Second Generation Youth in Canada, Their Mobilities and Identifications: Relevance to Citizenship Education

Abstract

Based on narrative data recently collected from youth’s in three Canadian cities, our paper focuses on second generation perceptions of youth’s identifications in a society increasingly influenced by the forces of globalization and how these perceptions may or may not be reflected in programs of study dealing with citizenship education. We utilize a framework consisting of a continuum of mobilities of mind, body, and boundaries to situate their sense of self. The façade of globalisation is examined in terms of its impact on identity formation and these youths’ impressions of diversity and multiculturalism. Finally, we consider the relevance of the findings for citizenship education in Ontario, Manitoba, and Alberta.

The response of youth to racial discrimination: implications for resilience theory

“…However, as revealed in several studies on racial minority groups in Canada, almost 4 in 10 young immigrants have experienced racial discrimination based on the colour of their skin, immigration status, their accent (Arthur et al 2008;Lauer et al 2012) and even their name (Oreopoulos 2009). In Canada, racism has perhaps become a form of everyday practice that is systematically disguised in various institutional and social relations (Hébert, Wilkinson, and Ali 2008).…”

Becoming transnational: exploring multiple identities of students in a Mandarin–English bilingual programme in Canada

“…Most previous studies on immigrant children's identities have viewed identity as an essential part of self associated with dimensions of culture, ethnicity, nationality, gender, religions and race (Hébert, Wilkinson, and Ali 2008;Michael-Luna 2008). Post-structural scholars view identity as processes of becoming (Deleuze 1990;Deleuze and Guattari 1987;Semetsky 2006).…”

“…Identities are relational, which means an individual is formed not only through interpersonal relationships with others, but also through intrapersonal changes (Kramsch 2009), as identity involves the conscious mind and unconscious body's memories, fantasies, identifications and projections of the individual, all of which are always products of our socialisation in a given culture (Kramsch 2009;Weedon 1987). In examining immigrant youth's perceptions of identifications in an increasingly globalised society, Hébert, Wilkinson, and Ali (2008) have found that the immigrant youth are mobile in imagining themselves as others -as elsewhere in another place or time. They are familiar with and aware of the journeys of both their parents and themselves across cultural and other spaces of interaction.…”

“…These relationships, in turn, can be situated within a framework consisting of continua of mobilities of mind, body and boundaries. According to Hébert, Wilkinson, and Ali (2008), mobility of mind allows for mobile identities and shifting experiences of belonging between different references of identification. Mobility of bodies refers to migration and frequent movement across places and different spaces of interaction.…”

“…Theoretical frameworks and prior research The study draws on two theoretical frameworks: (1) post-structural perspectives of identities as processes of becoming (Andreotti 2008;Deleuze 1990;Deleuze and Guattari 1987;Kramsch 2009;Semetsky 2006) and (2) transculturation (e.g., Hébert, Wilkinson, and Ali 2008) and transnationalism (e.g., Vertovec 1999Vertovec , 2009). We will take up each in turn.…”