Youth Empowering Parents

TESL Toronto is a volunteer-run, non-profit organization representing educators and specialists in the fields of English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The Youth Empowering Parents (YEP) team found that free ESL classrooms which exist within inner-city neighborhoods such as Regent Park, Toronto are currently structured in a way where one ESL instructor teaches multiple parents at the same time. This standardized approach produces certain barriers to learning when one parent feels the classroom is going too fast, whilst another parent feels the classroom is going too slow. The alternative approach for immigrant parents may be to seek out private one-on-one tutoring. These sessions are typically customized for the individual and have proven to be extremely effective; however, they are very costly – ranging anywhere from $20-$50 per hour.

With the YEP approach, we have one trained ESL instructor teach multiple youths at the same time, who in return provide one-on-one tutoring to their respective parent/guardian. Based on our primary research observation, we found this dynamic already existing between many immigrant parents and children at home. We want to take what occurs naturally at home, and create a formalized program where progress can be tracked and rewarded. Essentially, the YEP program takes the existing model of one instructor to many immigrant parents and adds an intermediary (the youth) for an enhanced learning process. And by doing so, we provide all the added-benefits of private tutoring, without the heavy costs.

Some of the benefits include:

• One-on-one tutoring for FREE;
• Parents can learn in their native language;
• Youth can get volunteer hours and financial rewards;
• Strengthens parent-child dynamics;
• Develops skills that lead to better jobs;
• A comfortable learning environment.

The first 13-week program, run out of the Regent Park Centre of Learning on Dundas St., Toronto, Canada, wrapped up a pilot session in December 2010. The second semester began on February 5, 2011.

For more information, contact the YEP team at: yepeducation@gmail.com