Immigrant Students Research Articles

Language Policies and Ideologies for Socialization and Identity-Building in U.S. Schools: The Case of Newcomer and Refugee Students in Arizona and New York

Although multilingualism is a major issue in educational policies, especially in states hosting a high number of newcomer immigrant students, there is limited research exploring the experiences of a multilingual group of newcomer students and how they use language in schools. This article draws on 112 interviews with students from an immigrant background across four high schools in Arizona and New York. We illuminate the role of language in shaping identity and inclusion. Through conceptualizing power and language ideology, we find that language ideologies and practices shape the perception of students’ social interactions in school settings. Our findings also indicate that teachers’ practices and school policies surrounding language(s) have the potential to affect how students view language in relation to their own identity and via social interactions. We contribute to an understanding of how language policies and ideologies shape the experiences and power dynamics of diverse, multilingual, immigrant-origin students.

Marketing a culture of achievement to Black and Brown students: TNTP and neoliberal multiculturalism

ABSTRACT Neoliberal multiculturalism is a global racialization process that works as a unifying discourse for the rationalization of neoliberal policies within U.S. global ascendancy and capitalist development. Invoking state multiculturalism, e.g. ‘diversity’ or ‘equity’, neoliberal multiculturalism is officially antiracist. Official antiracism portrays multiculturalism as being at its core while limiting discussions of race and racism to sanctioned racial discourses. Using neoliberal multiculturalism as a framework, this paper presents a critical analysis of the racial ideology presented in TNTP’s founding teacher training curriculum designed specifically for its Teaching Fellows. The analysis demonstrates how official antiracism can function in curriculum designed to train fast-tracked selective alternative route program teachers to teach predominantly Black, Latino, and immigrant students in lower-income neighborhood public schools.

Findings from Two Pilot Studies: The Perspectives of Teachers and Chinese Immigrant Parents on Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This manuscript combines two pilot studies to understand teachers’ and immigrant parents’ perspectives on K-12 students’ schooling experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews were collected as the data sources in both studies. The socio-ecological theory is utilized to analyze the data. Participants included two teachers and two Chinese immigrant parents. The findings show that (1) both parents and teachers described concerns and challenges linked to social isolation at the microsystem level, (2) the participants felt connected or disconnected when reflecting on teacher-parent communication at the mesosystem level, and (3) the participants shared their expectations on the resources that could be offered by school districts and teacher education preparation programs at the exosystem level. The findings informed recommendations for supporting teachers, immigrant students, and parents in the post-pandemic world.

Greek Cypriot and immigrant students’ attitudes and perceptions of acculturation, ethnic identity and self-esteem in the Republic of Cyprus

Abstract The multicultural Cypriot society is called upon to face its increasing diversity and manage the relations between its inhabitants (locals and immigrants) for peaceful coexistence. The present study compared acculturation processes of Ιmmigrant students to those of local primary school students aged 11–12 years regarding social adjustment, ethnic identity and self-esteem. Results showed a stronger orientation toward their Country of Origin for both Cypriot and Ιmmigrant students regardless of the nationality of immigrants’. Furthermore, Cypriots and Ιmmigrant students had more group contact with their compatriots than children from other countries. Lastly, the strategies of acculturation and the stages of forming ethnic identity were correlated to Ιmmigrants’ self-esteem levels. The findings highlight the need for new directions in educational policies in the country. The educational system must become flexible and effectively adaptable to the recent changes to form the foundation of cultural coexistence of all the island’s inhabitants, ensuring social cohesion.

Göçün Eğitim Üzerindeki Etkilerinin Göçmen Veli Görüşlerine Göre Değerlendirilmesi

The aim of this study is to determine the problems experienced by immigrants in the field of education through interviews. Evaluating the views of immigrant students' parents on this issue, it was desired to get concrete results in the field. At the same time, taking into account the situations that developed due to the pandemic, questions were asked regarding access to distance education. In this study, the interview method was applied within the scope of qualitative research. Data were obtained by using semi-structured interview forms. The sample of the study consists of seven immigrant families living in Konya. The semi-structured interview form used in the study was developed by the researcher himself. When the findings are examined, it has been seen that the problems experienced by these immigrant families who have lived in Turkey for a certain period of time in relation to education do not make a significant difference from other individuals who are Turkish Citizens. This is not true for all children of parents, especially if there are problems with adaptation. Participants in the research stated that they learned Turkish by overcoming language-related problems in a short time in terms of communication. Immigrant parents stated that they are very satisfied with the education in Turkey. Key Words: İmmigration, Parents, Education, Matters

Human Rights and the Inclusion of Immigrant Students in the School Environment

O aumento do fluxo de estudantes imigrantes no espaço escolar faz repensar a inclusão da interculturalidade e cidadania global. Para isso, a escola é a porta de entrada de mosaicos culturais, a presença de estudantes de várias nacionalidades demanda reconhecimento, integração, oportunidade e igualdade de direitos à educação. Os professores são agentes de mudança embasados na garantia de educação para todos conforme lista na Constituição brasileira e respeito a dignidade humana dos Direitos humanos, este artigo baseou-se na pesquisa bibliográfica sobre a dimensão histórica, sociocultural e política de sistemas educacionais inclusivos, além de documentos inclusivos no âmbito internacional. Objetiva-se demonstrar que os estudantes imigrantes estão respaldados nos marcos legais e que merecem ser incluídos com garantias iguais na educação

Gestion des relations familles immigrantes-écoles-communautés en temps de pandémie de COVID-19 : une analyse de documents

In the pre-pandemic period, school headmasters were responsible for ensuring the academic and social integration of immigrant students by promoting innovation, relations within the educational team and school-family-community relations (MELS, 2008 ; MÉES, 2019). However, the pandemic and the massive use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has led to a deterioration in these relations, resulting in performance-related health problems and unforeseen changes (OECD, 2020). The initial question in this article is: how have school headmasters managed the school-family-community relations embedded in the activity of accompanying immigrant students fostered by the use of ICT in a context of unplanned change? A systematic literature review identified 43 empirical studies. Their grounded theory analyses led to the modelling of problems and their theorisation. This systematic review confirms the importance of school-family-community relations and their management for the academic and educational success of immigrant students during a pandemic. The underlying problems of relationship management include problems of educational quality; divergence of viewpoints in terms of performance; development of psychosocial risks at work linked to these divergences and to social inequalities (digital inequalities, gender inequalities in children's education within the family, housing inequality).

Engaging culturally and linguistically diverse youth in semiotic analysis for community‐based inquiry

AbstractThis manuscript examines multimodal storytelling as community inquiry for an urban high school class of 30 first‐ and second‐generation bi/multilingual immigrant students, most of whom maintained transnational connections. We share how these students, in an A.P. Research class, engaged in community‐based inquiry and utilized various multimodal artifacts from a university cultural heritage collection, including a field trip to the cultural heritage archives, to analyze signs and symbols. We asked: How did students engage with semiotic resources and approaches to support inquiry about their school and neighborhood communities? Findings showed that students drew upon their linguistic and cultural experiences to analyze signs and symbols, yet in their digital storytelling presentations some student groups chose signs and symbols that reified stereotypical views of their neighborhood despite their insider status in the local community. We offer recommendations for using cultural heritage artifacts to advance multimodal meaning‐making in teaching and research.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression, and Perceived Social Support Among Iraqi and Syrian Immigrant and Refugee Adolescents in Türkiye

This study determined the levels of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, and perceived social support among 109 Iraqi and 136 Syrian immigrant secondary school students residing in Bolu, Türkiye. The participants, who had previously experienced trauma, were compared with 143 Turkish adolescents. The refugee children had significantly higher scores for both PTSD and depression, and lower scores for social support. While there were no significant gender differences for the three variables, older students had higher PTSD scores. Immigrant students who had lived in Türkiye for four years or longer had lower depression, higher social support, and social support from a special person. Degree of problems with Turkish language had no effect, while those with Turkish friends had significantly higher scores for perceived social support and family social support than those who did not. Surprisingly, students whose families had immigrated for educational reasons had higher PTSD scores and lower family social support scores than those that immigrated due to conflicts. A regression analysis, conducted to predict depression via PTSD and social support, showed that the two variables accounted for 25% of the variance in depression scores.

Adolescents in transition: experiences and appraisals of immigrant students in school education

ABSTRACT Compulsory secondary education is constituted as a stage of high risk or academic vulnerability for the immigrant population. This multiple case study examines difficulties and opportunities faced by seventeen immigrant schoolchildren in compulsory schooling education cycles as elucidated by the evaluative resources they employ as they construct a narrative discourse shaped by academic-professional transitions and expectations. Specifically, we focus on the semantic-discursive component of attitude, analysing its three levels of appraisal: affect, judgement, and appreciation. We conducted in-depth interviews with immigrants attending public high school in Chile and a collective participatory methodology, both of a biographical-narrative nature. The findings highlight the influence of various influential factors on student trajectories: the characteristics of the host country, the challenges posed by the pandemic, family support, racism, the role of teachers, and academic-professional aspirations. Regarding the obstacles, racist bullying is identified between the end of primary school and the beginning of secondary school, which coincides with the results of the literature reviewed. Regarding opportunities, the influential adult figure represented by parents and teachers is positioned as a decisive protective support in the development and progress of educational transitions. Similarly, the configuration of high academic-professional expectations functions as a predictor of educational success.

Perspectives on immigrant students: insights from school administrators within the Turkish education system

ABSTRACT This study intends to shed light on the perspectives of school administrators regarding children of immigrant families in the Turkish educational landscape. The study employs a descriptive phenomenological approach. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with 17 public school administrators in Turkey. A content analysis methodology was employed for data analysis. According to the findings, immigrant students in Turkish schools face educational challenges due to language barriers, unfamiliarity with laws, and socio-economic factors. The findings recommend organizing educational sessions for school personnel, local students, and their families on fostering positive interactions with immigrant students and their peers.

Critical socio-emotional inquiry: A longitudinal oral history project led by middle school students on socio-emotional well-being

A group of middle school students, working with educators in Washington Heights, NYC, designed a school-wide oral history project as a strategy to enrich the cultural and socio-emotional well-being of our school. As part of New York State’s required SEL intervention, we developed a Longitudinal Oral History Project, led by middle school students at S2, where we gathered peer-to-peer narratives about socio-emotional dynamics from middle schoolers growing up in working-class and immigrant households in times of pandemic and racial uprisings. The oral history protocol, the implementation of the interviews, the analysis, and the presentation of our results were youth-led, and compelling. Narrating rich and complex stories of joy, fear, courage, and care, our project centers the expertise of immigrant students of color, coming out of COVID-19 in the throes of early adolescence. The youth found great relief in discovering that their fears and anxieties were widespread and experienced a sense of power by influencing school policy with the compelling results of their inquiry.

Adult immigrant students’ identity positioning and english-only ideologies in the US: a quantCrit case study

This QuantCrit case study examines how adult emergent multilingual language learners (EMLLs) attending English language skills classes at a public school district in the US construct their linguistic identities in response to English-only ideologies. The small sample size was limited to adults enrolled in the program (n = 19), as this study is intended to be duplicated in different spaces to account for multilingual and cultural diversity. The study asks the question, how do adult EMLLs attending an English class position themselves and their perceived English fluency? To answer this question, participants completed a mixed-methods survey that addresses demographics, languages, perception of one’s own language ability, and perception of what others think about one’s language abilities. The findings were analyzed through the lens of Darvin and Norton’s (2015) Model of Identity Investment that considers identity, ideology, and capital and the raciolinguistics perspective (Flores and Rosa 2015). The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between English-only ideologies and participants’ constructed linguistic identities and reveal a troubled relationship between the way participants position themselves against the deficit-oriented perceptions of English-only speaking Americans. Overall, the results emphasize the importance of centering adult EMLLs’ linguistic and cultural transnational assets in designing curricula, policy, and research.

The (im)possible success of disadvantaged students. Reflections on education, migration and social change

The paper focuses on the ?unexpected pathways? of successful students with an immigrant background: these biographical routes, that seems socially impossible, raise theoretical issues around the individual-society, actor-structure relationship. Disadvantaged students who succeed represent a sociological challenge in the attempt to understand atypical situations and to identify the institutional processes and the structural opportunities that facilitate them, reducing ethnic inequalities in education. This framework is the starting point of the Su.Per. project (Success in educational pathways of students with immigrant background), based on the collection of written autobiographies of 65 immigrant students, attending upper secondary education in Northern Italy. The biographical approach allows to deepen the social change that derives from the positive impact of immigration on education. Within this interpretative perspective, the article underlines the contribute of the Su.Per. project to a new ?definition of the situation?, that considers possible the educational success of immigrant students, drawing new narratives and discourses on inequalities, but also giving voice and supports to disadvantaged students, and introducing them to a field of unforeseen possibilities.

Challenges in navigating the education-migration pathways, and subjective well-being of highly educated immigrants: the case of Indian student immigrants in the United Kingdom.

Migration is generally considered to be a driver of enhancing the subjective well-being of immigrants; however, personal characteristics such as educational attainment, migration channel, and country of origin may moderate the impact of immigrant life on expected well-being. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the intersections between the lived experiences of post-secondary Indian immigrant students in the United Kingdom (UK), the challenges they encounter as immigrants, and how these experiences could impact their subjective well-being. A qualitative research design was employed, which included a focus group discussion and 24 in-depth interviews with postgraduate students who had migrated from India to the United Kingdom. Four themes generated from the thematic analysis, which overall indicated that individuals who came to the United Kingdom as international students to study, work, and settle over time often found themselves unable to leverage their educational credentials to establish expected subjective well-being. This was primarily due to the systematic denial of their agency (capability) to overcome challenges in the host society. Reasons include becoming involuntarily immobile in the host country, incongruency between past expectations and present experiences and prospects, socio-emotional and financial costs associated with immigrant life that hinder the freedom of agency, and bureaucratic burdens. All these reasons can generate an unconducive environment for those immigrants who took part in the study, ultimately decreasing their life satisfaction and positive feelings while increasing negative feelings. In conclusion, the findings question the widely held belief that migration can increase subjective well-being and describe how migration comes at a cost, along with several other challenges, particularly for those who have moved first to learn, secondly to earn, and then to settle in. The channel of migration (migration for education and then to settle in) thus plays a crucial role in determining the outcomes of migration while influencing the anticipated subjective well-being of migrants.

Reimagining Social and Emotional Supports in Schools for Immigrant Students: A Contextual and Structural Approach

Immigrant students and families experience disproportionate exposure to trauma, immigration-related stress, structural inequities, and poor access to mental health and social services which can lead to mental health inequities. Immigrant students and their families also have many strengths that can buffer potential negative mental health outcomes. Schools, which address social and emotional development in addition to academic achievement, are critical institutions that can play a unique role in enhancing the strengths and responding to the needs of immigrant students and families. In this review, we adapt the Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations to acknowledge the contextual and macro-level factors (e.g., relevant policies, environmental influences, and structural factors) and the predisposing, enabling, and need factors that immigrant students and families experience and impact access to school mental health and social services. We discuss school-based interventions that show efficacy for improving mental health outcomes and focus on addressing acculturative stress among immigrant students. We also discuss models to address social determinants of health need among immigrant students and families within schools, including the community schools model applied to immigrant students and families. We conclude this review by providing recommendations and strategies for pediatricians and schools to transform school-based supports for immigrant students and families and promote equitable outcomes. Our recommendations include incorporating multi-level school supports for addressing mental health, social need, and acculturative stress among immigrant students, along with reinforcing the strengths of immigrant students, and promoting school collaborations with pediatricians, school-based health centers, and trusted community partners.

Revealing Stereotypes: Evidence from Immigrants in Schools

We study how people change their behavior after being made aware of bias. Teachers in Italian schools give lower grades to immigrant students relative to natives of comparable ability. In two experiments, we reveal to teachers their own stereotypes, measured by an Implicit Association Test (IAT). In the first, we find that learning one’s IAT before assigning grades reduces the native-immigrant grade gap. In the second, IAT disclosure and generic debiasing have similar average effects, but there is heterogeneity: teachers with stronger negative stereotypes do not respond to generic debiasing but change their behavior when informed about their own IAT. (JEL D91, I24, J15, J45)

Evaluating the Influence of Instructional Approaches on the Mathematical Achievement of Immigrant Students

Evaluating the Influence of Instructional Approaches on the Mathematical Achievement of Immigrant Students

Classroom heterogeneity and assessment for learning: Evidence from 47 countries using TALIS 2018

Despite extensive research on Assessment for Learning (AfL) in the classroom, the importance of contextual factors as perceived by teachers remains underexplored. This study examines the extent to which elements of the classroom context, in particular heterogeneity, influence the frequency of AfL. Using 2018 TALIS data from 47 countries, this study found that teachers who perceived higher levels of heterogeneity in their classrooms conducted more frequent classroom assessments. The degree of AfL was most significantly influenced by the perception of heterogeneity among academically gifted students, followed by socioeconomically disadvantaged students, immigrant students, students whose first language is different from the language of instruction, and students with behavioral problems. Interestingly, when teachers perceive a higher proportion of low-achieving students, the frequency of AfL tends to decrease. These findings suggest that AfL can be used not only as a tool in circumstances where learning processes are challenging, but also as an approach to understanding and addressing the diverse learning potentials and backgrounds in the classroom.

“To make the student exist” – Bilingual subject teachers’ narratives about multilingualism in language support classes in Norway

ABSTRACT Bilingual subject instruction, designed to facilitate the acquisition of the Norwegian language, is a support class aimed at immigrant students in primary and lower secondary Norwegian schools. This study delves into the beliefs of two Polish-Norwegian bilingual teachers regarding multilingualism in this instructional context and the factors influencing their decisions on incorporating students’ prior linguistic knowledge. Utilizing a narrative approach, the analysis of interviews reveals that both teachers perceive multilingualism as valuable for learning support and students’ social engagement. Individual variations emerge in how these teachers employ multilingual resources, reflecting a connection between their beliefs, experiences, and reported pedagogical decisions.