School Based Partnerships
When we began Pinoy Teach in 1996, we knew that it was not enough to develop a new curriculum, but rather the challenge lied in implementing the curriculum in mainstream classrooms. We realized that teachers were already overburdened with the barrage of curriculums presented to them everyday. In order to set ourselves apart from all others, we developed the Pinoy Teach School-Based partnership program which deployed predominantly Filipino American college students to social studies classrooms to teach the curriculum to 7th grade middle school students.
Structure
The School Based Partnership Program relies on the collaboration of three entities: (1) academia; (2) community; (3) public, private, and parochial schools. Each entity plays a crucial role in the conceptualization and implementation of the program.
Community & Academia
The Pinoy Teach School Based Partnership in Seattle Washington was supported in part by the University of Washington and Filipino Youth Activities in the true sense of collaboration between community and academia.
Instructors/ College Students
It was an accredited two-quarter multicultural curriculum and teacher education course that instructed and empowered college students to team teach a multicultural social studies curriculum to youth.
7th Grade Students
Since its inception in 1996, Pinoy Teach was taught to thousands of students in targeted middle schools across the Seattle and Bellevue School District.
Social Studies Teachers
Classroom teachers observed and learned new ethnic content and how to implement a multicultural curriculum
Benefits
There are multiple benefits to the school based partnership program.
- Offers college students service-learning and field-based teaching experiences
- Recruits college students of color into the field of education
- Supplies role models of color to youth
- Provides direct professional development in the classroom for teachers to learn about Filipino history and culture
- Exemplifies a working model of a multicultural curriculum to teachers
© 2004 Pinoy Teach