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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (April 23, 1997)
Wednesday, April 23, 1997 Visitors from U.K. enjoy visit John Harvey Sheffield, England Fulbright exchange family enjoys America Laney Fouse Editor-in-Chief ohn Harvey, retired dean of students, Sheffield College, was instrumental in the partnership for the Fulbright Ex Imagine for a change program with Clackamas. moment you’ve been asked to pack up your family and move several thousand miles Andy Tickner away from Isle of Wight College home to live in ndy Tickner is Student Liai- someone else’s on Officer at the Isle of Wight Col house and work lege, located on the south coast of En at their job. gland. “I wish we had another week or two. For the past We’ve had such a busy schedule. I think seven months it will take me a week to go home and this is exactly sort this all out. The first week was a whirlwind. I think what Ged I’m just now settling in. But we’ve got jobs to go back to Desforges, his and desks with piles of work waiting for us,” Tickner said. wife Jan and J A daughters Nancy and Peggy have ’his is the tenth visit to the U.S. done. or Lynda Dix, manager of student Desforges and JOEL CORESON / Clackamas Print services at Neath College in Neath, his wife Jan are Wales. part of the Ged Desforges is a Fulbright Exchange “ It has been a wonderful ex Fulbright ex administrator from Sheffield College in England. perience for me because I never spent change pro Des forges exchanged positions with Debbie time with a family,” said Dix, “it’s al gram con Baker, continuing education director for ways been as a tourist. What I love about this college ducted between Clackamas. [Clackamas] is that student’s are really number one. I have Clackamas and it’s never really affected me,” really enjoyed my stay and I would really love to come Sheffield College in England. back.” DesforgeSi who exchanged posi Desforges said. Lynda Dix Neath College T tions with Debbie Baker, is the di rector of continuing education at the Harmony Center. His wife Jan, who did research in parallel com puting, is sharing her expertise in ohn Fontaine, head of student ser the instrumentation of Datatel into vices, had some rather interesting student services at Clackamas. events happen to him during his first “There are some things about visit to the States. going home that I’m looking for "This was my first experience with ward to. But I really like it here U.S. public transport. It took me 20 minutes to work out and I really enjoy it here. I like the route, the timetable and where to put the money in. I the people, ! like the country, I like put in a folded dollar bill that didn't work and I had to find the work and I like the college,” another one and find the right ticket validation. I got on the said Desforges. Max and it went one stop. Then there was an announce Even though his homeland is ment that this was where it was terminated because of road several thousand miles away, he work in downtown Portland." does not feel homesick. Despite this, Fontaine is looking forward to returning to “I’m not desperate to get back. Oregon on a home exchange sometime in 1998. Most ofjhe ties I have are move able ones. People come to see me Ian Yarrell here. My brother and my sister Mid Cheshire College have come to see me and that’s quite nice,” said Desforges. an Yarrell, student services manager Traveling to England is no at Mid Cheshire College, said longer a one-year trip. A flight out "Coming on a trip connected with of Seattle, according to Desforges, work provided a whole different per would put him home in just a few spective than coming as a tourist. You hours. get a much better feel for what a coun “The distance might seem like a try is like. What impressed him most about Clackamas was long, long way from home but it how students' needs come first. just seems very comfortable here. I feel very much at home here,” Dith Danbury admits Desforges, “and I think it Lewisham College suits my personality. I think I’m much more suited to here than in some ways to England.” The Fulbrighter acknowledges Dith Danbury is the guidance team he sometimes felt as if he was leader at Lewisham College in London. swimming against the tide in En "I will walk away with the feeling that gland whereas here, he feels much anything is possible," said Danbury after visiting Clackamas more comfortable. and some other local community college campuses. “I’m not the sort of person who "Even when you can't get exactly what you want, there is looks back and thinks, oh gosh, I a way to get you as near to where you want to be," Danbury wish things [were different]. I’m said. happy wherever I am really and John Fontaine Tamworth & Lichfield Colleges J I Wednesday, April 23,1997 Working at Sheffield College His work at Sheffield College in volves working with students rang ing in age from 16 to 18. Desforges is the founda tion studies manager at one of the six To come Sheffield sites. here and see “ The how well an foundation organization studies man ager looks af can run... ter students it's just who come to the college fantastic. with no quali fications and puts together a program of Ged Desforges study for them Cont. Education which will director hopefully get them in a po sition where they can move on into either work or further qualification or what ever,” said Desforges. In England, everyone is required to stay in school up to the age of 16. If they do not have a job they cannot access any social security payments. “What tends to happen is that kids leave school at age 16 and dis cover they have no money because they are not working. In Sheffield the unemployment rate is quite high,” said Desforges, “And so there are no jobs for young people with no qualifications to go into.” Sheffield’s economy was built on the steel and coal industries, which were dependent upon each other. 99 According to Desforges, “these in dustries have become desiccated over the past 10 to 20 years.” Therefore, these teenagers must seek further education in order to be employable. “[For some] this tends to be a new start. They might have had difficulty in school for different reasons. They might be late devel opers or they might have had all sorts of problems which is why they don’t have qualifications,” said Desforges. Many of them end up in Desforges’ program at Sheffield. Once there, a curriculum is devel oped based on what they are inter ested in, what sort of career they might want in the future and per haps most important an opportu nity to build their confidence. “Through a program of voca tional qualifications they can move through to becoming a successful student and move into a job. It’s a program that really doesn’t fit any thing over here,” said Desforges. Building student confidence Besides developing new skills, much of Desforges’ work with stu dents lies in personal development. “What we tend to do is literally build students’ confidence with the fact that they are able to do lots of different things. Desforges admits, “it’s a real hard job because you tend to find that a lot of the vio lence and the real hardships stu dents face and produce in them selves are caused by a lack of es teem.” There is, according to Desforges somewhat of a “futility touch” to helping students succeed. He ex plains it like this. “I don’t know if it’s quite simi lar to here but a lot of the small businesses, corner shops, restau rants, will be run by the ethnic mi norities. [This is because] they will work for long hours for nothing. The second generation of young kids between 10 and 20 just don’t want that. They see what’s around and they want a part of that. And yet the prejudices stop them from getting it. There are some real problems caused by that,’? said Desforges. So how does an educator help a student understand education is one way out? “The only way I have found to work is to really value the indi vidual and try to get people to be aware that every individual is a real value. It’s not just words. They only way I think you can do that is by action. That’s where I start,” Desforges said. “In England, you would very rarely hear anybody say ‘You’ve done a really good job’ or ‘What you’re doing is really worthwhile. You never get any feedback. If no ones saying anything to you, you must be doing a good job. And See Desforges, page 5 Volume XXX, Issue 22 3
