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Prepared by Zelda Brooks
Jane Kelley Weitze
Vincennes, Indiana Abstract: In 1987 Tulsa Junior College-Southeast Campus offered, for the first time, a Spanish course at the Ford Glass Plant. Ten workers took the course in order to prepare themselves for possible work for Ford in Mexico and to be able to communicate with Mexicans observing at the Tulsa plant. This article describes the organization, challenges, and continued growth of the program, as well as the attitudes of these non-traditional students. The program is an example of successful cooperation between a union and a junior college for providing educational opportunities desired by factory workers at their place of employment. Key Words: non-traditional students, on-site classes, union educational opportunities, Ford Glass Plant, UAW-Ford, Tulsa Junior College, factory workers, adult students In July 1987, Tulsa Junior College-Southeast Campus began a new experience for its Liberal Arts Division by offering a Spanish course to workers at the Ford Glass Plant in Broken Arrow, a Tulsa suburb. This represented a change from the usual transfer course (SPA 1115) for five hours of college credit to a course for three-hours of college credit (SPA 1103). The Division Chair, Dr. Barbara L. Parker, made the decision to change the credits in order to eliminate the one-hour laboratory requirement of the regular course and to present Spanish in shorter segments for these non-traditional students. The classes took place at the UAW-Ford Education Center on the plant grounds. Ford paid the cost of the course for the salaried workers and the UAW (United Auto Workers) paid the cost for the hourly employees. The UAW provides its membership with an education fund in order to allow the workers to take classes of their own choosing. The UAW then arranges for the desired courses through its Life Education Adviser (Benton). Ford Motor Company offers the same opportunity to its management personnel. Since Ford, at the time, was building a glass factory in northern Mexico and also had just opened one in El Paso, Texas, there was interest among both groups of workers to learn basic Spanish. The workers wanted to learn Spanish in the event that they might be sent to Mexico to help with the start-up of the new plant. They also wanted to be able to communicate with the Mexicans who were sent to Tulsa to learn the operation of a glass plant. The UAW adviser determined that the best time for the class to
be held was before the second shift. Thus, on a very hot day in early July,
class began for ten Ford workers. The first problem was that the students were
not able to get to their work stations on time following class due to the
tremendous size of the facility. An adjustment in the scheduled class time
corrected this situation. The class would still meet for one and one-half hours
every Tuesday and Thursday through early October. The text was to be the same
as the one used for the five-hour course,
¿Cómo se Dice? but covering
the first five chapters rather than the ten chapters as in SPA 1115. We
initially focused on pronunciation, days, months, numbers, greetings, and
present tense conjugations of «ar», «er», and
«ir» verbs. As with most adult students who are not familiar with a
foreign language, the conjugation of verbs was the most difficult concept for
them to learn. Oral drills were a priority. As we progressed through the
course, it became obvious that repetition of phrases was most beneficial to the
students. Once they successfully mastered a set phrase, both in pronunciation
and appropriate usage, they gained greater confidence in their speaking ability
of Spanish. The
A short test followed completion of each chapter of the text. With these non-traditional students there seemed to be more test anxiety, making it desirable to keep the written tests to a minimum. Reflecting my particular interest in Latin American history, discussions of the history and culture of Latin America with the students took place in class. The students were very interested in the traditions and customs of the Mexicans, as well as how those customs differed from our own. The workers were especially interested in the living conditions of their counterparts in Mexico. The presence of Mexican engineers observing the operation of the Tulsa facility enhanced the education of the students by giving them first-hand contact with Spanish-speaking people. Following these contacts the students shared their observations and brought many more questions for discussion. The effort and enthusiasm of the students was nothing short of amazing. They would come to class even on their day off or while on vacation. One student who said «Bonus nachos», at the beginning of our sixteen-week class, by the end of the semester, was very proud of himself for saying, «Buenas noches» correctly. He had not missed one class session! The tenacity and zeal of the Ford students far exceeded those of my regular class of traditional students on the college campus. Teaching non-traditional students presents different challenges when compared to traditional students at the community college level, but there are also many rewarding experiences for the instructor which differ from those of the typical classroom. When teaching a course off-campus, the instructor must be flexible in dealing with problems which arise, such as time of class, and then resolve the problems as quickly as possible. The non-traditional student is more likely to drop out of class if there is any interference with his or her work schedule. The instructor must keep in mind that the worker-students may not have the same academic qualifications and study skills as the regular students who attend classes on campus. However, they bring abundant life experiences to the classroom along with great insight into human behavior. They are more adept at hands-on learning experiences than traditional students on campus. Building confidence in workers who study Spanish and their ability to learn helps reduce their anxiety over tests and fears of failure. When they feel that the prescribed material and extra assignments are worthwhile, they will then spend the necessary time in study for the class. Their perception of education is not just the learning of material to pass a test. This first class of Spanish was followed in the spring semester of 1988 by two classes of conversational Spanish. The liberal Arts Division later offered a speech class at the glass plant. The association between UAW-Ford and Tulsa Junior College was so successful that, beginning in January 1993, the college will provide four full-time instructors at UAW-Ford to teach the Skills Enhancement Program (non-credit classes) in a variety of areas. Spanish is being taught in the fall of 1992 and will be followed by another Spanish course in the spring of 1993. UAW-Ford has indicate that it would like to have Tulsa Junior College provide a complete general Associate Degree program at the Ford Glass Plant (Benton). Thus, from the teaching of one foreign language course at a factory site, there has developed the successful cooperation between a union and a junior college for providing educational opportunities desired by the factory workers at their place of employment. WORKS CITED
Benton, David S., Dean of Instruction, Tulsa Junior College, Southeast Campus. Telephone interview. 2 Nov. 1992. 
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