Category Archives: Media Reflections

Equitable Access to Early Childhood Education (Group 6)

In Multnomah county, Portland Oregon, the very first Preschool for All application has just opened (Egener, 2022). According to Egener (2022), “The announcement marks a key milestone toward making tuition-free preschool available to all 3- and 4- year-olds in the county, as the Preschool for All measure provides. Voters overwhelmingly passed the measure in 2020 with 64% of the vote. It is funded by a personal income tax of 1.5 % on joint filers earning more than $200,000 and 3% on joint filers earning more than $400,000. The tax went into effect Jan. 1, 2021” (para. 3). Top priority is being given to low income families and notably “… migrant or refugee families, non-English speaking families” (Egner, 2022, para. 11). This is an incredibly positive shift in how early childhood education is approached and instrumental in supporting refugee and migrant students who are some of the most vulnerable nationwide. 

The State of the World’s Children 2016: A fair chance for every child highlights some of the many reasons countries need to invest in quality early childhood education especially when supporting their most vulnerable populations. Rapid brain development during the first few years of children’s lives establishes an essential foundation. As noted in the report, “… early childhood offers a critical window of opportunity to break intergenerational cycles of inequity. Early childhood care, protection and stimulation can jumpstart brain development, strengthen children’s ability to learn, help them develop psychological resilience and allow them to adapt to change” (UNICEF, 2016, p. 50). As outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals, access to quality education begins in early childhood which is why it is so important to see how Preschool for All is being implemented (UNICEF, 2016). It is clear that, “To help children from poor and marginalized groups overcome the disadvantages they start out with, early childhood care and universal pre-primary education should be priorities” (UNICEF, 2016, p. 65). Equitable access to early childhood education is paramount in supporting  the growth and development of our communities worldwide. 

References:

Egner, M. (2022, April 4). Multnomah county families can apply for free preschool this month. The outlook. https://pamplinmedia.com/go/42-news/541399-433485-multnomah-county-families-can-apply-for-free-preschool-this-month

UNICEF. (2016). The State of the World’s Children 2016: A fair chance for every child. New York: UNICEF.

“El Futuro is Now:  Is Catholic higher education ready for the growing Hispanic community?”

This article considers the state of Catholic higher education in the United States in regard to the growing Hispanic/Latinx population and makes the assessment that Catholic higher education is unprepared for and oblivious to the demographic shift.

By the year 2036, Bravo believes that 30% of the high school graduates in the United States will be Hispanic.  Pointing out that of the 226 Catholic colleges and universities in the US, 32 are classified as Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) and 36 are classified as emerging HSI, he poses the question, “will we respond and be intentional about welcoming, integrating and celebrating our growing Hispanic student population?”

Public discourse on Catholic identity is often exclusive and “fails to include a multicultural, multiracial, panethnic people of God,” he asserts. The anti-Hispanic sentiment and lack of representation in education deserves reflection and a thoughtful response.  A culturally responsible ministry and representation within the classroom is needed.

This article echoed some of the discrimination outlined in this week’s readings involving immigrants’ experiences of exclusion and marginalization due to race, language, and social policy.  Bartlett (2011) discusses findings that immigrant children often attend lower quality schools and shares that the language hierarchy and language education policy makes a difference in the effectiveness of education for immigrants. Haitian students living in the Dominican Republic shared the difficulties of obtaining documentation and fees to access education, and they also suggested that their race and language accents affected their treatment within the schools (Bartlett, 2011).  This discussion correlates with the discussion of prevalent xenophobia within South Africa expressed in the Al Jazeera video.  

At the heart of Catholic Social Teaching is the belief that every human being is made in the image of God.  We know that education greatly impacts one’s ability to live a good, right life.  Bravo calls on the Catholic Church, and Catholic colleges and universities in particular, to consider who we are and whose we are, asking, “will we continue to passively allow the demographic shifts to shape higher education, or, will we meet this moment intentionally?”  

Al Jazeera (n.d) Migration Inside and Outside of Africa.

Bartlett, L. (2011) ‘South-south migration and education: The case of people of Haitian 

descent born in the Dominican Republic’. In Compare: A Journal of Comparative Education 

Vol.42 No.3 [pp.1-22].

Media Reflection 9.3 -Ukrainian Refugee Children in Berlin

Ukrainian children find a welcoming classroom in Berlin

The discussion of immigrants in Europe made me think of current events, more specifically the Russian attacks in Ukraine. I read on the news that many countries were accommodating a large number of Ukrainian refugees, but that also meant that the educational system in each country needed to accommodate Ukrainian children as well. I decided to search up how different countries were welcoming Ukrainian students into their schools and found this particular example about Germany.

“The children nervously clutched their new exercise books, sharpened pencils and erasers as their new teachers welcomed them in Ukrainian on the third floor of the former factory. They will follow their curriculum from back home and also take German language classes. The three hours of school each weekday will be followed by activities such as playacting, painting or handicrafts” (Grieshaber, 2022).

It is reassuring to see that other countries are attempting to give Ukrainian children educational opportunities and limit the gap in interrupted schooling. In this case, German and Ukrainians worked together to start an educational program, instead of directly mainstreaming Ukrainian children into German classrooms. The classes are meant to be Ukrainian-German transitional classes. It reminds me of the transitional language programs, or Structured English Immersion classes in the United States. 

It is also important to note the long-term effects of Ukrainin immigration to various countries. Barban and White (2011) mention that immigrants in school often differ from native children in terms of performance and attainment. Immigrant status depends on characteristics such as socioeconomic status, educational achievements, and family composition (Barban & White, 2011). As refugees, Ukrainians are low on the social ladder and will depend on the host country to provide employment opportunities for families as well. In the current climate, political factors also play a large role in the amount of support that Ukrainian children and their families get. 

This leaves me pondering that as time progresses, is the goal of European governments to assimilate Ukrainian children or to work towards a multilingual and multicultural educational system? Or is this simply a temporary measure? 

Media Reflection Group 1

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/07/1085013070/how-one-international-student-fled-ukraine-and-brought-along-50-others

This podcast describes the quick reaction of Hasan Abu Zaanona, an international student from Palestine (Global South). His family fled from the Gaza Strip, to Yemen (Global South) then to Ukraine. When war threatened again, he quickly took fifty international students with him to Hungary. Hasan is safely in the Netherlands- but his educational work has been repeatedly uncredited due to bouncing from south-south to south- (poor) north.

He has made his first transition north-north, but faces uncertainty. However, “when confronted with economic restraints in host societies, [children of immigrants] have transnational cards to play not available to their less transnational Western counterparts” (Grasmuck & Hinze, 2016, p.1972). I extend this to Hasan, who migrated with his parents as a child

Hasan was able to mobilize resources and orchestrate movement for an already migratory group. I could attribute this feat to his association with other transnational international students or possibly social capital with a religious/ethnic population. The small population of Muslims in Ukraine live in Hasan’s region (Razumkov, 2016). This could’ve been a challenge, but also a unifying community. Such communities, exclusion or association with a homeland can influence the social position of migrants (Grasmuck & Hinze, 2016).

Unlike the heritage migrants in Grasmuck & Hinze (2016), Hasan’s credentials will not be readily credited in the Netherlands. His social position could also be difficult. “There is a general tendency to see religion, and specifically Islam, as one of the major obstacles to integration”, but the integration process of other groups often shows more parallels in educational performance and transnational activities (Thomson & Crul, 2007, p.1026). He can leverage his transnational networks and competencies into global opportunities or reap benefits from his kinship and transnational socialization upon returning to Palestine.

Grasmuck, S., & Hinze, A. M. (2016). Transnational heritage migrants in Istanbul: second-generation Turk-American and Turk-German “Returnees” in their parents’ homeland. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies42(12), 1959–1976. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183x.2016.1142365

Razumkov Center. (2016). Religion, Church, Society and State: Two Years after Maidan (pp. 22, 27, 29, 31). Razumkov Center in collaboration with the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches.

Thomson, M., & Crul, M. (2007). The Second Generation in Europe and the United States: How is the Transatlantic Debate Relevant for Further Research on the European Second Generation? Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies33(7), 1025–1041. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830701541556

German School System & Migrants

9.3 Media Reflection — Group 1 — Colleen Burke

German school system still holds back children of migrants, experts say

By Sarah Lawton (March 2021)

Much of this week’s reading touched on experiences of students who are immigrants. One article that stood out to me was the experience of those students in European countries and how that may differ from that of students in the United States. Upon further exploration, I came across this article about children of migrants within the school system in Germany.

The article states that students who have at least one parent not born with German citizenship are 4x as likely to be impacted by “education-related risk factors” (Lawton, 2021). This includes many of Germany’s public schools not being set up for migrant families, delegating part of the learning to parents. This can negatively impact education access if parents speak a different language or have to work during those hours.  

Another article by the same author, “New Study Sheds light on Discrimination in the German Education System”, focused specifically on Sinti and Roma people throughout Germany. These groups are considered to be at a disadvantage, with a third of survey respondents leaving secondary school “without receiving a leaving certificate, and another 30% having a degree from a Hauptschule, the lowest track in the German education system” (Lawton, 2021). While Sinti and Roma people are not recent immigrants, it shows the difficulty and discrimination still experienced among populations in Germany that aren’t the “majority.” 

These findings align with some of the information in the Thomas and Crul article, referencing second generation students. Looking at Germany, this article highlighted that many Turkish students “live in a parallel world detached from wider German society” (Thompson & Crul, 2007). Meaning that folks in the German school system, who aren’t a part of that majority, may experience a lack of support or adjustment to their needs and are missing out or experiencing an entirely different system altogether. 

Resources:

Lawton, S. (2021, February 26). New Study Sheds Light on discrimination in the German education system. www.euractiv.com. Retrieved from https://www.euractiv.com/section/non-discrimination/news/new-study-sheds-light-on-racial-discrimination-in-the-german-education-system/ 

Lawton, S. (2021, March 29). German school system still holds back children of Migrants, experts say. www.euractiv.com. Retrieved from https://www.euractiv.com/section/non-discrimination/news/experts-criticise-inequality-in-german-schools/ Thomson, M., and Crul, M. (2007) The second generation in Europe and the United States: How is the transatlantic debate relevant for further research on the European second generation? In Journal of Ethnic and Racial Studies Vol.33

Thomson, M., and Crul, M. (2007) The second generation in Europe and the United States: How is the transatlantic debate relevant for further research on the European second generation? In Journal of Ethnic and Racial Studies Vol.33 

Media Reflection 7.3 (Group 6, Angie Kingston) Many third-generation Hispanics don’t speak Spanish, but their parents do. Why?

https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/10/16/many-third-generation-hispanics-dont-speak-spanish-but-their-parents-do-why/#commentDiv

As written by San Antonio KSAT news reporter, Sarah Acosta, nearly 70% of second-generation Latinos in U.S. are bilingual and fewer than a quarter of third-generation Hispanics speak Spanish. In an interview with KSAT, an Our Lady of the Lake professor was quoted as saying, “The loss of Spanish between generations was generally a way of parents protecting their children from punishment or ridicule that they themselves had experienced.”

(Grosjean, 2010) writes about the myth of bilingualism having a negative effect on the development of children. She explains rationale supporting this negative view when she references linguist, Otto Jesperson, “The brain effort required to master two languages instead of one certainly diminishes the child’s power of learning other things which might and ought to be learnt.” Unfortunately, this view is still present today in certain circles and countries (p. 219).

Many third generation Latinos due not fluently speak Spanish due to the fact that their parents were punished in school for speaking anything but English. “It really is just a generation of people who had a language literally beaten out of them in our school system,” U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro said. “And it’s so tragic and unfortunate because it was not only the loss of a language, but also partly the loss of a culture.”

As mentioned in the Patrick Proctor video, “First generation immigrants tend to be monolingual speakers in their native tongue, second generation children tend to be the most bilingual, and third generation children tend to be monolingual English speakers. The reasons seem clear, “When someone criticizes the way you speak or the way you say certain things,” Dr. Maribel Larraga, Professor of Humanities & Social Sciences at OLLU said. “They are criticizing you as a person.” When a child or adolescent feels criticized or shamed for speaking the language of their family’s culture, they are made to feel lesser. As educators, “We must encourage linguistic diversity while respecting the mother tongue, and foster the learning of several languages from the earliest age” (UNESCO, 2002). We must ensure that all school environments celebrate the cultural diversity and languages of their students.

References:

Acosta, S. (2021) Many third generation parents don’t speak Spanish but their parents do. Why. ksat.com. https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/10/16/many-third-generation-hispanics-dont-speak-spanish-but-their-parents-do-why/#commentDiv

Grosjean, F. (2010) Bilingual: Life and reality.Harvard University Press.

Proctor. (n.d.). Linguistic interdependence in bilingual education. Retrieved from Boston college. 

Media Reflection 7.3 (group 6)

In an article posted by Education Week, Cardoza (2019)  highlights some of the experiences of migrant children in schools and how schools are attempting to support these children. Essentially, one of the prominent struggles behind schools’ ability to support these students is that many of the migrant children that are being enrolled, “…have large gaps in their schooling, meaning that many are well behind their grade levels in reading, even in Spanish.” The challenge then is that the schools need to have enough resources to provide the language support and instruction the students need in order to catch up. 

Schools are constrained by budgets, finding bilingual teachers and the challenge of teaching students a new language in addition to keeping them on track with content. The question though is are the majority of schools approaching language learning and instruction the optimal way?

In the Module 7 text this week Grosjean (2010) explains that “…Cummins estimates that minority-language children require at least five years to catch up to their majority-language peers in literacy-related language skills” (p. 234). On top of that Grosjean also explains that research has shown how difficult it is to keep up with a regular school curriculum as a child or adolescent, while also learning the “language of instruction” (2010, p. 233). 

As more schools experience an influx of migrant students the attention towards the structure of language instruction in schools across the US must shift. According to Grosjean (2010), schools that have found success in supporting the development of bilingual students are those that emphasize instruction in both languages and build off of students’ strengths in their dominant language. The Amigos School in Cambridge MA, is one example of a school offering dual language immersion where instruction is offered in both Spanish and English and eventually is split evenly throughout the students’ days (Grosjean, 2010). It would seem that not all, but many of our school systems in the US are not yet structured to match the research and best practices behind supporting migrant students in maintaining their native language while learning English and expanding their knowledge.

Resources:

Cardoza, K. (2019, April 9). How schools are responding to migrant children. Education Week.https://www.edweek.org/leadership/how-schools-are-responding-to-migrant-children/2019/04

Grosjean, F. (2010) Bilingual: Life and reality.Harvard University Press.

Media Reflection 5.3

The state of Latinx education: A fast-growing future workforce, systemic barriers, and la lucha by Rupen Fofaria

Media Reflection by Megan Gavrillen Group 4

This article by Fofaria discusses the state of education in my state of NC through the lens of Latinx immigrants.  

Currently in her senior year at UNCG, Celeste Cervantes shares her experiences as the daughter of Mexican immigrants in the US.  Citing factors such as vast differences between the schools in Mexico and in the United States, the language barrier, and the lack of communication between her parents and her school, she says she was lucky to achieve her goals because caring adults and teachers were able to guide her.  She acknowledges that other classmates were not as lucky.  In particular, she recounts a young man who pretended to struggle with English so that he could be assigned “easier” curriculum through ESL status.

According to the article, one in six children through age 17 in North Carolina is Hispanic, and while “more than half of all North Carolina high school graduates enroll in postsecondary….less than 40% among our Hispanic graduates.” 

This module’s readings highlight patterns of marginalization among immigrants in the education system.  The focus on high-stakes testing, which requires academic language proficiency, and reform initiatives which often “ignore and avoid engaging new immigrant students” are some of the obstacles outlined (Suarez-Orozco, 2011, p. 313).  The separation “experienced by immigrant-origin language learners… results in unequal resources, lowered expectations, and insufficient exposure to high-level academic content and critical-thinking skills” (Suarez-Orozco, 2011, p. 317). 

Another interviewee in the article, Carlos Ramirez, shares that as a student in California, he felt like “ my language … was erased and … we were taught to be less than.”  The perspectives in this article correlate with the “othered” position outlined in our reading (Vigil, 2002, as cited in Suarez-Orozco, 2011, p. 317).  This “erasing” also connects to the exploration of transnational identities in the module.

Suárez-Orozco, M. M., Darbes, T., Dias, S. I., & Sutin, M. (2011). Migrations and schooling. Annual Review of Anthropology, 40, 311-328.

Media Reflection 3.3

Group 2- Yan Li

This is a sticker or bookmark I created after my Arrupe trip to Guatemala. During the trip, we stayed in a village with different families and saw a glimpse into their everyday lives. My host family was Gonzolo (on the right in the photo), Teresa (on the left in the photo), and their children.

The videos and readings from this module reminded me a bit of the trip, because the module highlighted the importance of understanding stories. Dr. Alvarez and Sarah Gallo are inspiring because they do not try to make assumptions. They go into the everyday lives of migrants and try to understand them. Before the trip to Guatemala, I was completely unaware of the personal and collective struggles of Guatemalan people.

During my stay with Gonzolo’s family, we had many conversations around the dinner table. The other Boston College girl that was with me spoke fluent Spanish, so she translated every sentence for me. When talking about the Mexican-American border, Gonzolo said that “We are treated like less than animals. Even animals could eat the grass from the other side of the wall”. They are happy for their friends that have successfully crossed the border, but they knew that it would be too dangerous to do so.

I thought it was very interesting when Dr. Alvarez mentioned in the video that contemporary globalization intentionally covers up undocumented travel. She mentions choosing between two evils of life of experiencing racism, violence, under-the-table unemployment in their home country or facing the same issues in the new country. The video definitely helped me gain new perspectives on what I had heard from Guatemalans, and helped me consider the bigger issue of migrant struggles and feeling unwelcome everywhere.

Media Reflection 2.3

Colleen Burke — Group 1

Building Schools in Developing Countries

When I was reading about modernization, one of the things that kept coming to mind was how Western-centric the concept was. Immediately my brain went to ideas of assimilation and gentrification, both inside and outside of the United States. One thing that specifically stood out to me was the “assumption that third world countries are traditional and western countries are modern.” With that alongside the idea that in order for something to be modernized you must completely replace pre-existing structures and values, I thought a great deal about colonization and colonialism.

Something I have seen a great deal of throughout my life is the idea of “mission trips” or trips where someone (typically a white student, often through a church or university) goes to an underdeveloped company and performs a short-term task. Sometimes this is building a church, a soccer field, a house, a school. Sometimes it’s providing medical assistance, medical supplies, even shoes (see: Toms shoes).

One thing that has been brought up countless times is how helpful is it actually? I came across this blog post that called for not building more schools, which, at face-value, feels like a really risky thing to say. Then I read on, building schools in underdeveloped countries has not necessarily led to more students in the classroom, and there are other methods that might be better suited to encourage folx to seek out and spend time on education. Many places also feel an impact while folx are there, but when they’re gone the community is left with a hole that they may not have resources to fill. Another aspect is how Western cultures view education – this might not fit well with all communities and all cultures, and should be (but often isn’t) considered when trying to support educational development.