Reimagining Critical Care and Problematizing Sense of School Belonging as a Response to Inequality for Immigrants and Children of Immigrants

Abstract

This chapter examines the factors that contribute to a sense of school belonging for immigrant and immigrant-origin youth. Through a review of the education research on critical care, the authors propose a framework informed by cariño conscientizado—critically conscious and authentic care—as central to reconceptualizing notions of school belonging. Research studies on teacher–student and peer relationships, student agency, and organizing are reviewed to identify how they function to disrupt structural factors that maintain educational inequities. Belonging as a concept is problematized through a re-envisioning of curriculum, pedagogy, and school–community relationships as a means to reduce inequality for immigrant and immigrant-origin youth and children.

ALAS: An Intervention to Promote Career Development Among Latina/o Immigrant High School Students

“…The ALAS facilitators supervise tutors and our research assistant, manage data collection, and carry out all ALAS activities. The relationships forged between ALAS facilitators, tutors, and participants are intentional, consistent with findings that being connected to adults in school contributes significantly to school engagement and to academic performance of immigrant students (DeNicolo, Yu, Crowley, & Gabel, 2017; Suárez-Orozco et al, 2009; Sibley & Brabeck, 2017). After each session, facilitators and tutors debrief to discuss strengths, areas for improvement, and goals for future sessions.…”

“…Building a sense of community helps reduce the isolation that Latina/o immigrant students may experience and foster school engagement (Sibley & Brabeck, 2017; Suárez-Orozco et al, 2009). Fostering a sense of belonging is crucial for immigrant students’ school persistence and success and includes attending to peer relationships and creating supportive spaces for positive identity formation (DeNicolo et al, 2017). Community building includes helping ALAS participants, tutors, and facilitators get to know one another, establish trust, and identify common experiences and values across their diverse identities.…”

Feeling at home in school: Migrant youths’ narratives on school belonging in Flemish secondary education

“…However, the underlying understanding behind these different terms is generally ‘the extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included and valued by others in the school social environment’ (Goodenow, 1993: 80). A growing body of research has looked into the effect of school belonging on a range of educational outcomes, using mostly quantitative methods and approaching it as a psychological state of wellbeing (DeNicolo et al, 2017; Halse, 2008; Saraví, Bayón and Azaola, 2019). Overall, these studies suggest that when students’ need for a sense of school belonging is met, this will positively influence their educational achievement and their participation in the schooling institute (e.g.…”

“…In this context, scholars argue that school belonging is about more than merely a state of psychological wellbeing and call for a broader understanding of the notion that also pays attention to the way in which institutional forces and practices work to include and exclude particular groups of students from specific educational spaces (see e.g. DeNicolo et al, 2017; Saraví et al, 2019). As highlighted by Cuervo and Wyn (2014) when approached as multidimensional and dynamic, the ‘metaphor of belonging’ can contribute to unravel processes of inequality, as especially those who are the most disadvantaged in education often work the hardest to belong.…”

“…Although there is a general agreement that feeling a sense of belonging to the school context plays an important role in students’ educational, psychological and social wellbeing, little is known about students’ lived experiences of belonging (Halse, 2018). Furthermore, studies that explore the importance of school belonging for children and young people with a migration background remain relatively scarce (DeNicolo et al, 2017). Indeed, as pointed out by Murphy and Zirkel (2015), research typically studies school belonging as a universal construct that carries the same meaning and impact for all students without taking into account that this may, in fact, vary between different groups of students.…”