In collaboration with Pima Community College’s Refugee Education Program, and the University of Arizona’s Second Language Acquisition and Teaching program, Literacy Connects is offering training sessions for volunteers who teach or tutor English with low-literacy adults from refugee backgrounds.
The training offers teaching strategies that help students develop receptive and oral English language skills, as well as emerging reading and writing skills. This training is intended for volunteers or community members who are already volunteering* with a refugee-focused volunteer organization. Our training draws on presenters’ practical experience and relevant research into best practices for teaching low-literacy adults from refugee backgrounds.
Our first training took place over two days on June 23rd and 30th of 2017 and was led by the following presenters:
– Kate Van Roekel, ELAA teacher Education and Training Coordinator, Literacy Connects
– Lissa Fogel, Advanced Program Coordinator, Refugee Education Program, Pima Community College
– Jenna Altherr Flores, Doctoral Candidate, Second Language Acquisition and Teaching, University of Arizona, Chair, Refugee Concerns, TESOL International; Co-Chair, Teachers of Refugees, AZTESOL
– Amanda Snell, Doctoral Student, Second Language Acquisition and Teaching, University of Arizona; Co-Chair, Teachers of Refugees, AZTESOL
Participants came from a variety of community organizations that serve adults from refugee backgrounds, including Literacy Connects, Ishkashita, Tucson Refugee Ministries, Tucson Welcomes Refugees, IRC, Temple Emanu-El, and Lutheran Social Services. The workshop included hands on practice with strategies for developing oral English skills and emerging reading and writing skills. Participants received a “toolkit” of practical tools and strategies to use in their own classes or tutoring sessions.
This special two-day training will be offered again on 9/29/2017 and 10/6 /2017 from 9:30 am – 1:30 pm. Email Kate Van Roekel at kvanroekel@literacyconnects.org for more information.
**Interested people not already volunteering with a refugee-focused volunteer organization can click here for information about how to get connected with refugee-focused organizations.
