Learning on the Margins: Newcomer Youth Navigating Additive School Spaces

• In Event: Advancing Justice in Multilingual Education in the United States: Access, Belonging, and Translanguaging

Abstract

Part of a larger single-site case study, this qualitative project listens to the educational experiences and senses of belonging of newcomer immigrant youth who have been identified with as struggling (Suárez-Orozco et al., 2008) within a school specifically designed for their needs. This study contributes to recent literature on culturally affirmative schooling models and notions of belonging, especially amid a socio-political climate marked by xenophobia, racial justice movements, and policy uncertainties for immigrant youth. Drawing on survey, interview, and school data, findings highlight how traditional metrics overlook students’ strengths and underscore the need to further develop specific forms of additive schooling, culturally and linguistically responsive schools that truly support and include all newcomer students (Bartlett & Garcia, 2011).

Authors

• Kristen McInerney, RTI International

• Jordan Corson, Stockton University