The Birth of "Newcomers" as Educable Subjects

• In Event: Migration Methods and Theories

Proposal

This proposal draws on a larger project working with recently immigrated youth in their everyday lives to explore how "newcomer" emerged as an educable category within U.S. educational discourses.

From the broad framing of how schools in the U.S. have educated immigrant youth, it takes up a genealogical tracing of how newcomer youth emerged as a particular kind of subject. I focus on three specific framings of this populational category as educable subjects. First, it looks at newcomers as youth becoming/in formation. Their cultural histories and past demand recognition as part of educational success. Being included and becoming successful in schools requires educators to draw on these becoming subjects “funds of knowledge” (Moll et al., 1992). Second, the newcomer subject is a seeker, a subject in search of the opportunity made possible in school. Third, the newcomer is a liminal subject. In addition to the notion of occupying multiple cultural spaces (e.g. Anzaldua, 1987), newcomers perpetually exist as subjects on a precipice of inclusion in a multicultural, liberal society or marginalization within that society.

Building on the broad historical framing of educating immigrant youth, I turn to the history and trajectory of one particular newcomer school. Situating the school within New York City’s recent politics and history, the chapter looks at the birth and developments of WISH Academy (a pseudonym). Welcoming and affirming the cultural identities of recently immigrated youth has remained the school’s central aim. The school has also made constant alterations and adaptations in the face of political shifts. These evolutions have allowed the school to survive within the complex ecosystem and political pendulum of New York City schools. Within this tracing, I specifically focus on the school’s mission and core values and how they relate to or collide with politics. By remaining a public school (specifically a non-screened school), for instance, the city forced WISH moved locations multiple times. The school also faced persistent issues of under-enrollment. Here, I highlight survival mechanisms such as the school ultimately welcoming heritage speakers. The study also explores more general themes WISH encounters as a newcomer school such as the tension between segregation and creating a space for collective cultural affinity.

Author

• Jordan Corson, Stockton University