Education for Sustainable Democracy

Discussing Immigration in a High School Classroom, with Zorielle Rodriguez-Alcazar (Peekskill High School & University at Albany, SUNY)

Sat, 31 May 2025 23:00:00 -0400

In today’s environment, how should teachers help students understand immigration? How can they create a classroom culture in which students can discuss these kinds of highly sensitive and personal controversial issues? And why is it important that we give students the chance to talk about these issues?

To examine these issues, Brett speaks to Zorielle Rodriguez-Alcazar, a veteran high school teacher at Peekskill High School in Peekskill, New York. Zorielle, who is also a doctoral student in the University at Albany’s School of Education, is a creative and thoughtful veteran social studies educator who gets to know her students well and adjusts the curriculum to engage their interests. In this episode, Zorielle shares her experiences and suggestions for how to develop a positive democratic classroom culture that enables teachers to generate powerful discussions of challenging public issues.

Episode Resources

Immigration Stories Project from U. of Minnesota

Resources for Teaching about Immigration from Learning for Justice

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Guiding Productive Political Discussions, with Diana Hess (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Education for Sustainable Democracy

Discussing Immigration in a High School Classroom, with Zorielle Rodriguez-Alcazar (Peekskill High School & University at Albany, SUNY)

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Best of ESD: Building a Coalition for Civic Education, with Michael Rebell (Teachers College, Columbia University & Democracy Ready New York)

How Did They Feel?: Teaching about Emotions in African-American History, with Brittany Jones (University at Buffalo, SUNY)

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Bridging Political Divides Among Youth, with Mary Hunt and Brett Levy (University at Albany, SUNY)

Best of ESD: Creating Inclusive Environments and Curricula for LGBTQ+ Youth, with Marc Lewis (R.J. Grey Junior High, Acton MA)

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Best of ESD: Democracy Prep Charter Schools, with Rashid Duroseau (Civics Program Director, Democracy Prep Public Schools)

Best of ESD: Teaching Elections & Modeling Political Tolerance, with Wayne Journell (University of North Carolina at Greensboro)

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Lateral Reading & Other Media Literacy Skills, with Sarah McGrew (University of Maryland)

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Creating "Brave Spaces" for Learning, with Dr. Kewsi Burgess (Hackett Middle School, Albany, NY)

Best of ESD: Learning to Care for Our Community Environments, with Dr. Ethan Lowenstein (Eastern Michigan University & Southest Michigan Stewardship Coalition)

Best of ESD: Integrating History and Current Events & Creating an Open Classroom Climate, with Amber Joseph (East Side Community School, NYC)

A Research-Practice Partnership for Civic Education, with Kei Kawashima-Ginsburg (Tufts & CIRCLE) and Mary Ellen Daneels (Illinois Civics Hub)

A High School Course on Public Policy, with Tim Northrop (Saratoga Springs High School, NY)

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Building Skills for Environmental Advocacy, with Dr. A.J. Schneller (Skidmore College)

Facilitating Youth Podcasting, with Gerardo Mancilla (Edgewood College) and Luz Rodriguez Camacho (Dominican University)

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The ABCs of Rich Talk with Children, with Rebecca Rolland (Harvard Graduate School of Education)

Learning about Election Integrity, with Tom Connolly and Brendan Lovullo (NYS Board of Elections) and Meghan Cook (Center for Technology in Government)