MEET UP: IDEA SHARING FOR MULTILEVEL COMMUNITY FOCUSED LESSON PLANNING

TOSCON16Presenter: Hannah Richardson

WORKSHOP FOCUS

■This workshop will focus on the use of local event calendars and online community-based social networking sites, such as Meetup.com, to unite language learning and computer skills, as well as utilize authentic materials and tasks (realia) that spark interest and inquiry and promote integration into the newcomer’s/student’s community.

OVERVIEW■INTRODUCTION

Teacher Discussion Assimilation, Integration, &

Multiculturalism■LESSON PLAN EXAMPLE

Meetup.com■LESSON PLANNING

Community Event Calendars■IDEA SHARE

DISCUSSION

■How would you define assimilation, integration, & multiculturalism?

■Can the terms be used interchangeably? ■What do you believe should be the goal for

newcomers within Canada?

BRAINSTORMMULTICULTURALIS

M

ASSIMILATION

INTEGRATION

What comes to mind for each?

CULTURAL ASSIMILATION adoption of mainstream cultural

norms loss of indigenous cultural

distinctiveness

DOUBLE-CONSCIOUSNESS assimilation + integration retaining one’s own cultural identity

MULTICULTURALISM

Zahraa Daoud and her mother, Nada, are living in a refugee centre in Stralsund, Germany.

Photograph: Michael Danner for The Guardian

“I have tried to find a way to enjoy this life.”

LESSON PLAN EXAMPLE

Meetup: Neighbours Learning, Doing & Sharing

DISCUSSION

■Do you incorporate community events in the classroom?

■Are you familiar with MeetUp.com?■www.meetup.com

LESSON PLANNINGCommunity Event Calendars

LESSON PLANNING■Work with a group.■Each group will be given a different

community event listing print-out from Toronto.com.

■Design a lesson plan.■You should include information about

the level you have chosen, the objectives, competencies and skills focus areas of the lesson and any assessment/feedback you plan to include.

IDEAS■information jigsaw■presentations■getting to know you■invitations■making plans■directions■comparison ■expressing opinion

IDEA SHARE

CONTACT INFORMATION

Presenter: Hannah Richardsonhannah.richardson@sheridancollege.ca

QUOTES■ “Integration and assimilation don't necessarily mean the same

thing, even though we often argue, fuss and fight amongst each other as if they did” (Hall, 1999, closing).

■ “Cultural assimilation means both adoption of mainstream cultural norms and loss of indigenous cultural distinctiveness […] it should be possible, and in my view necessary, to adopt mainstream cultural norms while nonetheless retaining at least certain key features of cultural distinctiveness” (Hall, 1999, para 1).

■ “Double-consciousness” is a concept introduced by W.E.B. Du Bois that describes a synthesis of assimilation & integration, essentially integrating within contemporary society while retaining one’s own cultural identity (DuBois, 1982).

REFERENCES

DuBois, W. E. B. (1982). The Souls of Black Folk. New York: Signet Books.Hall, Perry A. (10 April, 1999). (Structural) Integration vs. (Cultural) Assimilation: A Distinction with a Difference [Draft]. Read at the 16th Annual Pan-African Studies Conference, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana. Retrieved from:http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/751.htmlKingsley, P. (30 April, 2016). ‘I've tried to find a way to enjoy this life’: Syrian refugees one year on. The Guardian. Retrieved from:http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/30/syrian-refugees-one-year-on-patrick-kingsley