Channeling Adult Migrant Education Program Diversity Toward the Improvement of Learning - Book Report/Review Example

Channeling AMEP Diversity Toward the Improvement of Learning Name Instructor’s name Course Institutional affiliation Date Introduction Diversity is today part and parcel of the workplace. The term workplace diversity refers to the range of differences among the members of an organization. It encompasses many different aspects of a person’s personality including race, ethnic group, gender, age, personality, background, and education among others. Diversity involves how people perceive themselves and others around them as well (Greenberg, n.d.). The manner of interaction of these varieties of different people is referred to as the dynamism of diversity. Defining and recognizing diversity at the workplace is important for the organization to be able to function smoothly. As opposed to dealing with workplace diversity as an obstacle to an organization’s objectives, this diversity may be used as a tool to aid in achieving the intended goals. This paper seeks to examine the ways in which workplace diversity in the Adult Migrant Education Program (AMEP) can be utilized to better serve the purposes of learning and teaching. As an e-learning specialist teacher, I perform the role of e-mentor to many teachers. Though the field of e-learning is a relatively young one, it is not without its fair share of diversity, more so within the context of AMEP. Being a settlement and education program for newly arrived refugees and migrants in Australia, workplace diversity is definitely embodied in AMEP. The essay mainly draws its ideas from the analytical framework presented by Kalantzis and Cope (2008, p. 136-190). The framework is on learner personalities and is presented in chapter five of the book. According to Kalantzis and Cope, learner personalities are shaped by different factors which are summarized into three dimensions including material conditions, corporeal attributes, and symbolic differences. The ways in which these differences are negotiated are summarized into exclusion, assimilation, and recognition or inclusion. These three dimensions and their alternative difference dynamics will form the analytical framework for discussion throughout this paper. Even though it is difficult to ensure all differences are included and catered to in a large group, inclusion of diversity propels the new learning agenda because differences in the workplace can be used as a platform for bringing to life the new education strategy and workplace diversity dynamics are dynamic and can be shaped appropriately for the new learning (Kalantzis and Cope 2008, p. 167). This paper comprises of an explanation of the analytical framework on learner personalities that forms its main basis, a description of the AMEP along the lines of the framework and an application of the analytical framework in addition to a discussion and conclusion section. Conceptual Framework: Learner Personalities By the time learners go to school, they have accumulated some knowledge either consciously or unconsciously through the world around them. This “realm of everyday life experience” is referred to as the lifeworld (Kalantzis and Cope 2008, p. 137). Learner personalities are shaped by three main dimensions of lifeworld differences namely; material conditions, corporeal attributes, and symbolic differences. Learner personalities consequently affect the students’ learning abilities and success potential within our education systems. In the chapter on learner personalities, Kalantzis and Cope explore learner personalities and their dynamics in a bid to develop new strategies for education. Their view is that the new learning system should seek to impart education through the expansion of its learners’ lifeworlds. This is in contrast to insisting that learners conform to the ways in which the system is set. Learners perform differently in the education system, and perhaps these performance differences can be attributed to the fact that the education system better suits certain learners’ lifeworlds than it does others. As a result some learners struggle more in school than their counterparts. To explore further the range of learner differences, the three dimensions mentioned earlier are explored. Dimension one; material conditions consist of social class, family and geographic locale. These material conditions determine one’s access to material resources needed for learning. In the modern past, if access was to be gained by the excluded group, they would need to assimilate themselves to the characteristics of the dominant and more affluent group. In more recent times, differences in material differences began to be recognized, but then the status remained at that- nothing was done about it. The inclusion dynamic is based on the premise that the education system should fulfill the democratic promise. Inclusion serves to bring to life the role of the school in the knowledge economy. Dimension two; corporeal attributes are comprised of race, age, sex, sexuality, mental and physical capacities. These are corporeal differences which have both a physical (person’s actual body) and cultural aspects (ascribed to one due to symbolic meaning, either by oneself or by others). In the recent past from exclusion to assimilation, standard practice involved separating people into different institutions based on age, sex, race, gender, sexuality, and body form. The exclusion then progressed into the assimilation stage where minimal mobility was allowed on the condition of assimilation to the accepted set point for each characteristic. In the recent past, a move has been made to recognize differences within institutions- this is the recognition method. Diversity is recognized but in a ‘laissez-faire’ kind of way, which is a French phrase meaning ‘live and let live’. The recognition has no impact on social outcomes. The inclusion method involves the development of inclusion strategies which counter the disadvantages caused by corporeal attributes. Dimension three; symbolic differences are composed of differences of culture or ethnicity, gender, language, affinity, and persona. These attributes arise from the human capacity to derive meaning from things, and these meaning can vary in several different albeit creative ways. In the exclusion to assimilation method, people were excluded based on their culture or ethnicity, gender, language, affinity, and persona in the modern past. To belong, they were forced to conform and assimilate themselves to become more like others. In recent times, culture has become more fluid and dissolved as symbolic differences have proliferated. The inclusion method encourages people to live productively with their symbolic differences- personalities are becoming more multilayered as they expand their lifeworlds. Learner Personalities in the context of AMEP AMEP is an acronym that stands for Adult Migrant Education program. It is an Australian settlement and education program provided to migrants and refugees who are newly arrived. The program is provided by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) to adults who have been assessed as not having functional skills in the English language (Department of Immigration and Citizenship, n.d.; Central Institute of Technology, n.d.). more than the English classes provided, students are educated on Australian culture, society and customs. I function as an AMEP practitioner in the capacity of teacher and e-mentor (e-learning specialist). My students within this program are other AMEP teachers. Specifically, I serve to train and support the teaching staff in the process of adoption, utilization and integration of e-learning practices within the classroom. Moreover, I teach about collaboration with other teachers and educational communities on the whole. The whole purpose of this role is to update the teaching skills and methodology that have been in use in order to enhance learner experiences for students. To analyze AMEP along the lines of the framework presented in ‘Learner Personalities’ the three dimensions discussed before will be employed. Dimension one; material conditions. The families of most students are the nuclear types (composed of mother, father and children) which usually don’t have many children. Most are young families with young children or with expectant mothers- these groups are unable to devote a lot of time to their studies. Social class ranges from low (mainly refugees) to middle social classes (skilled visa migrants for example). Geographic locale varies as well as they live in all kinds of different neighborhoods depending on social class and places of work. Dimension two; corporeal attributes. The race composition of the classes varies widely. The class is comprised of Afghans, Bangladeshis, Brazilians, Burmese, Chinese, Indians, Italians, Iranians, Iraqis, Jordanians, Kurdish, Lebanese, Seri Lankans/ Tamil, Sudanese, Thai. It therefore follows that there are many different races represented. Students are over 19 years of age; the average age range within most classes is 23-72, though the younger students usually form the bulk of the group. They are mostly heterosexual, with one homosexual and one transgender. They have ranging physical and mental capacities, owing to their different ages, original culture, physical injuries due to war for example, among others. Dimension three; symbolic differences. These are well represented within the classes as the students are from many different countries and therefore have many different cultures. This is well illustrated among the Chinese students for example; they pride themselves in academic excellence because their culture instills it in them, and as a result they tend to do better in their classes. They are of many different ethnicities, but in general most are Asians. Most of the students are female- the spouses of skilled visa migrants, while all male students are refugees from various countries. As they are of many different nationalities, they speak many different languages including; Italian, Chinese, Hindi, Arabic and various others. They are definitely linguistically diverse. Concerning affinity and persona, the students vary widely and therefore have certain habits and behaviors as a result. Some are refugees and are traumatized by the war events they lived through, others are mostly housewives who immigrated because of their spouses’ work opportunity; this group contains students who are well educated in their original countries and have their own struggles adapting to the new way of life and the pressures of caring for their families. Some of the students are divorced/separated middle aged women who struggle with esteem and concentration problems. AMEP has seen a transformation in its objectives and how they are met over its past 55years of existence. It went from the exclusion to assimilation method in the mid 1900s to recognition and is now working on incorporating the inclusion method into their workings. For example, AMEP has improved on and added more variety to their methods of delivery according to the students’ needs and preferences. AMEP tries to cater to each student individually as opposed to treating them as a group, which is evidence of the inclusion strategy (Martin, 2009). Discussion and conclusion The dynamism of diversity within the AMEP context affects learners in many different ways. Because they are so divergent, they do not relate well with each other within their classes. This therefore means that there is no collaboration among the students which makes learning more difficult than it should otherwise be. The sum total of their alternative difference dynamics (the three dimensions) results in further divergence if not carefully channeled toward the learning purpose (Greenberg, n.d.; Kalantzis, and Cope 2008, p.137-190). Perhaps only common ground held by some of these students is that there are students within AMEP. If we are to follow the suggestions of Kalantzis and cope, we should avoid or completely do away with the exclusion and assimilation methods ad instead probe students toward further uniqueness. This can be done by capitalizing on the individual student’s strengths and need at that particular time. By doing this we become more relevant to their lifeworld and achieve the goal of imparting education through the extension of the lifeworld. It may be difficult to achieve this at first as the turbulence that change brings with it is always unpleasant, but it will be helpful to remember the main aim of the program- to help its students ease in and settle into their new environment faster and easier. Also, the students are only in the program for a short time period, and strategy must change if this time is to be maximized in order to achieve the goal (Greenberg, n.d.). In conclusion, the framework on learner personalities presented by Kalantzis and Cope is essential if education is to remain effective and relevant. It premises its whole strategy and propositions for change on the diversity of learners and their resultant dynamics. If well applied, the wisdoms of the framework will serve to improve the quality of education and improve the lives of students, and the country and economy as a result. References Central Institute of Technology. (n.d.). Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP). Available: http://www.central.wa.edu.au/AMEP/Pages/default.aspx. Last accessed 28th August, 2013. Department of Immigration and Citizenship. (n.d.). Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP). Available: http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/delivering-assistance/government-programs/settlement-programs/amep/. Last accessed 29th August, 2013. Greenberg, J. (n.d.). Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions. Available: http://www.multiculturaladvantage.com/recruit/diversity/Diversity-in-the-Workplace-Benefits-Challenges-Solutions.asp. Last accessed 29th August, 2013. Kalantzis, M. and Cope, B. (2008). Learner Personalities. In: New learning: elements of a science of education. Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. 136-190. Martin, S. (2009). New life, new language: The history of the Adult Migrant English Program. Sydney: National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research Macquarie University. Available: http://www.ameprc.mq.edu.au/docs/research_reports/new_life_new_language/AMEP_book_New_life_i-70.pdf. Last accessed 31st August, 2013. Read More