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Sociological / Psycholinguistic
Bases of Bilingual Education
Notebook:
Just months from
leaving office now Clinton sees fit to look into the issue of high dropout rates
and low post-secondary attendance amongst Hispanic students. Clinton wants to
set us on a 10 year course to determine what can be done to curb Hispanic
dropout rates, determine if bilingual education is effective, increase Hispanic
enrollment in colleges and universities, and promote multilingualism. He plans
to bring 120 politicians, businesspeople, and educators together to come up with
ways to improve the level of service and open opportunities for Hispanics.
I say great, wonderful. I hope he has the best interests of the people in mind
and that this is not just some 11th hour attempt at finding a way to
feel good about his presidency for the next 10 years, trying to forget about his
mountain of errors.
You know what, I don’t care, even if this plan is only self serving, if it
ends up helping kids stay in school and go to college then great, let him live
in a land of self-delusion so long as more kids get the help they need.
I do worry that this could be simply an “in” for the English First lobby,
allowing them to cast doubt and misinformation about the effectiveness of
bilingual education.
My final thought pertains to the notion of micro vs macro change. Politicians
claim that they make the world a better place when they pass a piece of
legislation. Presidents feel good after signing the bill. But does their joy
even compare to the feeling of actually sitting and helping someone personally?
I believe the best way to make changes is to change ourselves and lend our aid
on a personal level.
Course Components:
- Cognitive
Theories Paper
- Legal Cases Analytical Paper
- Presentation
- Notebook
- Paper
- Professional
Development
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