Three years ago, our Migrant Education Program (MEP) team began discussing how we could redesign and enhance the delivery of our “Migrant 101” workshop, a program requirement for all MEP partner districts, and thereby one of the most commonly requested trainings from our regionwide district partners.

To us, while the information provided by the training always seemed essential for helping building-level staff establish a baseline knowledge of the Migrant Education Program, its history, current targets and service delivery model, we wanted to do something more, something which converted the encumbering feeling of “required training” into that of a truly exciting learning opportunity. Plus, especially in acknowledgement of its wide reach, we wanted this popular tool for professional development to emulate the selfsame practices that we promote for migrant-inclusive classroom instruction.

Calling upon principles of culturally responsive teaching, Universal Design for Learning & Understanding by Design, we began backwards planning for a workshop that honored our participants as learners and the funds of knowledge they were already bringing into the training space. From that, our “Foundations of Migrant Education | A Gallery Walk” was born and framed by the following Big Idea and Essential Questions:

Big Idea

• This Gallery Walk is an immersive learning experience that draws connections between the history of migrant farmwork in the US and the present-day realities that drive the targets of the Migrant Education Program.

Essential Questions

• EQ1) What is my “place” in this system, and how does it structure my point-of-view as an educator?

• EQ2) How can I work to disrupt or dismantle the inequities in public systems and practices that continue to impact migrant students in my classroom/building?

• EQ3) What examples/narratives of migrant students’ hopes, dreams & values give way to their resilience?

• EQ4) What is the Migrant Education Program, and how can it support my service to migrant students?

To build a workshop that hit on all of the above, we put our heads together and curated an engaging multimedia buffet of informational materials which provided for a mix of independent and collaborative learning opportunities, all while putting participants in the “driver’s seat” and offering as much room as possible for personal and professional connection-making.

In the years since our pilot presentations, our Foundations of Migrant Education Gallery Walk has reached 1,500+ Washington State educators.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this virtual version of the Gallery Walk aims to provide equal opportunity for individual interaction and connection-making as in-person facilitation with physical materials.

Currently, the Virtual Gallery Walk can be delivered synchronously via Zoom or asynchronously via Canvas. All versions of this workshop carry a suggested duration of 90 minutes and the following facilitation elements:

• Stage-setting & workshop overview
• Self-guided exploration of the materials
• Structured individual reflection
• Large-group debrief