Bulletin

by Laureen Fregeau

Mexican education is structured similarly to the US with the exception that pre-primary is mandatory and free. Pre-primary, primary (1-6), lower secondary (7-9) and upper secondary (10-12) school (ages 3-17) is mandatory, however, completion rates differ significantly by geographic region, urban vs. rural, indigenous vs non-indigenous, social class and by gender. Mexico City (mostly non-indigenous) has a completion close to 12^th grade while Chiapas (a rural, mostly indigenous state) has completed about 8^th grade.

Education is centralized under the federal government ministry of education (SEP). Primary curriculum is standardized for both public and private schools by SEP and includes Spanish, mathematics, natural sciences, history, geography, art, and physical education. Students take a standardized end-of-year exam to advance to the next grade. Despite “standardization” schools serving the upper classes offer a far more extensive curriculum and smaller teacher-pupil ratios. At the K-12 Thomas Jefferson Institute, students learn three languages (English, Spanish and Mandarin) and have advanced science and other content area opportunities in collaboration with prestigious international universities (such as Harvard). Indigenous children may receive a more practical (agriculture or service-oriented) education that prepares them for service employment or agricultural jobs. Lower secondary education has two tracks, academic and technical. Those in the technical track do not go on to upper secondary. Upper secondary is generally for university preparation with two tracks: Academic University-Preparatory and Professional Technical Education. Public upper secondary schools are affiliated with public universities. The Academic track provides students with a general academic curriculum for the first two years followed by specialized study in the final year. Foreign Language is compulsory. Students who complete upper secondary ear a Bachillerato certificate. Vocational education at Professional Technical Institutions follows the completion of lower secondary school for students who want technical careers. Graduate earn a Bachillerato Tecnico certificate.

Tertiary education is similar to the US with 4-, 5- and 6-year programs leading to Licenciatura, Maestria, Especialista and Doctorado degrees. Degree titles

are culturally important and used as titles with one’s name (e.g. Lic. Juan Diaz).

54% percentage of Mexican children from low-income families achieving a bottom quartile PISA score in reading which well below the OECD average of 29% complete upper secondary in Mexico City while only 40% do so in Chiapas). Mexican adults who have not achieved upper secondary education earn half or below half of median earnings for the country. Only 38% of students in Mexico are enrolled in upper secondary or vocational upper secondary school. The percent differs significantly by geographic region (e.g. 64 % in Mexico City vs 29 % in Chiapas.

The Mexican education system faces a number of challenges especially in inequitable access and unequal quality of education for lower social classes. Other challenges include the lack of technology integration into lower-income schools, inadequate funding that leads to poor infrastructure, underfunded teacher education, lack of classroom materials and lack of professional development for teachers and the lack of quality enhancement programs.

Teachers are trained at normal schools. In the field, a newly graduated teacher in a rural school serving low-income students may have 30-40 students in a primary grade with little technology or support. She may be at a bilingual school but not be bilingual. Her students’ language abilities in their indigenous language and Spanish vary from fluent to less than 30 words. In an urban school serving higher-income students the teacher has 21 students, decades of experience, a student teacher with excellent preparation and high-level technology.

It is important to keep in mind that your Mexican EL students’ educational experiences before immigration can vary widely. Checking what setting they come from can help inform your accommodations for individual students.

Sources

Hamann, Sánchez García and Amparo López. (2019).Teacher Education in México: Higher Expectations, Significant Change, but Still Finite Capacity. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education

Lantinotc (2024) A Comprehensive Guide to Mexican Education

Monroy (2019). Education in Mexico, WENR

OECD (2024). Education at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators for Mexico

SCOLARO. (2024). Education System in Mexico

SEP. (2024). Ministry of Education of MexicoStatistica (2021). Mexico: Literacy rate from 2008 to 2020, total and by gender.

by Laureen Fregeau

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

The US has a long history of immigration and naturalization. It also has an historical cycle of pro and anti-immigrant sentiment. Pro-immigrant sentiment dominates at times when fewer immigrants are coming or when those coming are primarily of White European decent. Other than indigenous people who immigrated from Asia and settled in the Americas over 12,000 years ago (Native Americans) everyone in the US today is descended from immigrants. There are theories that Polynesians, Chinese and Africans came to the “new” world in the 1200s or before. Who were the earliest European immigrants (other than the Norse that settled the northeast)? Early America was multilingual and multicultural as it is today. The Spanish (1513) and French (1535) came first and then the Dutch (1590) and English (1607) followed by an endless parade of people from many countries. Currently,  the top 10 countries from which immigrants come to the US are (highest to lowest) Mexico, India, China, Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Philippines, El Salvador, Brazil, Cuba and South Korea. Recently, Venezuela is moving toward the top ten.

Take a look at this US immigration graphic showing how the source of immigrants has changed over time and this graph showing immigrants as a % of the US population since 1850. Notice that the % between 1865 and 1915 was about what it is today. Also note that in the late 1800s, “old stock” Americans became very anti-immigrant and immigration restrictions were put in place.

Immigration was a contentious issue in the mid-late 1800s and has recently again become a contentious issue in the US. In 2014 large numbers of undocumented unaccompanied children started coming from Central America to the US. Some school districts have experienced exponential growth in the numbers of ELs in their school. These were often children with no adult family member to care for them and thus placed in foster care. Many of these children were (and are) out of school frequently because of court dates for which no one could go in their place. El Salvadoran teens came to the US to escape death after recruitment efforts by the gangs that ruled that country until recently. Either they joined or the gang killed them and their family. In the first few months of 2016 more than 450 murders took place in El Salvador (the size of Manhattan). In 2021, El Salvador has the highest rate of murder in the world. 59 women were murdered in the first months of 2021. Some of these children come to the US with coyotes, some cross the desert (takes a week) alone and often without sufficient food or water. A number are sold for body parts. Those who make it to the US are in debt to pay off the coyote (unless they came alone). It is difficult to keep them in school because they feel they must work and pay their debts. Guatemalans, Nicaraguans and Hondurans face similar violence in their countries and seek refuge in less violent countries (including the U.S.)

Immigrants are also victims of human trafficking, sold into slavery for the sex trade or low-cost labor in the US and other countries. Immigrants, especially if they are undocumented, are less likely to seek and obtain appropriate healthcare. After the passage of AL HB56 (Alabama’s anti-immigration legislation) in 2011 immigrant women (both documented and undocumented) grew wary of seeking pre-natal care and less likely to give birth in a hospital. HB56 also led to the loss of tomato and potato crops in Alabama since these crops are picked by migrant workers (many of them are undocumented).

Recently, Central American women and children have fled the violence that continues in Central America. Women and children are especially victimized by this violence. El Salvador and Guatemala rank first and second respectively in rates of homicide against children and adolescents globally. The three Northern Triangle countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) are in the top five globally for rates of female homicides. Is it any wonder why people flee these countries to seek refuge in the US?

I lived in Guatemala during a time called “la violencia” when whole villages were murdered and buried in mass graves. People I worked with were assassinated or “disappeared”, beheaded and left on the streets as a warning to those who would oppose those in power (or those who opposed those in power). I also lived on the border of El Salvador during the civil war when children grew up playing “kick the corpse.” I understand why Central Americans have fled and still are fleeing to the US.

The vast majority of immigrant-origin students are U.S. citizens. About the same % of immigrants as native born Americans 25 and over earn or have a college education. The DACA program has enabled undocumented students who arrived as children to enter college. In June 2020, the Supreme Court blocked Donald Trump’s move to end the program but this was only a temporary reprieve. DACA recipients view themselves as Americans (they grew up here) and have contributed significantly  to the nation, especially in this time of pandemic. The Biden administration returned to pre-2017 regulations for undocumented individuals who came as children before 2016. Then, in July 2021, a court decision in Texas ended new DACA grants. Undocumented students can legally attend college.  A few states — including Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama — have placed restrictions on undocumented students attending public colleges and universities. Undocumented students (other than DACA) cannot receive federal financial aid for college — the type of aid that many college students rely on. However, undocumented students can get financial aid or scholarships for college in other ways. To find out more, read For Undocumented Students: Questions and Answers About Paying for College. Undocumented immigrant students can be eligible for athletic scholarships depending on the individual school policy.

“Speak English!” is a common exclamation by monolingual Americans who hold many misconceptions about immigrants and their language abilities. English is the lingua franca of the world and many people learn or want to learn English. In 2019, 91% of immigrants reported knowing at least some English as compared to 86% in the early 1900s. Most immigrants want to learn English but English language programs are often difficult to access or beyond the means of immigrants. Many universities have closed or privatized their English language centers (including South). In August a Vietnamese woman from Bayou le Batre talked to me about how distressed she is about her community’s lack of access to English language programs, especially those that bridge to university study.

Undocumented immigrants contribute far more in taxes than they ever receive in services (they do not qualify for most services, including relief checks during the pandemic and tax breaks). On average, they contribute over $11.5 billion per year in local, state and federal income taxes to the government and 15 billion per year in FICA (collecting 1 billion back). The SS system is becoming more reliant on these taxes to support retired Americans as Boomers leave the workforce. Why is there such an effort to remove productive members of society?

Sources, Resources and Further Reading

Toppleberg, C. (2010). Language, Culture, and Adaptation in Immigrant Children

Landgrave, M. (2019). Immigrants Learn English: Immigrants’ Language Acquisition Rates by Country of Origin and Demographics since 1900

Rumbaut, R. (2013). Immigration and Language Diversity in the United States. Daedalus. 2013 ; 142(3): 141–154.

Key Findings about US Immigrants (Pew Research Center, 2020)

Educational Services for Immigrant Children (Fact Sheet 1, Fact Sheet 2)

Lazarin (2022). How State Assessments Became and Remain a Driver for Equity for English Learners

Furuya, Nooraddini, Wang, & Waslin (2019). A Portrait of Foreign-Born Teachers in the United States

Suarez-Orozco, C. and Yoshikawa, H. (2011). Growing up in the shadows: Developmental implications of unauthorized status

No Country for Lost Kids, PBS report (video and text) on undocumented child immigrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Gindling, H and  Poggio, S. (2010). The Effect of Family Separation and Reunification on the Educational Success of Immigrant Children in the   

   United States. The Institute for the Study of Labor, DP No. 4887

DACA and Access to Higher Education

Batista, A. (2017). An Immigrant’s Journey in Higher Education The Vermont Connection: Vol. 38  The author joined Oregon State University as

    the Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Dean of Student Life in June 2015 and was named as Interim Chief Diversity Officer on

   February 1, 2016. Prior to joining Oregon State, she served as Dean of Students at the University of Southern Indiana and worked at the

   University of Vermont, Lynn University, Champlain College, and Mills College.

UNESCO’s International Bureau of Education database on curricula, educational resources and educational systems in other countries.

USEFUL TO INVESTIGATE YOUR IMMIGRANT EL’S EDUCATION PRIOR TO COMING TO THE U.S.

Immigrant Stories

Dori’s Immigrant Story

Immigrants to entrepreneurs

Life as an undocumented immigrant

A Syrian Refugee Story

An Iraqi refugee’s story

Refugee from El Salvador

Ukranian refugee experiences (You will need to give an email address –  NO NEED TO SUBSCRIBE)

By Caitlyn Lightsey

The Thailand education system is vastly different from the system in the United States. There are in-class differences that stand out, such as teacher and student roles. Thai teachers are respected because they are in a position of authority; on the other hand, in the United States, teachers are sometimes treated like garbage by parents and students. From the beginning of their education, students are held responsible for their own work. “Teachers teach. It’s the student’s responsibility to do the work and learn” (Belle). In other words, teachers are not at fault when a student does not make passing grades on their school work. The students are expected to study and work hard to be able to pass their classes and make good grades in school.

 Another area that is different from the United States is how the education system is structured in Thailand. There is no kindergarten in Thailand. Preschool is not required for children; however, it is encouraged for students to get a jumpstart on their education. That being said, there is not anything taught in preschool that is not covered in the first grade. There are twelve grades (1-12). Although all twelve grades are free, the first nine grades are the only ones that are required for a certification in Thailand. Anything above grade nine is typically for their education go into the working class. Those who opt out of continuing their education go into the working class.

 While in school, the students work hard to understand several different key areas: basic skills (Thai and maths), life experience (science and social science), character development (physical education, ethics, art, and music), work education (technology and basic vocation skills), and special education (English and other subjects meeting local requirements). The first six grades are considered Primary Education and a certificate of primary education must be achieved to be able to move on to Lower Secondary Education instruction and learning, grades 7-9. Primary Education, or equivalent, must be completed before moving on to the next level of education. In Lower Secondary Education, instruction and/or learning time must NOT exceed six hours in a day. Once they complete the Certificate for Lower Secondary Education, students have the choice of continuing on with their education or beginning to work. The students who choose to continue in their education seek out the top schools for Upper Secondary Education. The top schools have competitive entrance exams and the students that attend them have the best chances at getting into a university.

 In regards to immigration, before 1927, entering and leaving Thailand was done freely. In 1927, however, The Royal Immigration Act 2470 was created by King Rama VII Prachthipok. With this act, an Immigration Department was created and the ability to enter and leave the country as a person wanted came to an end. The Immigration Department of 50 men was created within the Ministry of the Interior. This department was charged to control the arrivals and departures from the country. The Thai king put these restrictions on the Thai borders because he wanted to keep up with civilized nations. In 1932, the Immigration Department was linked with the Thai police department and was renamed the Immigration Division. When it comes to immigration to the United States from Thailand, or any other country, to obtain an immigrant visa, a foreign citizen has to be sponsored by a United States citizen or a lawful permanent resident of the United States.

Sources

Education in Thailand, WENR, 31 March 2022, wenr.wes.org/2018/education in Thailand

History of Thailand, Encyclopedia Britannica

The University of South Alabama has opened an ESL tutoring program consisting of two tracks: Professional and Basic. The Professional track is taught by ESOL professionals with advanced degrees and extensive experience in ESOL while the Basic track is taught by undergraduate and graduate students earning their TEFL/TESL Certificate.

The program is designed for non-native English speakers who want to improve their skills, resulting in more ease and effectiveness in communication. A variety of courses are offered to address differing needs or goals.

Courses are available for individuals or small groups. Individual tutoring content varies according to the needs of the student. Small group courses are offered in basic writing, conversational skills, vocabulary enrichment, reading comprehension, academic writing, medical or business English, TOEFL preparation and accent control/pronunciation.

 The ECTESOL Bulletin is the quarterly newsletter of Emerald Coast TESOL. We welcome and encourage contributions from all those interested in teaching and learning English as another language. We publish announcements, web resources (please annotate), program highlights, book reviews, editorials, classroom strategies and lesson ideas, articles related to teaching and learning English as another language, cross-cultural information for teaching English to speakers of other languages and other appropriate materials. Submissions should include citations in APA where appropriate. Photographs and graphics must be accompanied by permission of the owner to publish. Please use Arial Narrow font 11 and leave your submission otherwise unformatted. Please send your submission to the editor at ECTESOLReview@usa.com with “Bulletin Submission” in the subject line.