Cancino 1

Yessica Cancino Valdovinos

Professor Ying-Hsuan Lee

Teaching and Learning 301

9/22/2017

Cultural Event

On September 9, 2017, the University of Idaho organized a rally to protest against the

cancelation of DACA. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or better know at DACA is a

program for immigrant teenagers that were brought to the United States as young children. They

have to be older that 15 years old and younger than 31 years old to apply and if accepted it has to

be renewed every two years. DACA gave teenagers social security cards they can use only to get

jobs. They are also referred as “dreamers”. In the last months president Trump has declared to

shut down the program. If this follows thought it will leave thousands of children with only the

dream of a better life. DACA gives them an opportunity to get jobs and financial aid for college.

In the DACA rally there was a few speakers that are “dreamers” themselves, they told their story

and how they will get affected by the cancelation of DACA. There were also other speakers that

were giving information on what steps to follow for those “dreamers”. I went to this specific

event because it is close to my heart. I am a “dreamer”, I was brought to the united states when I

was only three years old. The cancelation of DACA would also have a huge impact in my life.

Thanks to the program I am able to have a job and keep pursuing a higher education. I learned

the next steps I should take as a DACA recipient.

I think that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) rally can be connected

to Abraham Maslow’s theory. Maslow’s thought that there are seven levels or categories of

needs that a person needs in their lives. This pyramid is called Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
 Cancino 2

The first four levels of this pyramid which are physiological needs, safety needs, love and

belongingness, and finally esteem needs are called deficiency needs. The last three levels are

cognitive needs, aesthetic needs, and finally the top of the pyramid is self- actualization.

(Woolfolk, 2016, p 449) DACA recipients fall into the first three levels. Safety needs is a big one

because if the program if cancelled they are at risk to get sent back to the country where they

were born. The don’t feel safe with what is going on. And love and belongingness is another

category they fall in because they may not feel like they belong in the United States because the

president and other people are routing for them to leave the country, they do not feel like they

belong or are loved here.

The DACA rally event is culturally relevant because most of the DACA recipients are

Hispanic and migrated from Mexico. Most immigrant do not know that they are immigrant until

they try to apply for their first job. Students that are immigrant came to the United States very

young and usually only know one language, most of the time that is not English. Being a teacher

where the student is an immigrant means that they are going to learn the English language from

you and the way you teach it. The students can be in your class of English for Speakers of Other

Languages or ESOL. (Woolfolk, 2016, p.187) That’s were most students learn how to speak

English and it may take years to learn but as a teacher you must remain patient and accountable

to the student.

In going to this cultural event, I realized that there are more teenagers like me than I

thought. In the DACA rally there were a few teachers that both organized the rally and attended

and supported the rally. Seeing this showed me that teachers can have a big effect on the students

lives. They provided resources and help for us. I want to be that teacher that students can go to

when they have any kind of problem. There are many students with different background and as
 Cancino 3

a teacher I want to be well aware of the situations that can be affecting my students and provide

them with emotionally, physical, or any kind of help.

 Cancino 4

Reference

Woolfolk, Anita. (2016). Educational Psychology 13 Edition. Ohio, OH: The Ohio State

University