Immigration, Language. & Equity Carola Suárez-Orozco

1. Immigration, Language. & Equity Carola Suárez-Orozco

2. CHILDREN OF IMMIGRANTS Generations Institute for Immigration, Globalization & Education

3. ReReslilienciesies • Immigrant Optimism • Value of Education • Work Ethic • Family cohesion • Bilingual advantages • Cognitive flexibility • Perspective taking

4. Challenges • Shared with Other Marginalized Student Populations • Low Parent Education & Work Conditions • Poverty • Racialization • Unique to Immigrant Students • Newcomer Status & accompanying socio-emotional challenges • Adapting to a New Land • Family Separations & Complicated Family Reunifications • Growing Xenophobia • Undocumented Status • Language Acquisition Challenges

5. Challenges • Shared with Other Marginalized Student Populations • Low Parent Education & Work Conditions • Poverty • Racialization • Unique to Immigrant Students • Newcomer Status & accompanying socio-emotional challenges (including trauma for refugees) • Adapting to a New Land & sometimes Trauma • Family Separations & Complicated Family Reunifications • Growing Xenophobia • Undocumented Status & Mixed Family status risks • Language Acquisition Challenges

6. Brofenbrenner ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK

7. RISK & RESILIENCE FRAMEWORK Kia-Keating, et al, 2010 Institute for Immigration, Globalization & Education

8. The Importance of Schools • Triple segregation • Race/ethnicity; Poverty; Language • Minimal meaningful contact with dominant language speaking peers • Educator Disconnect from Newcomer Students • Often liked • BUT low expectations • Limited understanding of socio-emotional challenges • Poor opinion of parents NOT ALL SCHOOLS ARE CREATED EQUAL!

9. National Science Foundation PIRE Study Research Questions What school based practices are implemented in innovative, promising school settings to: • Ease the transition and integration of immigrant origin youth? • Foster and enhance academic outcomes for immigrant origin youth? Case Study Methodology • Ethnographic observation • Semi-structured interviews (faculty, administrators, students) • District and school data Selection Criteria • Serving high proportion of immigrant origin students • Non-selective schools • Excellent reputation in community • Better than average outcomes

10. PROMISING PRACTICES: Important forALL Students • Rigorous Curriculum • Sparking Curiosity • Teaching critical thinking • Posing complex problems with multiple solutions • Relevant Curriculum • Promoting global awareness & issues • Developing collaborative skills • Working across difference • Fostering Relationships • Tutoring & Homework Supports • Explicit College Pathway Knowledge

11. PROMISING PRACTICES: Supporting English Acquisition • Recognizing that to get to Academic English takes time  5-7 years of optimal instruction • Effective supports require: • Highly interactive, discussion-based group work • Provided lots of active scaffolding in both oral & written work around complex academic concepts • Allowing code-switching • Providing ongoing and sustained professional development to support teachers

12. PROMISING PRACTICES: Specific to Immigrant Origin Students • Easing Cultural Shock and Transition • Providing students space to talk (and write) about challenges of immigration • Advisory groups that address issues of newcomers • Parenting classes • Opportunities to maintain cultural practices and heritage language • Schools making efforts to engage with the community & families in culturally relevant ways

13. CHILDREN OF IMMIGRANTS Generations Institute for Immigration, Globalization & Education

14. Know Your Student—Types of ELs • Newcomers • Arrive within 4 years • More apparent immediate socio-emotional needs • Variability in prior schooling (from little to high quality) • Long Term ELs • More than 7 years in the system • Significantly behind anticipated benchmarks • Indicative of systemic failures • Often have had erratic, sub-optimal instruction in U.S. schools

15. Know Your Student • Asylum Seekers • Do not have recognized status • Living in liminality • Likely experienced trauma • Refugees • Recognized, permanent legal status • Likely experienced trauma

16. Know Your Student • Undocumented Student • Do not have recognized status • Living in liminality • Living in daily threat of potential deportation • DACAmented Student • Temporary (2years) protected status • Can work, drive, & may not be deported • Living in Mixed-Status Home • U.S. Citizen/2nd generation • Eligible for benefits but likely underutilizing • Close family members (parents & siblings) without legal status & living in daily threat of potential deportation

17. DEMOGRAPHIC IMPERATIVE

19. Translating is “probably the most complex type of event yet produced in the evolution of the cosmos” I.A. Richards, 1953

20. Where have you translated?Percentages of 236 Spanish-speaking students

22. Who have you translated for?

23. How Often Do You Translate?

24. What kinds of things have you translated? Percentage of 236 Spanish-speaking students

27. Reading diverse texts

29. Learning new words

30. Both “simple” and complex

31. Working with words I wanted the complaint to sound like it came from a grown-up, my mother, but I also wanted to stress how rude (the woman) was, but then again I didn’t want to be rude myself. I ended up writing that she was very impatient with our situation and that my mom felt very uncomfortable with her and that it was really hard for her to express herself and to understand the lady. I made it sound grown-up but I stressed the main point. I don’t remember how old I was, but I know that I was too young to know exactly how to put it so I used words that I knew and RUDE was one that I knew about. I also heard and understood the words “situation” and “comfortable” and so I worked with that and tried to write a good complaint. (Luz, age 19, interview)

32. Toning it down You wouldn’t say disruptive, you would translate it in a kind of diluted way. I’d probably say something to him…that he would understand. In Arabic, one word in Arabic, you’ve got three different ways of saying the same thing. So I wouldn’t say like I was disrupting the rest of the class, I’d just say ‘the teacher finds it that she loses her concentration, it disrupts her in terms of conversation.’ I wouldn’t go into detail like that if I could get away with it. You would tone down the language slightly. (Tony, interview)

33. Choosing the right words It was hard, choosing the right words, not to seem, or to swing, either way…I just chose words that, like, when I was talking to her, kinda made me feel, you know, higher up. But when I would translate back to him, kinda like, normal everyday words that I use around the house, talking to my mom in Spanish, talking to my dad. So it doesn’t make me feel, like, you know, big stuff. (Sammy, age 15, interview)

34. Noticing and helping Today after school I went to Toys R’ Us. I was looking around and I heard a lady asking someone if they knew where an item was. I looked over and I noticed that they had no idea what the other was saying. So I walked over and helped. The lady was wondering where a toy soldier that was in the paper was. The other lady said there wasn’t any. I felt bad because the lady that was working looked like she didn’t want to look. I told the lady sorry and she went on her way. That is what usually happens to the people that I help. I will help them and never see them again. It leaves me wondering what happens to them. Most of the time they leave me with a smile also. Which makes it all worthwhile. (Sammy, age 15, journal)

35. Reading racism/classism I don’t think like he really wanted someone to, I don’t know, translate or whatever. Maybe like, “‘Oh this person doesn’t know English, catch him right here with these different prices,” you know. “By the end of the day, I’ll have a sale,” you know. “This guy doesn’t know what he’s doing,” you know… We were there, and then my sister said that she heard that guy talking about how us Mexicans can’t buy a car. (Josh, age 15, interview)

36. And fielding it I just remembered that it wasn’t “How much do you need this time?” But instead they would always ask, “Have you had any changes in your income or situation? Are you receiving any other sources of income? Do you have a job now?” They would always insist on asking these questions in an interrogating way that was meant to put pressure on my mom, as if they were seeking her to confess or something. It was really bad, especially because I would sense it and I would have to be the one to respond to these sorts of accusations. (Luz, age 19, interview)

37. Perceiving ethnic surveillance I was about seven years old. My mother and I were at [a grocery story]. My mother told me to stand in line and order a pound of American cheese from the deli while she shopped for other items. After about fifteen minutes of waiting my turn, the woman behind the counter asked for my order and I told her that I wanted a pound of cheese. The woman then asked, “American, Italian, Swiss.” I thought she was asking for my nationality. I responded by saying, “Mexican.” In a frustrated tone of voice, she told me that they did not have any Mexican cheese. (Beatríz, age 35, interview)

38. And mustering defenses And then um her manager yelled at her. And I told my mom that I don’t like people like doing that to you and stuff like that. And then I went to complain to the to like the head person? but they never returned my call. So I just left messages and I was like if we have to go to court, you know, cause I had to say something, so I was like if we have to go to court we’ll go to court because I don’t like people like mistreating the people working there and stuff. Cause like everyone at Burger King is getting out. There’s only like one person working there. So it’s messed up. So I had to just do that…Cause they got me mad how they were treating her. (Estela, age 14, interview)

39. Managing the middle My dad doesn’t speak proper Spanish either so I had to watch what I was going to say to this person carefully. I couldn’t use the derogatory comments my dad had (said) so I had to sort of fix what he wanted me to say to the person. So I just had to be like, “Oh, my father is very upset because he paid this much and bla, bla, bla.” And then my dad is very impatient. He’d be like, “Dile, dile.” You know, “just tell him, just tell him.” And I’d have to calm him down and then the man would be telling me something and at the same time my dad would tell me something else to say. And I had to listen to what the man was saying, to what my dad was saying, and I had to communicate each other’s ideas at practically the same time.” (Luz, age 19, interview)

40. Learning how to “handle people” I had to listen to rude people and then tell my mom and then answer them and then tell my mom, all without being rude. After a while you become more patient and you learn to handle people. It makes a huge difference. Not only do you have to understand things, but you have to understand them well enough to tell other people in a way that they will understand. (Luz, age 19, interview)

41. Sensing and responding It wasn’t ‘how much do you need this time?’ but instead they would always ask, ‘Have you had any changes in your income or situation? Are you receiving any other sources of income? Do you have a job now?” They would always insist on asking these questions in an interrogating way that was meant to put pressure on my mom, as if they were seeking her to confess or something. It was really bad, especially because I would sense it and I would have to be the one to respond to these sorts of accusations. It wasn’t easy because I always had to be respectful to these people because I knew that after all it was up to them if we had enough money to eat this month or not.

42. Emotion management Today me and my dad went to buy a bunk bed. We got the bunk bed but it was missing a part. We went back to the place again and the guy told my dad that it was ready. It isn’t fixed (broken). My dad got angry at him because he told us to wake up a little. I traduced all the things to my dad. (Miguel, age 11, journal entry)

43. Seeing different sides I never had any problem with the idea of perspective in (.) very largely, I think, because of this experience. I mean it would have been available to me to learn anyway just from my life (as an ethnic minority)…But that isn’t the same as perspective, um, because it’s only when you get a di-direct encounter between the two differences and you see the (.) the reasoning around the same pieces of information is different, that you see that there is such a thing as perspective. That is, that there is a (.) subjective reasoning practice that is particular to the position that people hold and when you see a doctor trying to reason around, or a lawyer, reason, more importantly, around .hh bad news information using a legalistic reasoning. And you can see actually this person isn’t being a bastard you know…but he’s actually thinking this way but that my father can’t comprehend that. I mean his thinking is just profoundly different but not wrong either. (Matt, age 68, interview)

44. Seeing how one is being seen I overheard MC trying to mumble out an answer in the little Spanish that he knew. So I went over and told him that I would help. I(t) was pretty funny because every time I told her about discipline or pain she would get a dark smile out. The only thing that kept me nervous was trying to act professional because MC was there, without seeming too serious to the mother and her son. (Sammy, age 15, journal)

46. Cultural modeling (Lee, 1995; 1997) Curriculum design that builds explicitly on the resources, skills and experiences of students from non-dominant groups, that are not typically valued in school • Identifying analogues between disciplinary constructs/modes of reasoning and students’ cultural funds of knowledge (Moll, 1993)

47. Additional resources Marjoriefaulstichorellana.com https://cxarchive.gseis.ucla.edu/xchange/repertoires-of-linguistic-practice/teachers-workroom

48. Discussion Question Institute for Immigration, Globalization & Education As we are serving our immigrant origin students, what would it mean to shift to an asset based approach while still recognizing some of the real challenges various groups of immigrant origin students encounter as they navigate their school trajectory?