Most of the students are working towards entering a skills training program and have some work experience in the U.S. Richard has done a unit on workers' rights in almost every cycle of an intermediate class for the past three years. Most of his students and their spouses work in immigrant industries such as Chinese restaurants, garment shops, and electronics factories. This Curriculum Judy has used this curriculum to orient students to workplace and discrimination issues. Appendix A gives details as to what documents are relevant. Dialogues identify situations students may encounter when showing their documents.
Students identify discrimination and discuss possible responses.
Question and answers about discrimination have helped students understand their rights. Immigrant workers will find the scenarios relevant and familiar. The discussion of the answers brings out important points, including the fact that English language skills can be required for a job only if the tasks cannot be done adequately without it. The students thus learn to tell the difference between situations of language discrimination and those where English is a bona fide job requirement. The Prevocational Skills Training Program has also used portions of this curriculum in the beginning of the cycle in a unit on Multicultural America.