Television Dramas Teach About Getting to College
The UAs Office of Early Academic Outreach will be hosting a training session that uses the Spanish-language television drama to teach about the college-going process.
The UA will serve as a training site for an educational program using the television drama format to teach parents about how to get their children prepared for college.
To teach families about the pre-college admissions experience, local schools will be turning to an unexpected resource: the telenovela.
The University of Arizona will serve as a training site next month for a program that will use telenovelas – Spanish-language soap operas – specifically created to teach parents about the college-going process.
Called “Éxito Escolar,” or scholastic success, the program’s segments range between 10 and 40 minutes, following families who are struggling in their attempts to figure out how to get their children through high school and to prepare them for college.
Family and cultural influences, the structure of the education system, admissions testing and paying for college are among the issues the telenovelas explore.
Among the segments, two brothers debate the relevance of higher education while another family deals with the difficulty in finding material in Spanish.
"The telenovela is a user-friendly format in which important college planning messages can be shared with parents who might be intimidated or unfamiliar with the process,” said Lori Tochihara, who directs the UA’s Office of Early Academic Outreach.
“The films tell real-life stories about how families overcame barriers to post-secondary education,” she added.
Tochihara’s office is hosting National Council for Community and Education Partnership representatives who will be on campus March 6 to train teachers, counselors, administrators and other college access professionals
The training will help educators figure out ways to use the telenovelas and the corresponding curriculum in their schools, providing the material to parents and youth.
Planned speakers include Henry Fernandez, USA Funds vice president for government relations, Betty Paugh Ortiz, director for programs and operations at the National Council for Community and Education Partnership, and Marie Hughes, the council's program associate and youth services manager.
"Arizona was selected because it is a key state for all of our work," Paugh Ortiz said.
The session is open to southern Arizona schools participating in Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, or GEAR UP. Registration is required to attend.
The curriculum is geared toward K-12 populations, and schools will be encouraged to build whole events or programs around the telenovelas, Tochihara said. In particular, the program is meant to motivate families who are unfamilar with the education process.
Even though the telenovelas focus on Hispanic families, Tochihara said all families would benefit from such a program and curriculum because "we all face similar barriers."
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- Extra Info |
The training session will be held March 6 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Registration is required, and is open to the southern Arizona GEAR UP partners. Training materials, lunch and parking will be provided. All participants will receive the Éxito Escolar curriculum and a copy of the telenovelas, which are in Spanish with English subtitles.
The event is being held through a collaboration between The University of Arizona and the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships with support from USA Funds.
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