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Civic Participation & Citizenship Collection

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Citizens' Most Important Right--Voting
Karen McCabe, Randolph Community
Partnership ESOL Program

Finding students' common interests
On the first day of class, I used an activity "Comparing Political Cultures" from the Civic Participation and Community Action sourcebook. This activity helps a class and teacher get some ideas about different topics that students are interested in. As it turned out, the activity gave us a clearly defined starting point, since all students came up with similar interests and priorities. Usually students give a few different answers, but on this occasion we kept coming back to the same answer - voting.

The activity asks students to compare actions of people in their communities and in politics in their home countries and in the United States. This was a good activity because most students were able to talk about their experiences in their native countries even if they had trouble discussing the situation in the United States.

Students had a copy of the chart "Comparing Political Cultures," and I made a similar chart on the board for everyone to see. In answer to the question "What do citizens do?" in the United States and in their own countries, the students from Colombia and Haiti said that citizens in their countries vote. The Haitian students said that not everyone in Haiti votes. The Colombians were insistent that it is very important for every eligible person to vote in their country. The third country represented in the class is China, and the Chinese students stated that citizens in China do not vote. One Chinese student said that what citizens do is listen to the government and do what the government tells them to do. All of the students agreed that the most important thing that citizens do in the United States is to vote. While all of the students are interested in becoming U.S. citizens, the Chinese students perhaps more than the others are continually coming back to the idea that they came to the United States for different forms of freedom. Voting to them is an important form of freedom of speech. They can voice their opinions and even vote on what they think is important regardless on what the current government's position is. A Chinese student explained this as a contrast to the situation in his country and some classmates agreed.

In response to the question, "How do people participate in politics?" students again said that in the United States people (who are eligible citizens) vote. A Colombian student said that another way people participate in politics in his country is by participating in wars; his classmates from Colombia agreed. When I asked "How do people participate in politics in the United States?", a student said "by being the President." He was kidding, but it got students to talking about what other government offices people can hold. Then we tried to talk about what other ways there are to participate in politics besides holding a government office. We discussed talking to their local government representatives. A co-chair of the RCP is a Randolph selectman, and many of the students were proud to say that they know him. I asked for other ideas and students again said that people participate "by voting".

For each category that we looked at on the "Comparing Political Cultures" handout, many students answered, "voting." One reason students were so focused on voting might be because some of them had memorized part of the 100 questions. One student said, "The most important right for U.S. citizens is the right to vote." Again, for some of the Chinese students, they see voting as one opportunity to freely express their ideas. For whatever reason, students seemed curious about voting, and they got involved in the discussions of the differences between voting in the U.S and in their countries and many were very interested in how we vote and who votes.

Using students' interests as a basis for our lessons
While I hadn't intended to start the year off by jumping right into voting, it seemed like a good idea to start with a lesson about which students had expressed such high interest. In the second week, we began a two-week lesson on the history of voting, current voting rules, and students' opinions of the importance of voting (some of these materials from the lesson are attached).

I found some great resources in a packet "Knowing Our Right to Vote: A Curriculum Resource Book for ESL and US Citizenship Classes", produced by the Chinese Progressive Association. We also used parts of the students' textbooks.

Voting Lesson: The Importance of Voting
The first week of the voting lesson began with a follow-up discussion of what students had discussed in the previous lesson (How do people participate in politics?). Next students looked at a page from the above-mentioned resource packet. They saw pictures of four fictional candidates for government positions and a one-sentence description of what was important to each candidate. Students had to decide which candidate they would vote for and then defend their reasons why they chose their candidate. It was interesting for students to learn each other's reasons - for example, one older Chinese student said we should support a candidate who is working for more daycare in Chinatown, not because he has children, but because he wants to support anyone who is supporting Chinatown. A Level Two student said he liked the stated goals of one candidate, but did not think this candidate had a trustworthy face; therefore he wouldn't vote for him! This surprised some students, but it also showed them that choosing elected leaders is not always done in a logical manner using sound conclusions based on candidates' beliefs and political actions.

As a follow-up to this activity, students' homework was to answer the questions "Do you think it is important to vote?" and "Why?" Because we have a small class with only three languages represented, I told the Level One students they could write their answers in their native language if they preferred. For this exercise I thought it was less important to use English and more important to get students to think about voting and to give them the opportunity to express their ideas. They were very interested in this topic and in learning more and I wanted to encourage this interest. Writing in their native language allowed them to fully express their ideas rather than be held back by any frustration if they were not able to express their ideas in English.

The second week of the voting lesson, students were asked to read their answers aloud. The answers ranged from one sentence written in English by an older Colombian woman, to short paragraphs written in Chinese by two Level One students, to longer passages written in English by some Level Two students. While not everyone in the class speaks Chinese, the students who wrote and read aloud in Chinese were still able to get public speaking practice by reading their answers aloud. A Level Two student translated these responses for his classmates. I tried to have students come to the front of the room to read, but those who were very uncomfortable with this read from their seats. Public speaking is one thing I hope to work on more with students, so that they are more comfortable speaking in front of other people rather than only their teacher and friends.

The responses to this question were varied. One particularly patriotic (to the U.S.) Chinese student wrote that voting is important because this is the right of Americans, because "we are the people (so we) must go to vote. It is the important way to make our voice heard." This particular student often mentions freedom of speech -- when asked in an earlier exercise to draw a citizen, he drew a large mouth and wrote "freedom of speech"; when asked what important rights are granted in the United States, he usually starts with "freedom of speech".

Two Level Two students wrote that they think voting is important to get things they want, including lowering taxes. I hope to go back to these essays to lead into a more in-depth discussion of just what are taxes are used to pay for - including paying for classes such as our citizenship class.

A Level One student wrote in her own language that it is important to vote because we can choose our ideal candidates, one who will help us get good schools and good jobs. She is a younger student who works hard and has a young child in school. She usually mentions her child's education as one of a few reasons for coming to the U.S. - other reasons include coming to be with her family, and for freedom.

Concluding Reflections
The students all enjoy answering questions that are concrete and that belong to the "list of 100 questions." The students in this class are also relatively able to express their interests and questions - whether it is in English or in their native language. In our case it worked out well that, when doing an exercise that helped us to identify students' interests, the resulting expression of students' interest in voting also led naturally into lessons connected to the citizenship test. As students learn more about their interests in voting, they also get the satisfaction of answering some of the 100 questions successfully.

Because students were interested in this topic, they were also more willing to speak in class and to express their opinions. Whether it was in English or in their native language, many students were able to experience a simple public speaking exercise. Also, students participated in a simple debate over who should be the elected candidate. I hope this exercise will lead them to have more confidence when it comes to speaking in public and stating and supporting their own ideas.

Finally, allowing the use of native languages was a strength of this exercise. It was a means for more in-depth thinking, writing and discussion to occur. Some Level One students sometimes have difficulty fully participating in class discussion; this activity allowed them to focus on the content and to produce and share their ideas with the class.

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