Coming to America: Employment Opportunities/Civic
Responsibilities Making Sure Practitioners
Meet the Needs of New Texas Residents
By Anson Green, Workforce Adult
Literacy Coordinator
Texas Workforce Commission
Objectives
of the EL Civics Program
The English Literacy
and Civics Education (EL/Civics) Program funded by the U.S. Department
of Education is one approach the federal government has provided states
to address the significant shifts in U.S. demographics so markedly reflected
in the 2000 Census. Texas has grown 22.8%, making it the second most populous
state. Residents of Hispanic origin account for over 60% of this growth.
As a result, educators will not be surprised to hear that, in many areas,
enrollment in ESL classes has more than quadrupled in the last two decades.
(U.S. Dept. of Education, 2001)
EL Civics
funding has given many programs the funding, as well as guidance and flexibility,
to design innovative programs to begin to meet the English language and
civics related needs of their communities. Such programs often feature
curriculum based around such tasks as passing the INS exam or helping
immigrants become more active members of their communities by being able
to more effectively interact with the culture, government, and educational
system of the United States. (Terrell, 2000) Very often though, immigrants'
needs go above and beyond obtaining the language and knowledge needed
to access U.S. institutions and culture.
Identifying
the Needs of Immigrants
While curriculum
based around EL/ Civics objectives holds the promise of providing new
Texans with the tools needed to matriculate in the United States, these
objectives may not completely meet the various, often complex, needs of
many immigrants.
Practitioners strive
to provide the most effective programming possible for their participants.
To do so, they must work with learners to identify not only what learners
feel they need to matriculate into the United States but also to identify
why participants have come to the U.S. in the first place. When asking
the question, Why America? The answer is often, Work! Many immigrants
rightly view English literacy as a tool that will allow them to either
get a job, keep a job or to obtain increased pay or promotion.
Increased
Pressures Faced by Many Immigrants
The promise of broader
employment opportunities is perhaps the largest single aspect motivating
individuals to come to the U.S. Yet, the economic means and educational
needs of today's immigrants are much greater than those of previous generations.
Not only are today's immigrants poorer than previous generations of immigrants,
they are also more likely to remain poor longer and thus be more reliant
on public assistance programs and be uninsured. (Camarota, 2001) According
to the Center for Immigration Statistics, lower educational levels among
populations of new immigrants are the main cause for this poverty gap.
(Camarota, 2001) When considered together, adult educators, with their
workforce development partners, are in a prime position to be agents of
change, providing basic education, skills training and employment guidance
to the ever-increasing numbers of under-skilled immigrants.
Funding
and Assistance to Meet Increased Needs
Year 2001 reauthorization
of EL/Civics grants has ensured increased funding for EL/Civics activities
benefiting local programs that are awarded grants. Texas programs that
wish to maximize their potential impact to serve learners and expand their
services to address the employment related needs of these learners are
encouraged to collaborate with their state and local level workforce development
partners.
The Office of Workforce
Adult Literacy at the Texas Workforce Commission is dedicated to assisting
local programs in increasing their capacity to deliver targeted basic
skills education. Upcoming grant opportunities (see Funding Opportunity
below), as well as technical assistance guides at our Web sitehttp://www.twc.state.tx.us/svcs/adult lit/adultlit_hp.html and
assistance in brokering relationships between employers and workforce
development partners are some mechanisms available to local adult education
programs.
Together, adult educators,
with their workforce development partners, can provide immigrant Texans
with the wider portfolio of learning and skills needed to make their transition
into America smoother and more economically beneficial.
About the Author
Anson Green is the Workforce Adult Literacy Coordinator for the Texas
Workforce Commission. Prior to his work at TWC, Anson taught developmental
reading, and taught a Welfare-to-Work teleservice training course for
Northwest Vista College in San Antonio. He recently completed a research
fellowship for the National Institute for Literacy which produced the
book Making It Work: A Curriculum Resource for Women-Centered Programs.
References
Camarota, Steven A. (2001). Immigrants in the United States-2000: A snapshot
of America's foreign-born population. Washington, DC: Center for Immigration
Studies.
The technical assistance
field guide, Planning Literacy and Language Services for Texas' Limited
English Proficient Workers, is available at TWC's Web site http://www.twc.state.tx.us/svcs/adultlit/adultlit_hp.html.
Terrill, Lynda. (2000).
Civics education for adult English language learners. Washington, DC:
National Center for ESL Literacy Education. http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/digests/civics.html.
U.S. Department of
Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education. (2001). Adult Education
Data and Statistics http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/index.html.
Funding
Opportunity
Funding for
projects targeting basic education or English literacy services
to adults who are employed and are functioning at low literacy skill
levels will be available for the TWC in Winter 2002.
The goal of
these projects is to increase workers chances of sustaining employment
as well as to increase their opportunities for advancement. The
aim is to provide focused, targeted job-skills training integrated
with literacy upgrading that is directly related to the needs of
identified employers.
Interested Adult
Education and Literacy providers are encouraged to begin planning
now by communicating with their Local Workforce Boards and employers
to design projects. For more information, contact Anson Green at
512-936-0642 or via e-mail anson.green@twc.state.tx.us.
ESL
Learning and Civics Education
by Ana Maria Piña Houde, President,
Anamarc Educational Institute,
El Paso
During times
when being literate and belonging to a group that knows the minimum
about the place where they live is a must, getting an education
through a bilingual vocational training program represents a golden
opportunity. At Anamarc Educational Institute we live this experience
on a daily basis. Students are driven not only by their educational
goals, but also by learning more about a culture and system to function
as conscious citizens and family members.
Our ESL Level
III classes are currently learning to express opinions about issues
that concern you as a citizen, which correlate with the CASAS competency
of understanding civic responsibilities and activities. Also included
in the classes is the understanding of governmental activities.
One activity in this class is learning the definitions of a city
representative, mayor, house representative, congressman, senator,
and other political officials. The students are also learning what
they can communicate to these officials and how to do it. To add
to their knowledge, they are reviewing historical events that relate
to these topics. Currently, they are in the process of writing letters
to different officials to practice these skills.
Approximately
fifty percent of our student population is not a U.S. citizen. When
talking to students they express that it is highly important to
learn ESL with integrated Civics topics, not only for excelling
in their GED, but also to help them with obtaining their citizenship.
Field-Notes
- Partners in Learning Odessa, Texas
by Angela Hock, Partners in Learning, Odessa
Adult learners
at Partners in Learning run the gamut from those employed and participating
in Workforce Literacy classes funded by the Texas Workforce Commission
to men and women in ESOL classes who come to strengthen their employability
skills and increase their ability to communicate in a variety of
contexts. Civics education intersects consistently with the basic
economic survival needs. In addition to the skills needed for work,
learners must also develop the skills needed to communicate clearly
with schools, medical personnel and other civic institutions - tasks
that often daunt the best of us.
The Workforce
Literacy programs are primarily ESOL classes conducted onsite for
a hospital, an oil-field related employer or a manufacturing firm
in Odessa. These classes focus primarily on learning that is related
to the specific work environment of that site. The key issue for
most of the learners is learning enough English to make a living
that will support their families both here and in Mexico.
For example,
one employee enrolled in a Workforce Literacy class commented recently
on the value of these classes to people from Mexico. He said that
often fellow native-born Mexican citizens working at low-wage jobs
in the United States are reluctant to take classes (afraid they
cannot succeed or cannot learn). Their fear of being laughed at
by English speaking employees (and others in the community) when
they attempt English keeps them isolated, and keeps them from succeeding.
His encouragement was that they learn English so they can work well
in this country and better help their families.
Ties to Mexico
pull strongly on these men and women while at the same time the
need to be gainfully employed in this country is strong. As they
attempt to gain residency, they are ever mindful of their families
remaining in Mexico and their desire not to be seen as "deserting"
their culture or heritage. One of the unique features of Mexican
immigration, different from pressures for earlier European and Asian
immigrants, is the proximity of the native land and people and the
resultant "tug" at their loyalties. This is a dynamic
dilemma that educators should respond to, recognize, and appreciate.
[Editor's Note:
In August 2001, the Office of Workforce Adult Literacy at the Texas
Workforce Commission funded four Workforce Adult Literacy demonstration
projects for job seekers and/or current workers with limited literacy
skills. Recipients of funding are implementing basic skills programs
using curriculum and methodological frameworks based on the National
Institute for Literacy's Equipped for the Future (EFF) Content Standards
and Worker Role Map. These model programs and curricula are integrating
the EFF Content Framework with the knowledge and skills needed for
specific jobs, as identified through collaborations with local employers.
Each of these four projects is strengthened by collaborative partnerships
with local employers as well as by relationships with Local Workforce
Development Boards, who act as catalysts for project recruitment
and support. The above Field Notes are from two of these demonstration
projects.]
  
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