Constructing Civic Identity and Engagement: The Case of Newcomer and Refugee Students in U.S. Schools

• In Event: Fostering hope and change through actions of belonging and engagement

Proposal

Overview
Increasing levels of voluntary and forced migration pose important questions about how schools should teach citizenship and civic values, particularly to students who have recently arrived in the United States. The U.S. has the highest number of immigrants in the world with 14% of the population classified as foreign-born (Banks, Suárez-Orozco, and Ben-Peretz 2016). Newcomer immigrant and refugee students represent a range of religious, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds. However, the current political climate has created a surge in nationalistic and xenophobic discourse and a rise in anti-immigrant and anti-refugee sentiments by national leaders (Banks 2017).

While existing research focuses on the importance of citizenship education for fostering civic identity and civic engagement among youth (Kymlicka 2001; Youniss, McLellan, and Yates 1997), less is known about civic identity and engagement from the perspective of newcomer immigrants and resettled refugee youth. Using survey and interview data collected from students in four diverse U.S. high schools, we examine student perspectives on civic identity and engagement, as well as the roles of schools and communities in shaping identities and promoting opportunities for engagement. We ask the following questions: How do newcomer immigrant and refugee students conceptualize civic identity and engagement? What factors predict differences in future civic engagement among these students?

Theoretical Framework

Citizenship education plays an important role in building a strong democratic society, constructing national identity, and fostering civic engagement among youth (Banks 2004; Kymlicka 2001; Youniss et al. 1997). Existing research focuses on the importance of civic education and activities in promoting current and future civic engagement among youth (Hart et al. 2007; Levinson 2012; Zaff, Malanchuk, and Eccles 2008). Some research has identified a “civic empowerment gap” between youth of color and immigrant youth and white, non-immigrant peers in terms of civic knowledge, civic identity, and political participation (Levinson 2012; Quinn and Nguyen 2017; Rubin et al. 2016). Other studies investigating civic identity and engagement among immigrant youth (Jensen 2008; Quinn and Nguyen 2017; Stepick and Stepick 2002; Torney-Purta, Barber, and Wilkenfeld 2006) demonstrate not only the central role of the school (Abu El-Haj 2007) but the importance of civic learning opportunities outside of school to facilitate “new forms of civic engagement” (Knight and Watson 2014:562).

Within the school environment, studies underscore the key role of open classroom engagement and discussions in promoting civic knowledge and identity (Flanagan et al. 2007; Godfrey and Grayman 2014; Rubin 2007; Torney-Purta et al. 2001). Studies also highlight the critical role of extracurricular activities, clubs, and voluntary associations in fostering current and future civic engagement (Kahne and Sporte 2008; McFarland and Thomas 2006; Youniss et al. 1997; Zaff et al. 2003). However, the existing research does not address how newcomer immigrant students see themselves as civic actors and the multiple ways they may be civically engaged. In our research, we examine the diverse dimensions of civic identity and engagement among newcomer immigrant and refugee students.

Research Methods

We conducted an anonymous survey during the 2018-2019 academic school year with 286 students across four to five classrooms in four schools in New York and Arizona to gauge their views on social and political issues, civic identity, and engagement. Following the survey, we conducted individual interviews with a diverse sample of 112 students who represented a range of grades, ages, genders, countries of origin, and immigration experiences. The research team also interviewed teachers, school administrators, and school district officials and conducted over 250 hours of classroom observations.

Initial Findings

We analyzed descriptive statistics and constructed relevant indices measuring students’ future civic engagement, civic identity, participation, and other predictor variables. The results from our analysis for civic identity suggest students’ conceptions of citizenship coalesced around two ideals: “law-abiding” citizenship and “participatory” citizenship. The former is related to observing the law and respecting authorities while the latter is related to partaking in activities or protests and advocating for social and political issues. Our analysis shows that participatory citizenship is more important than the law-abiding conception in understanding students’ ideas about civic identity.

Students’ views on citizenship ranged from legal understandings to patriotic perspectives and broader ideas of civic-minded behaviors and attitudes. We find that students’ self-reported future civic engagement does not vary with regard to their law-abiding civic identity. We find that future civic engagement is positively and significantly associated with students’ participation in clubs or organizations and with their opportunities to participate in class discussions. We find that students’ perceived future civic engagement does not vary across identity or background variables. Together, these results suggest that students’ expectations about their future engagement are not necessarily related to their identities but are more influenced by other factors such as their participation and views on the importance of participation.

While students’ identities are not necessarily related to whether they plan to engage in civic activities in the future, emerging patterns from our interviews suggest that students’ backgrounds and experiences do influence the types of social and political issues they care about.



Significance

Understanding civic identity and engagement among newly arrived immigrant and refugee youth provides important insights into the experience of these students in schools and the role of schools in shaping these identities and promoting civic engagement more broadly. Our findings highlight the importance of a participatory civic identity, as well as participation in extracurricular activities and class discussion in promoting future civic engagement among newcomer youth. In addition, the study provides critical evidence on the extent to which schools are promoting identification with an inclusive civic culture, with implications for policy and practice. Finally, this research addresses calls to identify the myriad ways youth make sense of their civic identity and engage civically (Albacete 2014).

Authors

• S. Garnett Russell, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Paula Liliana Mantilla Blanco, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Amlata Persaud, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Katrina Malinda Webster, Teachers College, Columbia University