Education Without Borders Essay Example

Education Without Borders Essay Education Without Borders Superintendent Tom Boasters has put Denver Public Schools (DIPS) on the fast track to be the first school district in the nation to hire fully qualified, previously undocumented immigrants to teach in classrooms. Boasters trailblazing decision to hire undocumented educators under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACCA) initiative will bring a much desired wealth of diversity into Deniers multicultural classrooms. This progressive course of action will positively impact the educational development of undocumented students by providing culturally expensive teaching, bilingual educators, and mentors who share the same life experiences. The DACCA memorandum, authored by the Obama Administration, took effect on August 1 5th, 2012. It provides the U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CUSCUS) with a clear process for exercising deportation relief. Such relief is intended for individuals who meet specific guidelines and who have been approved for deferred action under DACCA. This directive will provide thousands of undocumented children and young adults brought to the United States before the age of sixteen, the opportunity to further their education and obtain gainful employment while working toward permanent citizenship. In order to teach under the DACCA initiative, all applicants are required to attain a bachelors degree from an accredited university, and have an undergraduate GAP 2. 50 or greater. During the first year, approved applicants will receive a alternative provisionary teaching license issued by the Colorado Department of Education. We will write a custom essay sample on Education Without Borders specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Education Without Borders specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Education Without Borders specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Following the initial year, educators will be issued a traditional teaching license after completing a series of predatory educational programs offered at the University of Colorado Denver (CUD). DIPS officials, with cooperation from Teach For America (TEA), have been responsive to the DACCA initiative by hiring and actively pursuing suitable individuals that meet this specific criteria. One of the first teachers hired under the DACCA charge is Alexandra Funnies Mean. Mean was brought to the United States from Chile when he was four years old. He graduated from Whitman College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, and is currently a fifth grade teacher at the Denver Center for International Study at Ford Elementary School in Deniers Monticello neighborhood. Mens experience of coming to the U. S. As a child, while living under the contemptuous veil of an illegal immigrant, has given him a unique perspective that helps him connect emotionally and culturally with impressionable students. Mens students can very easily relate to his plight and envision the possibility that they, too, can successfully graduate from high school, go on to earn a college degree, and use that education to give back to their community. Mean proudly explains, The impossible that existed in my childhood is something that is plausible and a reality now. I now have the opportunity to impact my students and show them that they too can achieve at the highest levels (Denver Public Schools: Communications Office 2014 ). Cultural influence and motivation from educators like Mean, leave long lasting impressions on undocumented and documented students alike. This in turn, expands educational equality, boosts civic participation, and increases economic opportunity in local communities. These young men and women bring extraordinary talent to our classrooms, explains Boasters. We have many, many kids whose stories are like Alexandria. When they [students] see the accomplishments of a nouns man like Alexandra, and hes their teacher with such ability and enthusiasm, I think he brings tremendous hope (Garcia 2014). Hope, inspiration, and a sense of self-worth are valuable components educators like Mean can bring to students in Deniers urban classrooms. As Denver schools become more ethnically diverse, DIPS will need to continue to find new and improved ways to keep students engaged. Hiring teachers with a bilingual skill set, along with the implementation of culturally responsive teaching, are two crucial components DIPS officials need to effectively empower and enrich the classroom experience of immigrant students. Colonization in the classroom starts when educators consciously bring care and empathy into the learning environment. In an ethnographic study of bilingual classrooms, Dry. Sheila M. Shannon states, in several studies, the teacher is clearly seen as the determiner of the culture of the classroom (322). This authority gives bilingual teachers the ability to shape the cultural narrative and linguistic context of classrooms, to fit the distinct needs of students. The ability to interact and teach students in their native language helps educators transform from the moniker of ordinary teacher, into a leader and role model, in the hearts and mind of students. Cultural familiarity stimulates comprehension Comprehension spurs interaction Interaction manifests into participation, and participation is a catalyst for validation. This is the gap in bilingual responsiveness Boasters is attempting to bridge in Deniers public school system. The theory of culturally responsive teaching is defined as using the cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives of ethnically diverse students as conduits for teaching them more effectively (Richly, and Graves 2012, Gay 2002). It is believed that students become more engaged and absorb information more fluently when they are comfortable in their learning environment. Engagement is advanced when English-language learners, which account for thirty percent of the DIPS student population, are immersed into bilingual and culturally familiar classrooms that present a curriculum that reflects students values and traditions. Geneva Gay, a Professor of Education at the University of Washington-Seattle asserts, Students feel validated and capable of learning presented information when the methods used to resent information is culturally responsive (Gay 2002). This reasoning gives a certain gravitas to Boasters edict to hire educators like Mean during a time when immigration reform is a hot-button issue in the U. S. Political landscape. Non-profit organizations like The Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform (CAIRO) do not agree with the Boasters decision to employee undocumented teachers under the DACCA initiative . CAIRO claims hiring undocumented teachers will take Jobs away from qualified and experienced American teachers who are currently unemployed. This argument is a hasty generalization that contradicts Dips insistent challenge to find effective bilingual educators willing to teaching in urban classrooms. Boasters explains, In order to meet the demand [for bilingual teachers], we actually go overseas (Garcia 2014). In fact, undocumented teachers like Mean have to apply for open Jobs and go through the same application and interview process as everyone else, insists Shares Dairy, the Managing Directors of Regional Communications of TFH (You-His Lee, 2014). Cairns nationalistic and xenophobic stance on the DACCA initiative is extremely short-sighted and based on political talking points. The decision by DIPS officials to hire DACCA recipients as educators in Deniers urban classrooms contributes to Colorado cultural mosaic, and promotes equality in Deniers evolving educational system. Engagement and participation is primed when emotional and cultural connections are made between teachers and students. The relationships forged by teachers and students with familiar backgrounds, visavisa undocumented and bilingual, positively affect a broad scope of outcomes for children and young adults in society. Students who feel validated in classroom will be empowered to further their education, which will impede high school drop-out rends, reduced crime, and hinder staggering minority incarceration rates. I believe history will Judge the DACCA initiative as progressive and revolutionary shift in ongoing civil rights battle.