Amanda and Christine are volunteer coordinators for a youth mentorship program focused on community engagement and academic success. Amanda and Christine are responsible for supervising more than 20 mentors and providing on-site support during the weekly “study tables” event. During study tables, Christine becomes visibly irritated as she watches one of her mentors engage in conversation with their mentee. The mentor, who identifies as Saudi Arabian, is speaking in Arabic to their mentee who is from the same region of the world. At first, Christine winces and huffs. Eventually, Christine turns to Amanda and suggests that they consider establishing an English-only policy for their mentors.
Amanda asks for more clarification, and Christine asserts that speaking in a language other than English inhibits the mentee’s acculturation to the United States. Amanda challenges Christine's assertion and offers that the mission of the organization is not acculturation, but community engagement and academic success. Amanda perceives the mentor’s use of Arabic as a resource for both engaging and supporting their mentee.
Christine is taken aback by Amanda’s defense of the use of languages other than English. Christine disagrees, and further adds that she thinks speaking in another language is rude. Amanda asks for more time for the two of them to discuss and reflect before making a policy decision about language. For several weeks, they reengage the conversation and commit to listening to each other’s point of view. Ultimately, they do not agree in principle, but do agree to not advance a language use policy. They also agree to remain in dialogue about the topic going forward.
- The Issue: Amanda and Christine disagree about whether the mentees they supervise should be able to engage with students in multiple languages.
- The Deliberation: Before making a policy decision, Amanda and Christine agree to take their time and engage in dialogue about the issue and their perspectives.
- The Growth: Amanda and Christine are able to sustain a program that enables the use of multiple languages, and further sustain their working relationship amidst disagreement.