Achievement Versus Identity: Student Subcultures Can Lever Change

• In Event: Reculturing Schooling: Strategies and Consequences

Abstract

The relationship between student demographics and school achievement is well documented: across the world, countless marginalized students continue to underperform in school (Skerrett & Hargreaves, 2008). Marginalized groups include those who speak a language other than the dominant one, those who look different or come from a different cultural background.

This paper explores how four Boards in Ontario, Canada, under the auspices of the Essential for Some, Good for All (ESGA) initiative, prioritized marginalized students by devising district-wide reforms targeting their academic success. These Boards’ efforts yield new insights into how non-standardized reforms can respond to local context and ultimately address equity issues within and across schools.

ESGA, a $70 million project of the Ministry of Education, called on Boards to self-design projects that would enhance the academic achievement of special needs students and at-risk learners. The opportunity to ‘personalize’ the reform enabled Boards to examine their local context and shape culturally responsive strategies that directly aligned to their realities. In the examined districts, four distinct populations – Aboriginal children, non-native English speakers, French speakers and Old-Order Mennonites – are prioritized as leaders roll out reforms that honor different cultural backgrounds, applaud previously learned skills and knowledge and introduce focused interventions to accelerate academic learning.

Triangulation of data within and across the four cases yields a number of key findings:

•Aboriginal populations, who often experienced disinheritance in schools and disregard for their language, can be empowered through bi-cultural programs with a focus on oral language development and pre-literacy strategies;

•Immigrant and English language learners can gain voice within the larger community when diverse literacy materials are adapted to their ethno-cultural background;

•Franco-Ontarian learners thrive when competition between peers and surrounding public and Catholic systems is mitigated, both permitting traditional Francophone community cultures to flourish and reducing high turnover of staff and students.

•Two-way partnerships between Old-Order Mennonite communities (who prioritize the family unit and participation in seasonal work) and the larger community lead to greater academic achievement. However, its impact on student learning may well span a generation, rather than providing immediate increases on province-wide tests.

Reforms that align to local realities can increase tolerance among staff, strengthen partnerships between schools and local communities, and improve marginalized students’ academic performance. The paper also highlights some challenges that arise with locally devised reforms: resolving longstanding school and community tensions, fusing disjointed visions of school purpose, and reconciling divergent priorities between mainstream and marginalized populations. Districts also still face constant pressure to focus on short-term test score improvements instead of cultivating lasting partnerships based on mutual trust and collaboration.

The significance of this study lies in the principles, strategies and accomplishments of the four districts. Central was the realization by school leaders that enhancing the academic progress of marginalized students required a deeper understanding and appreciation of home culture, parental expectations and community values. Thus, students’ contextual characteristics that are often overlooked – or resented -- were instead viewed as essential to devising reforms with a greater guarantee of success.

Author

• Maureen Hughes, Boston College