Pre-service educators pose after a training workshop, as a part of The Orangeburg County Family Literacy Project (OCFLP) (Second row from right to left) Rashad Myers, Demetrius Green, April Gary, Olivia Culbreth, Maurice Williams, and Ms. Yvonne Mitchell—TESOL coordinator from Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5.  (First row from right to left) LaToya A Glen, Domoneicqua Williams, and Dr. Nan Li, Assistant Professor of Education in the School of Education at Claflin University.

Orangeburg, SC…Ten teacher candidate students from the School of Education at Claflin University are participating in a grant funded pre-service teachers’ project to help the local Hispanic community increase literacy in English.

Dr. Nan Li, Assistant Professor in the School of Education, who is leading the project, said this program is important because of the dramatic increase in Hispanic families who have moved to South Carolina. “Very few adult Hispanic parents speak English and their children have limited language skills. However, many recent Hispanic residents have a strong desire to learn English which would allow them to integrate more successfully into area communities.”

Claflin University’s School of Education pre-service educators first participated in a training workshop to acquire skills in literacy instruction to effectively interact with Hispanic students and their parents. During the workshop students took part in simulated sessions with Spanish speaking students in order to more effectively facilitate real classroom interactions.

The project also aims to prepare teacher candidates to be more supportive as teachers in the classroom where a significant percentage of the student population is Spanish speaking. Upon successful completion of the workshop, students travel to local schools in Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5, where they meet with English Language Learning (ELL) students and their parents who want to improve their literacy in English.

Dr. Tina Marshall-Bradley, Dean of the School of Education and one of the principle investigators in the grant-funded project, said in addition to helping to develop the language skills and literacy of Hispanic residents, this is an opportunity for Claflin University students to support the local community through this valuable contribution. “Service to the community is an integral and important component in encouraging the development of character and civic responsibility in pre-service educators,” Dr. Marshall-Bradley added.

Both Dr. Li and Dr. Marshall-Bradley stated that the project meets not only national and local needs but also supports the university’s strategic plan.  One of the priority goals of Claflin University is to “offer students experiential learning opportunities, to include internships, clinical experiences, service learning and international experience.”  In offering Claflin’s students experiential/service learning opportunities via the project, the School of Education is addressing a key academic objective.