Student Profile

I have used a collection of video and participant obervations to create a summary of the students who have been a part of the 4 Steps to Citizen project.

All names have been changed to protect the identities of the students

Abdu

Abdu is from the Middle East/Asia area. He suffers from a mental health condition, due to events which happened in his home country. He also has a visual impairment. He has no family here and lives with a foster family. He does not get EMA, but a learning allowance from Social Services.
He rarely comes to the voluntary sessions. When he does, he does not engage with any task. He tries to use a computer at one point, then gives up after two weeks. He tells me that he has problems with his head, and that he needs to see a doctor. I attend meetings with social services to encourage him to attend. He tells me that he only wants to go to the classroom. I find out that he is not literate in his own language.
He is currently studying at Entry 2, and has problems focussing on any text.

Namir

Namir is a young man from North West Africa. He lives with a foster family, has no true family here and has a social worker. He has continuing problems with the home office and is a sporadic attender at the voluntary sessions. He has personal struggles around his life here and relationships with people in general.
He is always in front of the camera with his sunglasses and cool clothes. He loves a bit of attention and enjoys talking to the camera. He always asks me to join him for camera shots and interviews. He helps his colleagues take camera shots if they have trouble using the equipment. He tells me that the best time he has here is when we go outside on activities such as orienteering and woodland management. He asks if I will take him into my home. He wants me to be his foster carer. I feel I need to keep my professional boundaries.
He comes to some of the editing sessions. He does not take part in the sessions but observes. He tells me he has bigger problems and goes into detail about problems in a recent relationship with a girl. He gets on well with many members of the group.
One day he no longer comes to the editing sessions. I find out that he has gone missing. The police ask for information of his whereabouts. I cannot help.

Azzam

Azzam has attended the voluntary sessions, although not consistently. He is from the Middle East, lives in supported housing and has a social worker. He has no family in UK. He does not receive EMA.
Azzam loves to be filmed and likes watching his image played back. He is not so interested in using the equipment. He is a natural actor and likes to pretend he is Tony Montana from Scarface (played by Al Pacino). He tries to mimic him when he is talking. He is extremely interested in all areas of UK culture and on visits to places of interest (local historical buildings) he always asks questions to find out information. He also asks questions in English for his colleagues, who share his first language but are not confident enough in English.
He arrives at the boat house for the kayaking session. He has his gang with him. He encourages them to take part in activities. When he gets into the kayak he tries to show everyone his skills. He makes his classmates get into their kayaks too. He tells his peers what to do on the water.
In the woods he asks more questions about the tasks he needs to carry out. He shows his colleagues the technique for removing invasive plants. He is happy to be in the woods and thanks me for taking him. He uses a fluent but inaccurate language when helping to decide which clips to include in the film. He and I are satisfied by his use of language. He is a low level learner and making quick progress.
He is currently looking for paid employment. He tells me that he misses college and our class.

Ibrahim

Ibrahim is from the Middle East. His English level is very low. He has a stable home life, and lives with his sister and both parents. He comes to some of the voluntary sessions. He tells me that he does not like people who talk too much (in English). He loves being outside in nature and enjoys the field trips and camping. During the camping trip he starts to work with the other students to convey English messages. He discusses how to erect the tents. This is the first time I have seen him communicate clearly. He also brings some homemade food for everyone to share. He likes to talk about this food and wants everyone to eat it. He uses English to persuade his colleagues.
He is nowhere to be seen when it comes to the editing. He refuses to turn up to IT sessions. He says again that the people talk too much and too loudly. I cannot convince him to return to these sessions. He wants to get work experience and I organise a new project for him. He is a painter and decorator in his homeland. He becomes the director of a decoration project in a local community centre. He is happy to control his workers. He is very abrupt in his direction and instructions. He has gentle guidance in how to assign roles politely. He starts to use these new phrases in his new context. His team respond more positively.
He is studying on a part time ESOL programme at Entry 3.

Anicka

Anicka is an Eastern European girl who lives with her family. She struggles with communication in English, although has had a formal education in her home country. She attends every voluntary session. She loves to be a part of the group and participates fully in all areas (rock climbing, outdoor activities, woodland and coastal management, sports). When she started the voluntary class she was not very confident discussing how to solve tasks (except in her own language). In the project she has been a pivotal player. She films her class mates without upsetting them. She carefully asks for their permission before taking a shot. She also shows and tells her classmates how to use the equipment.
She is a willing participant in the talking heads shot with the media crew, and discusses what questions she would like to answer. She is also able to assign herself as the second interviewee through negotiation. During the editing stage she discusses which clips may be suitable. She does this in English with her colleagues. She tells me that she finds the editing process boring. Although she learns many of the basic commands in the new software she consistently whinges “not again!”, when arranging to meet to hone the film and add commentary.
She also attends the public performance. She finds it amusing seeing herself on a big screen, and laughs along with her peers during the performance.
She currently attends a Level 1 IT course at City College Plymouth

Duman

Duman lives here in supported housing. He has no family here and has a social worker. He turns up to class with irregularity. He class teachers continuously complain to me about his attendance. I speak to his social worker and he tells me that Duman has told him that he is attending full time.
I see Duman about three times in the voluntary session. The first session is a team building session. He tries to escape from taking part. He does not want to find out any sort of information from anyone who does not speak his first language. He stays close to those who speak his first language (Sorani). He has no understanding of what the project is about. He keeps telling me that he does not understand. I try to get a more proficient English speaker from his language group to explain. He nods his head and I feel he only half understands.
He attends for two more sessions on local excursions to places of interest. He refuses to speak English when I ask him politely to do so. I do not see him anymore. I tell his social worker of the language problems that he may face if he does not attend the extra voluntary sessions.
His social worker tells me that Rzgar does not find the sessions interesting.
He has no further part to play in the project. I attends meetings and find out that he has experienced lots of racism. He wants to move to another city.
He is currently studying ESOL part time at Entry 2.

Shad

Shad loves attending the voluntary sessions. He has a relatively stable homelife. His father lives with him. He does not have home office problems, as he has been successful in his British citizenship application. He arrived in UK in the back of a lorry. He is excited by the video project. He has used the video camera before and likes to be in control. He always reminds the group to bring the camera along. He likes to take footage of people in strange circumstances. He takes close-ups and starts to annoy some of the participants. Some of the students are rock climbing and are struggling on the bouldering wall. He starts shooting and they react nervously. An incident occurs when some of the girls begin shouting at him. I have to interject and take the camera from him. I give it to another student.
He is so keen to see the footage and plays a major role in the choice of clips. His IT ability is good and has no trouble collecting possible clips into folders, ready for further editing. He finds it hard collaborating with some of the students. There is an instance where he has an argument with one student over the use of the video camera. I feel he is being critical rather than supportive of her filming technique. He looks to me for support and a try to explain that not everyone has had experience using the camera.
He is keen to include himself in the final edit. He is not able to give a talking heads interview due to family commitments elsewhere. He is disappointed that he cannot be a part of the media crew shoot.
He is unable to attend the public performance in the piazza, due to a relocation in the country.
He has continued with his education at his new college.

Hasad

Hasad is from the Middle East, has no family here, has a foster home and is supported by Social Services. His language ability is very low. Although he smiles alot he cannot communicate very well in English. He attended one voluntary session. I seem to have more communication with his social worker than him. He always tells me he will come to the voluntary session, and never shows. His social worker tells me that he does not find these sessions useful. His class tutor tells me the same. I try to explain that it will help improve his English. He says he only wants to go to English classes (with whiteboard and teacher talking at the front).
His current whereabouts is unknown.

Edgaras

Edgaras is from East Africa. He has no family here and lives in supported housing. He has a social worker, but has refugee status and therefore entitled to EMA. He started his Language learning experience with very little confidence and virtually no English.
He soon became an active participant in the video project. He was happy to be filmed, but had less interest in filming. The area that he really made progress in was his language and his IT abilities. He feels at home in front of the computer now, whereas before he had no real idea how to use them. He had some education in Africa but not much. He turns up to the IT session and demands in his cheeky way, to see the footage from the activity the week before. He laughs and calls people over to his screen once it has been uploaded onto his computer.
During the phase of choosing clips to edit Edgaras becomes even more vocal. Although the accuracy is not there yet, he is so confident in getting his opinion heard. In fact he stops everyone else from talking before making his point. He spas up to his African brothers in class and asks them what they want to include in the final piece. They just shrug and he talks for them too. He keeps asking for the clips of him kayaking. He finally finds them and advertises them to his gang.
Kahase attends the public performance. As his image is splattered over the Big Screen he scream with delight. He is jumping around asking his peers if they saw him. He is so proud, he starts shrugging his shoulders and swaying around, walking about with his trousers round his backside.
He is currently studying ESOL fulltime at Entry 3.

Serban

Serban has a stable home life. He is from Eastern Europe and lives with his parents. He was an extremely shy boy when he started at City College Plymouth. He hardly spoke, although he participated in activities. His father has encouraged him to attend fulltime including the voluntary sessions.
Serban loves filming people. He waits for them to face the other way starts shooting and then calls out their name. Many of his subjects are shocked or surprised by this. Eduard just finds it hilarious. He also loves ordering people about when he is filming. He shouts out for people to move in a certain way or hold a pose. He is like a movie director. Being in charge if the camera allows him to assign roles and be a leader of the group. As an actor he is very nervous. He declined to take part in a talking heads interview, right at the last minute, although he supported his peers in their parts.
He is extremely efficient in all areas of IT. He was able to teach his colleagues how to edit video material soon after learning most of the commands himself. He has had considerable experience using Windows Movie Maker. He loves showing people new tricks on the Mac. He gets to the editing sessions early so he can set up some new effects and text. What Serban does in 5 minutes takes most people 30.
He attends the public performance and laughs hysterically at his colleagues’ performance. He currently studies on a Level 2 Media and Games Development course alongside ESOL Level 2.

Michel

Michel joined the participant group a little into the project. She refused to be filmed from day one. If she had been focussed on accidentally, she covered her face up. The whole filming process made her feel so nervous. She did not communicate with anybody in the group, let alone myself.
She attended many of the voluntary sessions, including woodland management, beach cleaning and local history visits. She feels reluctant to be a part of the group. The group and myself are friendly to her, but something else seems to be going on. Other students and staff members remark on her non-participation, although she is present. I develop more task based activities in the mandatory and voluntary sessions. This means she has to communicate with other students to solve problems. One of these problems is the choice of video imagery for the 4 Steps to Citizen film. She begins to help with the process. She sees herself in some of the clips and is adamant that she is not included. She does this through her language use. She is however happy to decide on some clips her classmates are in.
Before the public performance Michel has formed an amazing bond with most members of the class. Before she ostracised herself, but now she shows her ideas and opinions and communicates them through language. She is smiling as the film is shown publicly. She chats with her colleagues about the different captions and the actors. She is at home in the group.
She is currently attending a fulltime ESOL programme at Level 1.

Ahmed

Ahmed is from the Middle East/Asia area. He lives with a foster family and has a social worker and support worker. Ha has no family here. He has many problems relating to his status and the home office.
He attends some of the voluntary sessions. He only attends these if others who speak his first language attend. He takes some footage of trips the class goes on. He is a low level IT use and has attended some of the IT sessions to help with basic editing skills. Most of these sessions are to help him with IT literacy rather that any editing he may do. He becomes angry that he cannot do what he wants to do on the computer. He sees others working faster than him. He tells his class tutor that he does not learn any English in the afternoon sessions, and that people keep talking.
He feels that dealing with his home office problems is more important than his class attendance. He tells me that he does not like it when people talk too much. He is also a low level language user and is amongst many more able students. I hardly see him for the rest of the year.

Mustafa

Mustafa is from the Middle East, has no family here and is supported by social services. He has a very low level of English language. He is a sporadic attendee at the college in mandatory sessions and a virtual non attendee in the voluntary sessions. Sometimes we have short conversations. He tells me things in these conversations. One day he tells me of the journey he undertook overland and finally in the back of a lorry. He says it is very dangerous. He also tells me of his work in his country. He was a shepherd. He best friends were sheep and he was going to be a shepherd all his life until he came here.
He comes to class smiling. He says that his team won in a football match last night. He rarely attends if there is a game on. I ask him why he does not come to the voluntary sessions and the film project. He says that he has an appointment elsewhere.
Three weeks later I see him working in the local carwash. He is 17 but spends most of his days working with other people from his home country. I speak to his social worker who is keen for him to advance his English skills. She has no idea that he is working. He is threatened with the loss of a government learning allowance if he does not attend regularly (including the extra voluntary sessions). This makes no difference to him. He continues working and watches his football team on TV.
He is currently studying ESOL part time at Entry 1.

Halil

Halil is from East Africa and has no family here. He lives in supported housing and has a social worker. He has a very low level of English. He has been encouraged to attend the voluntary session by his class teacher and social worker. He has had lots of home office problems relating to his legal status in UK.
He is extremely shy in front of the camera and is not confident to film anybody. He comes to the class to discuss the content of the footage already shot. It is during this session that he looks quizzically. Even other students who share his first language cannot explain to him what is happening. Halil has not used IT before coming to UK. In the session students are to select between 5 and 10 pieces of footage they think would be fun to edit into the 4 Steps to Citizen film.
Habtou has extreme difficulty with everything. Even using the mouse and clicking is a new experience. He has had at least three IT sessions before and even during these he was very apprehensive. He does not want to take part in this activity. He wants to leave the session. He does not return to the voluntary session. In fact the next I hear is that he has been arrested and taken to a detention centre for deportation.

devrim

He seems to have a group of friends are also speak the same language as him (Kurdish). He always seems jolly and tells me that he wants to learn English. His English is quite good. At least he can communicate with me. I feel that I can rationalise this person. His swagger is cheeky smile and his bright eyes all seem to give the message that he wants to improve his personal situation. He has a social worker and lives in support housing.

I tell him about the voluntary class that is on offer. I tell in the types of activity it includes. He has told me before one point that he wants to learn more about computers, and I tried to negotiate with him the if he becomes the class you will learn more about computers. I never see him attend voluntary session.

I try many many times to convince him to who will be learning about IT and other skills they may be useful if he wants to get into the future educational course or a job of some sort. Most of his peer group either work at local car wash, or in restaurants, or not allowed to work. His English tutor tells me that he could do with some extra classes. I try every time I see him to say that the extra class may benefit him if he was to learn about computers. I speak to social worker on more than one occasion. The social worker tells me that the voluntary class is not necessarily suitable to the needs of someone like Devrim . I ask him why it's not suitable. But he doesn't have an answer.
I tried to speak to this young man and ask him what he wants to see in the afternoon classes. He doesn't have an answer.

Norddin

Norddin is a 16-year-old man from North Africa, who speaks Arabic and French and some basic English. There are many situations that Norddin and I get to speak one-to-one. There is the time that we go to the woods to help litter picking. He smiles and laughs as he is working with the group. It is only when we find ourselves alone that he starts to open up to me. The message he sends me with his face and body language is that of a man who is very low, in fact quite possibly depressed. He tells me of the problems he has been having with his girlfriend. That she has been seeing another man. He is distraught, and overcome with distrust for the culture he finds himself in. He continues to tell me about the problems he has with other people, his housing situation and the home office problems. It looks like he wants to run. He tells me of how he feels so alone and that life is becoming unbearable for him. I know I have professional boundaries and keep to them.
We go rock climbing as a group regularly. He loves this experience and consistently tells me and the other students about his climbing experiences in the high mountain ranges of his home country. He is so agile, and tries to teach the other students how to find good footholes. He also encourages other people in their ascents and gloats when he reaches the top of a difficult wall.
He sometimes tries his hand at filming and loves being both behind and in front of the camera. He attends the voluntary sessions, and has a driving impact at the start of the project. He is keen to tell others how to use the camera and has a persuasive manner. Other students warm to him and he loves to discuss the activities which take place in the woods, the rock climbing and beach cleaning sessions. He does this with a happiness and confidence. He only shows his vulnerabilities to me.
During the editing stages he hardly turns up to sessions. While he is in the session he struggles with the tasks. He is in an alien environment. He tells me that he has had home office problems. I discuss his attendance with his social worker. The information Norddin tells me and the social worker is conflicting. It is during the IT sessions I feel as though I have lost him. I find out from him that he is working. This takes up alot of his time. He fails to attend further sessions, after promising to come.
He attends the public performance, and is so proud that he can be seen by the city he lives in. He cannot believe that he is on show. He thanks me for letting hi be a part of the film project, and takes pictures of the performance space to send to his family.
He currently works fulltime in a local cafe serving customers.

Ema

Ema is from the Middle East and has a stable family life. She is married and has her mum, dad and brothers and sisters living in the same city. She also gets EMA.
She also works part time to help with the family business. She is a regular attender of the voluntary sessions, even during her pregnancy.
At first Ema was not familiar with the relaxed style of the voluntary sessions. She asked many times about what we were learning. She told me she wanted to learn English. She would argue with the content of the sessions. The fact that she was arguing and was trying to get her point across was a positive step towards using language for making decisions and assigning roles. She was one of a few females in the group and quickly began to bond with the other females. She was very adventurous and was happy to take part in all activities.
She does not like to use the video camera, but loves to be filmed. We go to the woods to find out about managing invasive plants. It starts to rain and she screams, running to the tractor cab. She sits in the tractor and asks someone to take a shot of her. She starts laughing and tells the group that she will drive them all back to college in the tractor. Other members start to clamber into the cab. She quickly orders everyone about when it stops raining, including me. She tells people where to go to pick the Himalayan Balsam.
In the editing sessions she is happy asking people to search for video clips. She asks for a particular clip. When her partner shows her what she thinks is the clip she explains in more detail which clip she wants to include. She grows in confidence in her decision making language. These skills take to a volunteering placement working with young children.
She is currently attending an ESOL course at Level 1. She hopes to take a childcare course after this year.

Sonya

Sonya is from Eastern Europe and lives at home with her parents and siblings. She has taken part in all areas of the project. At the beginning she was a reluctant participant. She attended the voluntary sessions because she had nothing else to do and for the EMA. She attended the practice photography shoots that were held. She enjoyed these workshops immensely, stating that she would like to do a course in photography.
During the activities as part of the voluntary sessions, she hardly spoke to anyone. Towards the end of the project she had become proficient in discussing tasks and assigning roles within the project and outside of it.
She doesn’t like to use the video camera, but she asks people to take shots of her in different roles and positions. She feels confident working with the group and encourages other members to participate in activities. During the media crew shoot she negotiates an important role as interviewee. She is a little nervous but is able to put her message across. She is unfazed by other members dropping out of the media crew shoot. We practice some of the questions before and she is confident in her filmed responses.
She is interested in the manipulation of video files and learns how to convert different formats. She is also able to edit and create effects on video imagery using the new software. She enjoys learning the new skills and tries to persuade her peers to attend the editing sessions.
She attends the public performance and is embarrassed by her filmed performance. She finds the ordeal humorous and laughs at most of the film.
She is currently studying GCSE Science and ESOL Level 2.

Recent work

I have found that getting students to film and edit in a 2 hour class much more achievable than having a longer project. Juan, Amelia and Shamal produced an excellenet piece about fair trade in two hours. It is important to recognise that at least one of them has good IT skills.

Another group was able to think of questions to ask the Prime Minister (related around the General election). They then asked these questions and filmed responses from other students and college staff.

It has been so much easier when the students use the flip cams rather than just one handheld digital camera.

Recent work

I have found that getting students to film and edit in a 2 hour class much more achievable than having a longer project. Juan, Amelia and Shamal produced an excellenet piece about fair trade in two hours. It is important to recognise that at least one of them has good IT skills.

Another group was able to think of questions to ask the Prime Minister (related around the General election). They then asked these questions and filmed responses from other students and college staff.

It has been so much easier when the students use the flip cams rather than just one handheld digital camera.

Format issue

So the DVD has been sent to the BBC twice now!!!!!

Now the format cannot be read on PCs in the BBC.

They have no macs which they have access to to watch it!

I feel like it is a struggle to work this way.

I am beginning to think that movie maker is the only way around so many of the issues we have been having.

I know I prefer mac, but windows is becoming the more accessible option for the tasks...............

Revolution

Mustafa looks excited. As I settle down to help him with his coursework, he tells me about the Green Revolution (also known as the flickr revolution). A revolution which is happening in Iran. He explains that the government do not allow any foreign media to enter and report on the atrocities and illegalities which take place daily. He fears for the lives of his family. Someone may come to kill them because they voted for the opposing political party. Mustafa tells me that his friends email him photos of demonstrations and violence towards demonstrators from government supporters. He smiles as he shows me his blog, where he tells the world what happens everyday in Iran. He shows me a picture of him at an anti government demonstration. “I could get killed for this picture”, he says, “but I want the world to know what is going on in my country”

IT divide 2

image by Svadilfari, 2008 @ flickr.com

Serban saunters into the room. He feels so at ease in the IT suite, I sometimes think he is going to set up home there. He glances over his shoulder laughing and points to his screen. “Look” he says as he shows me what he has already achieved. I feel he should be conducting the session himself. He starts to help his neighbour asking him what he wants to do. Serban shows him with a few clicks how to drag a file, add some text, audio and play it back. I sometimes feel inferior to Serban. He speaks in Gigs and chuckles in RAMs. Processor speed is everything to Serban.

Namir slouches into his chair raising and lowering it for comfort. He looks at me with his arms folded. “So what do we do?”
I tell him to switch the computer on and check his email. “What’s my password?”
“ I have no idea. Go and see the assistant outside she should be able to give it to you.” He comes back in 10 minutes later, and turns on the PC.
“What do you want me to do?” I tell him to follow the instructions on the worksheet. “I don’t understand.”
“ Remember what we did last week? We will be working on the same project. It is a simple task, which involves using some images in word and making text boxes and using various fonts.”
He copies everything out as laid out in the same font. “How about using different fonts and sizing like it asks you to do?”
“ What do you mean different fonts?” I start to show him. “Ok Ok I can do that”.
He grabs the mouse but not in a confident way. He starts searching for a way to change the font. He turns and asks me “how do I change this?” As I show him he begins look sullen, like he is an outsider.


Anicka’s beaming smile permeates the room. She bounces in, plonks herself into HER spot. Switches on and off she goes. 15 minutes later I haven’t heard her talk hardly. She has finished the first task, and it looks good. She knows how to use lots of different programmes on the PC. She can’t wait to get her hands on Movie Maker. She skims through the video files and drags some onto the desktop. She is creating an image heavy story. It uses various still images and some of the video footage already taken.

Confidence building

image by springhill 2008 @ flickr.com


It is amazing to see how activities within the group take on a new meaning when being filmed by one of the participants. Rui shouts out “Look over here!” He is holding the video camera and walking towards the group. “What’s the matter with you guys? How are you feeling today?” He saunters past the group making a commentary while filming. Here was a young man who did not speak much, but with the camera has been given a new lease of life. His language has escalated with the role of cameraman.

He is not the only one. There are others who are now more confident. This may be due to respecting their wishes on not being filmed. I still wonder if we can get them on camera. We have let them be who they want to be.

To IT or not to IT

image by luisvilla, August 27, 2006 @flickr.com

Some of the students are having real problems with the home office. In discussions with colleagues this has been having an impact on mental health and consequently attendance. This is now impacting on the learning of new IT skills.

Norddin turns up 1 hour late. “We are working on these tasks Norddin”.
I pick up a handout and put it next to him. “Can you help me?”
“ Serban can help you.”
“ No not with the computer, with the immigration problem?”
He comes to class for the company, for some support, emotionally, psychologically. He turns on the computer checks his email, goes to last FM and then plugs in his headphones. He loves Rai music. “ Listen, this is best singer in Morocco”, and he pushes the headphone in my ear. I am easily distracted with the heady vibes of the music.
“OK, so how are you getting on?”
“ What do I need to do?”
“ Follow the instructions.” Every 10 minutes he calls me over to listen to more music. I admit it is good. He barely gets through the first part of the task. He is struggling to stay in the country. He tells me The Home Office are making problems for him. He gets comfort from listening to his favourite singers. IT skills seem secondary for him right now.

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Quality issue

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The film was dropped of at the BBC. They got back to me asking a ream of questions.

One issue the BIGGEST.....was the quality.....

There were FRINGES around peoples bodies....and this meant ....

at worst BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD!!!!

A few phone calls and an email or two...I started to ease up a bit.

It might be solvable....after all without a big mess.

Avi file this....mov file that...compression.....settings....etc etc etc

All was beginning to make more sense to me....I would have trouble explaining this to the group...so I decided to aproach it with the help of the media experts I had worked with before....

This was a pure production issue.....!