Last week all of our 9th Graders engaged in deep learning. As they participated in our annual Intensive week, they found themselves immersed in experiential learning. Whether traveling to El Paso to the US-Mexico border, or venturing to a Boulder court room, or to the College View neighborhood, students learned first-hand about immigration issues and how they affect people directly. Providing a balanced picture of this complex issue meant hearing from a wide range of voices and from people in a wide range of occupations. The learning outcomes were evident to all of us working with the students and backed up by the comments the students themselves made on the surveys they completed afterwards. Among the many positive testimonials, we received the following:

 

• “What challenged me the most was seeing how warped my perception of immigration was. Speaking with the immigrants, lawyers, judges, and border patrol agents really helped me to see why the topic is so complex and how my previous black and white way of looking at it was completely and utterly incorrect.”
• “I feel like I can begin to apply this to my life in many ways, such as being more understanding towards immigrants and homeless people and learning their stories before making judgements. We also went to City Park on Friday as well, and at the park there was an elderly lady going around and handing out gloves to the homeless. I feel like I could do something similar to help support the homeless community preserve their human rights.” 
• “Before this intensive I had no clue what I thought about immigration. After, I now have a very strong understanding on immigration.”

 

Students were in one of eight groups:

Regardless of the group, students faced some of the same sorts of challenges, including the frequently mentioned emotional challenge of interacting with people whose stories were quite emotional and encountering situations they had not experienced before. There were also specific challenges unique to each experience. The students in the group that traveled to Doull Elementary, for instance, found that one of their biggest challenges was keeping a bunch of 3rd and 4th Graders focused on the task at hand. They also learned how tiring it can be to teach all day! Students who performed direct interviews in other Intensives noted that was a nerve-wracking experience for them, but one that stretched them out of their comfort zones.

 

In all, many overlapping goals were accomplished. We helped students understand the many complexities (and contradictions) of immigration policy and the lived experiences of people who have come to the United States. They met earnest people who represented various points of view. They developed their empathy and built their critical thinking skills. In the process they got to know a new group of students much better and interacted with a new teacher or teachers over the course of the week. They emerged more knowledgeable, more empathetic, transformed in all the ways that come from a true hands-on, experiential program. As one student noted, “I don’t think that I can forget this experience, so I will keep the challenges that we learned in mind as I go about my life.”