The emphasis of this course was to learn about cross cultural issues in the Oregon education system. We gathered information through group interviews with various stakeholders, ranging from government and school officials, community advocates, and teachers to migrant worker parents and high school students. As the week went along, several main themes emerged as important elements that effect the education of Oregon's youth.
    Before I delve deeper into the content of the course, it is important to know that the learning process was a critical element in our educational experience. The learning process could be described as  active learning. We participated in active listening, reflection and collaboration, which for many of us at times was a difficult experience! At the beginning of the course we were twenty individuals and three facilitators with diverse backgrounds, personal agendas, limited abilities in active listening, used to the traditional classroom experience and the democratic process. Six days and countless hours later, we became a team with improved skills in listening and facilitation, participating in an environment where everyone had a voice, made decisions by consensus (thumbs up!), and had group ownership of the course, its content and direction. We were able to use our diverse backgrounds to enrich the group process and had a heightened respect for each others' limitations and contributions.
    Through this non-traditional approach to learning, each of us gained knowledge about the educational issues affecting Oregon as our population becomes more diverse. Many of my classmates plan on becoming educators in the future, but regardless of our career choices, we will all be members of various communities where we can use our individual talents and increased awareness to be allies for change in education. We can advocate change by using our voice, honoring and acknowledging diverse cultures, offering support and building relationships to create a caring community where all feel welcome, regardless of their background.

    The statement above reflects the crystallization of all the information gathered during this course, into the simplest statement about how I believe we can effect change in education in Oregon. The populations we concentrated on this week were Hispanic/Latino and African American students. Both populations have high drop-out rates in school. Some of the factors affecting the drop-out rates for these particular populations are language/communication barriers, socio-economic factors, cultural differences, test bias, racism and discrimination in the school system, lack of mentors and role models, family support and relationships with teachers.
    The major themes that emerged as ways to overcome the challenges faced by ethnic populations in education were Voice, Culture, Support and Relationship Building. Voice means talking to students, being vocal in your support for education and students, advocating for change, creating dialogue, being vocal in educating those that have the power of influence (media, government), and realizing that "silence is not acceptance"(a quote from Anthony Veliz of Woodburn). Sometimes voices are silenced, and we need to create avenues for these voices to be heard.
    Culture plays a strong role in education. Each racial/ethnic group has a culture, and often many "cultures" within each group. Family values are particularly strong for some Hispanic/Latino families, as well as families of other backgrounds. We saw clearly how family values affects students' education when we were able to talk to Isabella (migrant parent) and then later her two daughters, Pilar and Erika. All the mothers we spoke with told us they supported and loved their children, no matter what their children decisions were regarding education and careers. Isabella has nine children, and she emphasizes to her children how important it is to get an education. When we spoke with Pilar and Erika, they personified their family's values as dedicated and motivated students. They mentioned that not all of their friends shared their same values for the importance of education. Each spoke of barriers they have faced in their education, whether it was language or lack of support/encouragement from teachers.
    Support was another area that is an important factor in retention. Support needs to come from families, teachers, the schools and school boards, businesses, the community, and government. Financial support is important in the educational process, but money isn't the only thing needed to make a student successful. There has to be support for alternative education including bilingual and other types of language programs. Support must come from laws, rules, regulations and standards set for education, so that these regulations don't marginalize any group. Individual teachers must also support their students and not discriminate.
    Building relationships is the fourth theme, and the one that I believe we can accomplish without extra funding, new laws, or changes in school structures. Building relationships has to do with people making connections with other people. One of our stakeholders, Carolyn Leonard, eloquently stated that our children need to feel welcome, wanted and worthy. This sentiment was repeated in numerous ways by almost all our stakeholders. Students need to feel a connection with someone who cares about their educational progress in order to succeed. How simple, yet how difficult - simple because it only uses human capital to accomplish it - how difficult because we so often loose sight of the individual sitting behind the school desk. There are other relationships besides that of student and teacher that are important to develop, like those with parents, administrators, community members and various officials. However, no relationship is more critical than making the one with the student, because if that connection is not made, the student will drop-out, if not physically, than surely mentally and emotionally. There will just be an empty shell sitting in the student's seat, where there once was an learner eager to be engaged. So, I stand by my belief that the simplest thing we can do to change the education system is to care.

Additional links for further information:

• Helping children understand differences in others.
• Strategies for Hispanic/Latino retention in high school.
• Learn more about issues affecting migrant workers.
• The stakeholder I facilitated for was Senator Cliff Trow.
• Highlights of Senator Trow's discussion with our class.
• Take a look at the article about our class in the Gazette-Times.
• Oregon's Certificate of Initial Mastery (CIM) benchmarks.
• Information on Oregon's public schools.
• Take a look at several school reform sights for ideas on education alternatives, such as Rethinking Schools, Center for Fair and Open Testing, National Network of Reformers, Rouge Forum and Whole School Consortium.

For comments or questions email Cathy Boehlke.

Use your voice...get involved in the education of your community.