Teachers in training at Stan State get insider’s view of global studies

This semester, global studies got a real-world twist for students in the California State University, Stanislaus, College of Education. Class members spend two days a month on joint projects with students in the Davis High Language Institute, a program for recent immigrants from around the world.

“It’s not our students tutoring them; they’re working together,” said Stanislaus State associate professor Donna Andrews on Wednesday. “Everybody’s learning in this.”

Jeni Cunha, who is student teaching in a physical-education class this semester, said she has new-found respect for kids from elsewhere. “The things these kids come through just to come here, to be safe. Things we take for granted every day. It’s amazing,” she said.

“It’s so sad. There are so many students that are English learners that just get pushed to the side,” she added. Her class should be where such kids shine, but not understanding yelled instructions gets in the way, she said.

“In P.E., all you have is language to help them understand,” Cunha said. “This completely opened my eyes on how to help them.”

The unvarnished honesty of teens struggling to be understood will be what Jevan Bryon, a student teacher in history, said he will remember most. Bryon volunteered in the class last semester. “These are really good people who are going to contribute a lot to our society,” he said.

“It’s solely my responsibility to bring them out and let them shine,” said music teacher in training Yohan Partan. “There’s such a negative connotation to English learners, even though the student may be brilliant.”

Partan leaned over a Chromebook with Anees Alkarazoon, who came from Palestine two years ago, researching Palestinian customs and immigration patterns. Karina Carmargo, a sophomore from Mexico, was the third member of their group. All three will be graded on the joint research project to be presented to a community committee in December.

The global studies class that looks at foreign education systems needed a rethink, said university instructor Karen Breshears. “Students would say, ‘What’s the point?’” she said.

“They’re learning by doing something tangible. You get the theory of it at the college, now try to apply it,” Breshears said.

Each university student was matched with at least two immigrant teens, meeting on the high school campus on early-out Wednesdays. An early assignment had the foreign-born teens teach their university counterpart some words and cultural practices of their homeland.

With laptops checked out to every Davis High student this year, even teens with very limited English have been able to communicate using instant translation by Google, Language Institute teacher Lindsey Bird said. “They were able to pull up Google Earth and literally show them their house (in their native country),” she said.

Another assignment had the teachers in training try to evaluate their teen partners, comparing their guesses with actual scores. “With English learners, their verbal ability doesn’t represent where they are,” Bird said. “It was eye opening for the students to have that data.”

This story was originally published November 6, 2014 at 11:27 PM with the headline "Teachers in training at Stan State get insider’s view of global studies."