Who Will Hold the Reset Button? Lessons From "Students With Interrupted Formal Education"

• In Event: Resetting From the Margins: Humanizing Educational Experiences With Racially and Linguistically Minoritized Students and Communities

Abstract

Educational researchers have voiced concern about the long-term impacts of COVID-19 schooling disruptions (Kuhfeld et al., 2020). Yet, interrupted schooling is not a new phenomenon: In the field of language education, the acronym “SIFE” stands for “Students with Interrupted Formal Education,” a label most often applied to refugee students whose schooling was interrupted by political or economic instability in their home countries (Custodio & O’Loughlin, 2017). However, this presentation argues that research on SIFE can be extremely relevant in considering the long-term implications of COVID-19 schooling interruptions through the lens of critical consciousness (Palmer et al., 2019) and a “hard re-set” (Ladson-Billings, 2021, p. 68) for education.

This presentation draws on the theoretical framework of critical policy analysis (CPA), examining the ideologies and social contexts that inform policy (Young & Diem, 2017). CPA aims to “discover and/or question the complexity, subjectivity, and equity of policy” while highlighting both “the intended and unintended consequences of the policy implementation process” (Diem et al., 2014, p. 1084). This perspective aligns with other papers in this symposium by articulating the need for critical consciousness in regard to the education of linguistically and racially minoritized populations (Palmer et al., 2019).

This presentation applies critical policy analysis through the method of qualitative metasynthesis (Sandelowski & Barroso, 2006) of existing literature on SIFE education. A total of 37 articles on SIFE were analyzed, selected based on the search terms SIFE, SLIFE, and “interrupted formal education.” The articles were analyzed for specific recommendations made in regard to schooling interruptions. These recommendations were then juxtaposed with educational policy recommendations that have been made since the spring of 2020 in regard to COVID-19, and analyzed for the similarities and differences described below.

Results demonstrated both alignments and divergences between the suggestions made for SIFE students and policies implemented during the COVID pandemic. Some examples of similarities include recommendations for the suspension of standardized testing (Tatum, 2020), free access to distance learning (RAND, 2020), and exceptions to graduation and collegiate entrance requirements (Vigdor & Diaz, 2020). However, from a critical policy analysis perspective, it becomes noteworthy that many of these policy changes were previously described as “impossible” for previous generations of SIFE students (Roy & Roxas, 2011). As such, this presentation demonstrates the need to apply the lens of critical consciousness to ensure similar accommodations are maintained for future generations of SIFE students.

As the specter of “learning loss” looms in educational discourse on COVID-19 schooling interruptions, the literature on SIFE warns us that positioning students as “behind” will rarely lead to positive outcomes. Thus, somewhat paradoxically, the pandemic opens up opportunities to re-frame what counts as “learning” in a post-pandemic context. This presentations reaffirms the argument of this moment as a “re-set” (Ladson-Billings, 2021, p. 68) for formal education, but also points to the role of educators, researchers, and communities in holding onto the “re-set” button to make these possibilities a reality--a perspective expanded upon by the remaining papers in this symposium.

Author

• Chris K. Chang-Bacon, University of Virginia