Advancing the Conversation: Humanizing and Problematizing the Conversation About the Students We Call SLIFE

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors seek to advance the conversation of the term students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE). More specifically, the authors problematize the label of SLIFE, its use, and advance the conversation to propose future directions. To accomplish this, the authors divide the chapter into four main sections: (1) introduction, (2) problematizing SLIFE, (3) expanding definitions of interrupted and limited formal education, and (4) final thoughts. Our goal is that this chapter will become part of a growing conversation about the implications of using the label SLIFE in formal schooling. Motivated by the ongoing dialogue criticizing the use of SLIFE and labels in the field of education, we hope this chapter will contribute to pushing exchanges towards using more asset-based vocabulary and avoiding labels to conglomerate a large, heterogeneous group of learners without benefits connected to its use.KeywordsSLIFESIFEELsLiteracy