New
England
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Civic Participation & Citizenship Collection
Civic Participation: My First Efforts
Cindy Holden, Vermont Adult Learning, Brattleboro, VT
Program/Area
Description
Where I teach in the hills of Southern Vermont, snow is common from November
through April. There is no public transportation available and there are
only two licensed daycare providers in a 30 mile radius. Here many of
the towns have less than 1,000 residents and some have less than 500.
I have been employed by Vermont Adult Learning as a rural outreach teacher
for almost two years. Most of my time has been spent in home tutoring
situations and building relationships with libraries and schools with
an eye toward forming groups.
Advocating in the School
My first effort to work on civic participation with a student was unexpected.
A woman in her 40's named Eva came to me upset and convinced that one
of her children was not receiving the special education services she needed.
This particular mother had not seen her daughter's IEP (individual education
plan) and was not satisfied with the progress she was making in school.
To address her concerns we began by using a family history timeline to figure out when the IEP was first established and which schools the child had attended during which years. This led to a quick mapping of the district officials (I provided the titles/functions while she filled in the names) that could be called upon to advocate for her child. In addition, I provided her with some critical information about her rights as a parent and around special education and the law. She took notes and I assisted her in wording her concerns on paper. At this point Eva felt ready to call a meeting with school personnel to express those concerns. To make sure she was ready to embark on this endeavor, we role-played how to make the phone call, practicing several times.
At the meeting Eva was able to feel confident and effective. She was able to get better information around how her daughter was doing and to give input in the IEP process. She said, "They treated me like somebody who knew something." This was a new experience for her.
The Fight Against Censorship
During this time I also worked with Chris, a male in his 30's who was
a critical thinking/writing student. Chris was already hepped up about
the general topic of censorship, especially those practices in the United
States and Canada. He had so many strong opinions on the subject and tended
to spout them off so freely, that the challenge became to keep him focused
long enough to communicate his opinions in an organized and well thought-out
manner. He decided he wanted to produce a piece of writing, so we began
with some brainstorming and webbing activities to help him narrow his
topic. He settled on music censorship.
We then listed out the organizations that promote censorship and those that oppose it. This helped him figure out where to go to gather information for his writing. Our next step was to work on how to support an opinion once it has been formed, and then how to organize an essay. His final product was sent to and published in the Vermont student publication, The Green Mountain Eagle. Chris went on to write a letter to the editor of his hometown newspaper about first amendment rights and a proposed adult bookstore. The letter was published and he had several conversations in his community about adults' rights to read/view what they want to.
New
England Literacy Resource Center
World Education
Boston, MA
(617) 482-9485
