Happy New Year from everyone at English for Action!
In 2017 we resolve to teach, learn, organise and take action harder than ever before.
Some things to look out for:
– More and more people accessing our free, participatory ESOL classes than ever before. We currently have 23 sessions a week and are due to start a further two this month. That’s around 400 students a week and counting.
– ESOL for all! Working with groups such as Action for ESOL, Citizens UK, Natecla and Refugee Action we are going to ramp up the campaign for free, accessible, high-quality ESOL classes for all migrants and refugees who need them.
– Housing! Many of our students are forced to endure horrific housing conditions with chronic overcrowding, damp, infestations, insecure tenancies and even homelessness. With the help of groups such as Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth we are fighting back. We will organise a “housing action” day for ESOL students, teachers and activists in the next couple of months.
– Refugees and migrants welcome! We are working with Citizens UK to demand that London councils agree to accommodate newly arriving Syrian families. We are also supporting the Safe Passage campaign to offer sanctuary to the children who were living in The Jungle in Calais. We really admire the work of HOPE not hate and hope to link up more this year. We are also supporting the excellent campaign Against Borders for Children, who are standing up to the government’s attempts to collect nationality and country of origin data about children in schools. We will be attending Against Borders for Children Conference next Saturday.
– Research! We want to get better at what we do. This year we are working with King’s College London to research the implications of a multi-lingual pedagogy and with the Serpentine Gallery’s Implicated Theatre to examine the potential for theatre (especially Agusto Boal’s forum theatre) and ESOL. We will continue to run teacher training sessions for ESOL teachers and activists across the country. Don’t miss our conference in March (date to be confirmed). The topic this year will be “towards a multi-lingual pedagogy”.
– So much of the mainstream media is hostile to migrants. We need to stand up to this and join campaigns like Stop Funding Hate. We also need to make our own content and have been inspired by new media organisations like Novara Media. This year EFA is going to invest in equipment and skills to make engaging videos and blogs, starting with a promotional vid. Watch this space…..
– Organise! Community organising is in our DNA at English for Action and it is as relevant now than ever before. In 2017, we are going to get out there, connect with new people, make new allies, sustain and nourish our current relationships and build power because that is the only way to create the fair, equal and joyful world we crave.
If you are interested in joining a class, volunteering, supporting a campaign, setting up an ESOL course, setting up a teacher training, attending our conference/training, teaching us something new or donating then comment below or email dermot@efalondon.org.
