Imagining and teaching citizenship as non-citizens: Migrant social studies teachers’ positionalities and citizenship education in turbulent times

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study explored the positionalities of migrant social studies teachers in New York City and how those positionalities inform their perceptions and pedagogical practices of citizenship education. The findings demonstrated that migrant teachers’ minoritized racial, cultural, linguistic, and religious backgrounds, together with their lack of citizenship status in the United States, created and accentuated various forms of exclusion, as well as a sense of their own vulnerability in the current racist, U.S.-centric, and anti-immigration climate. Nevertheless, these teachers have crafted a range of tactics to navigate the uncertainties they face and their sense of non-belonging, performing transnational activities with those in their home countries and forging alliances with their students in their local school communities. Through their complex and unique positionalities, these migrant teachers have shaped their understanding and practices of citizenship which decenter the increasing focus on the nation-state and Whiteness. Their life trajectories as migrants of color further served as valuable assets in their teaching citizenship education. This study provides implications for social studies educators, citizenship scholarship, and teacher education research.