struggle

One of the most powerful experiences of our SSLELSS was yesterday’s timeline of educational policies affecting second-language learners in California. We each were assigned a card with a date and event along the timeline. Those with a card had to organize ourselves chronologically around the room, while those who didn’t have a card sat in the middle as “witnesses” of history.

After we each read our parts, the last one was a card that facilitator Laurie Olsen reserved for herself to read: it was identifying the 5 sessions in which we got together to deal with the repressive laws and restrictions, and political factors and ideologies that brought us to where we are in the classroom. It highlighted the importance of parents who stood up for their children’s rights and education, and while it made some sad, it set a spark in me, that our struggles did not just start this year or last, but have been going on ever since the country was founded.

It was a serendipitous chance that as I rushed over to Modern Times Bookstore to purchase advance tickets to El Cuentro for Friday evening, I saw a book called Wherever there is a Fight at the counter. It caught my attention, as most books would. And it so happened that the co-author Elaine Elinson was standing next to me as I picked up the book. We talked for a short while and I found out that she and her co-author were doing a talk later, and I wanted to talk with her more since the day’s session was still raw in my mind. But the meter was running and I had to rush home to cook. Though I missed the talk, she told me about the website that features a lot of background to the book including teacher resources.

It discourages me to realize what second-language learners are faced with to achieve higher education in California, but I am more determined to connect with the parents and the community so we can support the students and give a better guarantee for their future.