to visit or to take more classes. The students are excited recalling what they accomplished as a class. Yes, they learned English, but what is remember most is how they were able to help someone in need by working together towards a goal. As one student said: "If we work together, we can have a better community." Through using the Equipped for the Future framework, students develop meaningful life skills while working toward their individual and class goals.

Maggie Moreno has been a part-time adult educator for Harris County Department of Education for the past 11 years. She teaches ESL Level One at the Baytown Adult Learning Center in Baytown, Texas. Maggie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Louisiana State University. In 1997 and 1998, she participated in the Civic Inquiry Project for EFF, and in 1999, she was involved in the EFF field review of standards. In 1999, Maggie was part of the HCDE Special Project EFF Video Presentation funded by TEA. In 1999, she participated in Project IDEA. Maggie is originally from La Habana, Cuba. For the past 25 years, she and her husband, Nestor, have lived in Baytown.