Beyond cultural barriers

By Mary Alice Garrett

This story originally appeared July 2, 1992 in The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware.

GREENVILLE — Educator Patricia Gomez Mihalko will introduce some of her proven multiculltural teaching methods at two European conferences in July.

"I sort of feel like an ambassador of goodwill," said the chairwoman of foreign languages and ' bilingual education at Alexis I. du Pont High School. Mihalko, a Fairthorne resident born in Spain, will speak at conferences in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and Ciudad Real, Spain.

The Prague conference will deal with comparative education, and the Ciudad Real conference will be on the 500th anniversary of the unification of Spain. All of modern Spain, except for the region of Navarre, was brought under control of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1492.

Mihalko has selected "The Assimilation of New Immigrants in the United States" as her topic for Prague. Changes in U.S. immigration laws, plus changing international politics and economics in the past 30 years have resulted in more legal and illegal immigrants, Mihalko said. That has had "a tremendous impact on the American school system.”

Currently, more than 17 million immigrants live in the United States, according to a 1989 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

School districts and state and federal governments have been challenged to provide an equitable education for this increasingly diverse population, Mihalko said.

Three factors compound the problem, Mihalko said. Students are diverse ethnically and linguistically. Many are uneducated. And many come from large families, thereby increasing the immigrant student population.

Too often, immigrant assimilation doesn’t occur because of fear of failure, Mihalko said. To combat this, she encourages a sense of self-worth among her non-English-speaking students at Alexis I. du Pont.

Typical are three projects her students completed this past year. They developed a bilingual student guide, wrote and published a voters guide for bilingual parents, and conducted a values survey of 128 families.

The Close Up Foundation, a national organization which encourages citizens participation in government, may use the bilingual student guide as a model, Mihalko said.

Many of Mihalko’s 70 students take part in the Close Up Program for New Americans after school. Participants gain a feeling of belonging. "You’re not really part of a school, or a society for that matter, unless you contribute to it," Mihalko said.

In Spain, Mihalko will speak on "The Spaniard, The American and The Business World — Cultural Contrasts."

"As business becomes global, business is not only going to stay in Europe," she said. "I foresee a lot of business exchange between Spain and the United States. In fact, the Spanish government has established a clearing house in Washington. And that makes me feel very good."

Mihalko noted that the Du Pont Co. will soon open a new plant in Asturias, Spain.

Mihalko said both Spaniards and Americans are inclined "make sweeping statements about nationalists which is very dangerous." Everyone should be "more sensitive to cultural aspects," she said. Mihalko prefers a more humanistic and kinder understanding of all people.

"We should all try to eliminate prejudices," she said.

Next fall, Mihalko’s students will offer workshops on cross-cultural sensitivity for the entire Alexis I. du Pont student body.

The daughter of Spanish educators, Mihalko has lived in France, Spain, Thailand and the United States. She’s a member of the Governor’s Council for Hispanic Affairs and the Governor’s Delaware 2000 Mentoring Committee. She received the Latin American Community Center excellence in teaching Award in 1986. In 1985, she was a finalist for the Red Clay School District Teacher of the Year.

Recently Mihalko has played the role of Queen Isabella of Spain at statewide functions of the Columbus 500 Committee, including the Tall Ships Festival in New Castle.