The City University of New York - Initiative on Immigration and Education (CUNY-IIE) is offering free virtual professional learning opportunities to PreK-12 educators across New York State! Upon successful completion of an immigration and education focused module, educators will earn 15 Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) credits. The modules will include a 1-hour assignment prior to the start of the course (found at the end of the registration form linked below), 7.5 mandatory hours of synchronous sessions (divided between three 2.5 hour sessions), and an additional 6.5 hours of asynchronous small group and independent work. Due to space restrictions, educators can only sign up for one module at this time.
CUNY-IIE is a NYSED funded project that unifies educators, researchers, families and local leaders to learn about, from, and with immigrant communities, to act in ways that center our shared humanity regardless of legal status, and advocate for equitable policies and opportunities.
These modules take a strengths-based perspective (Gándara, 2018) of the resilience, multilingualism, and multiculturalism of immigrant students that prime them for 21st century learning. Whatever your area of certification, grade level, or position, you have the power and opportunity to educate yourself, your colleagues, and your students about current immigration issues. These issues impact the freedoms, fears, hopes, and futures of our students and families, and ultimately, of our nation.
Please note that we can only offer participation to educators working in public K-12 schools in New York State at this time, and that participants can only register for ONE module per academic year.
This virtual module will focus on adopting a translanguaging pedagogy to support immigrant-origin students in PK-12 classrooms. We will learn how to leverage the linguistic and cultural practices that students and their families bring to our learning communities. All educators are encouraged to apply: social workers, paraprofessionals, teachers, school leaders, and others are welcome!
Registration for this course is now closed.
Please check back in January 2025 for new course offerings.
This virtual module will focus on best practices for supporting students of immigrant origin in PK-12 classrooms. We will learn how to identify possible trauma indicators in our learning communities, explore trauma-informed pedagogical practices, and come up with plans to support students and their families. All educators are encouraged to apply: social workers, paraprofessionals, teachers, school leaders, and others are welcome!
Registration for this course is now closed.
Please check back in January 2025 for new course offerings.
This virtual module will help participants understand the realities of refugees and other forced migrant groups in order to facilitate student learning in new educational, cultural, and social settings. The activities and experiences will raise awareness, understanding, empathy, and competence among educators and comprise a step in the journey to better supporting refugee communities.
Registration for this course is now closed.
Please check back in January 2025 for new course offerings.
This virtual module will help educators explore and identify what advocacy can look like in our schools and classrooms, learn how to support immigrant-origin students with college and career access and understand how to support immigrant-origin youth empowerment in and out of schools. Activities will provide opportunities for educators not only to discuss key issues, but also to connect with community stakeholders in order to identify the concrete actions they can take to support students and families.
Registration for this course is now closed.
Please check back in January 2025 for new course offerings.
This module will provide hands-on opportunities for educators to learn about historical and current immigration issues, and how they impact their school community. Participants will explore ways to create a safe and welcoming environment, and to support immigrant students academically, linguistically and socio-emotionally.
Registration for this course is now closed.
Please check back in January 2025 for new course offerings.
This professional development module supports educators in developing stronger relationships with immigrant students and families and collaborating with community-based partners to understand and advocate for their needs. The module also focuses on using children’s literature to discuss current immigration issues in a developmentally appropriate way.
Registration for this course is now closed.
Please check back in January 2025 for new course offerings.
Instructors
Aminata Diop
Aminata Diop, Ph.D. is the Chief of Staff and Director of Administrative Services at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine. She holds a Ph.D. in Urban Education at the CUNY Graduate Center. Her research addresses the intersectionality,...
between culture, language, and social identity of immigrant youth while making visible a group that is often ignored and/or overlooked in school discourse, policies, and education research. Her dissertation focused on immigrant students from African descent, transnational mothering, and integration experiences of transnationalized children to illuminate how the increase of the immigrant population in the U.S. complicates dominant ideologies of nationalism and mainstream perceptions of normal family structures.
Ashley Busone Rodríguez
Ashley Busone Rodriguez is a third grade teacher in an integrated co-teaching classroom at Dos Puentes Elementary School, a dual language school in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. She holds an M.A. in Bilingual Education from The City College of New York...
Prior to teaching third grade, Ashley taught English for Speakers of Other Languages for adults and teenagers in Harlem, Boston, Santiago de Chile, and Morogoro, Tanzania. Ashley has co-authored articles and curricula related to translanguaging, immigration, popular education and indigenous language education.
Sunisa Nuonsy
Sunisa considers herself part of the 1.5 generation of immigrants who were resettled in the U.S. following the Vietnam War. Born in a refugee camp in Thailand to Lao parents, she and her family were resettled in upstate New York...
just after she turned one. Having graduated from New York State public schools, she also lived, attended university, and worked in northern California before returning to the east coast and transitioning to a career as a public school teacher. Sunisa currently teaches 11th and 12th grade English Language Arts at The International High School at Prospect Heights in Brooklyn, a place she considers home as she enters her ninth year at the school. Her interest in language, particularly translanguaging and home languages, has led her to the Graduate Center at CUNY, where she hopes to contribute years of progressive, critical, and transformative educational experiences to the project. In her free time, she enjoys many forms of health and happiness.