2.4 My experience as a professor in an institute with immigrants  (Page 4/8)

Another detrimental circumstance for the integration process is the excessive number of immigrant students that register in public programs, especially in districts that welcome these populations, like in case of Talayuela. This causes students to flee to other public or arranged centers, reinforcing, therefore, the concept of ghettos.

There is a high degree of absenteeism which familiar circumstances greatly determine, such as the necessity to take temporary jobs, return to the country of origin, or job hunt. Minors often help their families economically with some submerged labor activity. This fact can undo all the matriculation the student has received or postpone the attainment of their degree. The lack of knowledge of the school curriculum, including content and cycles, poses a huge challenge. Parents hardly know the degree to which their children are developing in their education. However, parents do preach to their children the importance of three aspects of public education; that they: (a) do not cause conduct problems (b) have friends, and (c) get along with the professors. On the other hand, they worry about: (a) moral liberalism compared to that of their country of origin, (b) the lack of respect and worthy treatment from their classmates, or (c) racism on behalf of classmates or professors.

My own experience: from the unknown to the known

Albert Einstein said, “It is easier to break an atom than prejudice.” My situation was such in the beginning. Although the Arab world was not completely unknown to me since I had visited Morocco as a college student, now things were different; they were in my culture; would my students be able to value what unites us? Would I be able to respond to their learning necessities? What did they want to learn? What instruments did the administration contribute toward the immigrant student? What was their level in the Spanish language?

Professional advice can only go so far; the answers to my questions would only come as I began my first classes. The best instruments that we teachers have are dialogue and observation. These two instruments would give me the keys I needed to approach the unknown. During my initial evaluations of the class, I noticed the difficulty the immigrant students had in expressing themselves correctly in their second language, and in understanding all the concepts taught in class. The students who had long been enrolled in the classes did not face this difficulty. The difference is not only in the level of knowledge of the second language, but also that the student who has been born or who incorporated into the educative system before ESO has greater possibilities of socio-educative integration.

The motivation with which they approach the activities equals that of the native students. Students show a different level of interest when it comes to homework. This makes the role the parents play relevant regarding the study of their children imperative. Positive parental influence the academic formation of their child is quite deficient. The dynamics of their socio-labor situation (temporary jobs, high number of hours worked) makes them spend a large amount of time outside the family nucleus, preventing proper communication with their school-aged children. The amount of time they spend outside the home also makes them ignorant of the operation of the education and learning of their children; i.e., what are the stages, cycles, evaluations, methodologies, rights and duties of the students, and scholastic organization.