Rightful Presence: An Essential New Lens on Belonging (Poster 39)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Two
  In Poster Session: Motivational Beliefs in Context

Abstract

Resettled youth often face many challenges while enrolled in schools such as expectations to quickly assimilate and acquire English language and literacy skills or being positioned in deficit-oriented ways. In this article, we use qualitative methods to seek to understand how resettled youth repositioned their identities through writing in a two-week summer writing camp. We argue that educators and scholars need to reframe traditional ways of teaching and learning literacy and consider the diverse cultural and linguistic identities resettled youth bring with them by paying attention to the ways in which they represent and negotiate their identities through their writing. The youth reflected growth as Allies, Affirmers, and Advocates.

Author

• Beverly S. Faircloth, University of North Carolina - Greensboro
  Presenting Author