By: isabel gentil garcía

This manuscript has been peer-reviewed, accepted, and endorsed by the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) as a significant contribution to the scholarship and practice of education administration. In addition to publication in the Connexions Content Commons, this module is published in the International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation , Volume 5, Number 1 (January – March 2010). Formatted and edited in Connexions by Julia Stanka, Texas A&M University.

Immigrants in a municipality near madrid: the teaching of spanish and health education

Isabel Gentil García

This work is part of my experience as a voluntary professor of Spanish and Health Education for immigrants in a Center of ASTI (Asociación Solidaridad Trabajadores Inmigrantes) in Majadahonda, a village located 15 kilometers from Madrid. Many middle class, single-family homes occupy this area, which creates a strong demand for immigrants as domestic and construction workers, gardeners, and handymen.

The immigrants who go to the Center are the neediest; as a student said to me: "those that have work, those that have documents, and those that have money do not go to the Center.” That is to say, immigrants whose situation is more precarious, more vulnerable are the ones that go, like men and women of Morocco, China, countries of East Europe, and Brazil. But the flows of immigrants are very dynamic and the socio-demographic profile changes continuously. To a certain degree, an emitting country may “facilitate” emigration by using subliminal tactics, encouraging the members of its low socio-economic stratus to leave: their departure reduces that country’s internal tensions, which in turn benefits its economy. On the other hand, the receiving country leaves the borders permeable to people without legal documentation, as some profit greatly from the arrival of these immigrants, who serve as the basis of a submerged economy.

Everyone understands that learning Spanish is necessary to find a job, but the perception of how much of the language must be acquired differs. Some only find it necessary to learn a minimal knowledge of the language, purely for the sake of survival. Others perceive the necessity of learning greater levels of Spanish in order to incorporate into society, and others seek a still greater level to be able to participate in society. To an immigrant, the ignorance of the host country’s language creates an obstacle for not only communicating, but more importantly, for finding a job. If the immigrant does not dominate their host country’s language, they cannot employ that language as an instrument for communication.