Report from Back to Our Roots! 2004 State Conference
ESOL/Bilingual/Migrant/Refugee Education
Spiritual Renewal in Central Kansas!
"Back to Our Roots" was the theme of this summer's
2004 Kansas Migrant/ESOL/Bilingual/Refugee Conference,
held June 9-11, at the Airport Hilton Hotel in Wichita. The
annual event, sponsored by the Kansas Association of
Migrant Directors, the Kansas Department of Education's
Office of State and Federal Programs, and the Kansas
Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other
Languages and Bilingual Educators (KATESOL/BE), was
organized by a committee including Cynthia Adcock,
Ron Johnson, Melanie McCoy, Steve Wolf and Donald
Blackman.
Jo Gusman gave a rousing opening session, "Diverse
Brains, Diverse Learners: Understanding the Complex
World of Your ESL Students." Dr. Gusman ties together
brain research, second language acquisition theory and
her own experiences as a classroom teacher to bring
to life concepts such as "affective filter" and "comprehensible
input," as well as the multiple intelligences popularized
by Howard Gardner. "Everything in the classroom revolves
around relationships," said Dr. Gusman. "Take the time
to understand all the relationships." Jo Gusman's New
Horizons in Education is a company which makes
practical resources available for teachers and schools
to help build inclusive classrooms and positive academic
experiences for English language learners.
For me, the "Back to Our Roots" theme had another layer
of meaning, as the drive from Hays to Wichita took me along
roads through Raymond and Alden, the route my family used
to drive from Great Bend to Sterling on our way to
church every Sunday and where I had not traveled for
nearly a quarter century. The dark green shelter belts,
golden yellow wheat fields and open horizon brought
back deep feelings of nostalgia. From Sterling, I continued
to Hutchinson, where I visited overnight with close relatives
before taking the "Yoder road" to Wichita for the conference.
Along the way, I picked up some "pulaparts" at the Dutch
Bakery and paused for a slow-moving horse-and-buggy
typical of the Amish around Yoder.
The first afternoon of the Migrant Ed conference in Wichita,
I knew there was one session I had to see: Dr. Anh Tran's
"Asian Communities: Formation and Ethnic Identity." Dr.
Tran is the Director of the ESOL Endorsement Program
at Wichita State University. She immigrated to the United
States in 1981 after she and her husband, along with
other Vietnamese refugees, drifted rudderless for five days in the
Gulf of Thailand before reaching shore safely.
Dr. Tran described the process by which a cultural
enclave develops into a more established community,
and explained movements of Asian American populations
across the United States. The reasons for these trends,
according to Dr. Tran, are typically better climate, rejoining
relatives and friends, and better jobs. Anh Tran also
explained the "Third Generation Return" hypothesis,
put forth by Marcus Lee Hansen in 1952. By this
hypothesis, first-generation immigrants maintain
the values of their cultural traditions; the second
generation assimilates to a greater extent to the
larger society and does not give much attention
to the cultural values of their country of origin; the
third generation, according to Hansen, returns to
an appreciation of traditional values and tends to
be more like the first generation than the second.
Language is a crucial component in ethnic
identity, according to Dr. Tran, because "language
marks boundaries between one's ethnic group
and others'." She gave four reasons why language
is such an important aspect of ethnic identity. First,
language is one of the major criteria for ethnic
group membership. Second, it is used by "outgroup"
members to categorize individuals. Third, language
provides an emotional component to ethnic identities.
And fourth, it facilitates "ingroup" cohesion.
Dr. Tran described how she moves between the
use of English and Vietnamese when interacting
with her own children. If she is correcting their
behavior or enforcing rules related to school
responsibilities, she tends to use English; when
she is praising her children or giving emotional
support, she uses Vietnamese. Another key
factor is that her mother, who later followed
Dr. Tran to the U.S. from Vietnam, lives with
the family and provides further reinforcement
for the use of Vietnamese language and culture.
Wednesday evening was the "Around the World
in 80 Bites" banquet, with a delicious array of
salads, pasta, roast beef, egg rolls, and many
more foods as well as rich desserts. Entertainment
was provided by the DGPT Buu Quang Temple
Buddhist Youth Association of Wichita, whose
students performed traditional Vietnamese dances,
including the use of colorful dragon costumes
and other costumes typical of the different
regions of Vietnam. The music was infectious
and the dancers moved throughout the room,
interacting with conference participants and
completely enchanting everyone there.
One of the great things about the yearly
Migrant Ed conference at the Airport Hilton
in Wichita is that there is so much time
to touch base with fellow practitioners from
across the state. I found myself pausing
every few steps on my way out of the first
evening's banquet, to speak with friends
and colleagues from KSDE, school districts
and universities. This happened whenever
I started heading anywhere, and it was
wonderful to rekindle conversations and
debates with so many dedicated educators
as well as with the publishers representatives,
who are just as well versed in the issues
and concerns related to the challenges of
helping culturally and linguistically diverse
students in Kansas schools.
Here is a list of the publishers' representatives
who displayed at the Kansas Migrant/ESOL/Bilingual/Refugee
Conference this year:
ABACA Books, Inc. (Mary Ann Boyd)
Alta ESL/Byeway Books (Cheryl Miller)
¡Bëlingüe! (Arla Jones)
Big Books by George / Pacific Learning (Dorothy Hagen)
Cambridge University Press (Gerald Govia)
Cultural Kaleidoscope (Margie Tritt)
Delaney Educational Ent. Inc. (Dian Prasko)
ESOL Library / ESU (Beth Hanschu)
Great Source Education Group (Marsha Krabbenhoft)
Hampton Brown (Lucy Church)
Healthwave (Arnetta Bynum)
Kansas Farmworkers Health (Cyndi Treaster)
New Readers Press (Manley Higgins)
Kansas Parent Resource Center (Sally Holman Hebert / Nancy Kraft)
Plato Learning, Inc. (Rich Coleman / Randy Cookus)
Scholastic (Angela Carroll)
SRA / McGraw Hill (Joe Towers)
World Book (Evelyn Dillon / Dorv Conell)
Wright Group McGraw Hill (Kay Laake)
There was one individual at this year's conference
who shook hands with adoring fans everywhere he
appeared: Juan Rocha, the original KSDE Migrant
Education Consultant, who took part Thursday morning
in a general session conversation with Ron Johnson,
current Migrant Education Consultant at KSDE. The
first ESOL programs in Kansas were administered
by Mr. Rocha in the early 1980s before there was
even a post at KSDE for an ESOL Consultant. Juan
Rocha's arrival at the Migrant Ed Conference in Wichita
was a homecoming and his status among Kansas
educators is similar to that of a classic rock star
among fans of "real music."
Continuity with the past was also emphasized
in another general session which brought current
KSDE ESOL Consultant Melanie McCoy together
with former KSDE ESOL Consultant Dr. Kim Kreicker
to discuss changes and developments. They traced
ESOL in the state back to an early TESL program
for EFL professionals at the University of Kansas,
then followed by the first ESOL endorsement program
in the state, at Fort Hays State University, officially
started in 1989 with coursework taught by Cris
Chalander and Celia Nicholson. However, in an
informal conversation in the walkway with several
experienced teachers from Garden City schools,
it was pointed out that Cris Chalander was
already traveling to Garden City to give in-services
from FHSU in 1987, and the first ESOL endorsements
were organized with the help of Don Stull, now at
the University of Kansas. Once again, it appears
that all ESOL and CLD paths lead back to Garden
City eventually.
I could not miss the opportunity Thursday afternoon
to attend a session by Dr. Abdeliah Sehlaoui, Director
of Emporia State University's ESOL Endorsement
Program, and Dr. Kim Kreicker, of Emporia State
University, on "Islam and Muslim Students in Kansas
Schools." Dr. Kreicker has taught a large number
of Muslim children in Lawrence public schools, and
Dr. Sehlaoui is originally from Morocco and practices
the tenets of Islam.
The five pillars of Islam, according to Dr. Kreicker,
are: faith, prayer, fasting, charity and Hajj (the
pilgrimage to Mecca). Dr. Sehlaoui explained
the deeper meaning of each of these aspects
of the Muslim religion, while Dr. Kreicker
recounted examples from her experience
of how she and her colleagues had adapted
school policies to show respect for the
practices of Muslim students. One example
is the need for teachers to be aware of strict
fasting during Ramadan, a special month
for Muslim families. Fasting will usually
not involve students younger than 11 or 12,
explained Dr. Kreicker, but sometimes younger
children also participate. The fasting between
dawn and dusk during Ramadan includes not
consuming water, Dr. Sehlaoui added.
There were a large number of questions directed
to the speakers from audience members, who
wanted to know why certain things are done
and also seemed intrigued by similarities
among Islam, Christianity and Jewish beliefs
and practices.
In response to a question about the fasting
that accompanies Ramadan, Dr. Sehlaoui asked
teachers to remember that if a child accidentally
takes a drink of water he or she should not feel
guilty. "If you forget and break the fast
accidentally," he explained, "that is a gift
[from Allah]." Asked how Muslims know which
direction to face towards Mecca at the five
different times every day when they must pray,
Dr. Salim Sehlaoui produced a Palm Pilot with
a program which points him in the right direction.
Thursday afternoon there was also a general
membership meeting of the Kansas Association
of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other
Languages and Bilingual Educators (KATESOL/BE).
The organization is now 208 members strong
and the annual KATESOL/BE conferences are
well attended. There was much interest in the
site and dates of next spring's conference, and
First Vice President Kristin Grayson promised
to have that information confirmed very soon. She
did announce that the conference planning committee
has chosen "Technology and Language Teaching"
as the overarching theme. Secretary/Treasurer
Debra Stevens gave a report on KATESOL accounts,
which are stable and expected to sustain the
organization's projects for the foreseeable future.
Click for more information about KATESOL/BE 2005!
Several KATESOL/BE members expressed deep
concerns about the new Praxis test which is required
for the State of Kansas ESOL Endorsement. It was
suggested that the applied linguistics section of
the test is very rigorous and out of proportion with
the teacher education standards for ESOL
Endorsement Programs. There was open discussion
of this matter, and a two-pronged approach was
initiated. KSDE will be contacted regarding our
concerns with the test, while at the same time
there will be sessions at the spring KATESOL/BE
Conference to provide members across the state
with clear information to help them understand
the test content better.
In order to read the opening report by the KATESOL
President, delivered at the general membership meeting,
click here. This
report mentions several other key initiatives for KATESOL/BE.
Another feature of this year's Migrant Ed Conference
was the "American Indian Intertribal Dance Performance,"
led by the Ramona and Norman Roach family of Gallup,
New Mexico, and joined by the Mid-America All-Indian
Dance Troup, Thursday evening, June 10th, in the four
main ballrooms at the Airport Hilton. These dancers
shared American Indian ceremonial dress, ceremonial
and traditional dances including men's and women's
fancy dance, shawl, buckskin, grass, Navajo, pow wow
style and inter-tribal dances, Indian music with flute
and drums, songs of prayer and storytelling.
The Roach family represents the Sioux, Lakota, and Navajo
cultures. Ramona and Norman Roach are teachers in Gallup,
New Mexico. The Mid-American All Indian Dance Troup
represents tribes from Kansas and the Midwest.
I had the pleasure of meeting the Roach family earlier
in the week when Migrant Ed and bilingual education
activist Donald Blackman introduced us. There was
also a one-year-old baby boy with the group, Blue Star,
perhaps this year's youngest dancer.
A recounting of the Migrant Ed Conference would
not be complete without mentioning Judi Kutzke,
administrative assistant in the Office of State
and Federal Programs at KSDE. She was continually
on the move, making sure everything went smoothly.
Although her work for three days (and weeks and
months in advance) was hectic, she always had
time to give a smile and share a word or two,
before zooming off to another responsibility.
The dates for next year's Migrant Ed Conference
are already set: June 8-10, 2005. See you there!
Report by Robb Scott
jayhawk76@yahoo.com
This page was last updated on 06/15/2004.
