teams to complete a research project by preparing a chrono- logical biography of Albert Schweitzer. Journal writing is another technique I use to encourage students to write about different topics and reflect on their own experiences and learning. A teacher can play an important role in helping newcomers
to explore philosophical ideas about one’s connection with their community and the world. They provide students with the opportunity to articulate their own beliefs and values. This program provides students in ESL classes with the unique opportunity to develop a sense of values and ethics by reading about one of the great figures of the twentieth cen- tury. They also use what they have learned about Schweitzer to prepare their own story, reflecting on significant experi- ences that stimulated their own “reverence for life.” Through it all, they are building their vocabulary and writing skills, learning to understand and interpret spoken English, and organizing their own ideas by writing articles and publishing research reports. The altruism of Albert Schweitzer —his empathy and concern for all life, his advice to do some good somewhere,
to make his own self more noble and to do things simply for the privilege of doing them —inspired millions and will help the newcomers find their own ways ”to express inner thankfulness”, and “to act out of inner necessity.”5
New-
comers will acquire knowledge that will empower them to become environmental citizens. This program will give them the opportunity for self-discovery, to demonstrate competency in critical thinking, to express their own feel- ings, and to explore the possibility for their own interaction with the community and with the world around them.
Galina Vakhromova is an internationally trained teacher of German Literature, and German and English languages, who lives in Toronto, Ontario.
Footnotes
1.Schweitzer, Albert, Reverence for Life. New York: Harper & Row, 1969.
2. Marshall G. N. and Poling D., Schweitzer: A Biography. New York: Pillar Book, 1975.
3. Ibid., p.72. 4. Ibid., p.198. 5. Ibid., p.241
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