Global Literacy

Education is a big part of the kNOw US AND THEM program, building greater understanding of the issues of immigration and trade, how they are connected, and how they affect Maine communities. We are conducting workshops for high school and college students, church and community groups.

Few Mainers, except those who are immigrants themselves, understand how their lives are linked to those of people around the world, or to immigrants here in our country. Growing up in a culturally, racially, and ethnically homogeneous environment (Maine has the smallest percentage of racial minorities of any state), many young Mainers have few chances to learn how to live in a world in which nearly every aspect of their own lives is affected by forces much larger than their own state or even country.

PICA's Global Literacy project is focusing on bringing the insights of kNOw US AND THEM, and the Listening Project approach of careful, non-judgmental listening, to Maine students, in particular high school students. Our workshops also work well, with or without modifications, for college classes, community and faith groups.

To date, we have developed and field-tested the following 40 minute - 1 hour workshops, which can stand alone, or be combined in longer sessions or in a series of sessions:

• Immigration Human Board Game

  An activity that gets the participants out of their seats and moving around. Players take the roles of Mexican and Salvadorans who are trying get from their home countries and succeed in the United States. The players experience many of the trials that come with emigration and are easily able to slip into the role and begin to understand some of the complexities of immigration. The game sparks dialogue about immigration and why people from Latin America come to the US.

• "They're Here Because We're There"

  Includes a 10 minute role play called “Corn and Shoes” that boils down how free trade agreements work and how they affect communities and workers on both sides of the border, including in Maine. An easy to understand, informative exercise that explains what can often times be a tough theme to tackle.

• Video workshop
  A  guided discussion of a video created from excepts of kNOw US AND THEM interviews with real people who have seen first hand how immigration to the US has affected their communities and lives. This video provides a more personal side to a debate that we have heard so much about.

   

We are also using a version of the Immigration Timeline Exercise from the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights BRIDGE curriculum.

Each of these curriculum pieces is still being developed and revised, and more workshops are planned. For more information, and a copy of the most recent materials, contact us.

Are you interested in attending a workshop?
Check out our calendar for upcoming events.