MCAEL Advisory Group Spotlight: Paul Bermingham

January 10, 2022

Tell us a little about yourself and what was your entry point into Adult ESOL

I was born in Ireland, where I qualified as a high-school teacher in 1978. A few years later, I became a member of a team appointed to train accountants in Lesotho, a small country in southern Africa that had recently become independent. For the next two years, I would teach accounting and other subjects in a country where, despite being known internationally as anglophone, English is very much a second-language.


My time in Lesotho was the start of what turned out to be a thirty-year career in development. Much of this was with the World Bank, which is how I came to Washington in 1994. While not working directly on education during these years, I always retained an involvement, and served as a board member of the Rabat American School in Morocco and the Overseas School of Colombo in Sri Lanka when posted to each country. 


Soon after I retired, I had the opportunity to teach ESOL as a volunteer at the Briggs Center for Faith and Action in Bethesda. Now in my fifth year, I enjoy it thoroughly.


Where are you now teaching (at what levels and for which organizations)?

I presently teach a Beginner – High class of ten students. We have four hours of on-line classes each week. I earlier taught at Intermediate – High level for two years. I am also part of a team at Briggs that provides individual support to recent arrivals and refugees, and I am presently teaching two members of an Afghan family that arrived following the US withdrawal in August of 2021. 


What unexpected successes or previously unknown capabilities have you and the learners you serve experienced during the pandemic?

I miss in-person teaching. On the other hand, on-line teaching has forced me to make more, and smarter, use of IT. I’ve been surprised by the wealth of resources available not just to help me to teach, but, more importantly, to help learners to learn. All members of my Beginner class are comfortable with Zoom, our WhatsApp Group, and e-mail. I see great potential for us to make better use of IT to improve the learning experience. 


What role do you play in MAG?

I am presently the chair of the MAG, and serve on the Spring Conference and Learner Leadership committees.


What do you find most rewarding about your work?

I spent half of my professional life working in diverse countries around the world. For much of this time, I was the “new arrival” who spoke the “other language”.  I am now very happy to be able to teach English to new arrivals to the US, and to help them integrate into the community in which I have made my home. 


I still have very warm memories of the first MCAEL course I attended in 2017, “More Learning, Less Teaching”. Putting the learner at the center of what we do is different from the more teacher-centric training I received all those years ago. Not only is it the right thing to do to put the learner first, but I am finding that I, as the instructor, am learning more too. Long may we all continue to keep learning!


What brings you joy outside of your professional life?

I like to read, to cook, and to travel.


Tell us a little about yourself and what was your entry point into Adult ESOL
I was born in Ireland, where I qualified as a high-school teacher in 1978. A few years later, I became a member of a team appointed to train accountants in Lesotho, a small country in southern Africa that had recently become independent. For the next two years, I would teach accounting and other subjects in a country where, despite being known internationally as anglophone, English is very much a second-language.

My time in Lesotho was the start of what turned out to be a thirty-year career in development. Much of this was with the World Bank, which is how I came to Washington in 1994. While not working directly on education during these years, I always retained an involvement, and served as a board member of the Rabat American School in Morocco and the Overseas School of Colombo in Sri Lanka when posted to each country. 

Soon after I retired, I had the opportunity to teach ESOL as a volunteer at the Briggs Center for Faith and Action in Bethesda. Now in my fifth year, I enjoy it thoroughly.

Where are you now teaching (at what levels and for which organizations)?
I presently teach a Beginner – High class of ten students. We have four hours of on-line classes each week. I earlier taught at Intermediate – High level for two years. I am also part of a team at Briggs that provides individual support to recent arrivals and refugees, and I am presently teaching two members of an Afghan family that arrived following the US withdrawal in August of 2021. 

What unexpected successes or previously unknown capabilities have you and the learners you serve experienced during the pandemic?

I miss in-person teaching. On the other hand, on-line teaching has forced me to make more, and smarter, use of IT. I’ve been surprised by the wealth of resources available not just to help me to teach, but, more importantly, to help learners to learn. All members of my Beginner class are comfortable with Zoom, our WhatsApp Group, and e-mail. I see great potential for us to make better use of IT to improve the learning experience. 

What role do you play in MAG?
I am presently the chair of the MAG, and serve on the Spring Conference and Learner Leadership committees.

What do you find most rewarding about your work?
I spent half of my professional life working in diverse countries around the world. For much of this time, I was the “new arrival” who spoke the “other language”.  I am now very happy to be able to teach English to new arrivals to the US, and to help them integrate into the community in which I have made my home. 

I still have very warm memories of the first MCAEL course I attended in 2017, “More Learning, Less Teaching”. Putting the learner at the center of what we do is different from the more teacher-centric training I received all those years ago. Not only is it the right thing to do to put the learner first, but I am finding that I, as the instructor, am learning more too. Long may we all continue to keep learning!

What brings you joy outside of your professional life?
I like to read, to cook, and to travel.
 

MCAEL on TV

By Emma Starr • February 18, 2026
MCAEL Executive Director Gerard Etienne sat down with Cheryl Hawkins of MMCTV’s Solutions to discuss all things MCAEL. Learn out about what MCAEL does, why it’s important, and Gerard’s own experiences as an English language learner. Watch the full 30-minute program by clicking the link above!

Nuestro Compromiso con Nuestra Comunidad

By MCAEL • February 11, 2026
En la Coalición de Montgomery para la Alfabetización en Inglés para Adultos (Montgomery Coalition for Adult English Literacy, MCAEL), nuestra misión está arraigada en el fortalecimiento de nuestra comunidad mediante el apoyo a los estudiantes adultos de inglés y los programas que los atienden. En momentos de intenso temor e incertidumbre, es importante que expresemos con claridad nuestros valores y nuestro compromiso con las personas a las que servimos. Los informes profundamente preocupantes sobre las medidas de control de la inmigración en Minnesota y en otros lugares del país han suscitado, como es comprensible, una gran inquietud en las comunidades de inmigrantes y no inmigrantes de todo el país. Por consiguiente, es comprensible que muchos residentes de Maryland, y del condado de Montgomery en particular, se sientan preocupados ante la posibilidad de que aumenten las actividades de control de la inmigración en nuestra zona. Esta incertidumbre genera miedo, ansiedad y una sensación de vulnerabilidad que afecta a la vida cotidiana, la estabilidad familiar y la disposición a solicitar servicios educativos y comunitarios. Vemos y sentimos el impacto de este clima cada día a través de nuestros socios de coalición, instructores, estudiantes, voluntarios y dentro de nuestro propio círculo de amigos y familiares. Cuando se presenta a los inmigrantes de manera generalizada e inexacta como delincuentes o como una carga para los sistemas públicos, el daño va mucho más allá de la retórica. Puede socavar la confianza, erosionar el bienestar colectivo y debilitar el tejido social de nuestra comunidad. No debemos permitirlo. Es importante reiterar los hechos que están bien establecidos y respaldados por investigaciones exhaustivas realizadas por instituciones académicas acreditadas, organismos gubernamentales y organizaciones políticas de todo el espectro ideológico. Se ha demostrado de manera sistemática que los inmigrantes, incluidos los indocumentados, cometen menos delitos que los ciudadanos nacidos en Estados Unidos, aportan miles de millones de dólares en impuestos locales, estatales y federales, y desempeñan un papel vital en la fuerza laboral y la creación de pequeñas empresas. Estos hallazgos no son simples opiniones: están respaldados por décadas de pruebas creíbles. La MCAEL apoya las políticas y valores que fomentan la confianza entre las comunidades y las instituciones locales y que son esenciales para la seguridad pública, la salud pública y el acceso a la educación. Estamos agradecidos de vivir en un condado que reconoce estos principios y trabaja para defenderlos. MCAEL apoya a nuestros estudiantes, nuestros socios, nuestros vecinos, nuestras familias y nuestra comunidad. Afirmamos el derecho de todas las personas a ser tratadas con justicia, dignidad, compasión y respeto, independientemente de su situación migratoria, habilidades lingüísticas u origen étnico, y a sentirse seguras en sus propios hogares, en sus vecindarios y en su vida cotidiana. Mantenemos nuestro compromiso de apoyar a los estudiantes adultos y a los programas que los atienden, así como con trabajar junto a nuestros socios para reforzar la resiliencia, la confianza y las oportunidades en todo el condado de Montgomery.

ለማህበረሰባችን ያለን ቁርጠኝነት

By MCAEL • February 11, 2026
በ MCAEL ተልዕኮአችን ጎልማሳ የእንግሊዝኛ ቋንቋ ተማሪዎችን እና እነሱን የሚያገለግሉ ፕሮግራሞችን በመደገፍ ማህበረሰባችንን የማጠናከር ሂደት ላይ የተመሰረተ ነው። ከፍተኛ ፍርሃት እና እርግጠኛ ያለመሆን ሁኔታ በሚፈጠሩበት ጊዜያቶች ላይ፣ ስለ እሴቶቻችን እና ለምናገለግላቸው ሰዎች ስላለን ቁርጠኝነት በግልጽ መናገር ለእኛ አስፈላጊ ነው። በሚኒሶታ እና በሌሎች የሀገሪቱ ክፍሎች እየተከናወኑ ያሉትን የኢሚግሬሽን ህግ ማስከበር እርምጃዎችን የሚገልጹ እጅግ አሳሳቢ ሪፖርቶች፣ በመላው ሀገሪቱ በሚገኙ ስደተኛ እና ስደተኛ ባልሆኑ ማህበረሰቦች ውስጥ ከፍተኛ ስጋትን መፍጠራቸው ግልጽ የሆነ ነገር ነው። ስለሆነም፣ በሜሪላንድ በተለይም በሞንትጎመሪ ካውንቲ የሚኖሩ በርካታ ነዋሪዎች በአካባቢያችን የኢሚግሬሽን ህግ የማስከበር እንቅስቃሴዎች ሊጨምሩ ይችላሉ የሚል ስጋት ውስጥ መግባታቸው ተገቢ ነው። ይህ እርግጠኛ አለመሆን ሁኔታ የዕለት ተዕለት ኑሮን፣ የቤተሰብ መረጋጋትን፣ እንዲሁም ትምህርት እና የማህበረሰብ አገልግሎቶችን የመፈለግ ፍላጎትን የሚጎዳ ፍርሃት፣ ጭንቀት እና የመጋለጥ ስሜትን ይፈጥራል። የዚህን ሁኔታ ተፅዕኖ በየቀኑ የቅንጅት አጋሮቻችን፣ በአስተማሪዎች፣ በተማሪዎች፣ በበጎ ፈቃደኞች፣ እንዲሁም በጓደኞቻችን እና በቤተሰቦቻችን ዘንድ እናያለን፣ ይሰማናልም። ስደተኞች በጅምላ እና ባልተገባ ሁኔታ እንደ ወንጀለኛ ወይም እንደ መንግስት ሸክም ተደርገው ሲቆጠሩ ጊዜ፣ ጉዳቱ ከቃላት ባለፈ የከፋ ይሆናል። ይህም መተማመንን ሊያናጋ፣ የማህበረሰቡን ደህንነት ሊሸረሽር እና የማህበረሰባችንን ማህበራዊ ትስስር ሊያዳክም ይችላል። ይህ እንዲሆን መፍቀድ የለብንም። በታዋቂ የትምህርት ተቋማት፣ በመንግስት መሥሪያ ቤቶች እና በተለያዩ የፖሊሲ ድርጅቶች በሰፊ ጥናት የተደገፉ እና በደንብ የታወቁ እውነታዎችን በድጋሚ መግለጹ አስፈላጊ ነው። ሰነድ የሌላቸውን ጨምሮ ስደተኞች፣ በአሜሪካ ከተወለዱ ዜጎች ያነሰ ወንጀል እንደሚፈጽሙ፣ በቢሊዮን የሚቆጠር ዶላር ለአካባቢ፣ ለክልል እና ለፌዴራል ግብር እንደሚያበረክቱ፣ እንዲሁም በሥራ ኋይል እና አነስተኛ ንግዶችን በመፍጠር ረገድ ወሳኝ ሚና እንደሚጫወቱ በተደጋጋሚ ተረጋግጧል። እነዚህ ግኝቶች የግል አመለካከቶች አይደሉም፤ ለበርካታ አስርት ዓመታት በቆዩ አስተማማኝ ማስረጃዎች የተደገፉ ናቸው። MCAEL በማህበረሰቦች እና በአካባቢ ተቋማት መካከል መተማመንን የሚያጎለብቱ፣ እንዲሁም ለህዝብ ደህንነት፣ ለጤና እና ለትምህርት ተደራሽነት አስፈላጊ የሆኑ ፖሊሲዎችን እና እሴቶችን ይደግፋል። እነዚህን መርሆች በሚገነዘብ እና እነሱን ለማስከበር በሚሰራ ካውንቲ ውስጥ በመኖራችን ደስተኞች ነን። MCAEL ከተማሪዎቻችን፣ ከአጋሮቻችን፣ ከጎረቤቶቻችን፣ ከቤተሰቦቻችን እና ከማህበረሰባችን ጎን ይቆማል። ማንኛውም ሰው የኢሚግሬሽን ሁኔታው፣ የቋንቋ ችሎታው ወይም ብሔሩ ሳይለይ በፍትሃዊነት፣ በክብር፣ በርህራሄ እና በአክብሮት የመስተናገድ፣ እንዲሁም በቤቱ፣ በአካባቢው እና በዕለት ተዕለት ህይወቱ ደህንነቱ የተጠበቀ ሆኖ የመሰማት መብት እንዳለው እናረጋግጣለን። አዋቂ ተማሪዎችን እና እነሱን የሚያገለግሉ ፕሮግራሞችን ለመደገፍ፣ እንዲሁም በመላው የሞንትጎመሪ ካውንቲ ጽናትን፣ መተማመንን እና እድሎችን ለማጠናከር ከአጋሮቻችን ጋር በጋራ ለመስራት ያለንን ቁርጠኝነት እናረጋግጣለን።