Opinion
EDITORIAL: Academy is timely, necessary
As the culture becomes more diverse, so must the teachers. Indiana has seen a wave of Hispanic immigration in the past two decades. With Spanish as their native language, they must learn English to be able to communicate and understand their new society.
Anderson University is on the threshold of pioneering a new educational format that will aid teachers of students who don’t have English as their primary language.
An $800,000 federal Department of Education grant will be used for a Professional Development Academy. The goal of the center is to prepare teachers to teach English to people who don’t speak the language, and the mission is to provide instruction that accelerates limited English proficient students, leading to keeping students in school and encouraging their enrollment in colleges and universities.
The importance of this grant cannot be overestimated. It gives a new dimension to Anderson University. U.S. Rep. Mike Pence said this will give graduates of AU better preparation to meet the needs of students lacking in English proficiency.
AU will work with six school districts, the Mexican Consul and the Indiana Department of Education, Division of Language Minority and Migrant Programs. The center is set to open in September to improve the professional development of AU faculty.
We were surprised to hear this was the first academy of its kind in the state. That means such a center was way overdue.
Immigration is a hot-button issue that people have strong opinions about. The fact remains, however, that many immigrants are U.S. citizens who are making new lives in this country. Help from teachers who are specially trained in teaching English as a second language will be beneficial not only to the immigrant population but society as a whole.
The more immigrants learn, the better acclimated they will become with transactions most of us take for granted: banking, insurance and government services.
We know AU will make the most of this grant. It is a university dedicated to producing fully qualified graduates in all fields. We can expect the teachers who graduate from this academy to make an immigrant’s transition to U.S. culture easier.
In the end, what comes out of this academy will unite two cultures and work for the common good of both. AU will be a pioneer in this type of education, and we can’t think of a better university to launch a prototype.
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