Expressions of Critical Consciousness: Adolescent English Learners Navigating Middle School

• In Event: Shifting the Gaze in Multilingualism: Meeting at the Intersections of Language, Race, and Immigration

Abstract

Thousands of refugee English learners enroll in U.S. schools each year and are positioned at the margins of education by default. This study documents and describes adolescent English learners’ (ELs) expressions of critical consciousness regarding social and academic experiences in a southeastern U.S. middle school. ELs reported actions indicative of critical consciousness including self-advocacy, disengagement from classroom discourse, and distancing themselves from hostile peers. Collective action was achieved by establishing and seeking to establish alliances among themselves, faculty and administrators. Implications of the findings include using the ELs’ own actions to inform the creation of a more equitable framework that affords full participation in the social and academic fabric of schools.

Authors

• Robin Foster Schell, Miami University - Oxford

• Clara Lee Brown, The University of Tennessee - Knoxville