Author Interview Series
Empowering Spanish Speakers:
Answers for Educators, Business People, and Friends of Mexicans
Dr.
Jacqueline Zaleski Mackenzie, PhD., Summerland Monastery, Inc.
PBR: Today we are talking with Dr.
Jacqueline Mackenzie, author of Empowering Spanish Speakers just published by Summerland
Corp. and being distributed by Ingram Book Company, making it available on
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and on her nonprofit website http://www.jacquelinemackenzie.com. Thank you for taking your time to join us and
talk about your book.
JZM: Thank you for reading and reviewing my book. I
am certain you now have a vastly clearer understanding of the reasons Mexican life
is full of underemployment, discrimination, and restricted opportunities for
them to reach their maximum adult potential primarily because they are native
Spanish speakers.
PBR: My first question, or rather a
comment, is how personally impressed I am with your lifestyle of moving in with
your Mexican hosts and living with them for such a long period. Tell us, please, a bit about how this came
about.
JZM: When I left for Central Mexico in 2005, I
already had 35 years experience working beside marginalized Mexican-American
immigrants (immigrants with native roots). My attitude was that I was going to
spend time inside a heritage I respected. The time had come to learn more about
the culture in order to define why for years I had felt so socially accepted
when I was with Mexicans. Ethically, I had to know that anything I published
was accurate. I had to become a part of a small rural community of subsistence
farmers to find valid answers. I simply recorded what I observed, qualitative
data, and analyzed the quantitative data. The new information gave me insight.
Having been a certified teacher and director of a school, I already knew some
of what was misaligned in the management of business and education systems in
the USA. After my investigations in Mexico, I knew what misalignment existed in
both countries related both to Mexican-American immigrants and indigenous
Mexican nationals.
PBR: You have an abundance of
statistical data regarding population, ages, nutrition, and education of the
indigenous Mexican tribes. What trend
stands out the most for you as a wakeup call for us, meaning native
English-speaking Americans, to take heed to?
JZM: What I found were native mothers and children
hungry for both food and access to information. My best friend and translator
traveled into 18 rural villages, several times over a year. We looked at 665
infants, children, and youth. We did not find statistically significant disabilities.
We did find that nearly one-third of the children were malnourished; so were
their parents. We listened as mothers told us that what they wanted, and asked
us to help them acquire, was a means to help themselves.
PBR: From the Internet I have viewed
the website for the Summerland Monastery.
I notice your “book drive” for Spanish and English children’s
books. What are some of the other
programs being done by your organization?
JZM: We
offer free equine therapy and water therapy to children with disabilities;
training local students how to do the same. We open our landlord’s homemade
swimming pool to children or adults to empower themselves by learning how to
swim. We allow access to our library of 3,000 books; about 15% Spanish or
bilingual. We teach English and art regularly. We designed and built a
local community center that was funded and is owned by another Central Mexico
nonprofit. By example, we teach organic farming techniques and other ecological
lessons. In the winter, we assist a Western Mexico nonprofit with a sailing
program for youth. Finally, we host travelers and volunteers from inside and
outside Mexico.
PBR: How did you come about choosing
the main categories of cultural aspects for dissecting into your chapters? Also, how do you define your techniques of
objective analysis?
JZM: I looked
at the basics of the indigenous culture and recorded them straightforwardly.
Then I analyzed the rules and academic materials set into place by public
school administrations in both the USA and Mexico. I found that a miss-match
exists for Native Mexicans. I found, to
quote Representative
John Kline, the chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee,
stated on February 14, 2011:
“Over the last 45 years we have increased our investment in education,
but the return on that investment has failed to improve student achievement.
Throwing more money at our nation’s broken education system ignores reality and
does a disservice to students and taxpayers.”
The logical answer is to make
research-based changes in administrative teaching methods and the materials
being taught, plus to enlighten teachers with research-based cultural
information and techniques to enhance learning.
PBR: Tell us, please, about your itinerary
for your presentation and book tour.
JZM: I will travel by bus and train to colleges, libraries, public school
boards, corporate offices, military bases, union halls, and any other place I
am welcomed. I am flying from my home in
Central Mexico to Seattle right after Easter, then heading south by bus or
train to Portland, Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Tucson. In late
summer, I will travel to Chicago and then south by bus or train to San Antonio
stopping along the way to speak. In the fall, I will begin in Miami, travel by
bus or train north to New York and back to Atlanta stopping both ways to speak
before returning home to Central Mexico. My tour will be based on doing
everything in my power to share the latest scientific research on how to help
marginalized Spanish speakers to learn in academic and work environments
regardless of where they reside. My tour will make the point that in the same
way that non-immigrant Mexican-Americans cannot imagine living without
utilities, rural Mexican nationals cannot imagine living without low-cost public
transportation. I'll be blogging all the way on http://summerland.typepad.com our corporate blog.
PBR: What do you hope to accomplish
with your book tour and speaking engagements and how can people reading this
interview get more involved?
JZM: Quoting Helen Keller, “The highest result of education is tolerance.” My
dream is that months of traveling will result in English speakers learning
about practical alternative techniques to apply when interacting with marginalized
Spanish speakers. A miracle would occur if administrators in public school and
higher education, corporations, agricultural and services businesses, politics,
and the military would take notice of this research.
PBR: Again, thank
you for your time today, and we wish you the most success with your book.
JZM: I thank you for giving me the opportunity to
explain the factors that drove me to write this book.
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