A Report on "New Places"

An International Research Project: Making Schools Better Places for Newcomers

This collaborative project, designed by Project Orillas (in collaboration with I*EARN-Orillas, and the Discovery Promised Land Learning Community), asked young people (elementary through high school) to explore and analyze what it's like to move to a new place.

The goal of the "New Places" project was to apply research to form suggestions on how schools can be better for new students. The research tasks included:

1. Asking an older person in their community about a love to a new town or a new school when they were, young, discussing:
   • what hopes they held for the new place or school (before the change),
   • what the reality was like (after the change), and
   • who or what helped them get through the change.
     
     
2. Reflecting and reporting on their own experiences moving or asking these questions of a schoolmate or friend who has moved to a new place or a new school.
   
   
3. Bringing their research together with that of others in their class and school, publishing it, and beginning a discussion of what steps could be taken to make their school better for newcomers.
   
   Countries participating in the project included: the U.S., Puerto Rico, Argentina, South Africa, China, and Australia. This project builds on Orillas' longstanding interest in researching issues related to migration and circular migration.
   
   Selected Student Writing from the New Places Project
   
   We are an ESL Classroom at Channel Islands High, in Oxnard, California-Mexican and Filipino immigrant students that live in this new place from 2-3 years. We're all struggling to learn the English language.
   
   What We Hoped and Dreamed
   
   Easy lifestyle, freedom, the quality of life better than our own country, opportunity for work, college, and university; equal rights for all the people...
   
   What our New Place was Really Like
   
   Violent, racist, discrimination, low paying jobs for our parents, very expensive to live, crime and drugs, gangs that kill, difficult to survive in school, my people don't have equal rights, Prop. 187 is frightening, we Mexican women are pressured to move on and get married because our parents can't afford to support us...
   
   What Helped Make our New Place Better
   
   
   • Students for Cultural and Linguistic Democracy, a student activist group, and Mr. Terrazas took many risks to establish the following historical events to make our new place better and more just and equal for all immigrants and oppressed students and parents.
   • Bilingual and Migrant Program: We did not develop this program, but it sure supports and teaches us English and academics in our native Language. Our bilingual program teachers are excellent with lots of love and sensitivity related to a bicultural existence.
   • Bilingual and Migrant Open House: This is ours! This is totally student centered and directed. We Voice with power, dance, sing, role play problem posing issues, educate our parents, and rise the political, social, and economics consciousness of our people and community. This is really our welcome place and we are proud of it. Our 9th year!
   • Students Voicing at Teacher and Community Conferences: Students for Cultural and Linguistic Democracy have been going to and planning conferences since 1992. We've just worked hard to organize our district's first Educating Our Raza Awareness Conference, which will involve over 350 students and parents.
   • Students and Teachers Co-authoring a Book: Our students and our teacher have just co-authored a book called Reclaiming Our Voices: Bilingual Education and Critical Pedagogy & Praxis. This book tells about real struggles and experiences immigrant students go through in new places.
   • Project Orillas: Sharing and caring with students from other places has made us understand that we are not alone in our struggles. We have learned a lot by just listening to each other over telephone voice box, computer modem, and telephone video. Orillas has introduced us to communication technology at it's highest form.
     
     We hope our research will make better, just, and safe NEW PLACES for all students.
     
     Guillermo Terrazas and English 103 E.S.L. I st and 2nd Period