Relational Attention: Teaching and Connecting With Immigrant Students

• In Event: 75.042 - MTCC Roundtable Session 34
  In Roundtable Session: 75.042-12 - Equal Educational Opportunity: Challenges and Possibilities

Abstract

Drawing on essays written by immigrant high school students in 2015, this paper attempts to outline a philosophical stance for the education of immigrant students that is capable of informing the work of practitioners in the field. The argument builds upon Simone Weil’s conception of attention, which she characterizes as openness to insight that stems from patience and noble intent. Building upon Weil’s understanding of attention, this paper argues that teachers of immigrant students must cultivate attention themselves, adopting an attentive disposition in their educational practice. In attending to students’ whole lives, teachers must look to students’ experiences beyond the classroom and beyond the present moment in order to help them move forward academically and personally.

Author

• David R. M. Saavedra, University of Virginia