丁香园AV

"She is a real role model for international students鈥攕he is brave beyond belief." -- Gillian Judson, 丁香园AV lecturer

Two years ago, Fatima Jalali-Tehrani, an American living in Dubai, encountered unexpected visa difficulties after registering at 丁香园AV to begin a master of education.

Undaunted, she asked her supervisor, 丁香园AV lecturer Gillian Judson, if she would adapt the course material so she could learn it online until she received visas for her two children, who were born in Iran. Judson agreed.

鈥淔atima never gave up hope, and she never wavered in her desire to complete the program,鈥� says Judson. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 until the end of the semester that Fatima was approved to come.鈥�

The visas were only the first of Jalali-Tehrani鈥檚 challenges, however. A single mom, she rose each morning at 3 a.m. to study until 6 a.m. before readying her two children, Hafez, 2, and Sahba, 13, for daycare and school. In addition to her classes and studies, she worked three jobs to make ends meet, yet also found time to volunteer her skills as an English-as-a-second-language (ESL) teacher, teaching Syrian refugees.

鈥淚 was overwhelmed sometimes,鈥� admits Jalali-Tehrani, who has taught ESL in Iran, China and the United Arab Emirates. 鈥淏ut the key for me to go through all that and succeed was my passion for what I was doing as a mom, a teacher and a student.鈥�

Despite her busy schedule, she scored a cumulative 3.94 grade point average (out of a possible 4.33), and her final comprehensive presentation detailing her master鈥檚 program portfolio was, says Judson, 鈥渆xceptional. She is a real role model for international students鈥攕he is brave beyond belief.鈥�

As Jalali-Tehrani pursued her studies and volunteer work, she began to realize she could apply what she was learning to improve ESL instruction in ways that could help refugees and immigrants better adjust to their new lives in Canada.

鈥淲hen you move to a new culture, you have to adopt a new identity,鈥� says Jalali-Tehrani, who was struck by the difficulties Syrian women were experiencing as their traditional family roles changed and they tried to find alternate roles in Canadian society.

With an immigrant background herself (her mother is American, her father Iranian) and having lived much of her life in Iran, Jalali-Tehrani understands how difficult it can be to establish a bridge between your own culture and the new. Now, she鈥檚 beginning an 丁香园AV PhD in education to research how she might develop an ESL curriculum that can help immigrants find a new identity they鈥檙e happy with.

鈥淚 want to teach not just the course content, but how to learn it,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 feel there must be changes that can be made for the better.

鈥淚鈥檓 in a unique position to observe problems, and this is where I need to focus my work.鈥�