Matt Altstiel's Academic Life

It is really the race card of fan's Perceptions?

2007-11-20T17:28:00.000-08:00

Jamele Hill, ESPN Page 2 Columnist writes "SMACK. Time to play the race card. Bonds' blackness is not the sole reason Bonds is in this mess. But it is a factor in why the fairness seems so skewed, why the vitriol seems so severe, why the pursuit was so unrelenting.
Bonds' most egregious error is that he is not content to play the role of the grateful black man. Black athletes, particularly males, who express the kind of arrogance Bonds does are often villified more than white athletes who do the same. Brett Favre pleaded to be surrounded by talent for years, yet when Randy Moss expressed similar frustration in Oakland he was called selfish and whiny and told to shut up. Gary Sheffield, while not the most eloquent speaker, alerted us to the obvious -- that MLB has a certain amount of economic control over Latino players because it plucks them from their home countries so they won't have to pay hefty signing bonuses in the draft. Sheffield was roasted for this, but it was perfectly fine for Larry Bird to say the NBA needs more white superstars.

Black athletes who refuse to kowtow get it worse, and from that perspective the race card is appropriately applicable.

For weeks, we've gotten reports of various baseball players purchasing human growth hormone, for obviously circumspect reasons and from obviously suspect people. Why isn't the government knocking at the door of Rick Ankiel, forcing him to testify against his supplier? Why didn't the government pursue the past that Mark McGwire wasn't eager to talk about? Why does MLB seem to have only a passive interest in Paul Byrd?"

I am a die hard Packer fan, but some of your comments were spot on. Im also a big Brett Farve fan. Yet, I'll admit, Brett Farve, rather than be vilified for his former alcoholism, hard partying ways and serious addiction to pain-killers taken during his rise to stardom has been forgiven completely. In fact, most would say that his addictions humanized him and almost made him more of a hero. Rather than being seen for what they were, addictions, it was seen as a sign of dedication to the team and personal toughness. Randy Moss has never been accused of having any addiction, and has probably not done anything wrong more than take an occassional play off during his Oakland days. Moss wasnt on the "Minnesota Love Boat", he hasn't been charged with assault as a professional athlete, and he hasnt been fined like Terell Owens. Yet, even though Moss and Farve are both game-breakers, Moss has always recieved the negative reputation. But again, it is always about perception and how an athlete comes across to the fans.
Think about it, Brady vs. Manning. Even ESPN hyped up the game as a battle of good vs. evil. Manning is the affable, down home type that fans seem to like. Brady is the smirking type who would rather be taking out models than at home with the family. But again, this is all perception. After throwing a touchdown pass, Manning is the guy running to the sideline avoiding everyone and giving out no credit. Brady high fives his teammates as they run off the field together. Manning blames a lack of depth or an officials call in post game interviews, Brady can get angry but does not make excuses. The point being, some athletes will always be loved and some will always be vilified: irregardless of ethnicity.

I agree with the vast majority of things you have to say, however; I do take exception to one thing, the race card. You are probably right that if any one deserves to be in jail for a long time, it is those who supplied the drugs and HGH. I do not think the reason Barry Bonds is being indicted is because of his race, it is because he is now the all-time homerun leader. Baseball is a sport obsessed with numbers and the "purity" of its records, therefore it probably makes sense (to whom Im not exactly sure) to permanently ruin the reputation of a man who has broken the game's most important record under a lot of suspicion. Then too is the reputation of Bonds, it does not have anything to do with race, it has everything to do with percieved personality. On the flipside, "The Homerun Chase" united the country and allowed baseball to survive the 94' strike. During the chase, both athletes were portrayed as the warm, fuzzy types you'd want to invite to a barbeque. It is simply untrue to assume to white athletes are given a free pass and allowed to say more than any other athelete. Think back to John Rocker, his comments cost him his reputation (rightfully so) and eventually his job.

MAVA Community Anylysis Report (Blog Version)

2007-11-20T15:12:00.000-08:00

Here is the 2007 MAVA Community Analysis Report for Southern Minnesota, note that all names have been removed to protect confidentiality. This is just an example of some of the things MAVA (the Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration) does and will accomplish during the 2007-2008 Fiscal year. Enjoy.

2007 Southern Minnesota Community Analysis Report

A region by Region and City by City Look at Volunteerism in Southern Minnesota

INTRODUCTION

This report attempts to summarize the contacts, networks and lessons MAVA has become aware of in the region of Southern Minnesota. While this report has not covered and cannot cover every city in the region, most communities are represented by at least one respondent. The listing of communities has been done alphabetically. This report is on-going and will update to include the most current data and contacts. For any questions, please e-mail Matt Altstiel at maltstiel@mavanetwork.org.

RECOMMENDATIONS (ON A REGIONAL LEVEL)

SECTION ONE – RECOMMENDATIONS[1]

Who are the influential people in this region related to the leadership of volunteers? Additional influential people in the nonprofit community?

The United Way is the chief connector organization in many of the listed communities in this report. Their executive directors are key individuals that have the relationships with important area non-profits. Additionally, United Ways are often well connected to media outlets which can help promote upcoming area VRL series. Specific individuals who bear mention are: (ALBERT LEA) , (AUSTIN), (MANKATO) (NEW ULM) , (OWATONNA) , (ROCHESTER) , (WINONA) .

Top priorities for work in network development:

Winona is the site in greatest need of a non-sector network of volunteer leaders. Other communities have small but sustainable networks that MAVA can help build through our networking and resource capabilities. Albert Lea and Mankato have MAVA affiliated CLOVE networks that have had stagnant or negative growth over the past several years that need additional support. MCN is strong network in Mankato that MAVA should further engage in the future. United Way agency meetings are a great way to take a survey of area non-profits and to assess the need for network alliance or creation.

Priorities for locations to offer the Volunteer Impact Leadership Training series and organizations to work with as co-sponsors:

Winona is a priority location for the Spring as a scheduled Fall series was canceled due to flooding. The series location and co-sponsor is already in place and ready to move ahead. Additional promotion can be done to attract participants from Goodhue, Wabasha, Fillmore and Houston Counties. Austin is another potential location due to its potential drawing power from surrounding counties and Northern Iowa. Owatonna is an excellent potential location due to its centrality in the region. The United Way, SMIF, the Owatonna Foundation and Campesino Central all look to be excellent potential sponsors. Venues in the area will be pursued as in the upcoming months. Finally, New Ulm looks to be a virtual lock to hold a Spring series. New Ulm hopes to draw heavily from communities in two overlapping Minnesota Initiative regions (Southern and Southwest). Additionally, the New Ulm series can potentially draw a greater percentage of rural non-profits than other locations. Finally, the United Way seems to be a committed sponsor which has already offered a free venue for the series.

Opportunities to partner with organizations to get messages to decision makers on the importance of investing in volunteers:

MCN and SMIF already do a great deal of advocacy. Partnering with these organizations to encourage the formation of county independent speaker’s bureaus seems a logical step. Targeting board member meetings as well as business clubs is very important as well. Many board members, as the research from the report has informed, are members of the local community picked as much for their connectivity as passion for the cause. Businesses provide sponsorship and funding opportunities to non-profits, who may already seeking non-profit partners in business initiatives. This is the initial stage of MAVA’s regional advocacy plan, however; the changing nature of Southern Minnesota communities allows for tremendous opportunity.

Key thoughts that emerged from discussion of “vision for volunteerism in their community.”

Non-profits and leaders of volunteers will have volunteers embodying “the typical Southern Minnesota resident.” They will attract hard working volunteers who will take initiative and engage more complicated, but rewarding volunteer positions. Leaders of volunteers will only retain individuals who demonstrate commitment to a program and not simply show up. Leaders wont have to ask for better connections within the community to publicize opportunities through a variety of media outlets, they will already exist. Executive directors will hand select more responsive board members who put their personal politics aside and direct positive organizational growth. Leaders of volunteers will have the methods to tap from an increasingly diverse local populations and know ways to attract new volunteers of all ages. Leaders will know of the training opportunities that will give them the knowledge to better complete their job. Volunteer coordinators are allowed to experiment with grant writing can easily find the best resources to make increased funding a reality. While many program needs are organizationally specific, there is one constant vision: communities with more dispensable resources for non-profits.

Insights into needs of volunteer leaders in the area:

If the “vision of volunteerism section” presents ideal scenarios for leaders of volunteers, the needs of volunteer leaders presents a much more accurate reflection of the complicated realities facing non-profit leaders. Many have stressed the need for greater networking capability, whether through MAVA connections or simply being aware of local networks which may help them. Additionally, most leaders of volunteers are looking for the time effective training sessions that will impact their skill set, but not their wallet. The resources for effective volunteer management are out their, however; many beginner level leaders of volunteers are unaware of local, state and federal reference sources. As gleaned from leaders of volunteers, organizational problems were almost always expressed in the form of a need. Therefore, the issues facing many non-profits and leaders of volunteers are more pressing than simply “wants” or “desires”.

Key anti-poverty organizations in the area and how MAVA can work with them:

The majority of non-profits seeks to combat some form of poverty either directly or indirectly through their programming. Southern Minnesota non-profits, while many of the organizations this representative visited did not have poverty aim as their expressed purpose; many collaborated with larger benefit organizations such as: the United Way, Red Cross, Salvation Army, HRTs, and SEMCAC. MAVA can work directly with these organizations by promoting best practices through the VRL series as well as using these well known organizations as vital community speakers bureau members. These larger anti-poverty organizations may already have excellent connections that smaller, less known non-profits are looking to share.

Recommendations you heard for the future direction of MAVA. Ideas or comments that should be taken into consideration for MAVA’s planning for the next three years. Any tensions identified that MAVA is experiencing.

As will be covered in greater depth in the “Final Thoughts” section, MAVA is an organization with tremendous potential that must be realized quickly. Organizations that do not grow remain stagnant and eventually die. Therefore, leaders of volunteers desire steady, well articulated growth that observes local goals and boundaries. Leaders ask for greater networking capability through MAVA resources, but not specifically for the formation of MAVA led networks. Non-profits would like MAVA to expand its curriculum to offer more training opportunities while still offer the same high level of material. Non-profits genuinely enjoy personal networking and making those new connections in person. MAVA must work for and with local non-profits and not cede too much control to its Twin Cities headquarters. MAVA must develop individual strategy each region, as each requires a unique presentational style to an impact.

Any additional recommendations for MAVA work in the area

The execution of new networks and series is crucial to the reputation of MAVA in the region. A poorly run series or network could make affiliation appear a less inviting option. However, a sustained and expanded presence in the region depends on laying the ground floor through regional connections. Therefore, a greater base of MAVA trainers must be recruited that are personable, articulate and representative of their communities. Additionally, MAVA must develop local speakers bureaus to create a forum for discussion between non-profits and city leaders. These individuals likewise must MAVA ambassadors of high character. Like a well crafted volunteer message, MAVA must be willing to find proper individuals for the job and develop their skills according to shared motivation.

Follow up you plan to do with individuals and organizations over the course of term of service

Clearly, the remaining course of the year will be following up with original contacts, following up with new leads and following up with evaluation. Successful growth requires following up with individuals that have the vision and personality to advance MAVA. Such individuals have been mentioned already in “Influential People in the Region” section as well as individual community descriptions. The large connector organizations certainly require additional collaboration. However; many of MAVA’s best potential advocates may come from small organizations who truly understand their communities. MAVA will target growth in a three pronged strategy. First, host organizations and series locations will be chosen. Then, speakers bureaus will be formed in series locations and surrounding communities to help advance MAVA and their organizations in advance of the series. Finally, the sustained interaction provided by series planning, speakers bureaus and series attendance will create the basis for cohesive, broad based network.

ALBERT LEA

Section 1. RECOMMENDATIONS

In Albert Lea, those who are most influential are usually the leaders of the largest organizations. These leaders have access to community resources, media outlets and have the ear of civic leaders. CLOVE and other area networks, while not highly developed do provide the infrastructure to coordinate and publicize MAVA events. Although relatively new within his position, , the director of the United Way of Freeborn County, is a great community resource. The amount of partnering organizations and area initiatives make this an important starting place within Albert Lea. works with a three county RSVP program that also is well connected and has a pulse on the volunteer community. is new to the field of Volunteer Administration, but has the ideas, the drive and the inter-personal skills to really grow her program and aid in network development.

Albert Lea itself has networks, but not the large scale or organization of other Southern Minnesota communities. A current lack of cooperation beyond specific sectors as well as non-progressive population may make network development difficult. MAVA should focus on aiding existing networks that are already lead by MAVA members and attract new members through 1 hour “mini-module presentations. Encouraging the buy-in from civic leaders and county services appears to be a key sector for network growth in the community.

CLOVE already has helped sponsor the Mankato series and has provided two of the three trainers. MAVA should continue to work with CLOVE as potential sponsors for future events. The United Way should be targeted as a potential sponsor and further exploration into area facilities will be done. St. John’s Lutheran Home has been mentioned as a good location for a future series. While Albert Lea has an advantageous location at the southern end of 35-W and proximity to I-90, it does not appear to be an especially good location for a series.

In regards finding partner organizations to advocate with decision makers, more work must be done in order to establish to target major community leaders and business employers. An organized, MAVA speakers bureau as part of extension of CLOVE (or organized separately) appears to be a logic step in order to advance volunteerism. The community’s lack of a volunteer center (they share with the United Way of Mower County) prevents agency collaboration.

To summarize respondent information from the “vision for volunteerism” section, Albert Lea’s non-profits must be more successful at informing the public about the necessity of volunteerism. They must have greater media access to promote opportunities and have greater collaboration with civic and business leaders. Government’s refusal to subsidize training programs has had a detrimental effect on area HCP (Health Care Provider) NPO’s. The establishment of a “one stop shop” like a volunteer center would greatly enhance local non-profit infrastructure. Developing more community wide events involving multiple partners would help bring new volunteers into the fold, which would hopefully create long-term volunteers.

There is a lack of knowledge about other training opportunities and which other resources are on the ground. The insular nature of area NPO’s must be changed and collaboration must start. One individual even remarked “if I shared my volunteer information, other volunteer leaders would steal my volunteers and I would be back at square one.” The mindset of volunteer leaders and community members alike (in my opinion) is the most important barrier to explosive NPO growth. Leaders need a way to find out about training, networking, collaboration, and available volunteer pools (generally ways to access and combine knowledge). NPO’s need greater funding and expressed a desire to take grant writing courses. Albert Lea leaders appear to be a hard sell, but targeted presentations and a speaker’s bureau can start changing the institutional culture.

The United Way of Freeborn County works with many organizations focused on eliminating poverty in the area. Unfortunately, during the interviewing process, MAVA was unable to identify organizations that dealt directly with the issue. However, this is not to say that organizations such as the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the Albert Lea School district were not contacted. Further work must be done to reach these type of organizations as well as area service clubs which add to the volunteer pool.

The respondent’s recommendations alluded to MAVA “keeping up the good work” in the area. MAVA is well known within a small number of local circles, but does not have the name recognition that it should. MAVA’s ability to publicize events at a state-level was cited as an important resource that should be further developed at a local level. Furthermore, one respondent suggested MAVA develop more curriculum devoted to establishing tracking systems for volunteers and learn about volunteer related computer programs. Numerous respondents remarked that it was “about time” MAVA had an area representative. There is obviously underlying tension between Southern Minnesota and the Twin Cities in the fight over resources. Therefore, MAVA should work with leaders of volunteers to create a larger funding pool and attract more local leaders to local problems and opportunities.

Albert Lea is experiencing stagnant population and economic growth. There is a higher incidence of relative poverty in Albert Lea, so MAVA should particularly reach out to anti-poverty and elder care organizations.

is passionate about her vision for volunteerism in the community. After hearing about MAVA at the August CLOVE meeting, she has taken the modules in Rochester and will complete her certification. She looks to be an excellent trainer, area organizer and will become well connected. has connections because of his position with the United Way. The United Way already employees a speaker bureau, so MAVA presentation made to partner organizations, board members and employees seems to be logical step for MAVA. Further CLOVE attendance will important as well as expanding the local contact base for the organization. While the potential for network development and series hosting in Albert Lea is not as great, attracting members to a close, regional MAVA Connections is a good avenue to start with.

AUSTIN

Section 1. RECOMMENDATIONS

Austin is a community with a unique population demographic relative to Southern Minnesota. For its small town size, it boasts exceptionally well developed networks, leaders and the benefit of a growing Fortune 500 company. In town, its United Way lead by, is quickly growing the size and scope of its mission. Those whom are partner agencies are often the most engaged in volunteerism and committed to connections with Hormel and its large corporate volunteerism program. Its monthly Mower County directors meetings, facilitated by bring together a mix of large and small; and old and new non-profits. Organizations on many different levels seem to growing the size of their programs, and organizations like Habitat for Humanity make excellent use of their volunteer programs because of staff and community buy-in.

The United Way directors meetings as well as Mower County Social Agencies meetings are well set-up networks. Austin also benefits from the recent creation of an on-line Volunteer Center, which it shares with the United Way of Freeborn County. The Mower County Social Agencies meeting allows the majority of time for agency presentations in attempt to inform other NPO’s of activity and encourage further collaboration on mutually beneficial projects. Attending these meetings has given MAVA visibility in the area where almost none previously existed. Training opportunities are regularly discussed and community invitations are passed along to attendees. However, Austin also boasts many smaller sector based networks which would be beneficial for future attendance and participation.

The aforementioned groups could be possible sponsors in a future MAVA VRL series. However, the city may not be a priority location for a future VRL series due to its proximity to Rochester and location well south of most regionally important cities. If MAVA is looking to draw in communities from Northern Iowa and actively promoting cities in that region, Austin seems like a logical choice. The United Way seems to be a logical sponsor for training opportunities as has been particularly helpful thus far.

In terms of advocacy, the area has much to offer. The presence of a large immigrant and elderly population means that there is large need for social services and a potentially large gap in volunteerism that may be unfulfilled. Currently, there are seven NPO volunteer coordinators and executive directors who have received national recognition and training in Volunteer Leadership independent of MAVA. These individuals, who this representative is currently in the process of contacting, would be excellent to help create an Austin area speaker bureau. The creation of NPO, Civic, and Business presentations will work as long as bureau members are also allowed to pitch their own programs in the process.

Respondents have cited the need for more young volunteers and the need for parents to instill volunteerism as a family value. Others have expressed the vision that volunteers will improve on the follow-up aspect of volunteerism, not simply showing up for one job, but making a commitment to an individual program. Some have mentioned the need for staff buy in for their programming and the ability to create more sustainable, time specific projects. There already are immediate volunteer support networks in place such as (Crisis Nursery), but they must be more highly developed and pro-active to counter community issues before they become large problems. Ideally, non-profits here will offer better job descriptions for volunteers and share resources in greater recruitment pushes.

Although some members of the non-profit community are highly trained and knowledgeable in Best Practices. A large Austin contingent attended the SMIF sponsored “Asset Based Style” training series and other SMIF training events. However; for many, the idea of MAVA and the VRL series was completely new. Many leaders of non-profits seemed particularly interested in more training opportunities as they were struggling with many of the issues covered in the VRL. , a MAVA member, cited a lack of collaboration between seemingly compatible non-profits. This suggests that, while network development in Austin is greater than in similar sized communities, there is still much to be accomplished.

The United Way is the principal connector organization as identified in the community analysis report. The majority of non-profit selected programs aim to combat poverty in someway, although that may not be their particular focus. While the respondent rate was higher in Austin than other communities, there are still many non-profit leaders who must be reached to fulfill this particular section and offer more insight into poverty in Mower County.

Similar to Albert Lea, there is little knowledge of MAVA in Austin. Therefore, respondents have recommended increased visibility and attendance of area events. Austin’s close proximity to the home base of Rochester makes this suggestion more possible. Sector specific organizations also want ways to connect to larger state based networks and are looking to MAVA to help connect them to greater Minnesota. This can be accomplished through regional event, training and network listing pages on the MAVA website. Other connector organizations offer directories similar to MAVA, but the development of region specific sites devoted to individual regions would help set MAVA apart. The presence of a region specific MAVA representative was also a key recommendation as MAVA should not simply promote its services, but engage in active relationship building, so MAVA has a face and a literal presence in the area.

Austin is an open community the nevertheless requires personal relationship building to form successful, sustainable partnerships. Therefore, the key players in Austin should be given a role to promote MAVA, see the tangible benefits of association for themselves, and be given the necessary resources to make MAVA their own. More so than other communities, there is general feeling that state organizations and government have let them down and are more committed to local based networks.

FARIBAULT

Section 1. RECOMMENDATIONS

Faribault and Northfield engage in a high level of collaboration, but benefit from the dual resources of separate United Ways and independent networks. As in other places, a small, but growing United Way office lead by unites funding and resources for area NPOs. An expanded Day of Caring campaign and network meetings may be an excellent way to have MAVA become a well-known name in Faribault. The Three Rivers Community Action is another crucial community organization that encompasses important housing and educational initiatives. at the Welcome Center is an excellent starting point into the various needs of the sizeable Latino population that represents a virtually untapped community base for volunteers. , a founding MAVA member (who has since moved to Duluth) is an excellent source of contacts and appears to still have her finger on the pulse of area networks and resources. However; MAVA has not yet identified an individual that has the dynamic personality to be a reliable and appropriate MAVA liaison. The area’s unique services catering to people with disabilities and proximity to college students implies that additional contacts must be generated.

The Rice Co. HRT meeting is one sector specific network that is an important entry point into community NPO. Network attendees seemed genuinely interested in MAVA and in additional ways to share resources. Even respondents who did not currently have volunteer programs or used minimal volunteer resources were glad to see a statewide organization taking initiative in their community. The United Way has board and agency meetings that meet with regularity. So How Are the Children focuses on the youth sector, bringing together a large number of organizations. This network will be a focus in the upcoming months as a potential series is explored in Rice County. Despite the high number of overlapping networks, there is no well developed “one-stop” network such as a MAVA Connections. This may be a prime location (along with Northfield) for a regional MAVA network.

The United Way and Three Rivers Community Action would be excellent sponsors of MAVA VRL series and their visibility in the community would allow for instant MAVA credibility. A well planned series and heavy Conference promotion could create a strong MAVA base within Faribault. Sites must be explored in the area in the near future, but area colleges look like an excellent place to hold a MAVA VRL.

While the United Way has mentioned a lack of civic engagement and dialogue, the participation of local leaders in NPOs seems at first glance to be higher in Faribault. The number of city and county leaders at the Rice Co. HRT meeting and the familiarity of NPO programming is unique in the region. A speaker’s bureau will encourage further collaboration, but posting additional training opportunities and growing membership can through network attendance seem like the most logical first steps.

The high number of citizens with special needs offers tremendous opportunity for growth. Bringing in college and high school students who require service learning opportunities in a priority for many NPOs. Creating sustainable relationships between the non-profit and educational sectors seems to be a common vision. Reaching non-traditional volunteers, so that they may help other in similar situations is also a desired objective. Growing existing networks to encompass a wider spectrum of NPOs and civic resources is also high on the priority list.

Potential barriers to success for leaders of volunteerism (according to one respondent) is the effectiveness that large well known non-profits have had within a limited volunteer pool. Greater sharing of resources between large and small (and newer) non-profits would help foster a culture of cooperation. Non-traditional volunteers have been difficult to obtain due to language barriers and a lack of (culturally) meaningful volunteer opportunities. Another potential barrier to success is the high stress and burnout factor of volunteer coordinators who have not “secured their legacy to pass onto their replacements.”

The Welcome Center, the United Way and Three Rivers Community Action all address poverty through their programming that seeks to further integrate marginalized communities into the city and county pool of resources. Additional organizations such as the Community Leadership Collaborative offer anti-poverty workshops that seek to educate community leaders in poverty alleviation strategy.

MAVA has the potential to be the most important resource for leaders of volunteers in state and can accomplish that mission by expanding curriculum to include sector specific trainings. One respondent used the phrase “keep your ear to the street.” Grassroots organizations such as neighborhood associations perhaps need more training than any other group, but could pay huge dividends because the passionate nature of their leaders and the connections they provide within the community. Additionally, funding is always one of the principal concerns of any non-profit and developing grant writing workshops (or providing the connections to MCF trainings at a discount) would be another reason for potential members to join.

The large list of contacts that each respondent was able to provide will require additional follow up. In addition, the large number of sector specific networks necessitates greater engagement than communities containing more broad-based collaboration. Faribault (and Northfield’s) close proximity to MAVA headquarters may allow members from the Twin Cities to make speaking engagements and promote Twin Cities MAVA events.

MANKATO

Section 1. RECOMMENDATIONS

Mankato has several strong leaders and an opportunity to reverse the disintegration of community volunteer resources. While she no longer lives in Mankato or works with SMILES, (a MAVA member) has developed excellent connections and helped continue the Mankato CLOVE network (a MAVA affiliated partner network). Her replacement (name needed) appears to the personality necessary to help advance MAVA in the area. of MCN has already provided MAVA with the opportunity to expand in the region and with credibility through her excellent facilitation through community Brown Bag and training opportunities. is a well articulated new-comer to the community who is interested in helping MAVA develop volunteer infrastructure curriculum and has like-minded contacts. The Mankato series has also shown promise in several participants whom could make excellent trainers.

The MCN Brown Bag draws a diverse group of leaders of volunteerism through its variety of guest speakers and topic generated type meetings. This approach (similar to MAVA connections) appears much more effective in creating sector independent solutions and collaboration than the “infomercial” type networks seen in other communities. The MCN-MAVA sponsored “How to Engage Volunteers”, seemed to be a success with many attendees eager to meet and gain more information about MAVA. CLOVE on the other hand has gone through somewhat of a “crisis of leadership.” One respondent went as far as to say “CLOVE meetings do really get more than 5 or 6 people showing up, and even then it is more out of obligation.” Further networks need exploring. The huge percentage of college students out of the general population makes engagement of college service learning programs essential to MAVA success.

CLOVE and MCN are already well established VRL series partnerships and it is in MAVA best interests to continue collaboration with each. MCN serves the surrounding communities of New Ulm, Waseca, and St. Peter; among others. MCN can and should serve as a co-sponsor in a potential New Ulm series. Mankato drew a larger than predicted number of attendees to the Fall VRL series, however; MAVA should not over-saturate the community with more than one series per year. The Snell Motors Community Room was an inexpensive, if merely adequate space for the series.

Mankato needs advocacy. A speaker’s bureau should be organized in collaboration with MCN as an extension of MAVA. The almost entirely new face of civic leadership provides tremendous opportunity for leaders of non-profits to push their needs to the forefront of influential members of city and county government. and of Civil Air Patrol seem ready to launch a Mankato area speaker’s bureau. Including members of the local university and college also looks to be a logical step. Many service learning programs are looking for connections to NPOs, and NPOs are looking to draw from the vast potential pool of volunteers.

Leaders of volunteers would like to see better event management in the future as well as more authentic opportunities that serve all three motivational types of volunteers. Many volunteers look to volunteering opportunities to provide career advancement, so it is important to cater to highly motivated volunteers with accurate expectations. Greater retention is also a stated goal of most volunteer programs and many are interested in additional training to provide ideas. Mankato, as in many communities, has experienced a high-degree of turn-over for both executive directors and volunteer coordinators. This creates a crippling lack of continuity and a loss of relationship dependent partnerships.

The large anti-poverty organizations are present in Mankato as well. However, larger organizations seem to have a somewhat insular culture and have not reached out to smaller organizations which could be mutually beneficial. Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity and Mankato area HRT organizations all combat poverty issues. MCN, CLOVE and the United Way are all connector organizations. The Red Cross is another agency to pools together community resources in times of crisis. As mentioned, reaching these connector organizations is especially important as they have the greatest potential of influencing policy in a relatively new city government.

MAVA, despite its CLOVE and recent MCN – Mankato connections is still a relative unknown in the region. Those attending the series and respondents in personal interviews all would like to see an expanded curriculum that is more capable of dealing with specific concerns. A “menu” of choices that would be pre-selected by community volunteer leaders would allow attendees to really take ownership of the series. MAVA members would like to see a regional page that would list current networking and training opportunities within the region for a broad spectrum of sectors. The development of speaker’s bureaus to advocate the needs of leaders of volunteers was also cited as a step MAVA needs to take in Mankato.

Mankato appears to be growing in terms of population and business development. However; many community member (leaders of non-profits included) have a profoundly negative outlook on the future of Mankato. The dissolution of the area Volunteer Center, lack of responsive city government, post-college flight of MSU graduates and concentrated core of wealth all pose formidable problems to leaders of volunteers. It is perhaps most important to tackle advocacy and create a speakers bureau in Mankato because of the high percentage of newly elected officials and growing (but still lacking) cooperation with the city’s some 23,000 college age students!

As mentioned previously, the region does have potential as the series has shown. AmyJo is a great contact and an excellent way to draw more community organizations to MAVA. could be an excellent presenter and would like to develop curriculum. The United Way, Red Cross and Mankato State all will require additional follow-up to promote a regional series and offer best practices to volunteer leaders.

NEW ULM

Section 1. RECOMMENDATIONS

New Ulm, the most distant community featured in this report has emerged as a prime location for a Spring series. This is largely because of, despite her outspoken comments on the Mankato series; has attended series, invited MAVA as a guest speaker at United Way quarterly meetings and already offered a suitable venue for Spring. replacement at Faith in Action is also another good place to start because of their use of volunteers and interest in developing Elder Care Volunteer Care Curriculum. Brown County and surrounding communities are primarily rural in nature and historically not well connected to the larger region. Establishing contacts in these communities is important and no doubt, key individuals will emerge.

Faith in Action has local and regional networks throughout Southern MN, and VINE Faith in Action generally makes use of volunteers. The United Way Agencies meeting of Brown County is also a great resource to get the pulse on area non-profits and a chance for MAVA to continually inform agencies (in a live setting) the local progress that is being made. Currently MAVA is not well known in the region and will do well to find out more about Brown County and surrounding community networks.

The United Way of Brown is the most promising series sponsor. Not only does the United Way want to help out with the series, it has offered the use of facility in the central business district for free. The venue is already used for concerts and would make an excellent location for the series. Additional partner may help expand the scope of potential attendees, but promotion should start soon in order to explore and engage previously untouched communities like Sleepy Eye of Sibley. New Ulm is also a great location to draw in over-lapping regions such as Redwood Falls, Fairmont and Windom. MAVA collaboration will likely involve representatives from the Southern and Southwestern regions.

New Ulm seems to have a diversified business sector that has largely not been highly involved in volunteerism. Advocacy on the part of non-profit volunteer leaders could great enhance the level of participation. The presence of traditionally large non-profits in town and the presence of a small Lutheran college proves that volunteer resources can and should be further developed in New Ulm.

During the United Way Agencies meeting attendees were asked informally what their vision for volunteerism was. Attendees mentioned that they had a relatively difficult time attracting young and retired volunteers. New Ulm has many recently relocated retirees, many of whom do not stay in town on the weekends. Volunteer coordinators also mentioned they would like to have greater staffing to allow themselves more time to concentrate on volunteer administration. In order to accomplish this, they cited the need for additional training to engage business leaders and civic organizations. Like Austin, their vision for the community was increased inter-dependence and self reliance. The professionalism within the field advanced by MAVA did not seem important to them, rather than belonging to a state-wide organization, they would rather receive the training to be more effective in their job.

Potential barriers to success are the lack of cooperation and distrust between neighboring communities. New Ulm is the hub of Brown County, but communities wish to maintain their independence and may not join local networks as a result. Volunteer leaders are generally unaware of best practices and may use outdated systems. mentioned the need for a rural curriculum. Operating out of Mankato, but within Le Sueur and New Ulm mentioned the need for MAVA to stress the individual benefits of membership, rather than associative benefits. A way to counter this traditional resistance could be area learning conversations or forums to allow many organizations and communities the chance to voice their opinions on an equal footing. New Ulm in many ways is the gateway to rural Southern and Western Minnesota and it is important to establish local leadership.

The traditional anti-poverty organizations operate in New Ulm. Service clubs also seek to address community issues but are largely already tied to particular projects based on organization initiatives. Further exploration of anti-poverty and connector organizations must be done in the near future.

New Ulm presents MAVA an enormous opportunity to develop rural focused curriculum (or at least specific training for MAVA representatives before entering the field.) From personal experience, this MAVA representative changed his approach from slick presentations to more or the “friend in the business” type approach. A series in the area would draw upon surrounding communities, but a county (or multi-county) pre-series forum could help create a network of volunteer leaders prior to the series start. The presence of a strong regional network would help decrease mistrust between volunteer coordinators and give them a voice within a Twin Cities based organization.

and contacts provided during the Agencies meeting provide a good basis for expanding MAVA’s presence. , if her name were associated with the series, would do an excellent job in promotion. The New Ulm area will receive extensive follow up in anticipation of the upcoming series to ensure its success. will also be able to establish connections in surrounding counties to encourage further promotion.

OWATONNA

Section 1. RECOMMENDATIONS

Owatonna has a well developed network of local and regional organizations headed by several excellent leaders who could allow MAVA a centrally located base in Southern Minnesota. from SMIF, a critical connector organization seemed receptive to the idea of MAVA. She said she would help promote MAVA through e-mails and mailings, and already hosted MAVA at a SMIF event free of charge. Additional contacts provided by SMIF, while unresponsive thus far, and could give MAVA important access into the recruitment of non-traditional volunteers. is hopeful to launch a brand new volunteer program and MAVA should be interested in following up and using her program as a true litmus test into the success of our programming. has not yet been contacted, however; numerous community members have mentioned her boundless energy and commitment to organizational improvement. While non-specifically interviewed, provided MAVA with an opportunity to meet new AmericaReads volunteers, and no doubt would be an excellent individual to help promote the series.

The Steele County Directors meetings, led by, is supposedly an excellent network closely resembling the format of the aforementioned Mower County meetings. While attempting to find said meeting, this representative encountered another network similar to the Rice Co. HRT but lacking the participation of civic leaders. The United Way of Steele County would no doubt be another excellent source for regional networking.

SMIF is already a regional partner for MAVA and happens to cover the same geographical region as this MAVA representative. While SMIF is an excellent connector organization and funding resource, their training focuses primarily on facilitating economic development. As such, despite its partner relationship status, SMIF would be a hard sell to obtain program funding in the region. Further connections and ways to collaborate should be explored, especially if Owatonna is chosen as a host site for a MAVA VRL series. The Steele County Directors network and the United Way of Steele County agencies, if properly approached would be excellent potential sponsors for an upcoming series.

SMIF does an excellent job providing for coaching for community advocacy and reviewing grant applications. SMIF could be approached for their advice on these subjects to better reach leaders of volunteers and conversely, their potential volunteers. SMIF workshops actively engage leaders of volunteers in what called “asset based style”, in other words, focusing on regional collaboration based on individual organizational strengths. A speakers bureau may be explored, but further research into area networks and non-profits must be completed first.

Respondents mentioned strong communities that are effective in creating and sustaining economic growth and creating a social climate of success; implementing additional steps in volunteer programming and would like to eliminate poverty through sharing greater resources. Funding is also a large concern and so SMIF reflected that they would like provide volunteer leaders with the skills to know how to properly apply for grants, what to ask for and what to do once they receive those funds to maximize their spending power.

Potential barriers to success currently are the lack of connections within Steele County. Owatonna is a dynamic community that has an organizational capacity more typical of a Rochester sized community. Owatonna and Southern Minnesota have their own distinct identities, so initially; a state-wide organization like MAVA may be a tough sell. Town-hall meetings and individual contact generation are essential to opening up the potential of this county to MAVA resources and affiliation. Decisions are often locally based, consistent with the funding culture of the Minnesota Initiative Foundations’ funding policies. Therefore, finding local leaders who will advance local non-profits in their advocacy work is important.

SMIF is a unique connector organization due to the size of its funding pools, the quality of the trainings offered and the multiple programming focuses featured in its mission. The Owatonna Foundation funds many more local non-profits through community first initiatives. Centro Campesino works actively with the Migrant Council to provide resources and connections organizations serving Latinos. As mentioned, other large, national NPO’s and service organizations in Steel County will be targeted for MAVA membership.

Owatonna a growing, increasingly diverse population that can be reached more effectively than other communities through the numerous connector organizations. If MAVA wishes to develop a Working with Diversity curriculum, Owatonna and Rochester are excellent places to start. Owatonna benefits from its centrality. A straight drive between Rochester and Mankato; and right between Faribault/Northfield and Albert Lea along the 35-W corridor, Owatonna also boasts excellent meeting facilities, the appearance of good leadership and the region’s largest funding organization. There is tremendous opportunity in Owatonna and the proximity to Rochester makes visiting this city even easier.

There will be follow-up on contacts that have provided through personal interviews and attendance at the Steele County directors meeting. The United Way will also receive follow-up as MAVA explores the possibility of an Owatonna series. , who is in a unique position should she successfully launch a program, would provide an excellent bench mark to gauge the success of VRL best practices during their most initial phases of implementation.

ROCHESTER

Section 1: RECOMMENDATIONS

Rochester is by far the largest of the Southern Minnesota communities explored in this report. Non-profits also expect far greater results and have much more developed evaluative techniques as a result. The large corporate base and resulting volunteer programs, along with a highly educated workforce have created a culture of volunteerism. Among the many individuals interviewed within Olmsted County, several of them stood out. , the Senior Community Impact Specialist, spearheads a number of programs for the United Way and has streamlined efforts through a well run volunteer center. is the Executive Director for the Rochester Foundation which may be an excellent source of grant money for MAVA and also oversees their FirstHomes program which utilizes volunteers. , an Americorps Promisefellow is currently taking the series and has successfully engaged a wide-spectrum of volunteers through the RNieghbors initiatives. Through, additional contacts for Channel One, the local food bank, have emerged as good candidates for VRL trainers. The three current VRL VRL trainers: have all done an excellent job and really advanced MAVA’s reputation in the area. This MAVA representative is most familiar with Rochester, but the sheer size of the community requires additional contact generation.

Rochester has several networks that have a specific sector focus; nonetheless, they could be beneficial to MAVA. Member mentioned the Mayo Auxiliary Network as well as HCAM as good places to introduce MAVA and receive feedback on healthcare specific modules. AFP (American Fundraising Professionals) is also another good network to engage provided MAVA is properly prepared and can clearly illustrate its value. The United Way and Century 21 funded programs have comparable network sizes and will eventually be approached for presentations. Networks of service club leaders, more numerous in Rochester are additional networks that are worth noticing. Additionally, BNI, a business networking meeting is not a bad option to alert this particular sector the benefits of MAVA membership.

The United Way of Olmsted County has been the principal sponsor for MAVA events thus far. The space is well sized and centrally located for Olmsted County based leaders of volunteers. The 96 listed agencies on the Volunteer Center’s Volunteer Solutions website can all receive invitations through community news items and an e=mail list serve. However; MAVA would do well to examine additional sponsorship within the non-profit community. Various former partner programs had little to do with MAVA when they found out about its affiliation with the United Way of Olmsted County. The eventual hope is that MAVA will become well known enough to assume a greater degree of independence form the United Way. Additional possible sponsors could be the Rochester Area Foundation, the Rochester Senior Center and RSVP programs.

A speakers bureau is an excellent idea for Rochester given the unfamiliarity of our organization to business and civic leaders. Most non-profits, despite the higher percentage of regional member, have not heard of MAVA. The presentation style will vary from network to network, but be advised that leaders of volunteers in Rochester expect a more professional, Twin Cities type approach. Like other communities, Rochester leaders of volunteers are hard pressed for time due to multiple responsibilities, so showing the ways MAVA can make organization more efficient is crucial.

Greater advocacy on the part of non-profit leaders to directly engage civic policy makers is a state goal of many respondents. Non-profits are also looking for better ways to publicize needs and specific events (due to the large number of well known non-profits), some tend to stay outside of the public’s consciousness. Other non-profits are looking for greater networking capabilities and an increased flow of information regarding regional training opportunities. Additional leaders are looking for more way to retain baby boomer volunteers, whom, as they hit retirement, are not volunteering like previous generations of retirees. Finding the right volunteers for the right positions every time, was another stated vision for volunteerism.

The main barriers to collaboration and non profit-effectiveness appear to be driven by internal politics. Olmsted County has succeeded in providing the gold standard within the region for effective volunteer centers. However, due to negative past funding relationships, some organizations refuse to work in collaboration even when such a relationship would be clearly mutually beneficial. As in other locations, competing over scant funding resources can lead to unhealthy competition. Some have cited the lack of organizational culture to hold volunteers to the same standards of employees which subsequently lowers value and performance expectations.

The Salvation Army, Channel One, Possabilities, the United Way, Lutheran Social Services, SEMCAC, and Habitat for Humanity all serve to combat poverty. Additionally, funding organizations like the United Way, Rochester Area Foundation, and volunteer organizations like RSVP and the 2-1-1 hotline serve as connector organizations.

The professionalism of the field of volunteer management is most evident in Rochester. The community itself is heavily employed in the professional sector, that non-profits have adapted to mirror this approach is not surprising. However; unlike the Twin Cities, Rochester leaders of volunteers still have too many responsibilities to consider volunteer coordination their primary responsibility. Rochester is not only a community where board presentations may be possible, but more necessary. The operations of non-profits in Rochester (while they do vary significantly) are more business like in their management style. The number of large companies here means a greater ability to target specific corporations for advocacy engagements. Mayo and IBM have large corporate volunteering programs, so it might be interesting to get their take on what they, as corporations, look for when endorsing a particular agency or volunteer opportunity. MAVA correctly chose Rochester as the host site because of the large number of non-profits here representing a wide spectrum of community needs. However, Rochester has not done a very good job of meeting the needs of traditionally marginalized groups or in reaching out to a rapidly expanding immigrant sector. A diversity curriculum could be developed by a number of agencies in Rochester and Rochester college students could help in the development process as well.

MAVA will follow up with VRL trainers in order to formulate a speaker’s bureau, invite non-profit leaders to participate, and continue to grow MAVA. Networking is a big priority here, and if MAVA can engage existing networks and help them grow, MAVA will be in an excellent position to control its own programming in the region.

ST. PETER

Section 1. RECOMMENDATIONS

St. Peter is the quintessential small college town. Life operates to the beat of Gustavus Adolphus College. As a result, a potentially influential individual is. As one of the directors of the student service learning center, she can help develop MAVA curriculum that targets student advocacy and spark student interest in a potential career in the non-profit sector. Her attendance at the MAVA Strategic Connections meeting has highlighted her interest in working with MAVA. Additionally, represents another significant portion of the community (the elderly) and has the connections to engage civic and college leaders. All three respondents mentioned the community leader, as a great community resource, however; MAVA was unable top reach him.

According to Marlys Johnson, networks appear to be poorly developed in St. Peter and more work must be done in this area. It was difficult to gauge which, if any networks were meaningful to leaders of volunteers and which networks were poised to help MAVA grow in the community. Nicollet County, like other County Social Services networks may offer a good chance for MAVA to become more well known in Nicollet County. Currently, many non-profits leaders travel the 12 miles to Mankato to attend networks and trainings.

Gustavus Adolphus College appears to be the single most important sponsor for a potential series. The college would also likely provide excellent facilities. However, a series in St. Peter is unlikely because of its small size and lack of professionally run non-profits. Mankato’s proximity also presents a problem of over-saturation if the series were in St. Peter. It may offer a good location for future years, just not in the foreseeable future. If MAVA were to odder a series to leaders of college student groups whom work primarily with volunteer, St. Peter would be a good test site for such a project.

Advocacy could be accomplished in one of three ways in St. Peter. College students could be actively engaged in speaking engagements as part of their service learning opportunity as well as representing a specific non-profit, fostering collaboration with MAVA. Another potential option would select certain individuals from the non-profit community and having them engage college officials, civic leaders and businesses. A third option would combine a speaker’s bureau between Mankato and St. Peter, with a heavier emphasis on Mankato due to size disparities.

, a MAVA member reflected that ideally “non-profits would collaborate on a wider basis across sectors and have well written position descriptions for every volunteer job.” The other respondents has different visions claiming the need for volunteers that will work “with” the community, not simply “in” the community. Finally, one respondent said she would like to see other non-profits writing better funding proposals that were tied more directly to their mission statement and volunteer programming needs.

Potential barriers to success of volunteer leaders are the crucial lack of cooperation between non-profits and city agencies. Furthermore, Gustavus Adolphus is sometimes seen in an adversarial relationship between the town (those not employed by or attending the school) and students and faculty. Greater collaboration seems to be a transformative force in St. Peter. An emerging regional health center in the county has also not done a very good job making use of its auxiliary program and linking volunteers to career advance opportunities. Gustavus Adolphus, with its numerous student organizations has the potential to generate many anti-poverty and connector organizations. The full extent of St. Peter’s connector and anti-poverty capacity is still on-going.

St. Peter is an interesting case study for small town Minnesota tat is dominated by one major employer. While the situation between a college town and a factory town is different, as goes the major employer goes the town. Therefore, developing special curriculum for this particular type of city may be important. There potential of a speakers bureau should be explored as well as a further relationship with to advance MAVA.

WINONA

Section 1. RECOMMENDATIONS

Winona is another very important community to MAVA in Southern Minnesota. Home to three institutions of higher learning, and important regional medical center and a vibrant social atmosphere, Winona just may be the perfect place for a MAVA connections network. , the executive director for the United Way of Winona County (which also serve neighboring Pierce and Buffalo Counties in Wisconsin) is a great resource for social agencies as well as one of the key sponsors for a MAVA VRL Spring series for the city. is a highly trained and dedicated MAVA member who is beneficial for event promotion and would likely assist with the development of a new network. is a passionate advocate for volunteer programming and has enjoyed broad based support in growing one of the regions largest fundraising events. is new in her position as Service Learning Director at St. Mary’s University, but would be an excellent individual to bring on as a VRL trainer.

The precise lack of networks aside from board of directors meetings makes Winona a prime location for the creation of a new network. While it is lamentable that previous networks have failed to maintain the interest (aside from United Way agency meetings), the roundtable discussion type of meetings employed by MCN so successfully in Mankato, could really raise the profile of MAVA in Winona. The relative diversity of Winona non-profits also creates the potential for many successful future collaborations.

The United Way has also secured series sponsorship as well as a venue for the Spring series which originally supposed to occur in the Fall, but was temporarily suspended due to regional flooding. Winona looks to have a number of excellent potential venues for the series as well as a decreased risk of over-saturation (as another Rochester series would likely produce). Winona’s proximity to the La Crosse, Wisconsin area could open additional regions to MAVA as well as provide another training opportunity for those in the Southeast Metro region of the Twin Cities. Additionally, a Winona series may be the best way to draw in leaders of volunteers from largely rural Goodhue, Wabasha, Fillmore and Houston counties.

mentioned the need for one hour or less board presentations to explain best practices and MAVA for the uninitiated. Now that MAVA has this capability, it is important to attend as many networking meetings (pertinent) as possible and gain the gain the invitation to present the benefits of MAVA in this way.

The development of a regional volunteer center would greatly aid volunteer leaders who are attempting to find volunteers instead of hoping and waiting for volunteers to come to them. Improved training for leaders of volunteers as well as the volunteers themselves would help eliminate many of the burnout and dissatisfaction factors. Creating hand on type of experiences that will develop additional skills is also crucially important. The common refrain echoed by many volunteers that they interviewed is that “volunteers don’t serve just for the heck of it; they want to get something that is personally fulfilling out of the experience.”

The potential barriers have been the past reputation that collaboration has not worked well in Winona. Most previous networks have been sector based and have not tried to find solutions to common industry problems. A pervasive attitude is the “been there, done that” mentality that leaves many non-profits unable to update and change outdated systems. From a business perspective, offers this: “non-profits must take inventory of employees and volunteers, find out what intrinsically motivates them and re-adjust their mission statements accordingly. Non-profits must be able to reconcile volunteers’ ‘tension of time’ and narrow focus to combat the ‘good intentions vs. the ‘impossibility of expectations’ problem.” Finally, volunteers in the community often only volunteer during the most critical of times; however, more publication needs to be done to alert the pubic that there is always the “burden of community” to keep in mind.

Winona is prime candidate for a MAVA connections network so that should be there first priority. However, it is vital to properly plan such a network as to avoid the pitfalls that have hampered collaboration efforts in the past. MAVA must refuse to get caught up in local politics and instead focus on the commonalities that link area non-profits. Like in other communities, the value of personal relationships cannot be understated so network development must be guided with a very personal, tailored message. Winona has an extremely high percentage of its population within the college age demographic so therefore needs active participation of these individuals in volunteer and internship programs. All contacts listed in the contact section will require follow up of some sort.

ADDITIONAL COMMUNITIES

This section examines all communities that provided only one or thus far, limited contact with MAVA. Certain communities included in this section will be given regular features as MAVA continues to work with local NPO, Civic and Business leaders in the future.

DODGE COUNTY

Section 1. RECOMMENDATIONS

Unfortunately, the majority of individuals and organizations contacted in Dodge County did not respond. The sole respondent seemed somewhat closed to the idea of MAVA and generally dismissive at the prospect that community wide volunteerism should be made a regional priority. Therefore, for the purpose of this report, and for short-term strategy; Dodge County may not require priority status.

The lack of a large principal community may impose a barrier to county-wide collaboration. However, the area should receive invitations to upcoming VRL series in the area. Dodge County may be a possible area to target if in fact, a rural centered VRL module is developed.

LE SUEUR

Section 1. RECOMMENDATIONS

, the principal contact and introduction into Le Sueur is relatively new to the community but is still very well connected. SMILES covers a multi-county region with separate representatives, so SMILES is crucial to Le Sueur, at least to start. She mentioned additional networks in the area which could be explored along with the community of Le Centre. It appears as if Le Sueur has a proportionally large number of mutual assistance organizations as well as non-profits operating in town, so this may be another smaller community that be worth watching for MAVA. With “more than 50 non-profits” in town, Le Sueur could receive promotion for a series in New Ulm area with the hope of a percentage of those in town non-profits.

NORTHFIELD

Section 1. RECOMMENDATIONS

Northfield is a medium sized town (for the region) of nearly 20,000 and is growing rapidly. At the Southern end of the Twin Cities metro, it is benefiting from exurban growth. Northfield also boasts a large number of non-profits and a large student population. This region will require more follow up and contact generation because of their combined Rice County networks as well as separate United Way locations (the only county in the region with two United Ways). The government appears working with non-profits on a regular basis, and; from what everyone has said, Northfield is a community on the rise. In nearly every sector, the government has assembled a task force of citizens to gauge the effectiveness of their programs. However, they have not yet done so for volunteerism or non-profits, so the potential for task force creation makes Northfield very important in this regard. City boards and commissions value community input; speakers from the community representing MAVA would make a powerful impact. The growing Latino population faces a challenge as non-profits try to correctly engage them in volunteerism and advocacy.

PLAINVIEW

Section 1. RECOMMENDATIONS

Plainview is a small, rural community that is representative of small town, Southern Minnesota. By this, MAVA means there is slow overall population growth, but rapid growth in the Latino, Somali and Hmong population sectors. Consequently, up until now there has been little effort to engage these members of the community which much needed services. In Plainview, there is a connector network made up of government, faith based and non-profit organizations in the attempt to solve housing issues and other poverty related concerns. Within this network, Three Rivers Community Action (of Wabasha and Goodhue Counties) stood out as a valuable organization that would help MAVA get a foothold in these communities. The contacts provided by the network require follow up, as many seem genuinely interested in attending the series in Winona. The representative of the Latino population (find name), provides a key contact and a connector organization to this community. However, she does have yet to be interviewed for the community analysis report.

Additional Communities Slated for Inclusion

RED WING

RUSHFORD

WASECA

FAIRMONT

FINAL THOUGHTS

“Southern Minnesota is incredibly diverse. You will be surprised when you travel to these communities. New Ulm is nothing like Rochester, just like Winona is nothing like Owatonna. You can’t make any assumptions, you can only go off of what feels right. After going there, you’ll know.”

This is the way described Minnesota to MAVA. It is true; one cannot develop an over-arching strategy plan that can fit every community in the region. Rather, each city should be looked at individually and given a differing degree of program ownership. Every community faces a unique set of challenges and presents MAVA with unique opportunities. Some communities, like Rochester, require a slick presentation style and expect MAVA to emphasize its professionalism and career development possibilities. Communities like Rochester are not looking for a familiar face in the volunteer and non-profit world; they are looking for ways to maximize their efficiency. However, other communities look for a more “down home” approach, expecting relationships to made in advance of any community meeting or training series. Just as a “take charge” attitude is the correct approach in Rochester, the “humble” approach fares much better in a place like Le Sueur. In these types of communities the issue of personal reputation is as important as the overall reputation of MAVA. The way a series or any MAVA material is presented is very important, so make sure that presenters known their audience well beforehand.

The issue of sustainability appears to be a particular concern in this region. There is high job turnover in the non-profit sector (especially in Mankato!) which threatens long term sustainability. The development of new networks and speakers bureaus will give local leaders of volunteers ownership of MAVA and the chance to change civic mindsets. The development of additional skill sets and the ability to choose forum topics that are most pertinent will hopefully create a new set of leaders to take over as current trainers near the end of their two year MAVA commitment.

Despite the potential development of good local leaders to make MAVA a more regionally directed organization, the establishment of one full time MAVA staff member, Americorps VISTA or volunteer in the region is paramount. The relationships generated and name recognition make a MAVA a physical presence in the region which greatly enhances our reputation. For many, the fact that MAVA cares enough to send a representative to their network meeting, offer them discounts on training, and invites their opinion on network formation sets MAVA apart from other state non-profit assistance organizations. There must be a tracking and evaluation system in place to ensure an appropriate transfer of knowledge to the staff representative. A two week shadowing period would allow MAVA to accurately show the nature of the work required as well as make the crucial bridge of personal relationships.

Additionally, there is a sense of regional solidarity, a sort of “us versus them” mentality towards the Twin Cities. Changing this mindset, and among the individual communities is important. MAVA should frame dialogue in the language of representation for Southern Minnesota and for Greater Minnesota as well. There are many sector based networks, but few cover-all networks for leaders of volunteers. This lack, with MAVA’s help can change. The relative absence of Volunteer Centers, or those equipped with an input systems such as Volunteer Solutions severely hinders interaction between non-profits and a much larger volunteer base. The advocacy portion of MAVA needs developing in the region to engage community leaders.

As previously mentioned, non-profit leaders are looking for an edge in training and event promotion. The MAVA website should set up region specific pages capable or listing all regional trainings, networking meetings, and community events. While this would most likely require an additional staff position or dedicated volunteer, the long term benefits could be substantial. MAVA could be recognized for being the “go to” in the domain of information, which would allow MAVA to grow its contact lists.

So far, the series seems to be the single most effective technique for attracting new members to MAVA. The limiting factor on series necessitates that other membership strategies be further developed in order to meet MAVA’s ambitious goals. Presentations may be effective, but until non-profit leaders see tangible benefits for themselves from the material they have learned, it may be difficult to attract members. Therefore, the inclusion of partnering agencies with group memberships may be a great way to encourage collaboration resource usage. In exchange, MAVA could receive positive word of mouth advertisements within communities. It is in MAVA best interest not to supplant existing networks, but to encourage them to use our resources.

MAVA seeks to empower leaders of volunteers and the best practices are beneficial to everyone. However, it is the hope of many that MAVA will be allowed to grow beyond these eight modules and tackle more region specific issues. An expanded curriculum should take on issues such as; Volunteer Technology Systems, Working with Multi-Cultural Volunteers, Engaging Rural Communities (this is more of a Train the Trainer and Board member type of module), the one hour “Engaging Volunteers Mini-Session”, Grant Writing and Fundraising Principals, and Securing Your Legacy (Passing along systems of knowledge to your successor). Ideally, these modules could be chosen from a menu-type of format in advance of the series. A pre-series forum would also allow them to generate specific questions to send to the trainers to allow the material to be more personalized and regionally relevant.

Simply put, Southern Minnesota is a region filled with excellent leaders, networks and infrastructure for its relatively small population and business climate. A large needs exists to link marginalized citizens with current resources and MAVA should develop region specific modules to address these issues. The establishment of a permanent MAVA liaison in the region should be a priority for MAVA as it tries to become truly representative of the entire state.

[1] Interviews completed between Aug. 1st and Nov. 8th, 2007

Rochester

2007-11-07T05:54:00.000-08:00

Rochester is somewhat of anomaly. A staunchly convervative stronghold in an otherwise thoroughly blue state, it certainly stand out in the region as well. The vast majority of resident work for either Mayo or IBM so there is a much higher precentage of college graduates here than in surrounding communities. It is no stretch to say, without either of these two companies, Rochester would not exist.

Simply put, Rochester is a great place to raise a family or retire to. It is however; not a great place to be in you are young and single. Unless your idea of fun is Monday night poker in a red-neck bar, you will probably have a hard time finding things to do here. While the scene (locals tell me) is markedly better than even five years ago, try finding a music venue that has Hip Hop acts. The same goes for hookah bars. With the abundance of Somali, college students and young professionals, some one could make a killing opening up a hookah bar here.

In Rochester, there is a certain level of comminity pride that does a create an inclusive environment. Because of the transplanted nature of most of the citizenry, it is one of the few places I have ever been where people will say hi to complete strangers. In three months, I already know political leaders, school officials and executive directors of non-profits. While the community is growing at an explosive place, people tend to share what I call a "positive small town attitude." By this, I mean that people get to know their neighbors, come to community projects outside their neighborhood and offer resources new to those in the community.

However, despite all this positivity, there is a negative side. Rochester, by national standards is very affluent for a city of nearly 100,000. Save the original development areas, the town is strictly suburban in nature. Despite this, pockets of poverty exist. If one goes South to Marion Road or near downtown to Kutzky Park, poverty is everywhere. Community members refuse to do anything about the problem, almost believing that it doesn't exist. These communities lack representative government and the access to resources afforded in nearly every other part of the city. It's time for people to look at the growth of Rochester, the good with the bad, a stop the growing poverty problem and disparity between the very rich and the very poor.

Milwaukee

2007-09-30T00:12:00.000-07:00

Chicago

2007-09-29T23:57:00.000-07:00

The Chicago L. It snakes it way through the town and through its first ring suburbs. While it is loud, slow and and expensive, perhaps there is no better way to see the city. The L has created an entire street system below downtown and close to downtown neighborhoods are marked by restaurants, shops and apartments right below.

The next picture is of Union Station. The mail bus and rail terminal for Chicago is still a grand early 1900's building. The style reminds me of the Milwaukee County Courthouse, which was built in the late Depression - early WWII years.

The Marina Towers probably were controversial when they first built. They are bold, modern and tall. Since then, they have become a downtown icon and really are classic. You will see posters and t-shirts featuring the Towers all around town. While the 1960's is generally known for horrible, utilitarian architecture, the Marina Towers have endured.

The next Tower is on Chicago's Gold Coast. All that concentrated wealth can only mean one thing: Oprah. She commands the entertainment and residential housing sectors in the city. It is a large building, but Oprah seems content to her entire floor.

Finally, this picture over-looks the Chicago River. The river is maybe the only river in the history of the planet that has had its flow reversed. The river no longer drains into Lake Michigan, it drains to the Mississippi, sending all the garbage and flith Chicago can produce downstate. No wonder people in Peoria aren't fond of Chicagoans.

Milwaukee and Chicago Pictures

2007-09-29T23:39:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I thought I would do a change of pace and post some pictures instead. I feel bad not posting anything for over three months. I will post the MAVA Community Analysis report in its entirety upon completion.

And now the pictures: The top two are of Millenium Park in Chicago. The Frank Gehry designed park is really a masterpiece of New Urbanism. New Urbanism is all about reclaiming unused or unappreciated space in an urban environment. This is urban renewal, but generally conservation minded.

The next two are more classic Chicago. The Art Institute's Lions are virtual civic icons. Meanwhile this church looks suspiciously like the Roman themed Medieval Church in Valencia, Spain. Chicago is an architectual treasure, and has done an excellent job blending the old and the new.

This last picture is of the Tripoli National Shrine in Milwaukee. Not sure exactly why the arhictect choose the Middle Eastern Influenced design, but it works. One of the signatures buildings in Milwaukee's South Side.

MAVA / VISTA Report

2007-06-06T23:42:00.000-07:00

TO: MAVA Members in Southeastern Minnesota

FROM: Matt Altstiel, MAVA/VISTA Coordinator for Southeastern Minnesota

DATE: June 6, 2007

SUBJECT: Community, Organizational and Best Practice Analysis

Drafting community analysis reports and Best Practices plans are essential duties especially during the planning process for MAVA/VISTA coordinators.[1] This report combines two reports for the benefit of members (volunteer organizations which have paid for associate status). Our organization focuses in providing Volunteer Resource Leadership (VRL) to you, our member associations. Your membership within MAVA entitles you to a wealth of administrative resources.

Written into our mission statement, the Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration (MAVA) “seeks to empower local associations and chapters to increase capacity by forging competent volunteer leaders to best serve their interests.”[2] While many volunteer leaders lament decreasing governmental allowances and a pervading individual first sentiment, there is simply no evidence to suggest the demise of volunteer agencies. Our state ranks first in the nation in terms of volunteer hours and volunteer monetary donations per capita. In fact, the state of Minnesota contributed more than 500 million logged man hours of service translating into 7.9 billion dollars if adjusted to the suggested per hour value of $18.04.[3]

With the goal of expanding the existing network of volunteer networks and membership organizations, MAVA has commissioned a modified work plan. This modified work plan report summarizes the principal demographic unit (Southeast Minnesota), identifies the organizations with the greatest potential for building volunteer capacity, and finally provides effective strategies to educate volunteer leaders within your organization(s).

Community Profile(s)

As you may be aware, the Southeastern region of Minnesota, anchored by Rochester, is a region on the upswing. Home to large number of accredited universities, one of the world’s foremost health providers (Mayo), and a growing high tech sector (IBM, Dynex); Southeastern Minnesota enjoys a vibrant economy and a diverse population. All together, this aggregate region numbers 15 counties. Our region is bounded by the fringes of the Twin Cities metropolitan region to the north, by Wisconsin to the east, by Blue Earth County to the west and finally by Iowa border to the south.[4] If your agency is based within these fifteen counties, you fall within Southeastern division of MAVA. While Rochester’s Olmsted County is by far the most populous of the region (135,000), nearly 600,000 people live in the fifteen county area.[5] After reviewing the entire listing of cities and towns within this region, three cities were cited for their vast resources and high growth potential in the realm of volunteer administration and recruitment.

Rochester represents the principal urban center of the region as evidenced by the growing cluster of skyscrapers comprising the downtown Mayo Health complex. The city is home to the largest regional branch of the United Way, the most important volunteer agency in the county. The city also hosts seven accredited universities producing some 4,000 college graduates annually.[6] A historically large Greek and Norwegian population continues to provide their cultural legacies and neighborhood organizations.[7] More recently, Somali, Hmong and Latino populations have begun changing the cultural dynamic of the community.
Winona. Flanked by the Mississippi River, Winona represents the quintessential college town and campus. Housing a major university with an undergraduate population of nearly 12,000, Winona has a large percentage of residents falling within the most important age demographics for volunteering (20-30 and 54-67).[8] The city and region enjoy the benefits of a comparatively large and active volunteer network spaced across many member organizations.
While Mankato lies just outside of the Twin Cities corridor, it has recently begun experiencing the explosive growth as more and more commuters make Mankato their home. The city welcomes the state’s second largest public university and its some 14,000 students.[9] Like Winona, Mankato has much greater volunteer network capacity and resources than cities of comparable size. The close proximity to regional banking centers such as Faribault supplements critical monetary resources to improve donor pools.

Principal Volunteer Agencies and Member Networks

While MAVA receives state and federal funding for its various programs, seminars and leadership training exercises, the scope of operations largely occurs on a local level. These specific groupings have been chosen because of their high community impact. If your agency does not fall into any of categories listed below, consider partnerships to bridge the goals of your agency and the needs of the community.

The United Way of Olmsted County is a valuable volunteer resource not only because of a dedicated donor fund supporting local projects, but because of its connections to other regional branches. The United Way of Olmsted County, like MAVA, maintains detailed contact lists by forging partnerships with volunteers and professionals.[10] These contact lists make organizational efforts much easier, whether small scope or large scope. The neighborhood and national recognition of the United Way gives the organization and high degree of visibility. Such visibility allows for a viable partnership with smaller neighborhood centered organizations seeking resources and funding.
Neighborhood Associations exist in virtually every city and town in the fifteen county region. Because of their location within these communities, limited mission scope, and entirely local membership, neighborhood associations can often best assess the unique needs of their community.[11] Those living within that community are often most likely to be truly passionate about neighborhood issues. In addition, residents can draw upon individual talents and skills, as well as neighborhood businesses for resources. When coordinating a local project with a limited scope, using the power of neighborhood associations, MAVA can quickly organize local volunteers for capacity building efforts.
Ethnic and religious associations and networks do not have the broad, cross cultural capacity of large chapter organizations (United Way) or the specific focus (Miller Neighborhood Improvement Association) of site specific volunteer programs, but offer valuable resources nonetheless. While religious organizations do provide faith based volunteer services, the community impact tends to improve secular, civic conditions. Reaching church, mosque and synagogue volunteer leaders also provides additional contacts, unique opportunity perspectives and potential longtime donors.[12] Ethnic non-profits can help target more community specific problems and initiatives. Drawing these two types of volunteer organizations into the general fold of volunteering is essential for community based infrastructure building.
Universities and Colleges hold vast volunteer resources and potential. Those who begin volunteering early on are more likely to volunteer well into the future. Therefore, tapping into a highly organized, politicized network of student organizations is vital in significant college communities. Student organizations present the diversity shown in the terms of broad based volunteer networks, religious affiliations and ethnic student unions. Additionally, professional and social fraternities often are looking for opportunities to benefit the community and gain recognition.[13] Drawing upon on an active population with (generally) lesser financial and familial obligations is paramount to the success of MAVA in these communities.[14]

Identifying and implementing Best Practices

After identifying the principal volunteer networks and targets, one must focus on attracting and maintaining dedicated volunteers for a wide variety of projects. This aspect of MAVA does not simply deal with defining network organizations and regional resources, but provides partners with critical volunteer management strategies. MAVA has outlined policies in our Best Practices Guide. However, it is helpful to draw upon additional resources such as: UPS, Helen Little and Smith Bucklin Associates for more help. Our organization provides seminars which will further develop the various principals and strategies outlined here. Any of these resources will greatly aid the effectiveness of your organization and your leaders.

An essential requirement of any volunteer administrator or coordinator is identifying a specific, manageable task. Volunteers must know the set of deadlines, including interim and final project completion dates. While all projects will require different personnel groupings, resources and monetary inputs; all projects should be broken down into sets of inter-related tasks. Short projects with manageable deadlines will help encourage new volunteers and potential new members. Coordinators will need to plan every aspect, including estimating the number of volunteers and supplies necessary for completion. Designing a worksheet for each task outlines expectations and allows the volunteer to add project specific input.[15]
Existing members may not be the ideal candidates for managerial positions. Recruiting the best person for the job is critically important. Volunteers can be recruited. Waiting for someone to fill a position is not taking a proactive, organization first approach. The list of potential leaders should not only include friends and current organizational members. Proven, experienced volunteer leaders can draw upon their previous knowledge to accomplish the most difficult, high-risk tasks. Less experienced volunteers should fill lower risk positions requiring less input. Recruiting someone to fill a high responsibility post requires the same attention to detail of any human resource personnel. Therefore, recruit on a one to one basis by making phone calls and setting up personal meetings.[16]
Another crucial component to gaining and retaining volunteers for a given organization is matching tasks with volunteer interests. Volunteering can allow people to interact with social groups they might not normally interact with. It can provide the sense of challenge and accomplishment they may not otherwise find in their personal and professional lives. Along the same lines, volunteering provides ample chance for self expression as volunteers are much freer to pick and choose the projects they join. Many feel a patriotic duty to give back to the community that has given them so much. Additionally, genuine interest in the cause they serve initially draws many volunteers to their respective organizations. Recognizing these motivational factors can allow leaders to tailor projects to provide their volunteers a constant source of intrinsic motivation.[17]
While the word volunteer implies that the term of service for an individual is voluntary, this essential aspect is often overlooked. Allow your volunteers the freedom to complete a given task when and where it is most convenient. Certain volunteers may prefer to work on their own. Accordingly, these participants may not be suited to group projects and networking activities. Cutting down on travel time as well as weekly meeting time will allow volunteers to devote more time to a certain task. Finally, more difficult tasks will require more supervision. Generally, the more difficult the task, the more need for group work and networking.[18]

Conclusion

Your ability to apply the strategies provided within this report as well as those taught during the Volunteer Impact Leadership Training Series will in large part determine your agency’s (volunteer organization’s) growth capacity. All effective leaders are well aware of their region’s demographics, organizational resources, partnership opportunities, and VRL practices.

Sources

“About Rochester.” Rah Rah Rochester. October 2006. 5 June 2007. http://www.rochestercvb.org/visitors/aboutrochester.asp

Bucklin and Smith. The Complete Guide to Non-profit Management. Toronto, Canada: John Wiley and Sons, 2000.

“Fast Facts.” Minnesota State University Mankato. 24 May 2007. 4 June 2007. http://www.mnsu.edu/supersite/about/facts.html

Little, Helen. Volunteers: How to Get Them, How to Keep Them. Naperville, IL: Panacea Press, 1999.

Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration, MAVA Handbook and Practices. Maplewood, MN: Random, 2007.

Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration, Mission Possible. Maplewood, MN: Random, 2007.

“Minnesota Quick Facts from the U.S. Census.” U.S. Census Bureau. 7 May 2007. 5 June 2007. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/27000.html

“Olmsted County Higher Education Figures.” Official Olmsted County Website. 5 December 2005. 4 June 2007. http://www.co.olmsted.mn.us/

“Public Review Draft.” City of Winona-MN. March 2007. June 4 2007. http://www.cityofwinona-mn.com/se3bin/clientgenie.cgi

\\Quirk, Mary. "Re: Fw: VISTA Community Outreach Coordinator." E-mail to the author. 22 May 2007.

Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, A Lifetime of Responsibility and Brotherhood. Richmond, VA: Random, 2001.

[1] Quirk, Mary. "Re: Fw: VISTA Community Outreach Coordinator." E-mail to the author. 22 May 2007.

[2] Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration, MAVA Handbook and Practices. Maplewood, MN: Random, 2007. pg 39

[3] Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration, Mission Possible. Maplewood, MN: Random, 2007.

[4] Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration, MAVA Handbook and Practices. Maplewood, MN: Random, 2007. pg. 46

[5] http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/27000.html

[6] http://www.co.olmsted.mn.us/

[7] http://www.rochestercvb.org/visitors/aboutrochester.asp

[8] http://www.cityofwinona-mn.com/se3bin/clientgenie.cgi

[9] http://www.mnsu.edu/supersite/about/facts.html

[10] http://www.uwolmsted.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewpage&page_id=5DBC0A6C-CE58-1C2A-6A73585502762CFA

[11] Bucklin and Smith. The Complete Guide to Non-profit Management. Toronto, Canada: John Wiley and Sons, 2000. pg. 177

[12] Bucklin and Smith. The Complete Guide to Non-profit Management. Toronto, Canada: John Wiley and Sons, 2000. pg. 181

[13] Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, A Lifetime of Responsibility and Brotherhood. Richmond, VA: Random, 2001. pg. 27

[14] Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration, MAVA Handbook and Practices. Maplewood, MN: Random, 2007. pg. 92

[15] Little, Helen. Volunteers: How to Get Them, How to Keep Them. Naperville, IL: Panacea Press, 1999. pg. 20-21

[16] Little, Helen. Volunteers: How to Get Them, How to Keep Them. Naperville, IL: Panacea Press, 1999. pg. 22-23

[17] Little, Helen. Volunteers: How to Get Them, How to Keep Them. Naperville, IL: Panacea Press, 1999. pg. 29-33

[18] Little, Helen. Volunteers: How to Get Them, How to Keep Them. Naperville, IL: Panacea Press, 1999. pg. 47-49

Memo

2007-06-06T23:10:00.000-07:00

TO: Post-college graduates interested TESL or TEFL careers

FROM: Matt Altstiel, ESL Instructor

DATE: 30 May 2007

SUBJECT: Outlining job prospects for Adult TESL or TESOL careers

This report outlines the qualifications necessary for teaching, the current occupational outlook and the field’s future potential for job growth. Knowing these important details, one can more effectively gauge whether teaching English to adults is a viable career.

Within the Adult ESL field itself numerous subcategories exist causing a great deal of confusion in regard to employment opportunities. The U.S. Bureau of Labor defines ESL instruction as Adult Basic Education (ABE), Adult Secondary Education (ASE) and General Educational Diploma (GED). However, English to Speakers of Other Languages or (ESOL) differs as teachers provide students community language learning opportunities to achieve communicative acquisition. The vast majority of states require a Bachelor’s Degree for both Adult ESL and ESOL instruction. However, additional training and certification such as a Master’s Degree in Education as well as a Public School Teacher’s License are generally required for ABE and GED instructors. Volunteer positions for ESOL instruction do not necessitate college degrees but do mandate program training and student evaluations. According to research, teachers are expected to “participate in ongoing professional development activities” to remain current within their field and improve existing skills.

A truly accurate job outlook for ESL-ESOL teachers is difficult to quantify due to the high number of self-employed and volunteer positions. While many ESL-ESOL instructors teach part time and receive no benefits, research reflects excellent potential for employment, particularly in the ASE and GED sectors. One must be cognizant that the number of teaching positions available each year fluctuates due changes in state and non-profit funding. State and non-profit organizations employ the majority of the 98,000 licensed ESL-ESOL instructors. Seeking employment through one of these channels is highly recommended. Due to a high percentage of part time teachers, the median hourly wage of $18.74 more accurately represents the field than salary numbers. Nearly 10% reported earning more $34.94 per hour, suggesting a wide variance within the profession.

Socio-economic shifts such as those relating to immigration policy and the relative economic well being of the United States to large part determine the ESL-ESOL growth rate. While the future growth of the ESL-ESOL field does largely depend upon large scale economic forces, research shows the annual growth to at least meet or exceed the Labor Bureau’s all occupational average through 2014. Demand for instruction in traditional demographics such as Texas, New York, California and Illinois will remain strong. The biggest potential growth markets exist in non-traditional demographics such as Minnesota, North Carolina and Tennessee, which have attracted sizeable non-English speaking immigrant populations.

By becoming aware of occupational differences within the field, the current job outlook and the future potential for growth within the field, one can better assess whether ESL-ESOL is a suitable career choice. The demand for this field will increase as immigration numbers continue to rise.

Attachments: Teachers – “Adult Literacy and Remedial Education”, http://www.bls.gov/oco/pdf/ocos289.pdf

Schaetzal, Kristen, and Young, Sarah. “Using Adult ESL Content Standards.” http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/briefs/usingcontstandards.html

TESL 3051 Final Paper

2007-06-06T12:59:00.001-07:00

Matt Altstiel
TESL 3501
5/7/07

TESL 3501: Final Paper

Introduction

Earlier in the semester, I completed series of learning style strategies instruments to help gauge the way I learned a language and to improve upon areas that might have hindered my learning ability. The series of instruments highlighted a number of positives learning tendencies which I possessed and allowed me refocus on underdeveloped reading and writing skills. I directed the focus of this final paper to answer the questions that had evaded my mid-term research. What, if any, was the correlation between study abroad duration and language retention almost a year afterwards even while all subjects took classes at a similar academic level? While each participant is taking classes at the 3xxx level, which was more important for language acquisition, academic experience or “real” language experience? To find answers to these questions, I asked several friends to help me in my research.

The Instruments and the Tasks

To fully understand my subjects’ abilities and tendencies as language learners, I distributed four language instruments and prepared two-multi level language tasks. The first instrument, <<>> assessed my test subjects’ general approach to learning and the overall preferences they possessed as long time students. The second instrument, <> highlighted many different strategies for acquiring and using a second language. This instrument provided a wide variety of linguistic tools, many of which we were entirely unfamiliar with. The third instrument, <>, catalogued strategies for cultural acquisition and retention relating to foreign study abroad experiences. My subjects took the final instrument, <>, before, during and after the first language task. Subjects were asked to read Pablo Neruda’s >>, provide a short three to four sentence summary, and circle unfamiliar words. Students were asked fill out the <> instrument at the task’s conclusion. The second task required my subjects to participate in a free-form conversation to gauge speaking strategies and their social dynamic as language learners.

Subject Profiles

Before jumping into my analysis, it is necessary to briefly provide background information regarding my students to better understand their results. All subjects involved shared a common second language background with Spanish. Additionally, all three students lived with a host family while studying abroad in Toledo, Spain. While their duration in Spain varied due to program length, all subjects studied abroad during the spring or summer of 2006. All participants continued taking Spanish academically at the University of Minnesota the following year, working to earn their Spanish Minor.

My first subject, Adam, is 21, a junior at the U and currently enrolled in the Carlson School of Business Management. He describes himself as <> and <>.Adam grew up in a middle-class family in the western suburban area of Minneapolis. As the president of a fraternity, he carries added responsibility and must balance academics and extracurricular obligations. I selected Adam because of his comparatively short duration abroad. After spending two and half months in Toledo through a summer study abroad program, he has continued studying Spanish Literature. However, Spanish is simply an academic language for Adam since he does actively seek out opportunities to speak with native speakers.

My second subject, Seth, is 22, a graduating senior at the U and currently enrolled in the CLA School of Journalism. He sees himself as <> and <>Seth was raised in a middle-class family in the northern suburban area of St. Paul. Seth balanced his classes with a journalism internship, but has little extracurricular responsibility since its completion. I picked Seth because he stayed in Spain the longest and because of his above average speaking skills. After spending five and half months in Toledo through the spring semester study abroad program, he has continued studying Spanish Linguistics. Seth has not looked for opportunities to use Spanish, but is considering attending conversation hours.

My third subject, Melanie, is 21, a junior at the U and currently enrolled in the CLA Honors Art program. She describes herself as <> Melanie grew up in a single parent family in rural, northern Wisconsin on an Indian reservation. Melanie takes on a rigorous course load with 19 credits and spends a lot of her free time taking pictures or painting. I selected Melanie because of her natural ability, but high affective language filter. After spending four and a half months in Toledo, is currently taking SPAN 3104. Melanie volunteers with the Latino community on campus and attends cultural events to improve her language and cultural awareness.

The Results of the Instruments - FINDINGS

The pre-study interviews some what reflected the results of the instruments and the tasks. The sheer number of questions produced some unexpected results as respondents found some of their personal learning assumptions to be misguided. As predicted, the subjects’ motivation varied from instrument and from task to task, but not significantly enough to skew the results of the study. The instruments and tasks were done in front of me so I could act as a guide and sounding board. The instruments and tasks were done in a sequential order over a two hour period with a ten minute break provided after the <> Only the results deemed most pertinent are included in the analysis of this study. The chart below outlines all of the participant responses.

Learning Style Strategy Results

P: 1

P: 2

P: 3

P: 4

P: 5

P: 6

P: 7

P: 8

P: 9

P: 10

P: 11

Adam

A:23 B:12

C:26

A:23

B:12

A:15

B:8

A:11

B:2

A:11

B:13

A:15

B:8

A:7

B:5

A:7

B:4

A:5

B:7

A:8

B:5

A:3

B:6

Seth

A:30

B:24

C:29

A:16

B:13

A:13

B:12

A:9

B:11

A:14

B:11

A:15

B:11

A:7

B:8

A:8

B:7

A:10

B:6

A:9

B:3

A:7

B:3

Melanie

A:22

B:27

C:16

A:7

B:20

A:9

B:21

A:7

B:5

A:12

B:11

A:8

B:15

A:7

B:6

A:3

B:9

A:5

B:7

A:0

B:4

A:4

B:0

Part 1: The results for Adam and Seth were not all that surprising, however I was somewhat intrigued by the results for Melanie. Adam, being the subject demonstrating the greatest qualities of upfront leadership, recorded high numbers for tactile learning. Clearly, organizing events and projects on a consistent basis results a preference more hands on learning. Seth had almost equal numbers between visual, auditory and tactile learning. I falsely predicted that Melanie would have a high tactile score and a low auditory score because of her self-admitted introverted nature, and her major choice. In short, Melanie’s results were almost the inverse of Adam’s.

Part 2: As a language learner, I feel that an extroverted nature allows for greater language acquisition because learners are more willing to take risks, engage native speakers in conversation and seek out social situations to practice the language. Adam was noticeably the most extroverted of the group, recording a number of 23. Seth displayed a slightly more extroverted nature, but this varied according to task and mood. Melanie recorded a 21 for the section dealing with introversion, while only marking a 7 for questions pertaining to extroversion.

Part 3: As a leader charged with planning upcoming events of high pressure and importance, Adam is very future oriented and as shown later in the tasks, is very proactive modifying his plans as he experiments. Seth approaches learning and language acquisition on a task by task basis, obviously not demonstrating a clear preference for either approach. Melanie once again gave rather unexpected answers. One would think an artist would prefer abstract thinking and speculation over a calculated, metered approach, at least in an academic setting.

Part 4: This section yielded very contradictory results especially for Adam. While part 3 revealed that Adam preferred to speculate about possibilities, part 4 made it clear that deadlines were important for guiding his learning process. Clearly, these two sections must reach a balancing point to justify such a response. Seth recorded high numbers for both sections but did seem to prefer one approach over the other. Melanie, as part 3 would predict, showed a greater tendency to use deadlines to structure her learning process, but did not reflect the disparity of the previous part.

Parts 5 and 6: Adam has an extroverted nature and a random intuitive preference indicating a global method for processing information. However, he aligns more strongly toward the particular method. While he claims to be more particular, the instrument reveals another contradiction though his high number for synthesizing. Seth’s numbers appear to match up for both sections of processing and further processing allowing for a relative coherence of data. Melanie’s answers also paint a contrasting picture, but her methodical approach towards language lends more credibility to the numbers in part 6.

Part 7: How one commits a language, or any learning to memory is (in my mind) one of the most important determiners of success. Unlike other parts of this instrument, subject disparity was not as noticeable. Adam tended to prefer accuracy, learning certain parts of grammar to deduce how each part fit into the whole. Seth focused more upon learning certain conventions and speech acts. Melanie showed more inclination towards leveling although her previous answers reveal her to be more methodical, with more focus on form than on expediency.

Part 11: Finally, I examined the results of this part because of its cultural implications. Those like Melanie and Seth who are more metaphoric are more likely to understand pragmatics and colloquial expressions. Adam, taking things at face value may have a problem with negative transfer between languages, especially in certain structures where there is no literal translation.

Language Strategy Use Inventory

This instrument is divided into <>, <>, <>, <>, <>, and <> Thus, it encompasses many of the required linguistic skills to effectively use a language, providing a wide variety of strategies. This section of data analysis will summarize the most interesting findings on an individual level. Comparisons between the three respondents will follow.

Adam: The majority of the strategies for the listening strategy usage section went unused. However; he demonstrated desire to use these strategies in the future. Adam indicated that he frequently asks for clarification, repetition and slower speech from native speakers. This suggests a proactive stance in language listening, but a lower level of linguistic familiarity. In reference to vocabulary strategy use, Adam shows no general affinity for the strategies advocated in the instrument. Contextualizing new words and creating mnemonic devices to remember these words were the only two frequently used strategies. However, Adam had at one time used every strategy and indicated that he would use some strategies again.

For someone with such an outgoing personality and tactile method, it was strange <> was one strategy that did not interest him. The majority of the strategies received a checkmark for <>. None of the reading strategies received frequent usage and only three earned any usage at all. Using bilingual dictionaries and reading level appropriate texts revealed a lack of motivation, a wholesale rejection of Krashen’s I+1 hypothesis. Conversely, Adam was much more proactive in his writing strategies frequently seeking the opinion of native speaker to improve his writing. Taking notes in the target language and making frequent revision of his writing also gained frequent usage. Finally, Adam’s use of translation strategies shows a general insecurity in his language usage.He has not yet reached a level where he can fully think in the target language and create meaning without translation.

Seth: In his strategy usage, Seth frequently uses most of the strategies to increase his exposure and to prepare for listening to conversation. In the first three sections under this heading, there is not one strategy that he has not used or does not fit him. Listening in to conversations in the target language contributes greatly to his ability to understand native speech speed and patterns. The tone, context and stress of the word greatly interest Seth, whereas as asking for classification does not his fit his language ego. When learning vocabulary, Seth frequently repeats new words and periodically reviews them so they stay fresh in his memory. In many ways, the strategies used by Seth appear almost the opposite of those used by Adam. As familiarity with the language increases, more and more strategies are discovered and used.

In terms of speaking strategies usage, Seth shies away from a structured grammatical acquisition model in favor of engaging a conversation partner and experimenting. While he frequently directs the conversation towards familiar topics, he also actively participated in conversations above his ability level. Using gestures, asking for corrections looking for different ways to express himself features prominently in his speaking strategy. By his own admission, <> Consequently, staying within a comfortable level of his own reading ability was an important strategy for him. Writing strategies garnered usage as he frequently revises his writing, uses reference materials and rephrases his writing to make it more accessible. With translation strategies, Seth indicated that he often <>

Melanie: Melanie’s results seemed to fall in between the two strategies and preferences of Adam and Seth in this instrument. Given her current volunteering and stay with a host family, most of her strategies for language listening were used frequently or would be used again. Given her tendency for leveling when committing something to memory, listening for grammar structures and for specific details received the <> checkmark. A language learner with an auditory learning style, learning clusters and clues of language earned frequent usage. Melanie’s strategy for learning new vocabulary practically mirrored Seth’s strategy preferences, although their personality types and learning styles were markedly different.

While much more auditory and introverted in her approach to learning, Melanie would engage native speakers indicating that <> and <> were strategies she has tried and would use again. Because of her auditory and introverted nature, she frequently practiced new expressions to herself and plan out in advance what she wants to say. Melanie uses more of the reading strategies than Adam or Seth, and frequently makes predictions and ongoing summaries of the text. One glaring exception to the correlation between her learning style preferences and her language strategy usage is her general disregard for writing strategies. Examples like, <> did not suit her. For Melanie, certain language skills in Spain had higher importance in daily life. Finally, like Seth, her translation strategies went largely unused but, her reliance on some translation indicated that it remained an important skill.

Culture Learning Strategies Inventory

Adam: In all three major sections, certain things stuck out about his cultural and linguistic behavior. Adam revealed that he did not really care to think of cultural difference and be mindful of avoiding stereotypes before his arrival. While in Spain, significantly, he mentioned he liked to call home frequently and often discussed his experiences with people of his own culture. He said he arranged an intercambio, but never followed up on the meeting, marking <>. Reading newspapers and observing media was something that did not appeal to him. He said he liked and used the strategy of establishing ground rules with his family, but denoted that sharing culture and living as a family did not fit his strategy. For the return arrival section, Adam marked that none of the readjustment strategies fit his personality style. In general, culture acquisition was either something that did not fit, or something that he had not yet tried. Due to his short duration, he likely did not notice many of the cultural differences. Even if he did, perhaps he didn't have the (perceived) time necessary to really engage the language and people of Toledo.

Seth: The participant with the longest stay, and most extensive travel experience within Spain itself, Seth was also the most aware of the many cultural strategies of the instrument. While his pre-departure strategies roughly mirrored those of Adam, his in country strategies were much different, suggesting the length of his stay changed the way he approached language and culture. Most categories suggesting maintaining strong connections with the country of origin received a <>.As Seth used the familiarity of home as a coping mechanism, but was more independent once he became comfortable with the language and culture,. He mentioned he liked joining clubs and playing sports while abroad, allowing Seth to maintain his interests while meeting new people and experiencing new situations. Finally, he marked he liked having a host family in all categories, revealing a real desire to share culture and himself with his host family. Upon arriving home, Seth practiced many of the strategies included in the instrument, liking to maintain connections with those he had met in Spain.

Melanie: Melanie, similar to the previous instrument represented a balance of the other two subjects. In general, she was much more mindful of perceived stereotypes and said she used and liked <> and <> While in Toledo, she was less likely to communicate with those back home than either Adam or Seth, marking that <> While she did not mark the <> box as much as Seth, she did have a high degree of familiarity with each strategy.Even despite her introverted nature, she realized making friends with natives would enrich her experience, and liked seeking them out through intercambio programs and not through random conversation. Much like Seth, Melanie used and liked every strategy under the heading <> Likewise, she highly valued the experience of living with a host family. When she returned home, she employed the majority of the strategies saying she liked using them. Obviously, her current volunteer work in the community is a good indication of this.

It appears in the case of both Melanie and Seth, study duration was a very motivating factor. Not willing to do the bare minimum, both realized acquiring language and cultural skills would create a more meaningful and enjoyable experience. Also, both participants went through the phases culture shock, place acculturation, cultural acceptance, and many more subliminal experiences.

THE TASKS

Pre –Task Motivation

After a ten minute break following this portion of the project, all three participants placed their pre-task motivation level at 3’s out of a possible four. This indicated that each subject perceived themselves to like taking Spanish, were aware of its importance, and were somewhat competitive concerning the language task at hand.

The First Task

The first was completed over a 15 minute period, with a five minute period for discussion and for filling out the motivation instrument included afterwards. The task was to determine the academic level of their reading comprehension and writing ability. The second portion, in which they circled vocabulary words, would test the correlation between style strategy and linguistic skills they gained while studying abroad.

Adam: Adam, jumped right into the text. Adam actively circled the words and write them down on the bottom of the page and stopped for a about a half a minute. Then he wrote his summary of the poem taking a long time to pause after every sentence. Like his style preferences suggested, he took the meaning of the poem very literally in his summary and failed to account for multiple meanings of words. Although he had misread the poem, his grammar and generally writing accuracy were commendable. Like part 6 in the first instrument, his answer showed a tendency towards synthesizing. He choose a bi-lingual dictionary as his method of deriving meaning for unknown words revealing over-generalizations and language simplifications to be common linguistic problems.

Seth: As a self-described poor reader and writer, Seth approached this task carefully, focusing on every word and asking me for the directions twice before starting. Seth wrote notes on the side of the page, rephrasing certain lines before going back to circle the words. Finally, after reflecting for two minutes, Seth began writing down his summary. The summary was not as well organized, not as grammatically accurate of that of Adam’s. However, his summary was global in its focus, more metaphorical and more correct in its totality than Adam’s. In addition, he decided to use a synonym book to look up unfamiliar words and contextualize them within the text. The strategies used clearly show that learning style is not the only factor, but cultural learning and language strategies play key roles as well.

Melanie: In first two instruments, Melanie appeared to enjoy both reading and writing exercises more than her counterparts. As reader Melanie has the unique ability to combine a calculated, metered approach with the ability to pull together a more global picture in her summarization. When reading she took the text slowly, but did not write in notes as Seth had, or even circle words before beginning her summary. The nature of the task, in her estimation was <> and hindered her motivation. The summary was generally correct in its idea, but not in structure. Her summary was also noticeably shorter than either Adam’s or Seth’s response. She reflected that if she has circled the words and tried to define them, she would have used a mono-lingual dictionary. In this example, the nature of the task and its irrelevance to her daily life prevented its completion.

During and Post-Task Motivation

For Adam, his motivation dropped on average during task to a 2, down from a 3. The task was neither as interesting nor beneficial as he would have liked. However, during the task his self-confidence jumped up to a 4. Seth saw his numbers rise to a 4 almost without exception, (the exceptions being <>, which dropped to a 2. Seth did not like reading, but was aware he had figured out the main gist and thematic elements of the poem. Melanie marked down 1s for the majority of the during task motivation section, a task which she did not complete in its entirety.

The post-task numbers also shifted after I revealed the results and whether or not they had properly interpreted the text. Adam saw his answer on drop to a 1 for feedback, and stay at 2 in motivation to do another, similar task. Despite his extroverted nature, it appeared he was more easily frustrated and used more language avoidance. Seth’s numbers stayed at high at 4 because he performed the best out of the three. Although the task was academically focused, his language coping strategies and handle of speech clusters allowed him to negotiate meaning from the text. Melanie saw her number’s go up to 3 after she realized that she had done a better than anticipated job in her summary. As a language learner, one could see Melanie’s affective filter varied widely according to task and reviewer feedback.

The Second Task

For the second task, I required all three subjects to interact with each other in a free form, five minute conversation only in Spanish. In this task, I observed the social dynamic of each member and whether their study abroad experience length carried over into their ability to maintain conversation. Coming into the this task, I assumed that after a certain time, language cues gained from study abroad would be triggered to provide motivation regardless of personality type. While the previous task was academic in nature, this task was strictly extra-curricular.

In the beginning, Adam dominated the conversation although he did appear to auto-correct his forms before speaking. Negative language transfer was very obvious for Adam as he made noticeable, at one point saying <>. As mistakes mounted and corrections from Melanie and Seth became more frequent, his amount of speaking fell off drastically. Used to negotiating meaning and describing an object when they could not name it, Seth and Melanie essentially drove the conversation for the final three minutes. After reading, writing and finally hearing Spanish being spoken, the skills they had picked up in Spain were reactivated. Although the subject matter was familiar to all three, (Toledo and Spaniards), some of the cultural markers such as gestures and personal space that Melanie and Seth discussed escaped Adam. In terms of speaking ability and listening comprehension, the length of study abroad experience was the clear determining factor for language retention.

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

Although there is ample commentary included within the findings of the instruments and tasks, it is necessary to further elaborate on a number of thematic elements. In particular, there was a general correlation between the pre-study interviews and the results of the first instrument. How students learn in general depends to a large part on their personality and also upon their intrinsic motivation. Even still, there were several aberrations between perception and reality between these two sections. For example, an introverted, more analytic and metaphorical person could be detail oriented and deadline focused at the same time. Within each person, there exists contradictory measures of personality, and this is by no means a negative reality when it comes to learning.

Length of Study Abroad Duration Does Make a Difference

Language learning for some (Adam and Melanie) seems to operate much differently than they way it does for their approach to other academic subjects. Thus, the language ego is a crucial component for analyzing these results. The language ego when confronted with difficult situations may rise or it may fall depending on several factors. Therefore, the duration of the study abroad session is crucial to understanding the general direction of the language ego.

In the case of Adam, he only had time to pass through the initial euphoria of a new place, but left on a low note. He likely went home with the realization that his language ability could not compare to that of native speakers, and was aware of cultural difference, but could not yet accept it at face value. This carries through to the second and third instruments very clearly. His use of language strategies appears underdeveloped by the high number of used or disliked options that were chosen. Across most levels, the transitional level between academic Spanish we learn in class and every day Spanish we learn through extended contact requires a very different set of linguistic and cultural skills. The two most academic sections of this second instrument received the greatest strategy use, while the three more practical, survival oriented skills sets were not very highly developed. In addition, his reliance on translation, not just linguistically, but culturally as well, denoted a low level of desire to make Spanish something tangible to him. As a result, the personal learning ego and the language ego of Adam were not balanced. While I believe any study abroad experience is positive, the nature and length of the program probably produced a great deal of discouragement within his language strategy development.

In the case of Melanie and Seth, the longer duration of their stay produced some positive personal changes that no doubt affected the way they learned and approached language. The majority of the strategies proposed in the instruments two and three received if not frequent usage, at least some usage during the length of their stay. Many of these strategies, such as negotiating meaning and taking into account cultural/pragmatic differences served each well during the competition of the tasks. While, certain academic skills did not noticeably improve during the stay in Spain, the basic communicative skills were markedly better than Adam’s despite a similar Spanish class level at the University.Linguistic problem solving skills were used much more effectively because both participants on the spring program encountered more types of people, more problems and more surprises because they were there longer. Their language ego also differed from regular learning ego in that, because of the nature of the tasks, the use of Spanish was relevant and intrinsically motivating for both.

The language and cultural skills gleaned by Melanie and Seth also had a very real effect on the nature of the study itself. In general, both were much more patient when confronted with the material, not as likely to complain about the length of the instruments and less willing to concede defeat when faced with negative feedback.

After a Certain Level, Experiential Knowledge is Preferable

Obviously, academic learning has a definite value and emphasizes the development of numerous linguistic skill sets. However, once a student has a reached a certain academic level, such as late high school or early college, there is an expected level of competency. This competency provided the appropriate background for language and also provides a framework that allows students to learn and adapt to new settings. Even in conversation classes that emphasize the communicative portion of language, there appears to a plateau. Students can simply not replicate the patterns of native speakers or learn their pragmatics in a cultural vacuum. In this study, even though Adam had the greatest reading and writing skill sets, (although all were roughly around the same level), the cultural knowledge of speech acts that Seth gained abroad allowed for the correct interpretation. Even in a purely academic task, this outside acquisition of knowledge took the learner above the linguistic plateau.

While there is a great deal of problem solving involved in academic tasks, there is no real risk / reward apart from grades. In experiential learning, being linguistic incompetent or unable to negotiate meaning can bring much more immediate, tangible rewards or losses. For example, taking the wrong train resulted in a very costly (both in time and money) detour for Seth that forced to learn train/transportation related phrases in ways academics never could. Basic grammar structures should be taught inductively and academically. However, culture and communicative skills are best learned in a manner combining visual, auditory and tactile senses.

Limitations of the Study

For more accurate results, a larger cross section is necessary. Three test subjects simply does not give the desired amount of data to eliminate possible personal bias. Another possible fault of the study is timing and time requirement. In general, two hours on any specific task is too long. However, while my participants showed excellent energy and motivation throughout, perhaps the surveys would be best completed at home. At home there is likely less pressure and more time to truly think about each strategy. The personal interviews also should probably been have conducted over the phone with a preset list of questions, not done informally in the presence of the other test subjects. This may have led changed some answers to reflect a greater than normal level of (outward) linguistic confidence. Finally, after the completion of the task, there should have been more positive re-enforcement on my part and the delivery of an immediate reward.

Personal Recommendations

Adam: I recommended to Adam that he carry over more of his helpful strategy and personality traits that he uses for most types of learning over to his language learning. The majority of the strategies mentioned in the second and third instruments went on used. Therefore, I urged him to conscious try many of those strategies, see what worked, what didn’t work and incorporate those that were most effective. Above all, I told him that he needed bridge the cultural disconnect between his language learning and cultural acquisition that he had missed out on in Spain. His language ego got in the way of effectively engaging native speakers and taking risks.I recommended that he concentrate less on accuracy and more on expediency, noting from the examples of Seth and Melanie that accuracy would eventually come as well. His general approach towards vocabulary and translation also could take be improved by incorporating such strategies like: going over new words often, trying new words in variety of ways, and avoiding bi-lingual dictionaries in favor using more context clues.

Seth and Melanie: I grouped the latter two subjects together because of the similarity of culture and language instrument responses. In large part, Seth and Melanie had acquired a through knowledge of most of the strategies and had an excellent idea which strategies matched his personality and which didn’t. There was also an excellent correlation between Seth’s learning style strategy and his language and culture use strategies. Therefore, his language ego corresponded with his learning ego. However, Melanie seemed much more confident with her language ego, than she did with her overall learning and personality ego. Melanie’s motivational level also showed large variance, and keeping a higher motivational focus should be a priority for her. With Seth, his motivational level on reading and writing tasks however, was a cause for concern. By attempting some of the strategies they had neglected and retrying those which they had rejected they could definitely improve their academic performance. I explained how I personally changed my strategy towards reading comprehension and my writing process. The positive results encouraged me to examine some of assumptions, and it could do the same for them.

Final Conclusions

In this study, I attempted to determine through the data provided by three test subjects what impact, if any, studying abroad had on language acquisition and retention. A second question examined whether academic learning was preferable to experiential learning, and if so, at point in the learning curve. My subjects all came from a fairly similar personal and education background, and all studied abroad in the same place through a home stay. Through 4 separate survey instruments and two language based tasks, I was able to collect verifiable data about the nature of my subjects and language in general.

Over the course of the study, my subjects and learned several important lessons. There was a clear correlation between length of the study abroad program in terms of language development, cultural legibility and long term retention. Similarly, after a certain point, experiential learning is much more beneficial than academic learning because of the level of multiple inputs. Personality type, as well as learning style preference impact learning, but not as much as individual intrinsic motivation and personal relevance. Long term success requires a proactive nature to engage a language community and learn cultural norms. Above all, one should not disregard a certain strategy until one has diligently tried it.

Bibliography

Chi, Julie and Cohen, Andrew. <>

Chi, Julie, Cohen, Andre and Oxford, Rebecca. <>

Chi, Julie, Cohen, Andrew. Kappler, Barbara, Lassegard, James, and Paige, Michael. Maximizing Study Abroad: A Student’s Guide to Strategies for Language and Culture Learning and Use. Minneapolis, MN; University of Minnesota Press (2004).

Cohen, Andrew and Dornyei, Zoltan. <>

Cohen, Andrew. Teaching and Assessing L2 Pragmatics: What Can We Expect from Learners. TESL 301 – Practical Language Learning. 1701 University Ave., University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. Minneapolis, MN. 17 April 2007.

Kappler, B, Paige, M, Rong, J, and Zheng, W. <>

Lightbown, Patsy and Spada, Nina. How Languages are Learned. Oxford, U.K: Oxford University Press (2006).

Neruda, Pablo. Sus mejores Poemas. Santiago de Chile, Chile: El Mercurio SAP (2004).

Perdue, Adam. Personal Interview, 2 May. 2007.

Perdue, Adam. Task 2 Dialogue. 2 May. 2007

Vertelny, Seth. Personal Interview. 2 May. 2007.

Redesigning Development

2007-06-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

Matt Altstiel
4/28/07
GLOS 3602

Redesigning Development

Introduction

               No matter what era in recent (post 1900) history we look at, the two separate words, development and progress have been virtually synonymous.  Both concepts carry a high degree of desirably no matter which agency (governmental or non-governmental) attempts to implement a given policy.  While the approach and scope of said projects have varied substantially even in the past thirty years, the result has been virtually the same: failure.  Development projects, such as those sponsored by national governments, as well as those conceived by transnational organizations such as the IMF and World Bank often fail to take into account the on site social, economic and political challenges of said locality.  By the same token, the increasingly large and multinational Capitalist corporations (due to the changes yielded through Globalization) cannot realize the promise of their ambitions in bringing positive change to “whole” populations.  I emphasize the word “whole” due to the widening developmental gap between resource rich and poor, technologically literate and illiterate, culturally elevated and marginalized.

               This paper attempts to trace the history and failures of these respective approaches to development, that is, the state sponsored developmental project and capitalist market free trade policy implementation.  By examining this history, one can avoid the pitfalls of both in articulating a new, overarching plan of sustainable development to greatest benefit of all.  While both approaches are more or less contemporary, they will remain divided in their analysis.  The final section outlines a coherent strategy for implementing a new, more desirable method of development.

Traditional State and Developmental Agency Failures

The traditional development apparatus has contained the pitfall of foreign intervention and imposition of developmental schemes with little regard to local realities and conditions. Development agencies and national agendas incorrectly see increased development of any type as a positive step toward achieving a “desirable” Western standard of living. Recent critiques and development plans have highlighted the need for small scale development projects which integrate local communities. Such realistic, goal oriented projects represent a substantial improvement in developmental policy by demystifying the universality surrounding Eurocentric conceptions of progress.

The imposition of development projects as imposed by the state or large foreign agencies implies a certain smugness that colors any relation within the structure of the project itself unwitting setting up failure. Development and the high level of economic, political and cultural rationality that it hopes to foster can not accurately be employed in most projects. Since Western conceptions have formed and continue to inform policy making decisions, Europe appears as the example of development that non-Western societies must aspire for. This assumption implies a certain level of universality and simplification, that if one who desires development is correct and modern, while one who does not is misinformed and primitive. Fabian clarifies the fallacy of the sentiment by exposing the bias contained within Western monolithic development asserting ‘to refuse coevalness to another person or to another people suggests that coevalness is neither a transcultural fact nor a transcendental condition of knowledge,” (Fabian 34). Therefore, the universality associated with Western values and conceptions of being developed does not translate from culture to culture, nor from region to region. Therefore, non-Western nations do not inherently need ideological input and strategy to achieve desired success. Quite the opposite, large project failures have resulted from a lack translatability between the developer and subject being “developed”.

Therefore, agencies and nation states the dissemination of western concepts and ideals was necessary in order to make non-western societies ready or amenable to development. Critics of monolithic large development such as Cowen and Shenton contend, “that the modern idea of development is necessarily Eurocentric because it was in Europe that development was first meant to create order out of the social disorder of rapid urbanization, poverty and unemployment,” (Gidwani 09/20/05). However, development could and cannot be desired or imposed, it must spring from the needs and aspirations of the people. The colonial independence movement in the eyes of Chakrabarty contained the “political sphere in which the peasant and his masters participated was modern – for else could nationalism be but a modern political movement for self-government?” (Chakrabarty 12) Therefore, the experience lived by members of non-western societies did not lie outside of modernity, but was directly within the confines of modernity.

The entire conception and goal of development apparatuses which stress material well being, and economic salience within a Western capitalist framework operate under specific flawed mechanisms to determine project success. The general gauge into the overall well being of all citizens cannot be determined by mere formulas and statistics. Ray continues, “a correlation between GNP and other desired features is not automatic, and that in many cases such connections may not be present at all,” (Ray 9). Additional tools such as Per Capita Income also contain numerous flaws as part and parcel of the goal of development. Therefore, the success or effectiveness which large development projects are given depends in large part on the way the data is collected, stored and presented. Most gauges of development or well being cannot take into account the complexity of lifestyles across the globe.

Furthermore, the development apparatus instituted for the benefit or improvement of previously marginalized groups always reflects an unequal balance of power that reinforces traditional power structures in new and subversive ways. Povenelli comments specifically on Australia, however the critique extends to most development projects claiming, “by referring to the shame of ‘our’ nation and the good of recognizing ‘their’ laws, ‘their’ culture, ‘their’ traditions, the court is able … confront its own discriminatory practices … even as it reproduces the nation as ‘Anglo-Celtic’ and ‘ours’,”(Povinelli 171). Therefore, even large development projects which seek to eliminate discrimination and promote equality within all segment of a population are unable to do so. Necessarily, large projects reconstitute group identity assigning normative values to the majority group while affixing values of irrationality and superstition to minority groups. The production of the authentic further burdens the non-west or those who do not fit in the national narrative and project of development through cultural expectations keep “others” in prescribed, highly stratified roles, (Labidi 2007).

The Fallacy of Free Trade

               Buzzword of the neo-liberal, purported savior of national economies, and key to universal development, free trade to many observers offers a global solution to alleviate poverty and raise standards of living.  However, to the average farmer, industrial worker or local citizen, free trade has led to anything but the economic, social and political mobility it promises.  Free trade leads to creative destruction, critical misallocation of resources, erodes national structures, creates unhealthy competition between nation states, and advises unsustainable levels of accumulation.  Linkages between free trade and desirable development are not only false, they are dangerous.

               Most neo-liberal economists, developmental organizations and international businesses contend that free trade represents the only viable economic strategy to achieve the efficient allocation of resources and the greatest level of economic development.  Free trade policy mandates that barriers to the uninhibited movement of goods, technology and intellectual property must be removed.  Any form of government interference such as tariffs, subsidies, or welfare programs prevents (in theory) the market from allocating resources for maximum economic growth.  Removal of trade barriers allows a nation to export commodities it can produce most efficiently in exchange for an import commodities the nation cannot.  When a nation operates correctly allocates resources as dictated by the market; wages, purchasing power and political participation should increase.  Free trade therefore facilitates development.  Development, for the purpose of this essay is the process to raise the quality of life and standard of living enjoyed by a society.  Therefore, free trade policy, dubbed outward orientated economic policy by Jugdish Bhagwati allowed “poverty to decline from an estimated 28 percent in 1978 to 9 percent in 1998 in China.  Indian estimates report that poverty fell from 51 percent in 1977 to 26 percent in 1999,”(Bhagwati 2004: 65).  Advocating a free-trade strategy, it appears, leads to increased development.

Impressive as Bhagwati's numbers may appear, the reality of free trade policy paints a markedly different picture as evidenced by “creative destruction”. The increase in economic attainment within and between nation states is not universal. Harvey remarks that under free trade, “it is not that labor process absolutely cannot work in a particular place, but that it cannot generate a ...rate of profit,” (Harvey 425). High paying manufacturing jobs allowed families a degree of economic, social and political freedom were relocated to regions or nation states which have a comparative advantage in labor and production costs. Corporations justified reallocation of labor by asserting that diminished production costs would be passed off to the consumer and increase purchasing power. However, while employers have a high level of mobility, their employees do not. Communities were left with high levels of unemployment and decreasing tax base in the wake of factory closings. A smaller tax base meant a reduction in government expenditures and a reduction in both the number and quality of social services offered. Former manufacturing employees re-entered the job market in low paying service jobs and families could no longer cover costs as before. A decreasing tax base, high unemployment and a real net decrease in income all combined to unleash surges in violent crime, mal-nutrition, and homelessness. Therefore, the free trade policies that allowed transnational corporations to leave the region or the country resulted in a lower level of development.

In the name of free trade, development and increased productivity; the nature of farming and crop cultivation has changed for the worse. In order to produce the most cost efficient supply of food, free-trade proponents advocate shifting crop production to single homogenized crops available in large quantities for export to the global marketplace. Traditional land tenure structures and farming methods disappear as large-scale farms using mechanized technology take their place. Land restructuring forces millions off their land and creates a jobless, landless and increasingly destitute populace. Reliance upon a single export based crop makes already poor nations even more vulnerable to global commodity price flectuations. In addition, food crops once grown alongside exported crops such as wheat, corns, oats and rice must now be imported. Formerly self-sufficient food producing regions face mal-nutrition and starvation when overpriced imported grains flood the local market. The mono-crop export based style of agriculture supposed to liberate rural populations, promote development and ensure a cheap food supply fails miserably. In fact, multi-crop as opposed to mono-crop agriculture “produces 100 units of food from 5 units of inputs, whereas an industrial (mono-crop) system requires 300 units of input to produce the same 100 units,” (Shiva 2000: 13). The policy of mono-crop and export based agriculture and advocated by free trade proponents hinders development and lowers quality of life rather than improving it.

               During the time free trade and neo-liberal economic policy gained mainstream acceptance, the erosion of government sponsored social programs and the disparity between rich and poor steadily increased.  Post-War societies in the both the global North and South achieved significant growth rates even while worker wages and benefits increased.  However, traditional safety net mechanisms associated with the welfare state lost viability under the pressure free trade institutions and corporate flexibility.  Elected leaders must weigh the desire of corporations and the promise of “economic development” against the demands of the voters who desire a basic quality of life.  Longstanding laws and corporate practices ensuring social benefits have come under fire as business seeks to raise profitability.  Workers now pay for the same services that were previously included.  This development coupled with the reality that, “the real hourly wage of young males with 12 of fewer years of schooling has dropped more than 20 percent in the last two decades,” has reduced the purchasing power for individuals and families (Rodrik 1997: 11).  Therefore, the widening income gap between rich and poor as well as the decreasing ability for national governments to serve its citizens stands in stark contrast to the egalitarian virtue espoused by free trade adherents.

               Free-trade’s adherents claim, by adopting its strategy in the formation of economic and governmental policy, nation-states occupying the global South can eventually turn their primary production based economies into diverse, multi-faceted economies.  Many economists reflect that low-skilled, labor intensive industries represent the first stage in industrialization.  However, many nation states occupying the global South must lower social and economic standards to lure transnational employers in search of the greatest profits margins to build facilities and create jobs.  Nation-states compete, making working conditions and workers right, and environmental resources expendable.  Furthermore, many corporations that operate under special tax agreements generate no governmental income nor any increased spending for social services.  Per Naomi Klein,  “development has built on starving wages, and far from kick-starting a steady improvement in conditions, (free trade) has proved to be a case of one step forward, three steps back,” (Klein 228).  Labor thus becomes a commodified resource, even though it is fixed and non-transferable.  The high-sounding rhetoric of free trade cannot mask the social scars of misguided development as nation-states fight for, rather than share economic prosperity.

Even at the theory’s very core, the rapid increases in standards of living, rises in the level of development and universal amieloration of poverty for all global citizens assured under the doctrine of free trade are simply untenable. Many economic policy theorists believe a growth rate of ten percent per year would allow the global South to eventually resemble the differentiated economy and society of the global North. However, in order to achieve this shift, a nation must discard traditional loyalties to its people and place a premium on material accumulation. This narrow viewpoint obscures evidence that almost every society and nation on earth contained mechanisms to support its populace, reduce poverty and encourage beneficial development before the advent of free trade. Serge LeTouche clearly demonstrates the fallacy of Free Trade theory by explaining, “Such unlimited growth, at the rate of 10 percent per year, will lead to 736 times more production within a century. What could that mean, living 736 times better?” (LeTouche 1997:142). Therefore, Free Trade and culture of accumulation it promotes and unrealistic and flawed view even in theory.

Clearly, for all of its supposed success, Free Trade policy presents many contradictions and failures. Free Trade theory collapses under the weight of critical real world observations and from well informed theoretical analysis. The link between free trade and development (an increase in the quality of life) cannot be considered automatic. Instead, free trade has produced uneven cycles of capital accumulation and growth known as creative destruction with serious political, economic and social consequences. Free trade and its emphasis on export based primary products have turned food surplus nations into mal-nourished and less-developed populations. The welfare state and corporate responsibility have declined in the face of free trade adherents who claim such structures to be a barrier to economic progress. Nation-states compete with one another for jobs leading to a devaluing of worker’s right and the environment. Even in theory, free and its subsequent development demands an unsustainable level of accumulation. Therefore, the case against free trade and its putative link to development clearly shows the far-reaching consequences of such a system.

A New Way of Thinking

Crucial to any successful, or perhaps more correctly, relatively successful development program fosters community growth through participation and a more self sustaining growth mechanism as local communities members gain increasing agency to influence change. Micro-development and participatory development do not exclude cultural relevance by placing economics as the central instrumentation of policy. The process of development now takes into effect the relation between domination and resistance allows for greater policy adaptability to increase mutual benefits. A key analyst of the new conception and implementation of development, Mosse reflects, “program success depends upon the active enrollment of supporters including the beneficiaries,” (Mosse 646). Those who the project is intended to help, can help ensure the programs success through active participation and are crucial to correct policy implementation and formulation. Mosse continues, “Success in development depends upon the stabilization of a particular interpretation, a policy model,” (Mosse 646). Thus the manner of new development, the local avoids many of the most pressing concerns of larger development.

Drawing upon the above conceptions, interpretations and problems, I advocate an alternative theory of development stressing above all else self sufficiency whenever possible, connecting the local to the regional, and regional to the national. However, policy goals should be determined at the local level which would determine the level of resource allocation for a particular project. Community orientated projects would encourage the development of a local cadre of leaders, local support networks and initiatives and create broad employment for a variety of sectors. Self-production orientated within communities encourages cultural, political and economic responsibility and does not leave development in the authority of agencies or foreign nations with ulterior biases and motives. Projects advocating conservatory methods multiplied on regional and national levels would have positive implications. Jobs created for recycling programs would reduce a dependence on wasteful domestic production and decrease insistence on non-renewable imports. Such a theory reveals that development can neither be imposed, nor have the cultural and social ramifications ignored. In short, alternative development models mixing a healthy dose of non-hegemonic socialism practiced on the local level would universally raise standards of living while simultaneously breaking down unequal power structures within traditional development models.

In conclusion, the outdated large-scale models lose salience under the weight of sustained critiques dismissing them as necessarily Eurocentric and hardly universal. Geographically divergent small development models attempt to reconcile earlier developmental problems but do not wholly succeed. Therefore, the strategy articulated above provides a coherent, rational alternative to increasingly unrealistic expectations and scenarios.

Works Cited

Bhagwati, Jugdish (2004) In Defense of Globalization (Oxford: Oxford University Press)

Chakrabarty, Dipesh. (2000) Provincializing Europe. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press)

Fabian, Johannes. (1983) Time and the Emerging Other. (New York: Columbia University Press)

 Gidwani, Vinay.  “Cowen and Shenton Lecture Notes from 9.20.2005.”  Global Studies 3302 (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota)

Harvey, David ( ) Production of Spatial Configurations ( )

Ed. Labidi, Imed. (2007) Global Studies 3602: Other Worlds Course Packet. (Minneapolis, MN: Paradigm Press)

Letoche, Serge (1997) Paradoxical Growth. In The Post-Development Reader, ed. Rahnema, Majid, and Victoria Bamtree, pp. 135-142 (London: Led Books)

 Moore, Donald S.  (2000)  “The Crucible of Cultural Politics: Reworking Development in Zimbabwe’s Eastern Highlands.”  American Ethnologist Vol. 26 (Washington D.C.: American Anthropological Asssociation)

 Mosse, David.  (2004)  Is Good Policy Unimplementable?  Reflections of the Ethnography of Aid Policy and Practice.  Development and Change Vol. 35  (London: Blackwell Publishing)

Naomi, Klein (2000) No Logo (New York: Picador)

Povinelli, Elizabeth. (2002). The Cunning of Recognition: Shamed States. (Durham, NC: Duke University Press)

Ray, Debraj.  (1998)  Development Economics.  (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press)

Rodrik, Dani (1997) Has Globalization Gone Too Far? (Washington D.C.: Institute For International Economics)

Shiva, Vadana (2000) Stolen Harvest (New Delhi: RFSTE)

Teaching Reflection

2007-06-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

Matt Altstiel
4/23/07
TESL 3001

Reflection Paper

Over the course of my brief teaching career, several specific situations, particularly my first successful implementation of group work activity stands out in my mind. The concepts taught in class readings, lectures and activities all provided a background and framework to use in actual lesson planning and completion. The group of students I worked with were all Latinos between the age of 18 and roughly 55 or 60 at CLUES in the Powderhorn neighborhood of Minneapolis. As a facilitative type of teacher, I sought to provide guidance but tried to force students to think critically for themselves, especially in small group work. For a variety of reasons, however; the group exercises often frustrated the students and myself. It was not until I switched approaches, applying the techniques learned during class, that students really engaged and acquired the material.

Principles, techniques and In-Class Insights

Class materials and insight provided from the Brown textbook revealed that certain activities I had been using for group work, that is, for groups of 3-4 were really only appropriate for pair work, and vice versa. Longer problem solving activities that required a lot of on spot, creative dialogue often left pairing with nothing to say after only a short time. Course materials led to an understanding that, pair tasks ideally were controlled in structure, short and linguistically simple.[1] This principle of pre-selecting appropriate group techniques rather than simply assigning groups according to random order and attendance resonated deeply with the students. The principal of task selection therefore was crucial to proper implementation.

The typical tasks mentioned under the group task headings also sunk immediately for me as a teacher when we tried each activity as a class and then broke into a modified jigsaw to teach each new activity. Various activities such as: games role-play simulations, interviews, brainstorming, information gap and jigsaw all embodied several important principles of teaching. For example, these activities were fun; effectively lower the affective filter as normally introverted students were no longer nervous to speak within the group. Secondly, the course material was all student derived making the material completely relevant and giving the students a real sense of intrinsically driven motivation. Activities like the Jigsaw modified the difficulty as students first had to complete tasks of differing skill sets and skill levels, and then recount what they had learned to the rest of the group. Therefore, not only did these activities break the monotony of a standard group lesson and overdependence on curriculum based material, they also brought together reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.

Selecting the appropriate tasks is but one facet on effective group exercise planning. I realized that my ineffective or non-existent planning often ruined the chance for success before I even walked into the classroom. During class material, we reviewed important rules for preparation such as “Introducing the technique, justifying the use of small groups, modeling the technique and giving explicit detailed instructions.”[2] All of these rules helped clarify techniques for the students as well as giving the teacher his or her proper methodology for using the techniques. In particular, modeling the technique and giving explicit detailed instructions really stood out to me. When examining reading exercises, Mike Anderson showed how different explicit instructions completely changed the nature of the task and the level of difficulty. The reading exercise employing the summarization and post-reading questioning of an old English text became much easier when accompanied with coherent instructions. Therefore, proper planning and modeling could greatly enhance student understanding of the task and lead to successful and efficient completion.

Another very important preparative rule involved forming groups or pairs of students who would complement each other abilities. This requires a substantial personal investment on the part of the teacher to truly know other student’s personality types, interests, linguistic ability and target language goals. Too often I had simply paired up students who were sitting next to each other not taking into account the vast differences within proficiency levels even though all of my students feel into the CASAS range of 620-650. Furthermore, one particular student could not be prodded into group work and would work on specific task himself even if a technique such as role play mandated multiple student interactions.

While proper planning following the rules of implementing, and choosing proper techniques ensures the possibility for success, proper monitoring during the task also is vital to encouraging learning. The list Brown provided listing a few don’ts gave me insight into several things I had done wrong in the past. For example, I had left class on one particular occasion to grab coffee. When I returned, most of the students had switched groups and speaking Spanish, joking with their friends about the past weekend. While they returned to their previous groups, the level of focus had faded and the task remained essentially uncompleted.

One particular area that I had always positive interacting and engagement from students was the post-activity wrap up as summarized in the techniques of Reporting on task objectives and establishing affective support. Through this post-activity, students gave me valuable insight into what they liked about and activity and what could be changed to increase the effectiveness the next time. Unfortunately, miscalculations in the planning and implementation stages probably affected students’ responses during this informal question and answer session. Our teacher, Mike Anderson always seems to encourage students to report on a specific task as a motivational temperature gauge[3] and logical progression point to begin a new activity or thematic subject.

The Incident

Gaining insight into these techniques, principles and insights armed me with the knowledge to properly plan a lesson and carry it out much differently than in previous weeks. In general, better planning leading up to the sixth teaching week had given me better class participation, increased attendance and more confidence in my abilities. However, my group work teaching epiphany only occurred when I utilized all of the principles I had been taught in class in tandem. The particular situation occurred around 7:30 when I had decided to transition from weekly journal time, (usually a free writing, informal kick back time for students) directly into a section involving apologizing and giving explanations. I remembered the barking dog - neighbor role play that we had used in class and designed an activity accordingly. In this activity, I told the class I was going to them into groups of three, explaining what the technique entailed and how this pragmolinguistic theme occurred on a daily basis.

After explaining the validity of the technique, I effectively modeled it by using my own example (I used to different voices to change characters) and traced the route of the conversation on the bored. I had them think up situations that would occur or already did occur in their every day life and based off their suggestions filled out the blank conversation bubble boxes to provide an outline. Finally, I put together students of differing ability and but similar personality types. Less advanced students were helped by more advanced students, and more introverted students did not have the activity dominated by more talkative students.[4]

I walked around the class careful to monitor students in a non-intrusive, but helpful manner. I avoided my tendency to overcorrect and even when asked would deflect questions through recasting and elicitation techniques. I noticed that the students; well aware of the task at hand, prepared with a class generated list of pertinent vocabulary and comfortable with the group selections really opened up within the exercise as never before. Careful to give the students a one minute warning, I could hear the students naturally change their pace to match the time limitation I had provided. Walking around, I heard students using a command of language they had seldom displayed during whole class exercises and concluded to myself: this is it! This is what I’ve wanted to see out of my class. I knew they could do it.” Students began writing down unfamiliar activity generated words and genuinely were having fun forming creative answers to common situations.

During post-activity wrap up and activity summarization, students seemed abnormally eager to share their opinions and stories from the activity. I no longer felt as if I had to pry information from the students by asking an excessive amount of questions or using gestures. I felt as if the exercise contained the right balance of fun and relevance to provide truly meaningful language acquisition. I began to plan all of my group activities in a similar way within the allotted boxes contained in the High Intermediate classroom binder. As each group activity became easier to teach and involve a higher degree of difficulty, I realized that this particular role play really represented a turning point within my teaching experience. Not merely feeding students information and hoping they digested it, it was if I had taught them to cook and enjoy what they themselves had made.

Connection

Reflecting upon this pedagogical change I realized the direct correlation between research, practice and perfection. In order to facilitate optimal group work results, I first had to learn techniques and see for myself the validity of their theory. This was accomplished through in class practice which familiarized students with ways to effectively introduce new activities. The book and course notes served as a refresher and a great way to compare theory and practice. The combination between learned and acquired knowledge allowed me to create a multi-step, multi-level activity that could reach all students regardless of ability or personality type. In short, the connection between theory and practice is always apparent, the only question is whether you combine these in the correct way.

[1] Brown, 183-184

[2] Brown, 187-188

[3] In class notes

[4] Brown, pg. 189

Sig Ep Hoops for Hearts Concert: A How to Guide

2007-06-06T12:41:00.000-07:00

Hoops for Hearts Concert Guide

By Matt Altstiel, Matt Pryor and Adam Perdue

Introduction

If you are reading this, congrats, you’ve earned the position of Hoops for Hearts Concert manager. This is a demanding position that requires a great deal of personal responsibility. It is up to you to gain funding, pick a venue, assemble a competent team around you, and network with artists. Fortunately, the time frame for this concert from conception to completion has been expanded.

This guide offers some suggestions and options to make this concert a successful event that the community will look forward to every year. The first annual concert (2006) was definitely a learning experience full of failures and successes. While this guide is by no means definitive, it should eliminate some guess work on your part. This guide is ongoing, so if you have any input, feel free to add it upon project completion.

This guide is broken into numerous sections. Part 1 details the type of cabinet you could assemble to help divide tasks and play to individual talents. Part 2 will familiarize you with our sponsors, Camp Heartland and Sigma Phi Epsilon. Part 3 will touch upon obtaining financial backing for the concert. The following section, part 4 will outline venues and provide two different types of venues. The next section, Part 5 will deal with promotional aspects. Part 6 will highlight ways to attract artists to the project and keep them happy. The final section will offer options for the day of the show and relate to special in concert events.

Part 1: Assembling a Cabinet

You were chosen for this position because the house has faith in your planning abilities, and determination to see the project through until the end. This doesn’t mean, however; that you should take on this project alone. Rather than simply asking people to sign up at meeting to help you, you should have a mental list of those individuals who benefit the project the most. The size of your cabinet depends largely upon your individual skill sets. For instance, if you do not know how to write a grant proposal find someone who does for that position.

In terms of cabinet positions, I recommend:

Concert Writer: this person will be in charge of drafting grant proposals, letters to businesses and potential donors, follow up and thank you notes, press releases to various media outlets, and venue proposals.
Technical Support: this person will maintain contact with the bands (or artists) to see what kind of sound, lighting and other technical aspects they require. This person will be in charge of setting up stage, lighting and sound equipment. In 2006, this position was a kind of defacto second in command.
Promotion: This person will be charge of poster distribution, arranging groups to spread the word at least two weeks prior to the event, and printing all concert related material.
MC: If you do not feel qualified to host this event, find someone charismatic to present this event. This person will talk about sponsors and donors, introduce the musical groups, call out raffle winners, and serve as the sweetheart coronation presenter.
Artist: This individual will come up with a concert logo, create the posters for the concert, the basketball tourney, t-shirt designs, the sign up sheet, and the tickets.
Web designer: This person (most likely the VP of Communications) will create a link and separate web page on the Sig Ep website detailing tournament and concert information. I also recommend this person maintains contact lists, mailing and creates the Myspace and Facebook event pages. Finally, this person should set up a paypal account to streamline team, concert and t-shirt payments.

While certain individual, yourself included, may wish to take on additional responsibilities this breakdown should help to maximize cabinet and event efficiency.

Part 2: Know your sponsor

This event is Hoops for Hearts. Our sponsor is Camp Heartland. Camp Heartland is a camp for kids basically 3-18 who are HIV or AIDS positive. Our fundraising allows these children the chance to attend this very unique camp.

Why Camp Heartland? AIDS is a problem in the United States; there are thousands of new diagnosed cases every year. More problematic, is the high number of persons who are not even aware they have the disease. These children were passed the virus by their parents. Nearly one half of all campers have lost one or both of their parents. Many are currently in foster care awaiting a good home through an adoption agency. This camp is one of the only times they can feel “normal” because everyone at camp is in a similar situation. Testimonials given by campers affirm Camp Heartland as a life changing experience.

This camp has a national focus, but it is located right here in Minnesota. Talk to your partner with Camp Heartland, they are an excellent source for information about the organization, event planning, and can give a credible list of financial donors. The Camp Heartland official also will assist you with promotion and raffle prizes.

Part 3: Getting financial backing

Develop a budget. How much do expect to spend on the concert? What is your ticket goal? How many bands, and how much are you willing to pay them? How much do you want to charge for concert and raffle tickets? This is all up to you. Having a set estimate in mind, you will be much more able to determine your goals.

Grant writing is of paramount importance to the success of the Hoops for Hearts events. Without financial backing, Sig Ep will lose money in the event and be forced to use concert and tournament earning to cover costs. The less grant and donor money you receive, the less you can donate to Camp Heartland.

Use any member connections, corporate, familial, or other to obtain funds. I recommend having each member obtain a certain financial pledge, the winner will receive a substantial amount of money off of their spring dues.

Start listing donor organizations and writing grant proposals right away. There is a high amount of rejection, so the more grant proposals you submit, the better. While non-profit organizations are generally strapped for cash, they will direct you to resources pools and help provide additional volunteer infrastructure. Ideally, the concert should raise at least $3,000 worth of grants to cover costs. This will allow for pure profits and more money for Camp Heartland.

Stress to potential donors that there are many ways they can contribute. Offering products, as well as promotions, is a great way to increase event exposure for both parties involved. These promotions, you can use to feed participants, offer during the raffle or use in other ways.

In the past, we have had certain companies sponsor the event to help defray the cost of T-Shirts. T- Shirts are expensive so try to cover this cost as much as possible. Talk to your cabinet and the house about other potential ways to raise money.

Part 4: Concert Venues

You have two major options in terms of concert venues, inside or outside.

Outside Venues: The benefit to an outside venue is usually cost effectiveness. In 2006, Sigma Phi Epsilon was the venue. This provided a wide open space, and generated a substantial walk up crowd. However, outside venues are very weather dependant. If you are going to have an outdoor venue, plan for the worst by buying a tarp to cover the stage and any electrical equipment. You will also need to rent a stage, audio equipment, and hand off a great deal of responsibility to your technical chair. In terms of sound of rental, I recommend EMI over on Johnson Street slightly past the Quarry.
Outdoor venues also require a sound permit, but be aware that sound permits only last until 10 PM. Cops will disrupt the event if it runs past that time limit. Keep in mind that any philanthropy, but especially an outdoor event, is a completely dry event. In the event that this concert does get broken up, penalties will be much more severe if there is alcohol on the premises. Security is also much more important for an outdoor event; make sure you know who is at your show.

Indoor Venues: There are many suitable indoor venues in the immediate Dinkytown area. If you want an indoor venue, there are several additional steps that must be taken. You must write an event proposal, which will be up the venue’s discretion to evaluate. Venues are also slightly more expensive, and will take a cut at the door out of the ticket price. When drafting the concert proposal, you will need to provide them with a cost estimate, sound requirements, the bands (with their concert info) and deliver posters and merchandise in advance.
In return for these expectations, you will receive a concert that is not weather dependant. They will provide the audio equipment, lighting, and a sound technician. Merchandise space will already be set up, as will ticket taking. You will not have to worry about randoms sneaking into the event, or the squatters who sit slightly outside of fencing. It is in the interest of the venue to help promote the event, the more people who show up the better for the venue as well. The Varsity has excellent promotion, and I would list them as my top pick.

Once again consult with the cabinet and the house for any more ideas.

Part 5: Promotion

Have your writer draft an immediate press release for the event. Include all the event specifics: time, place, cause, cost and band listing. Even if a newspaper or magazine does not run an ad for the event, they may include it within their weekly community events section. Radio ads are expensive, but depending on your funding are something to consider.

Set up a Facebook event and invite everyone you know. Remind them with frequent messages. Anything to keep the event fresh in their minds and help the event spread through word of mouth is a good thing. This aspect, as much as anything is the collective responsibility of the house.

Well attended events all have something in common: excellent promotion. If no one knows about the event, no one will show up.

Plaster the campus with promotional posters.
Go into businesses in the three weeks leading up to the show and ask them to display event information.
Hit up the dorms and pass out flyers, particularly in the Superblock.
Non- U of M members should also cover their respective campuses and hype up the event as much as possible.
Seek out non-traditional neighborhoods: Cedar-Riverside, Marcy Holmes, Como Ave, Franklin Ave and St. Paul
Talk to coworkers and even invite family to the concert
Go make sorority and fraternity presentations and distribute event sign ups and drop off tickets. Talk to your lecture or class section at the beginning of class to publicize the event.
Stress that this event will have a raffle and is the SWEETHEART WEEK CORONATION. Sororities will have an extra incentive to go to cheer on their respective candidate. Also, make sure the sweetheart candidates sell tickets to their house. You should expect each candidate to sell about 10-15 tickets each.

Give the artists tickets and offer them a percentage of every ticket they sell. 20% or 1 dollar on every ticket is a fair concession to make. If they have an extra incentive, not only will the hype up the event, but they will play better as well.

Part 6: Getting artists and keeping them happy

One of the major mistakes I made last year was not singing artists to legally binding contracts. If there is no contract, a band can decide to opt of the show, potentially leaving you high and dry come show time. I did not have the complete band set until one day before. Not having your artists locked in before makes promotion, developing promotional materials and obtaining a venue much more difficult. Make sure to include all the specifics, set times and financial obligations on the part of the fraternity.

Be proactive. Get your band list early and continually remind them about the event and their obligation. Ask them what kind of set they want to play. Be very clear with them the length of their set. Last year one particular band played two songs over their set length preventing the headlining from enjoying their full time allowance.

Usually, benefit concerts pay their artists $150 dollars per set. We lucked out last year and did not have to pay them. However, if you want artists to keep coming back and positive word of mouth to spread around the music community, it is best to pay your artists.

What kind of show do you want? In general, it is a good idea to have variety. This satisfies everyone. Make sure your bands are proven live performers because studio recordings can be very deceiving. My formula last year was a chill intro act, a hip hop group, a punk group, another hip group and a jam band. This seemed to work relatively well. However, keep in mind most shows should not extend over three hours. Therefore, I recommend 3-4 bands. Keep the non-headliners around 25-30 minutes and the headliner to about 45 minutes. You will need the rest of the time for your MC to do his segments. A between set DJ is generally a good idea, but it isn’t mandatory.

If you choose to do an outdoor venue, make sure your tech guy talks to the bands to see what kind of equipment they need or what they can bring for the show. Stagger your bands so that those requiring the most equipment will perform later. This way, you won’t have to continually assemble and reassemble band set ups.

Part 7: The Day of the Concert

This is an all house event. Make sure they know that non-participation means fines. An outdoor event requires more participation. Designate certain people to man the merchandise stands. Have people selling extra tournament t-shirts. Have people assist the sound man, or the have a set up crew if it is an outdoor venue. You will be in charge of checking in the bands, making sure all the raffle material is there and ready to be distributed, and keeping your volunteers busy.

Obviously, the conditions and requirements change for each show. By this point, you should have the event mapped out in your head. Visualize the event and how it will flow from artists to MC and back to artist. This event was a lot of fun last year. Enjoy all the effort you have put into the concert, because it really is a reward for Sig Ep.

Conclusion

While this guide is imperfect, it does provide many helpful hints and tips for designing and carrying out a successful concert. This guide should be on going, so feel free to add any input or experiences you have during the concert process. Once again, congratulations on accepting this position and best of luck.

Sincerely,

Matt Altstiel Matt Pryor Adam Perdue

Obra Final de Neruda

2007-05-07T21:19:00.000-07:00

Matt Altstiel
5/6/07
SPAN 3950

Canto General: Obra Final Del Curso

Introducción

En sus propias palabras, dijo Pablo Neruda <Canto General>>.[1] Es su obra más grande, más política y más variado en sus etapas poéticas. Cubre en su inmensidad 15 capítulos diferentes, más que 340 poemas y dura más que 500 páginas. En resumen, es más que un libro, es una obra semanal en la historia de poesía, lo más largo hasta Leaves of Grass por Walt Whitman. Este dichoso libro incorpora la idea de una América plural, y se refleja este dualismo en todas formas. A la misma vez, es un libro de pesimismo y esperanza, de herencia criolla e indígena, de la carga de un viejo pasado y angustia por el presente, de desiertos y selvas, y por fin de materialidad y humanidad. En vez de un Canto General de Chile, Neruda y su enfoque cambio de ser poeta Americano porque el poeta < La raíz indígena se su persona y de su poesía es indiscutible.>>[2] Es una creación concentrada en el individual pero mas amplio por la aldea Latinoamericana, de villanos y héroes, y visto bajo un perspectiva cronista y memorista. Canto General utiliza los estilos de realismo, surrealismo, y sub-realismo a la misma vez.

Este libro, (en la misma manera que Leaves of Grass trata de cubrir todo en su análisis acerca de la personalidad Americana), esta marcado por el homenaje, el calor y poderosa adhesión de su pueblo.[3] En este discurso, intento a analizar su libro en su totalidad y explorar las etapas más importantes con solo cuatro poemas. Ellos manifiesten la alta habilidad de Neruda como poeta. Este libro es el nacimiento de una Neruda diferente. Aunque Residencia en la tierra (con su parte España en el corazón) marcó sus tendencias políticas previamente, Canto General toma la voz de las personas oprimidas y asume alta responsabilidad en la lucha por derechos. Su mentalidad como poeta cambiaba de hogar, llegaba a ser un poeta Americano en vez de ser un poeta Europea u Oriental. Después de su experiencia en Macchu Picchu, que se recapituló en <> nació una consciencia más amplia. Más que un trozo de su alma, según la crítica Fraser, con este libro convertía en una poeta <>[4] Con este esfuerzo personal, leímos en sus estrofas la trama de una lucha inmensa en cada dimensión americano para asegurar los derechos humanos, incluso a los Estados Unidos.[5]

Contexto personal e histórico

Este libro fue escrito en el esconde, en la incertidumbre y entre las poblaciones humildes, los mismos que representaba Neruda en el Senado de la Republica de Chile. Su política tenía sus simpatías con Moscú, pero su visión comunista y socialista venia de las necesidades y deseos Americanos. Se escapó el castigo de la dictadura de Gabriel González Videla; (lo cual se nombró Neruda parte de su cabinete), por un caballo y el apoyo clandestino Chilena. Podemos leer este sentido de urgencia causado por su necesidad para huir por al campo del sur. Según Neruda, <>[6] Entonces, conocía cada profesión y su personalidad, por eso, Neruda podría comentar sobre la humanidad Americana por su experiencia. Su exilio extranjero forzado creía la imagen de una poeta internacional conocido por una influencia sin comparación en su hemisferio. Elucidó Neruda, <>.[7] En el oculto, en la clandestinidad, trasladaba por todos los partes de Chile aprendiendo que es América. Encontraba que es libertad y que es el gran sacrificio poético que implicaba una diligencia tan grande. Algunos criticas maldecían que Canto General es obra puramente propagandista pero no debemos decir que solamente es esto, es una exaltación (de una patria en su exilo) lejana pero central en su corazón. Se refleja Monegal, <>[8]

Análisis del texto

Elegí los cuatro poemas (en mi opinión) más propios para estudiar este texto. <> le da un sentido de lugar, una tradición cultural y histórico; y surge el problema de la materialidad. <> trata a resolver algunas preguntas importantes y refleja su voz poética como sub-realista y surrealista. <> desarrolla su voz política y su oposición frente al capitalismo y neo-colonialismo. Finalmente, <> es una obra personal, pero también universal que se caracteriza el dualismo y variedad inherente en el alma americano.

Amor América (1400): El lugar y herencia compartida

Neruda, abrió Canto General con <>. Con ese poema le da al lector un sentido geográfico y, la verdad que, por esa tierra tenemos un destino colectivo. Es un lugar verdadero, pero metafórico porque aunque caminamos hacia la tierra, también lo guardamos en nuestros corazones. Demarca esta experiencia por una realidad y un surrealismo que sentimos como un sueño. Su uso de sitios tan distintas y variadas como <>, <> y <>[9] implica un conexión firme entres estos diversos lugares. Aunque esta tierra fue bautizado con nombres y cultura Española, Neruda nos dice que somos occidentales, especialmente en nuestros corazones.

Introduce el problema fundamental en ese poema, la materialidad de la existencia humana y naturaleza. En una especie de génesis, describe la tierra como objeto virginal, un paraíso de pura plenitud antes de la conquista.[10] La naturaleza que permite una vida libre es un <>, un balance débil que esta destruido. Entonces, la masa selvática ensucia y la conexión con la tierra esta perdida por siempre. Dice, <>[11] Esta perdida o falta de igualdad frente del materialismo forma una base política de la obra en su totalidad y como la posición comunismo puede arreglar esta situación.

Neruda, como una poeta universal en su popularidad llama una alianza con la gente indígena de América. Por la primera vez, maldice a España (una patria adoptiva para el) por sus actos de colonización y por su complicidad en la destrucción continental.[12] Había una historia, una cultura, y un modo de vida bien desarrollado antes de la llegada. La sangre indígena forma una raíz que conecta cada rincón de América. Aunque podría ser sangre Chibcha, sangre Araucana, sangre Caribe o sangre Zapoteca; es una herencia que distinguen los Americanos.[13] Se apagaron los españoles la lámpara de la cultura indígena que nunca seria igual, pero no mataron por completo, todavía sobrevive. Con ese espíritu indígena, este poema representa una ruptura de estilo personal y de una tradición Europea. Según Jara, el uso de los sentidos que caracterizan la poesía moderna está invirtiendo en este libro.[14] En vez de solamente usar las imágenes visuales, emplea sentidos táctiles como huelen las flores, como soñó el agua y como toca la sangre.

Alturas de Machu Picchu: Su obra semanal y sobresaliente

La primera poema escrita por Canto General, <> también es uno de los poemas más extensivos del libro entero. Neruda siempre recontaba que su experiencia en Macchu Picchu cambió su trayectoria poética, porque buscó algo en América más impresionante que había visto en oriental.[15] Más que esto, su lugar entre cañones y nubes, su escala incomparativa y su sitio tan oculto le daba Canto General un enfoque tan lleno y variado. En otras palabras, <>[16]

En este viaje poético, Neruda asume el papel de una poeta Americano que por final llega a la consciencia indígena e histórico. Aunque este sitio esta vacía, y no puede ver ningún ancestro de esa población, se habla las piedras. No omite nombrar la destrucción final de esa cultura, su cuento que incluya las almas y huesos en las paredes de color azufre. Aunque le dice Neruda, que parece a una torre sumergida, se siente los dolores no pequeños sufridos que sube a la superficie.

En su lenguaje y tono, el lector observa elementos surrealistas y súper-realistas. Es un viaje individual, pero es colectiva y compartida también. Cada parte mantiene una atmósfera de sueño, de una verdad irracional. Por la critica Larrea, en este poema, <>[17] Su personalidad comunitaria y postura comunista aguardaba no pocas afinidades con el surrealismo. Leímos elementos sobrehumanos en sus palabras descriptivas porque este poema <>[18] Con Neruda, seguimos debajo de un nivel demarcatoria de la realidad y de la sub.-realidad.

Toma un tono solemne que <> pero le presta al lector su energía poética. En un lugar tan solitario adquiere el mismo sentido entre los seres humanos, el alma natural produce algo extraño e influya el poeta aun más. El alma natural de los seres humanos frente a los paredes azufres es incambiable, igual aunque el tiempo pasar sin importar a los personas.[19] El cuestiona a las paredes inmóviles y pregunta al lector, y aunque no consigue buscar cada respuesta, es cierto que encuentra algo profundo allí.

La United Fruit Company: La emoción y la política

En su poema <> encontramos su etapa política y su fuerza para denunciar la injusticia. Los negocios Estadounidenses representan las dirigentes capitalistas y las protagonistas neo-coloniales. Su amado América se transforma poéticamente en una fruta virginal que sufre el proceso de decaimiento. Ellos (América en general) están devorando por los intereses Estadounidenses y las dictaduras que les sirven sin importar a sus poblaciones. Nos veamos en sus palabras claras sus ideas políticas y sentimientos poderosos. Este parte de su libro se caracteriza por unos sentidos de desesperación y pesimismo en líneas como <>[20] Neruda critica a los gobiernos que no sirvan su gente y solo enriquecen sus fondos privados.

En su política, encontramos un verdadero socialista y recién miembro del partido comunista; y su puesto informa el discurso social especialmente en este poema. No rechaza los EE.UU. por todo, pero demuestra la ruptura entre los Estados Unidos de Lincoln, y los Estados Unidos que forman las Republicas Bananas. Niega los Estados Unidos en la actualidad, como fuerza negativa que no permite su continente a llegar su destino como predijo Darío antes en plena optimismo con su <>.[21] El opone las relaciones desequilibradas en todas las formas, y para el, la política de los EE.UU. reemplaza la conquista y violación del Reino Imperio Española de nuevo. Según Jara, <> extranjeras.[22] Dentro de este sistema político y económico, los pobres padecen mientras las fuerzas perjuicios sigue robando su materia.

Este poema forma un parte clave de su trayectoria política que incorpora diferentes abusos capitalistas en su crítica ancha. Como ejemplo de una parte mas inmensa en su totalidad leímos <>[23] En su lenguaje poética y en su puesto como miembro del senado, desarrolla una visión de igualdad que trata de asegurar la integridad de la masas pobres. Por sus viajes y por los contactos en su clandestinidad cuando fue perseguido por el gobierno, el llegaba a conocer su América, un lugar todavía llena de promesa pero sumergido debajo de la tiranía de sus lideres. Sus dictaduras, que se personifican como <>[24] hay un problema casi universal en su América. Esta América, con su masa enojado y frustrado, desafortunadamente falta la voluntad para parar la opresión de los intereses extranjeras y prevenir su puesto como sacrifico material en la gran cosecha humana, lo cual es solamente materia para las maquinas del consumo.[25] Aunque sufría la critica de autores y políticas Estadounidenses como un rechazo a los relaciones Pan-Americanos, Neruda no abdicó su postura de oposición.[26]

En esta serie de poemas, se valoriza el argumento de Larrea que frente a su América, Neruda posesa una actitud que es crepuscular.[27] Los lideres dictadores mantenidos por los EE.UU. se identifica con moscas emborrachadas, los pobres ciudadanos con la herencia indio <> y el continente, una <> reservada para esta consumición.[28]

El testamento II: Su individualismo y su esperanza Americana

Neruda sabía muy bien su puesto elevado en el mundo literario, pero también llevaba la carga de ser poeta de los campesinos. Era voz vocifera socialista, pero no es por casualidad que este poema esta contenido en el capitulo titulado <>. Por resultado, este poema es tan personal que universal en su mensaje.[29] Después de 25 anos produciendo su arte poético, piense en su influencia y en la manera que será juzgado por el futuro. Incluya los pronombres, tales como <>, y <>[30] Como respuesta a sus propias criticas y poetas contemporáneos, menciona algunas escritores puramente Americanos para declarar su posición dentro de ese tradición. Con este sentido histórico, le da un regalo personal, un trozo de su alma a su continente, su tierra en que nace. Aspira conmover la gente y animar la imaginación de una generación joven y nueva, que va acercar su mundo con palabras de Neruda.

Casi al opuesto que <>, deja con su pesimismo por un optimismo del futuro, aunque esta llena de incertidumbre. Se escribe, <>[31] Le pone su fe en las nuevas generaciones que ambicionan usar sus poemas como un fuente de inspiración. Les obliga a Neruda a continuar el desarrollo de una literatura solamente Americana, sin los delitos Europeos. Aunque los surrealistas francés y las poetas Españoles de la generación le prestaba gran influencia a su obra, le invoca a sus lectores a ser mártires por sus palabras campesinas.[32]

Le otorga alta importancia a este mensaje porque cree con todo su esfuerzo en el poder de literatura como agente para provocar cambio el orden socio-económico. Según Carson, <>[33] En esta poema, como resumen del capitulo, si entrega de América en <>.[34] Claro, en este, confirmamos la dualidad de poesía y la realidad de América.

Conclusión

Dentro de un contexto personal e histórico sabemos porque Neruda escribió esta obra. Su personalidad fuerte y consciencia amplio sigue informando los temas inmensos y su tipo de lenguaje. Los poemas surgen los elementos más importantes de su poesía durante esta época. Son ejemplos muestra una consciencia recién nacido el su corazón y en su mente. Trata describir lo que hay dentro de su mismo y lo que hay por toda de inmensidad de América. No caber duda que es su obra más larga e influyente.

Fuentes

Aguirre, Margarita. Genio y figura de Pablo Neruda. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Universitaria de Buenos Aires (1964).

Carson, Morris E. Pablo Neruda: Regreso el caminante, aspectos sobresalientes en la obra y la vida de Pablo Neruda. New York, NY: Plaza Mayor (1971).

Jara, Rene. SPAN 3950: La poesia de Pablo Neruda. Minneapolis, MN: The University of Minnesota. Spring 2007.

Jara, Rene. Sociedad y poéticas. Madrid, España: Ediciones del Orto (2005).

Larrea, Juan. Del surrealismo a Machupicchu. México DF: Editorial Muñoz (1967).

Monegal, Emir Rodríguez. Neruda: El viajero inmóvil. Caracas, Venezuela: Monte Ávila Editores (1975).

Neruda, Pablo. Canto General. México DF: Ediciones Océano (1950).

Neruda, Pablo. Confieso que he vivido (Quinta Edición). Barcelona, España: Debolsillo (2006).

Neruda, Pablo. Sus mejores poemas. Santiago de Chile, Chile: Mercurio S.A.P. (2004).

[1] Confieso, pg. 213

[2] Monegal, pg. 190

[3] Monegal, pg. 142

[4] Monegal, pg. 150

[5] Monegal, pg. 197-198

[6] Confieso, pg. 213

[7] Monegal, pg. 184

[8] Monegal, pg 324

[9] Sus mejores poemas, pg. 61-62

[10] Jara, pg. 47

[11] Sus mejores poemas, pg. 61

[12] Monegal, pg. 309

[13] Sus mejores poemas, pg. 61

[14] Jara, pg. 48

[15] Carson, pg. 92

[16] Carson, pg. 92

[17] Larrea, pg. 19

[18] Larrea, pg. 13

[19] Apuntes de clase, Primavera 2007

[20] Canto general, pg. 247

[21] Larrea, pg. 88

[22] Jara, pg. 49

[23] Jara, pg. 55

[24] Canto General, pg. 247

[25] Larrea, pg. 12

[26] Carson, pg. 103

[27] Larrea, pg. 8

[28] Canto General, pg. 246-247

[29] Monegal, pg. 177-178

[30] Canto General, pg. 564

[31] Canto General, pg. 564

[32] Aguirre, pg. 53-54

[33] Carson, pg. 104

[34] Canto General, pg. 564

Historia Cubana

2007-05-04T23:05:00.000-07:00

Una Historia Breve de Cuba

Antes de la Llegada de Colon

Grupos de indios

Guanajatabey
Taíno y Chiboney

La Conquista

1492 - Llegada de Colón
1509 – Primer Mapa de la costa
1511 – Primer intento de conquistar la isla.
1511-1514 – Lucha contra los Taínos.

Llegada de los Esclavos Africanos

España vs. Inglaterra
Después del rebelión de Haití
1820 – Abolió el intercambio de esclavos
Rebeliones
1884 – Por fin abolió
al esclavitud

Las Guerras de Independencia

La Guerra de los Diez Años
La Guerra de ’95
La Guerra entre Espana
y Los E.E.U.U.

Los Presidents

1902 – Controlado por los E.E.U.U.
1902-1906 – Electó a Tomás Estrada Palma
1906-1908 – Control temporario por Charles Magoon
1920-1930’s – La empieza de la partida comunista
1908-1925 – Presidentes que lucho en la guerra de la independencia
1925-1933 – Gerardo Machado
1940-1944, 1952-1959 - Batista
1959-hoy - Castro

Ideas del gobierno Cubana sobre el inmigración

“The Cuban government currently forbids its citizens from leaving or returning to Cuba without first obtaining permission from the government. Unauthorized travel can result in criminal prosecution”

Salir o preparar para salir sin rellenar formalidades legales

= 1 – 3 años en cárcel

Ser alguien quien organiza, prometa, o empieza una salida ilegales

= 2 – 5 años en cárcel

Ser alguien quien organiza, ofrece información, o ayuda salidas ilegales

= 2 – 5 años en cárcel

Una Historia Personal

I came to the US in 1960 via Pan Am Airways, tourist visa, first class. My father was a well-know journalist in Havana that became disillusioned, and vocal about it, when Fidel declared himself a Marxist. He had to leave with only the clothes on his back.

My mother, brother, sister and I followed my father 6 months later after a horrible ordeal. The "guajiros" that Fidel had appointed as bureaucrats refused to make the distinction between my father's status as a persona non-grata and myself, a 10 year old boy with the same name. So I was denied a visa. The issue was resolved when my great-uncle Oscar who had lived 30 years in New York City intervened. When we questioned him later, Oscar told us he fixed it the capitalist way: He bribed the "campesino" with a $100 bill!

My father told Mom to pack light, and leave all the valuables and photos behind; he was willing to bet it all that "Patilla" (the bearded one) wouldn't last a year. That was 46 years ago!

T. Yaniz
Key West, FL

El Futuro

Reconstrucción
Privatización de industrias

(Recuerda las telenovelas)

Intervención de otras países
¿La regresa de inmigrantes?

Emigración y Sociedad de la Nueva Cuba

Datos de Emigracion

-1,5 millones de cubanos viven fuera de la isla, de los cuales 1,3 residen en Estados Unidos. La cifra incluye a los descendientes nacidos en la vecina nación.
Desde 1994 a la fecha, unos 250.000 cubanos emigraron legalmente a Estados Unidos.
Mas que la mitad de los emigrantes Cubanos vivan en la Florida (67%)
En el año fiscal 2003 la Oficina de Intereses de Estados Unidos en La Habana entregó 21.075 visas de salida definitiva.
El 18% de los cubanos en Estados Unidos viven por debajo de la línea de pobreza (menos de 25.000 dólares anuales para una familia de cuatro personas) y el 50% apenas sobre los 30.000 dólares anuales.

Historia de la Emigracion Cubana hacia los EE.UU.

Inmigración fuera de Cuba ha ocurrido siempre en la historia de Cuba, es decir 1898 – hasta ahora
La primera ola fue para escapar la brutalidad de dictaduras (que fueron creado por los EE.UU..)
La cara de inmigración cambio drásticamente después de la revolución de 1959
Antes del triunfo de la revolución vivían en Estados Unidos 125.000 ciudadanos de origen cubano, principalmente en la Florida.

Cifras del Texto

<> (Castro 176-177).
<> (Castro 177-178).

Despues de la Revolucion

Los emigrantes primeros representaron las clases altas y medias. Es decir, esas personas que pudieron perder sus posiciones sociales y económicos.
Ellos fueron incorporada como ciudadanos en los Estados Unidos sin mayor problema. Poco después, ellos organizaron su base política en el sur de la Florida.
1959-1973 representa una primera etapa motivada por las principales transformaciones del proceso revolucionario

Mariel y Emigración 1980-1994

La segunda ocurrió durante los anos ochenta hasta 1994.
El mayor éxodo masivo hacia Estados Unidos se produce en 1980, por el puerto del Mariel. 125.000 personas salieron de Cuba.
El grupo Mariel, y el grupo nueva hubieran sobrevivido la primeras décadas dentro del Comunismo, pero no se acordaron a ese sistema.
Muchos de esas personas fueron empujado por cárceles y son disallusionados con el gobierno del Fidel Castro.
Para esos “Marieles” la oportunidad para vivir su propia vida y experimentar con su propia individualismo fueron factores claves para mudar.
La nueva emigración después de 1985, incluyeron mas estudiantes y trabajadores, pero por la mayoría todavía fueron los pobres.
1980 – 1994, la cual refleja una emigración marcada por la política estaunidense hacia Cuba bajo las administraciones republicanas y por el desgaste de socio político cubano.

1994 hasta Ahora

La tercera oleada de emigrantes ocurrió entre los anos 1994 y 2002. Durante esa época, muchos mudaron ilegalmente por razones mas económicos que nada.
Los problemas con la producción de azúcar y la parada de fuentes soviéticas de inversión dolieron mucho la economía del país.
El gobierno abrió muchos sectores nacionales para apoyar su sobre vivencia.
Los cuerdos Helms – Burton, frustro el gobierno Cubano y necesitó cambios intérnales.
1994 – ahora había marcada dentro de un periodo de <> a partir de la firma de los acuerdos de 1994.

La diáspora mundial

Mas que 200.000 emigrantes Cubanos viven fuera de Cuba y los EE.UU..
La mayoría de esas emigrantes viven países Latino Americanos y Europeos, tales como Argentina, Uruguay y España.
Es legal para viajar y hacer comercio entre Cuba y otros países.
La mayoría de estos emigrantes adoptan los costumbres de su nueva patria, pero en otros casos mantienen su cultura.
Grupos musicales como Orishas, Wiley Bobo, Pitbull y otros muestra la mezcla de culturas, lo original y la nueva.
El numero de Cubano – Europeos están creciendo rapidamenente, especialmente en los centros urbanos mas grandes de España y Francia.

Historia de relaciones entre Cuba e los Estados Unidos

El Comienzo
• Empezaron en los 1830’s cuando el reino de España era especialmente represivo
• Movimiento años 1848-1851 para anexionar la isla a los EEUU
– ofrecieron comprar la isla pero los españoles rehusaron
• La revolución cubana empieza

La Revolucion Cubana
• 1868 revolucionarios reclaman independencia
• El gobierno español continuó oprimir a la gente cubano
• 23 de febrero de 1895 la revolución cubano empezó de nuevo
– José Martí
– General Máximo Gómez y Baez

La Guerra Hispano-Americana
• El barco MAIN fue atacado 18 de febrero de 1898 en el puerto de Habana
• Abril 1898 los EEUU se intervino empezando la guerra hispano-americana

La Republica Cubana
• 10 de diciembre de 1898 trato da la independencia cubana
• Militaría americana gobernó la isla hasta 20 de mayo de 1902
• 1902 republica cubana instituida formalmente

La Constitucion Cubana
• Adoptada 1901
• La enmienda de Platt
– Legislación estadounidense que establece condiciones para intervenir en Cuba
• Desde este enmienda había varias intervenciones
– 1906-1909 ayudó con insurrecciones
– 1912 erradicó fiebre amarillo
– 1917 Cuba entro como aliado en WWI
– Inversiones en la industria cubana

La creciendo Inestabilidad
• 1909 General José Miguel Gómez fue elegido presidente
– Elecciones bajo supervisión de los EE.UU.
– Gobierno corrupta, fracasó
• Dificultades económicas
– EE.UU. domina a finanzas, recursos
• Nov. 1924 Gerardo Machado Y Morales fue eligió presidente
– Trató de instalar programas para adelantar industria de minero, agricultura, y obras públicas
– Condiciones empeoraron
– Tomo control como dictatorio
– 1925 partido socialista fundado
– Base para comunismo
– Periodo de violencia y tensiones sociales
– Revuelta en 1933
– Machado derrocado por un golpe de estado
– Sargento Fulgencio Batista toma el poder

Reforma en las Relaciones
• 1934 EE.UU. Decidió abandonar el poder de intervención de la enmienda de Platt
• Reformó las tarifas para beneficiar a Cuba y la cuota de azúcar

La Cubana Batista
• Sargento Fulgencio Batista gobierna 1933-1959
– Retiró por un rato de 1944-1952 cuando Ramón Gray San Martín asumió el poder, pero en 1952 Batista regresa
• Régimen corrupta y represiva
• 1941 Cuba junta con los alises contra Japon, Alemania y Italia en WWII
• 1953 Fidel Castro fracasa en una revuelta contra el régimen Batista

La Revolucion Cubana
• 1956: Castro y Che Guevara hacen una guerra guerrilla en las montañas de Sierra Maestra
• 1958: Los EE.UU. para de ayudar la militaría cubana
• 1959: Castro delante 9,000 guerrilleros en Havana y sacan el poder de Batista

Historia de relaciones con los EEUU- El régimen de Castro

1960 El gobierno de Castro expropió $1 billones de propiedades estadounidenses
Los EE.UU... Respondió con un embargo comercial
Enero de 1961 Bahía de Cerdos (Bay of Pigs)

En un intento de derrocar el gobierno de Castro los EE.UU... planearon y fundaron una invasión por exiliados cubanos

La crisis del Misiles

16 de octubre de 1962 los EE.UU... descubrieron instalaciones soviéticos de misiles nucleares
Presidente Kennedy anunció un bloqueo naval para prevenir el cargamento de más armas soviéticas a la isla
Por algunos días de negociaciones entre presidente Kennedy y el líder soviético Nikita Khrushchev
Después de 12 días la tensión se rompió
28 de octubre de 1962 Khrushchev consentí desarmar y extraer los misiles

Guantanamo

Los EE.UU... Controla la bahía de Guantánamo bajo una provisión de la guerra hispano-americana
Desde 2001 la bahía de Guantánamo ha servido como un campo de detenido
El cárcel militaría tiene refugiados y combatientes militares
Antes de 1996 los detenidos no eran pretejidos bajo la convención de Génova
Hoy en día hay un mando de la comunidad mundial para cerrar el cárcel por sus tácticos crueles de tortura y detenimiento

El acto Helms-Burton

Colapso de la unión soviética destruyó la economía de Cuba

Muchas personas emigraron del país
Elian Gonzales, etc…

1996 dos aviones civiles fueron derribados porque estaban en espacio cubano de aire.

Estos aviones tenían miembros de “Brothers to the Rescue,” una organización de exiliados cubanos que dedicados a ayudar a otros refugios cubanos

Como resultado el presidente Clinton firmó El acto de Helms-Burton, una legislación que intensificó el embargo tradicional a Cuba y hizo operar negocios y hacer inversiones extranjeros en Cuba más difíciles.

Actitud Acerca de los que Salieron

Era como algunos “han abandonado el país.”
Afecta el escenario cultural en futuro de Cuba.
Si salieron sin permisión, va a ser encarcelados si regresaron.
La cultura de la Diáspora representa la mezcla entre ambos culturas. Después de mucho tiempo, se produce una nueva cultura distinta.
Los dos sabores enriquezcan la cultura original y reflecta nuevas realidades para esos emigrantes.
La cultura de la diáspora es una cultura de la juventud, es decir creado por los jóvenes.

Preguntas?

¿Cuáles son unos eventos que han afectado la relación entre Cuba y las EE.UU...?
¿Cómo siente la comunidad mundial sobre el embargo comercial?
¿Creen ustedes que democracia está al futuro de Cuba?

Fuentes

Casa de Malahato. “Timeline of Cuban History”:http://www.casademalahato.com/articles/timeli ne.htm
Fletcher, Karen. “CUBA: US Employs Weapons of Mass Migration”: http://greenleft.org.au/article.php?id=30315
Mayer,Eric, “History of Cuba”: http://eee.emayzine.com/lectures/HISTOR~.htm

WALKING AROUND

2007-05-04T23:02:00.000-07:00

Matt Altstiel
5/3/07
SPAN 3950

WALKING AROUND Y ENTRADA EN LA MADERA

En <> hay un nivel alto de repetición. El emplea frases como: <> y <> muchas veces para añadir énfasis y animar la acción. Este poema usa una voz activa y una forma muy personal. También, utiliza la forma de conjugación, el presente perfecto la mayoría del tiempo para ilustrar la temporalidad de este poema. El anduvo por las calles mirando todo que podría ver y no le gustaba que veía. Menciona varias veces la muerte, la fragilidad de los cuerpos humanos y el sol intenso del día.
<> es un titulo interesante por un poeta que solamente escribo en español. Porque Eligio un titulo en ingles, aunque pudiera encontrar un titulo bastante bueno en Español? Que significa la frase <> es un poema anarquista también; o sea es un poema de frustración? Pienso que Neruda se castiga la manera de vivir de los ciudadanos urbanos. Ellos viven en la cuidad y por eso rechaza la naturaleza. Como lectores, podemos sentir la maldad que se cubre cada palabra de Neruda. Los sentidos olfatos están bien usados en frases tales como <>, <>, y <>
<> es una poema de alta dificultad para al lector por que es tan abierta en su interpretación poética. Neruda esta describiendo con metáforas la materialidad de las cosas naturales. No es por casualidad que materia, madera y madre tienen la misma raíz fonética. La vida y la muerte son procesos circulares, en la muerte hay creación material, en el nacimiento hay destrucción. Neruda baja los niveles de un árbol encontrando una variedad de especies, y se celebra esta plenitud de materia. Neruda sigue con su metáfora de vitalidad porque entro su árbol durante la noche, el emplazamiento de sueños y creación.

FAREWELL

2007-05-04T22:29:00.000-07:00

Matt Altstiel
5/3/07
SPAN 3950

FAREWELL

1. El poema <> es fundamentalmente un poema de deseo, de pasión y de amor todavía inmaduro. Su titulo se refiere a una despedida de la inocencia y por fin, la joven Neruda, con sus ojos abiertos veían el mundo en su profundidad. Estos poemas del Crepusculario, se escribió durante su adolescencia y transformación a llegar de ser un adulto. El ser humano no podría ser igual después de su primer amor verdadero, que evoca emociones nuevas que nunca ha sufrido antes. Las emociones se intensifican sin razón, y su mente es una tormenta de pensamientos volantes. Un amor verdadero es una consideración de una otra en su alma y claro, enreda más que la amistad y cariño. Podemos decir que amor es el deseo de compartir los espacios mas hundidas del corazón. Después del primer amor, se conocía el mundo debajo de un luz fresco, pero hay que matar la inocencia en el proceso.

2. Aunque Neruda ha logrado esta sapiencia sobre su mundo, su concepto de amor todavía es tierno. El prefiere el amor de los marineros que besan y se reparten por lugares desconocidos. Ellos no tienen que sufrir la angustia de un corazón roto por las olas de un vínculo porque ellos están ausentes. Pero este tipo de amor, porque es un amor de lujo, de deseo sexual y no hay nada debajo de la superficie. Cuando el marinero (un/a amante en general) se va, en el alma vacía solo existía la inquietud y la incertidumbre. El amor juvenil es corto, apasionado, y; se enciende y se apaga como un fuego. Por el otro lado, un amor maduro llena el corazón con unos sentidos profundos de certeza y tranquilidad.

3. Es interesante leer este libro porque fue escrito antes de su estancia y puesto como un viajero mundial. Su mundo pequeño durante esta época se concentraba solamente acerca su país, especialmente la costa austral de su ciudad de nacimiento. Podemos leer su vida solitaria entre las líneas poéticas en cada gota de tinta. Es su libro para decir <>. No es por casualidad que empezábamos nuestra pedagogía de Neruda aquí. Aunque es su libro más lozano e inmaduro, buscamos de originalidad en plenitud.

Listening Comprehension

2007-05-03T22:39:00.002-07:00

Matt Altstiel
5/2/07
TESL 3001

Listening Comprehension

Listening comprehension is a vital language skill without which one can not carry out a conversation, understand any type of auditory media and recall some events. Therefore, Brown outlines many specific related concepts for an interactive model of listening comprehension. The <> involves the brain’s capability for short term memory and image creation. The clustering nature of speech, colloquialisms and redundancies can often interfere with this image creation since certain expressions are often take far too literally. Regardless of the language or the listener, they do have the natural ability to divine the type of speech (lecture, speech, conversation), (Brown 249). Beyond that however, speech acts involved in everyday conversation can be baffling for the listener if they are unaware or unfamiliar with pragmatics and the general speech patterns. While a small feature of my natural speech, I was informed that several expressions I used hindered comprehension. As such as I would say things like <>, <> and <>.

Based on the lesson in class and the guest speaker on this subject I knew I should incorporate speech acts into the lesson plan. Students even mentioned afterwards how helpful that type of instruction had been. For instance, I spent ten minutes sections each class on speech acts which logically build into the original lesson plan like talking to your boss, talking to your son’s/daughter’s teacher and the like. After they understood various ways to apologize and accept/reject those apologies, they were eager to use them. This led naturally to a role play between a employee and their boss in which they apologized for missing work and continued into asking for a couple of days off. The triggers I taught them to listen for that introduced a speech act helped them recall background relevant information consistent with schema building.

Another major problem for students was the difference between intended and perceived meaning. Sarcasm and humor were very hard for students to detect. Therefore, while I did try to make class any less fun or alter the way I taught too much, I did try to eliminate any sarcasm and pragmatically based humor. Instead, I relied more on general humor that students would be more likely to understand and avoided colloquialisms. Some speech acts and clusters are unavoidable, so I learned which occurred most commonly and taught them accordingly. While they may learn them through coincidence, explicit teaching, practice and being mindful of the techniques in Brown can’t hurt.

Pronunciation

2007-05-03T22:39:00.001-07:00

Matt Altstiel
5/2/07
TESL 3001

Pronunciation

Pronunciation can mean success or failure in conveying a message. Unfortunately, many foreigners and immigrants carry the burden of heavy accents which prevent communication or change the meaning of their sentences. Therefore, CLUES attached specific focus onto teaching pronunciation, which a specific sound every week. Similar to the methods they advocate for teaching grammar, (explicitly) each individual sound has its own accompanying worksheets, minimal pair lists and speaking drills. The <> approach does not carry much weight within this program.

Teaching pronunciation has always been one of my strengths considering that the majority of the students retained proper pronunciation for sounds long after the individual lesson. Brown mentions <> as one of the most important factors / barriers. Therefore, some sounds are much more difficult for Latinos to produce, than other ethno-linguistic backgrounds, and vice versa. Certain sounds such as the <> sound do not exist in Spanish and these unique sounds provided singular challenges. Luckily, the students were aware of the sound and their inability to produce it only pushed them to further motivation. At the beginning of each sound I would show through minimal pairs how confusing the sounds hindered meaning and could cause embarrassment. This was consistent with Brown’s principal <>. The clarity of speech became a priority as they saw how it shaped their self-image and language ego.

The most difficult of these sounds was the aforementioned <> sound. Students were inclined to make a b sound instead. To show the difference, I used techniques to clearly illustrate the mouth and lip position. I had students hold their finger up to the lip to see how it vibrated with the V sound and how it did not with the B sound. I had them watch as my front teeth touched my bottom lip when making the V sound, and how my lips moved apart with B sound. Watching me say tongue twisters with the two different sounds from a side position, students could mimic by mouth position. Another thing that helped was making the content distinction that occurred between <> and <>, which caused them to laugh, but it stuck. After 20 minutes of solid practice, students didn’t make the same mistake and were way ahead of students in other sections.

Teaching Writing

2007-05-03T22:38:00.001-07:00

Matt Altstiel
5/2/07
TESL 3001

Teaching Writing

Personal journal entries were one of the writing strategies introduced a long time ago at MLC training. However, they didn’t really go over guidelines for assigning journal entries, time limits or ways to clearly connect reading and writing. When I introduced the concept of writing journals, the students kind of groaned and didn’t seem too into it, but they did put forth some effort. I assigned ten minutes each class period for the students to write about anything they wanted to, essentially free form. I would then give students feedback commenting on both content and form, sure that the students would pick up my subliminal recasts and error correction. While I noticed students noticeably relax when writing, it appeared in their writing it was seen as slack off time since the quality of the writing never really improved.

The class lesson emphasizing teaching writing and also the Brown chapter made some concepts clear to me that I later implemented in the second go around at CLUES. For one, while I provided error correction, I did not provide authentic, non-textbook reading examples frequently enough. Secondly, the reading examples were not geared towards my Latino student body, and therefore not all that interesting or relevant. Thirdly, I did not give them enough time or the idea to brainstorm ideas before writing. Error correction helped, but in the additional journal entries I should have them rewrite their entry correctly as a revision. Fourthly, I did not balance the process and product and like the previous concept, they did not receive composition training. Finally, I did not connect reading and writing well enough. Although it might have made them somewhat self-conscious to show other students their writing, it could have intrinsically motivated them after receiving praise from their peers.

Knowing this, I took cues from the lesson plan and had them initiate a photo-project / story. The idea was to keep it relevant to their cultural background and also to their home in the Twin Cities. Therefore, I had them take pictures or get pictures for the first week and begin writing the second week about their homeland and what they would do there. Using the pictures as a cue and the overarching theme of continuation of the project, students were much more eager to write. Rather than having the average journal length be four sentence, the average length was an almost half a page! Students like the idea of building into something, especially something they can show off to their fellow students and families. This new direction incorporating the above concepts from Brown and from class yielded immediate results.

Grammar Instruction

2007-05-03T22:36:00.000-07:00

Matt Altstiel
5/2/07
TESL 3001

Grammar Instruction

When designing a grammar lesson, it is important as a teacher to know the exact grammar rules and how to go about teaching them. Content can be expanded to incorporate speaking / writing exercises but should stray too far from the original. Grammar can be taught either inductively or deductively, however I have found that more overt grammar teaching (especially at lower levels) has been more effective in my teaching (Brown 365). Therefore, actually teaching the rules and having students generate grammar based content such as relevant spoken or written sentences. This teaching method varies substantially from my own learning style which is much more inductive. I personally hated grammar drills and had a heard time memorizing lengthy drills. However, when I tried more meaning based instruction to teach in keeping with natural language acquisition, students did not really get a communicative feel for the grammar element.

I tried inductive when teaching the future tense and deductive when teaching the past tense, receiving completely different results. In the future tense experiment, I wrote a story on the board telling them what I was going to tomorrow or further in the future. Without overtly explaining that they were learning the future tense, I assumed they would notice how the verbs appeared different for this tense. The example I gave on the board also clearly illustrated multiple forms and contracts that are more commonly associated with future events. Therefore, when compiling their own <> stories I wrongly assumed their form would be correct and they would subconsciously absorb the lesson. However, students continued using present tense form such as <> instead of including indicator like < or the contraction <>. Rather than building intrinsic motivation for the students, their collective inability to grasp the idea of the lesson raised their affective filter.

When teaching the past tense, I tried a very different approach. I announced that we were switching to a grammar based lesson and would specifically practice the past tense. I told them that we would be only discussing regular forms, that is the standard -ed ending. Since the students generally had pronunciation errors resulting from the linguistic concept of overgeneralization (Lightbown and Spada), I gave them a rule on how to pronounce that pesky –ed ending. After students generated past tense words for the three ending sounds (d, t and id) I had students pronounce them again and place each word under the sound heading. Using the words from the board, I had them construct sentences using the past tense. Therefore, even though I overtly told them a rule and spent class time explicitly on grammar, the students had fun and responded. I could see the little light bulb go off here when it had not in my other experiment. In summation, while I learn differently and Brown advocated inductive grammar instruction, the validity of explicit grammar instruction is still very clear.

Islamic Hip Hop: A Bad Rap?

2007-05-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

Islamic Elements in Hip Hop

Getting a Bad Rap?

Why Is This An Issue?

Islamic elements, especially those tied to the Nation of Islam (NOI) and the Five Percenter’s splinter group have always been present in Hip Hop culture.
As Hip Hop incorporates new cultures and locations, many of these new frontiers are encountering Islam as a religion, lifestyle and ethnic identifiers.
Muslim influence in Hip Hop, according to various governments, depending upon its perceived message can be seen as positive (encouraging tolerance and social change,) or negative (encouraging anti-western sentiment and ideology)
According to Suad Abdul Khabeer: Islamic (American, in this case) hip hop artists see their work as serving two particular ends: to preserve the Islamic Identity of Muslim youth and to educate non-Muslims about Islam and Muslims.
Note: these goals are much more apparent by followers of Mainstream Islam.

Why Does This Sound Familiar?

The long list of Muslim MC’s includes: (US) – Mos Def, Everlast, Talib Kweli, Nas, Rakim, Wu-Tang (all), Busta Rhymes, X-Clan, Public Enemy, Gangstarr, Pete Rock and CL Smooth, Mobb Deep, Paris, Ice Cube, Jurassic 5 (all), Digable Planets, The Roots, Jeru the Damaja, Jedi Mind Tricks, Lauryn Hill, (France) IAM, MC Solaar, Khaled, Raz, (UK) Fundamental, Transglobal Underground, Natacha Atlas, Aki Nawaz, (Turkey) Karakan, Cartel, Cezir, Manga

Branches of Islam

In order to understand the messages of Muslim rappers, it is important to be aware of which branch they occupy
Most global, (non-American) rappers follow the more orthodox and internationally recognized Sunni or Shi’ia belief sets.
Many North American rappers adhere to Nation of Islam (NOI) beliefs or those of its Gnostic offshoot, the Five Percenters.

Sunni

The largest traditional Islamic sect, the Sunnis follow the Sunna, or traditional Muslim law as well as the Quran. Sunnis differentiate between Mosque and State, meaning Islamic law shouldn’t necessarily be the law of the land. All races are welcome. Whites rappers Everlast and Paz (JMT) for example, are Sunnis.

Shia

The largest traditional Islamic sect, the Sunnis follow the Sunna, or traditional Muslim law as well as the Quran. Sunnis differentiate between Mosque and State, meaning Islamic law shouldn’t necessarily be the law of the land. All races are welcome. Whites rappers Everlast and Paz (JMT) for example, are Sunnis.

Nation of Islam

Beliefs founded by W.D. Fard in the 1930’s and passed on to Elijah Muhammad, a Chicago – based Black activist in the early 1960’s. Louis Farrakhan, the group’s controversial leader, has made public statements against Jews and Whites. Only Blacks are allowed to be members of this sect.

Five Percenters

With their own Supreme Alphabet and Supreme Mathematics (letters and numbers are given special meaning). Five Percent was founded in 1964 by Clarence 13X, a former NOI member who believed the Black man is God. The faith has probably had more influence on rap than any other Islamic sect. Terms like: Peace, Word, Break It Down, Droppin Science, What up G and Son, are all 5 percenter terminology.

Does the Qu’ran Allow Hip Hop?

Numerous legal Interpretations claim music is Haram, although an equal number claim that music is neutral and is good of bad depending on context.
Some orthodox rappers claim that only positive, faith centered Hip Hop is considered Halal leading it’s rappers to be called message based.
Others such as Native Deen only use bare instrumentals like drum loops to make their music.
Related to the whole Haram v.s. Halal issue is: should Muslim rappers write about Haram subject matter, do endorsements for liquor companies and ally themselves with Mainstream Hip Hop. It’s a sales vs.. spirituality question.

East Vs. West

Among rappers, and within the Hip Hop community, the debate over Islamic influences is fierce.
5 percent and NOI rappers frequently mention typical haram activities and subjects and contribute to the “bling, bitches and gats” stereotypes of the musical genre.
More orthodox Muslims generally shun the excesses of capitalism and of Hip Hop urging greater solidarity between Americans and the global Ummah.
Many accuse NOI and 5 percenters of polluting the faith and changing its message to a polytheistic non-Qu’ranic faith.
NOI and 5 percenters find fault with Sunni and Shia rappers claiming their message is modern and more compatible.

Outside the U.S.

Even more so than their American counterparts, Muslim rappers tend to be more socially critical, more engaging of social movements and more aware of their heritage.
This is mostly because they are Native Muslims, brought up with a long familial history of religious affiliation.
Rappers in the U.K. (Blakstone, Aki Nawaz) the Netherlands, and France have all drawn government censorship because of the potentially incendiary nature of their material.
For many foreign rappers, the Muslim identity is a source of pride, strength and means for them to connect with their audience.
Unlike most American Hip Hop, Hip Hop made by Muslims in Europe is explicitly marketed to Muslims or delivered as a warming to non- Muslims (dirty Kuffar)

The Next Direction

As Islam becomes further entrenched within the American Experience, rappers will be more (and already are) willing to write Islamic centered raps and faith based subject matter. The number and quality of Islamic rap in the U.S. only continues to increase.
Interestingly, many of the so called conscious rappers, for ex: Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common and Black Thought are all Muslim. Lyrics for good or bad tend to be more highly politicized, socially critical than their non-Muslim counterparts.
Interestingly, American Muslim Hip Hop often is taking its clues from foreign rappers orthodox rappers.
Islamic Hip Hop in the U.S. is becoming more Non-African American in nature as immigrant communities become more established.
In addition, Latino Muslims are contributing a great deal to the genre especially through combined Arabic, English and Spanish albums (see M team as an example).

Conclusions

The influence of Orthodox Islam within Hip Hop will only continue to grow.
The central tenants of Islam as expressed through lyrics offer invaluable insight and a thoughtful alternative to “blinged out, mainstream Hip Hop”
Hip Hop with a positive message, regardless of religious affiliation should be lauded and made heard.
While some more political, more radical artists have advocated violent acts and subversive responses, as a musical genre, it remains a source for positive social mobilization and bridge to connect those within the Ummah.

The National and Transnational

2007-05-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

Matt Altstiel
12/10/05
GLOS:3144
Ilona

The National and Transnational

Long the unquestioned unit of governance, the nation state imposes limitations, consistently reproduces inequalities and prevents social justice. Nation states follow a progress narrative which validates certain events, traditions of the cultural majority while simultaneously marginalizing groups lying outside the power structure. However, conceptions of nationalism, nationality and citizenship rights are far from universal. Europe, the United States, and diasporic communities all provide unique examples with unique social, political and economic consequences. This paper examines and challenges existing conceptions of nationalism, nationality, and citizenship. Both positive as well as negative aspects are considered in determining a workable conception that avoids past anachronisms and leads to greater empowerment for all global citizens.

Admittedly a broad generalization, Europe nonetheless embodies a singular conception of nationality and citizenship. In part a defensive strategy to resist forms of cultural and economic imperialism, European nations have strived for cultural preservation. Portrayed as a threat to national sovereignty and cultural purity, cultural change becomes demonized. Gilman explains, “forms of cultural insiderism they (nation states) sanction typically construct the nation as ethnically homogenous” and impose “hermeneutic procedures deployed to make sense of its distinctive cultural content,” (Gilroy 3).Under such a strategy, common cultural markers and institutions become further embedded within the national consciousness. Nationalism under the nation state model becomes one and the same with race and ethnicity.

Such a singular conception of nationality invites a wide variety of socio-political consequences for minority as well majority groups. Typical of the treatment received by many minority groups prevalent in singular nation states, Gilroy reveals, “black history and culture are perceived, like the settlers themselves, as an illegitimate intrusion into a vision of authentic national life, that prior to their arrival was as stable and peaceful as it was ethnically undifferentiated,” (Gilroy 7). Such a value laden conception, necessarily allows certain groups to dominate every public sphere of national life. Therefore, minority groups which do not fit into a national narrative are denied a voice culturally, economically, and politically. A systematic denial of full citizenship predicates an unequal relationship with the state and its apparatuses. However, under such a system minority groups eventually seek to assert differing cultural identity and may do so violently. The denial of cultural recognition and the use of state repression to maintain the status quo recently released a “huge well of fury and resentment among the children of North African and African immigrants in the suburbs of French cities,” (Ghettos Shackle Muslims BBC 10/31/2005). Such outdated and exclusionary conceptions of singular nationality and citizenship only lead to repressive societies.

All nation states do not observe such strict adherence to singular conceptions of culture and allow for a somewhat pluralistic society. The United States which presents the concept of hyphenated or dual identities reveals its own set of problems. The hyphenated identity represents a politically assertive move for cultural empowerment, and a cultural reclamation of ethnic identity. A politically divisive issue, “hyphenated status has been seen as a marker of one’s belonging to two worlds, of one’s hybrid identity, and also criticized as a sign of not belonging to the mainstream culture,” (J. Ling 112). However, the limits of dual consciousness appear through certain markers such as race or ethnicity. In essence, multi-ethnic or racial Americans must make a choice which often results in different treatment by society. By using a hyphenated identity such as “African American” or “Native American” one admits, that by definition, the majority, in this case, the Caucasian represents the “American.”

Especially in pluralistic, liberal societies, the nation state fails to reconcile self-determination and personal freedom against ethnocentric state apparatuses. Furthermore, national recognition of certain hyphenated realities can impose policies to “guarantee the long term survival of a particular cultural community by fixing the identity of new or future citizens,” (Carens 91). Using hyphenated identities allows one to lapse into cultural relativism. Stereotypes as well as cultural expectations associated with certain distinctive groups are taken as givens. Accepting dual identities at face value fails to address differing relations of power and prevents the judgment necessary effect positive social change. Likewise, the hyphenated dual identity carried by many represents a culturally, politically and economically loaded trade off.

Another side to consider when discussing nationality involves diasporic communities at the transnational level. The figure of the refugee clearly shows the limitations of the traditional nation state and citizenship. Often nation states appear unwilling or unable to accommodate refugee populations since they are not legal citizens within their old nation of origin and lack documentation for asylum within their new nation. Without any legal documentation, such populations exist in communities with marginal resources and systematic degradation. Often refugee camps further divide the certainty and privilege of citizenship with the uncertainty and underprivileged of refugee status. Anzaldua explains the precarious relationship with the state, “living in a no-man’s borderland ,caught between being treated as criminals and being able to eat, between resistance and deportation, the illegal refugees are some of the poorest and most exploited of any people,” (Anzaldua 34). While international and internal refugees do place a strain on the nation state, the exclusionary concepts of citizenship and nationalism only serve to exacerbate dire situations.

However, the advent of mass migration and increased communication networks has allowed diasporic populations to reconnect or maintain ties with their ancestral homeland. Important to loosening the hold of cultural nationalism, the embrace of the transnational and global allows one to adequately view the changing nature of national populations. According to Appadurai, “electronic mass mediation and transnational mobilization have broken the monopoly of autonomous nation-states over the project of modernization,” (Appadurai 10). Widespread media allows members of a certain group to maintain linguistic and cultural practices, as well as political ties anywhere on the globe. Thus minority groups within nation-states have repositioned themselves as members of much larger disaporic communities, which hold increased leverage to facilitate change on their own terms. Per Gilroy, the transnational perspective “desires to escape the restrictive bonds of ethnicity, national identification and sometimes even race,” (Gilroy 19). Adopting the transnational discards petty regionalism and helps create cohesive populations capable of mass collective action. Nationalism within the typical nation state seeks to define and exclude populations, while the embrace of the transnational proposes active inclusion and unity.

Rapidly changing demographics have already disproved the logic of singular conceptions of nationalism. Mass media, by the same token challenges the widely held conception of ethnicity and nationalism as an “extension of the primordial idea of kinship, which in turn is biological and genealogical,” (Appadurai 14). Under this new conception, cultural identities can no longer be viewed as fixed and unchanged. Similarly, reality shows that unequal relationships of power and incompatible values create national instability, but “inherent” and “biological” cultural traits do not.

In conclusion, every incarnation of the modern nation state is ill equipped to deal with modern realities such as mass migration and the mass dissemination of information. Singular conceptions of nationality fail to account for cultural difference and homogenize diverse populations. Even pluralistic societies place unfair cultural expectations upon certain groups of people, and perpetuate systems of inequality. An increasingly large worldwide refugee and “illegal” population highlight damaging relationships of privilege and power. Therefore, the transnational society and global citizenship helps avoid the pitfalls of nationalism and instead provides universal empowerment.

Works Cited

Anzaldua, Gloria. Borderlands / La Frontera: The New Mestiza. San Fransisco, CA: Aunt Lute Books, 1987.

Appadurai, Arjum. Modernity At Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1996.

Carens, Joseph H. Culture, Citizenship and Community: A Contextual Exploration of Justice as Evenhandedness. London, Oxford University Press, 2000.

“Ghettos Shackle Muslims.” BBC News. 10.312005. BBC News. 12.09.2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4375910.stm

Gilroy, Paul. The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993.

Ling, Jinqi. Narrating Nationalisms: Ideology and Form in Asian American Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.