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The Well is an adult education blog developed by the U.S. division staff of World Education, Inc. We hope it informs and inspires our colleagues and we invite them to join the conversation.

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English Innovations: Expanding Civics Education

Recent successes of Black Lives Matters and the racial justice movement have demonstrated the power of organized public action. They have inspired a swell of attention to issues of equity and interest in civic engagement. This new awareness has created the opportunity to expand our notion of how to ready adults for civic participation in today’s world. A topic once anchored in understanding how government works and voting, it is increasingly clear that preparation for full civic engagement involves a broader set of advocacy, communication, technology, research, problem-solving and leadership skills, as well as opportunities to practice those skills. 

One education program that has moved in this direction is English Innovations (EI). Developed by OneAmerica in Washington state and now coordinated nationally by the National Partnership for New Americans, EI is a model that rests on 3 pillars: English language, digital literacy, and civic engagement. Its latest report describes a shift to building a stronger integration between the education program and OneAmerica’s broader mission to “build power and leadership among immigrant and refugee English learners in Washington State.”

In this report, the authors describe a curriculum that addresses a continuum of engagement starting with basic awareness of community resources and moving to involvement in community campaigns and ultimately to organizing and advocacy. And because OneAmerica is active in or leads so many community efforts (in immigrant integration, economic and environmental justice, etc.), there are myriad ways that adults can investigate issues and apply their developing skills in the real world. EI serves as an “entry point” for directly impacted community members to join OneAmerica’s work.

EI leaves behind the approach to civics education that focuses solely on what we can do as individuals and introduces adults to taking action together – about real issues and contexts – and invites them to see where collective engagement can take them. Volunteer Shi Ya notes that EI “builds power through conversations about power.” Such conversations raise people’s understanding that a large part of civic engagement is holding decision-makers accountable after they have been elected and educating others so they can join you in informed action. These activities require skills we’re not accustomed to teaching in adult education, but should. 

Other organizations are exploring ways to deepen the role of education in preparing adults to build, protect, and participate in a responsive democracy. Stay tuned for more blog posts on that topic!

Published by

Andy Nash

Andy Nash

Andy Nash is Senior Project Advisor at World Education and the former director of the New England Literacy Resource Center (2012-2018). She specializes in contextualized English language instruction, standards-based education, teacher effectiveness and program improvement. She has coordinated and led professional development for national initiatives such as Networks for Integrating New Americans, the National Teacher Effectiveness in Adult Education project, the Standards-in-Action project, LINCS, and the Accelerating Opportunities initiative. She also co-directed the New England Learner Persistence Project and has published a range of resources connecting research and practice. Prior to coming to World Education in 1996, Andy was a lecturer in the Graduate Bilingual/ESOL Studies Department of the University of Massachusetts and worked with the Massachusetts Department of Education to provide technical assistance to workplace education partnerships throughout the state. Andy has an MA in Bilingual/ESOL Studies from the University of Massachusetts. View all posts by Andy Nash

Posted on February 22, 2021March 2, 2021Author Andy NashCategories Immigration, LiteracyTags Adult Education, Civic Engagement, civic literacy, civics, English Innovations, ESOL, Immigrant integration, National Partnership for New Americans, OneAmerica, refugees

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