APPLIED SOCIAL STUDIES MICK HAWKINS CULTURE & COMMUNICATION TONY KEATING - TUTOR.

TIA, is located behind a church off the Main road in Tallaght, Dublin. One of the main activities of TIA, takes place at the drop in centre. They are mainly educational, learning English and computers. Most clients bring their children with them. The main room in the centre is an old classroom. It has very high ceilings and wooden floors. The room is quite large, it has maps and photos on the walls. The supervisors name is Kay, she is charming and resourceful. Key lived in Mexico for twenty years, where she built a school and a clinic for poor people. My duties included helping clients to improve their English and computer skills. Also I would chat to clients, answering questions about various aspects of Irish society. There is a small kitchen for preparing meals. Everybody mingled around tables in the big room, sharing lunch together.. I often took the initiative to turn around negative situations, for the better. The first example was when I was to be introduced to my first client, Naheed from Algeria. A volunteer was trying to ask Naheed, in broken French, would she, be ok with a male teacher. Things got confusing when somebody else tried to translate the broken French into Arabic and then translating Naheed's answer back, using broken English. 1

I was just standing there waiting for an outcome. Then I taught, well I am here to get involved and be a part of this organisation. I moved forward to make eye contact with Naheed I then gestured towards an empty table. We both sat down smiling to begin our first lesson. It was a simple solution, that allowed for instant communication between myself and Naheed, without an introduction. Naheed was wearing a Burka that did not cover her face. I asked her where she was from, but she did not understand. I showed her a map of the world and she pointed to her country Algeria. Remembering the name of the national dish of Algeria I said, Cous Cous. This further helped to break the ice. I had a photo-dictionary with me which had a photograph of the dish Cous Cous along with the recipe. One evening I remembered that Naheed liked to go to a Halal restaurant in town, which I knew of. I went there and got a take away menu. I brought this with me the next day. We went over the menu practicing the pronunciation of the different meats and so on. It was very helpful and I learnt that if I included parts of the students culture in the lessons, that they enjoyed themselves more.