Immigration and Education in North Carolina: The Challenges and Responses in a New Gateway State

275 Pages·2017·13.391 MB·English

by  Xue Lan Rong, Jeremy Hilburn (eds.)

Immigration and Education in North Carolina
BREAKTHROUGHS IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION
VOLUME 6
Series Editor:
George W. Noblit, Joseph R. Neikirk Distinguished Professor of Sociology of
Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
Scope:
In this series, we are establishing a new tradition in the sociology of education. Like
many fields, the sociology of education has largely assumed that the field develops
through the steady accumulation of studies. Thomas Kuhn referred to this as ‘normal
science.’ Yet normal science builds on a paradigm shift, elaborating and expanding
the paradigm. What has received less attention are the works that contribute to
paradigm shifts themselves. To remedy this, we will focus on books that move the
field in dramatic and recognizable ways—what can be called breakthroughs.
Kuhn was analyzing natural science and was less sure his ideas fit the social
sciences. Yet it is likely that the social sciences are more subject to paradigm shifts
than the natural sciences because the social sciences are fed back into the social
world. Thus sociology and social life react to each other, and are less able separate
the knower from the known. With reactivity of culture and knowledge, the social
sciences follow a more complex process than that of natural science. This is clearly
the case with the sociology of education. The multiplicity of theories and methods
mix with issues of normativity—in terms of what constitutes good research, policy
and/or practice. Moreover, the sociology of education is increasingly global in its
reach—meaning that the national interests are now less defining of the field and more
interrogative of what is important to know. This makes the sociology of education
even more complex and multiple in its paradigm configurations. The result is both
that there is less shared agreement on the social facts of education but more vibrancy
as a field. What we know and understand is shifting on multiple fronts constantly.
Breakthroughs is to the series for works that push the boundaries—a place where all
the books do more than contribute to the field, they remake the field in fundamental
ways. Books are selected precisely because they change how we understand both
education and the sociology of education.
Immigration and Education in North Carolina
The Challenges and Responses in a New Gateway State
Edited by
Xue Lan Rong
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
and
Jeremy Hilburn
University of North Carolina Wilmington, USA
A C.I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN: 978-94-6300-807-5 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-94-6300-808-2 (hardback)
ISBN: 978-94-6300-809-9 (e-book)
Published by: Sense Publishers,
P.O. Box 21858,
3001 AW Rotterdam,
The Netherlands
https://www.sensepublishers.com/
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved © 2017 Sense Publishers
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming,
recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the
exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and
executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface vii
Acknowledgments xv
Section I: The Demographic Context and Historical Backgrounds of
Immigration and Education in North Carolina
1. Immigration, Demographic Changes and Schools in North Carolina from
1990 to 2015: Transformations to a Multiethnic, Global Community 3
Xue Lan Rong, Jeremy Hilburn and Wenyang Sun
2. The Lost Years of Opportunity for North Carolina’s ESL Students 25
Sharon Shofer
Section II: Immigration, Immigrants, Schools and Communities in
North Carolina
3. Schooling Experience of Latino/a Immigrant Adolescents in
North Carolina: An Examination of Relationships between Peers,
Teachers, and Parents 53
Matthew Green, Krista M. Perreira and Linda K. Ko
4. “I’m Not Ashamed of Who I Am”: Counter-Stories of Muslim, Arab
Immigrant Students in North Carolina 81
Kate R. Allman
5. Social Studies Educators’ Perceptions on Policy Issues and Efforts to
Teach Immigrant Students in North Carolina 103
Jeremy Hilburn
6. Citizenship without Papers: A Case Study of Undocumented Youth
Fighting for In-State Tuition Policy 125
Hillary Parkhouse and Emily Freeman
7. In Search of Aztlán, North Carolina: Jose’s Story 149
Juan Carrillo
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section III: Language Education and the Translinguistic Community
8. The “Problem” of the Mixed Class Dynamic: Teaching Spanish to
Heritage Language Learners and Second Language Learners in
North Carolina’s High School Classrooms 167
Linwood J. Randolph Jr.
9. Countering Silence and Reconstructing Identities in a Spanish/English
Two-Way Immersion Program: Latina Mothers’ Pedagogies in
El Nuevo Sur 195
Claudia G. Cervantes-Soon and Alison M. Turner
10. Heritage Language Sustainability and Transnational Affect: The Case of
Second-Generation Korean Americans 221
Ji-Yeon O. Jo and Seok-In Lee
11. Czech and Slovak Mothers Struggling to Maintain Children’s
Heritage Language in North Carolina 241
Marta McCabe
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PREFACE
IMMIGRATION AND EDUCATION IN NORTH CAROLINA AND
THE IMPLICATIONS TO THE NATION
This book brings together 11 chapters by 17 scholars who represent a wide range
of educational expertise and professional views related to educating immigrant
children and youth in North Carolina. Some of these contributors have been leading
scholars in the field, while others are emerging scholars who add fresh voices to
this research domain. All have extensive current experience working in educational
institutions in North Carolina.
The intended audience for this volume includes teachers, educational leaders
and policy makers, scholars, parents, community leaders, and concerned citizens
in North Carolina and nationwide. This volume is not exhaustive, and there are
many unsettled arguments and lingering questions put forward by the book’s chapter
authors. Yet, this is an initial attempt to contribute to the discussion of immigration
and education in a single state, a new gateway state in the U.S. South.
The book attempts to answer these two related core questions:
1. What promises and problems, challenges, and opportunities do North Carolina
and its school systems face when acting on practical and policy issues regarding
the education of the rapidly increasing number of enormously diverse immigrant
students? Are the educational institutions able and willing to serve the needs of
these newcomers?
2. What differences exist between the temporary and long-term solutions and the
simplified and the more-comprehensive solutions? Given these differences, what
are the future directions, in terms of providing equality and equity in education
for immigrant students, perceived by scholars, educators, education leaders,
immigrant students, families, and communities in North Carolina?
The following questions provide readers some examples regarding the specifics
related to the above two core questions:
a. Who are the immigrant students in North Carolina? In what ways are the
characteristics of immigrant students and their families different in new gateway
states than they are in traditional gateway states? With the arrival of unprecedented
numbers of immigrants from Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean during the
last several decades, how has North Carolina received and integrated substantial
streams of non-white, non-European voluntary immigrants into its communities?
Are the social, political, and economic experiences of Asian and Latino/a students
living and schooling in this state qualitatively different from the experiences of
Caucasians, African Americans, and Native Americans? Based on the differences,
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PREFACE
what special needs do immigrant students and their families have? How receptive
are government agencies, communities, and schools to the needs of immigrant
students?
b. How will U.S. schools integrate the newcomers? What have schools done
to encourage the integration of newcomers with longer-term residents and
with already-established immigrants? What role can communities play in
helping culturally diverse children do well in school? How should schools
and communities perceive and provide educational opportunities to and for
undocumented immigrant students?
c. What are the common agreements and disputes regarding school and classroom
practices, and what dilemmas and paradoxes are associated with the laws and
policies regarding the education of immigrant children?
While the 11 studies engage these questions to various extents and at different
levels across disciplines and fields, all provide one clear and resounding “no” to the
question: Are we adequately preparing immigrant students as well as all students
in North Carolina to participate productively in a global economy and democratic
society? The common theme that emerges from these studies strongly suggests that
the changing demographics of the state’s children have clear implications for public
schools, which must continually reinvent themselves in a changing world.
Depth, Breadth, and Analytical Lenses
This book is positioned to begin to answer the above-mentioned questions, as the
strength of this volume lies in its depth, breadth, and critical analytical lenses.
The focus on a single state and the qualitative nature of most of the chapters provide
depth – each of these studies is highly focused on specific groups. For example,
Chapter 3 (by Green, Perreira, & Ko) addresses the particulars of adolescent
Latina/o youths, and Chapter 9 (Cervantes-Soon & Turner) focuses exclusively
on Latina mothers of students enrolled in two-way immersion dual-language
classrooms. By deeply exploring multiple contexts within a single state and
focusing on a specific education issue, policymakers, teachers, teacher educators,
and education leaders may be in a better position to make effective pedagogical and
policy recommendations for the state.
The different types of studies, methodological approaches, theoretical
orientations, and participant selection decisions provide the breadth of the volume.
Excepting demographic and historical policy studies, most studies in this volume are
qualitative empirical studies. However, there was still a wide range of methodological
approaches—from single case designs to open-ended surveys, extensive classroom
observations, and individual and focus group interviews, etc.
The emphasis on qualitative research in this volume is telling, as there is much
to explore in this new gateway state. The breadth of the volume is also evidenced
in the study participants. We focused our attention on students (immigrants and
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PREFACE
non-immigrants), educators (teachers of different grade levels and specialties,
school administrators, etc.), parents and communities (Latino/a, Korean, Arab
American, Czech-Slovakian, etc.), different content areas (social studies, foreign
languages/heritage languages/ESL, etc.), and a wide range of urgent issues, such
as language policies and institutional supports (or lack of one or both) for English
language learners and heritage language learners, identity deconstruction and
reconstruction, and undocumented immigrant teens’ self-support and advocacy.
The scholars also nested their studies in both traditional and nontraditional locales
of educational research. While some contributors focused their data collection in
K–12 schools, others identified participants in universities. Others collected data
through ethnic communities (Allman), non-educational organizations including
grassroots activist organizations (Parkhouse & Freeman), and a community group of
Czech and Slovak speakers (McCabe).
While each chapter deals with a specific target group and topic, the authors
are linked by a motivation to learn more about immigration and education issues
in North Carolina. Collectively, they offer insights from scholars linked by their
commitment to inform and empower educational stakeholders in this state, as well
as immigrant students and families, in order to improve educational experiences and
socialization for all students. It is our hope that this critical dialogue will continue to
promote discussion and examination of these timely and relevant issues.
Theoretically, all chapters echo some similar contextual themes: Power and
institutional and individual bias toward immigrants and their children in new
gateway states in the U.S. South. In terms of the analytical lenses, the authors
draw on several critical frameworks, including ecological models of educating
immigrant students, critical race theories, Chican@ identity, subtractive and
additive schooling, transnationalism/identity studies, and many others. In terms of
additive schooling, each chapter adopts theoretical dispositions related to resource
orientations. That is, authors designed their studies using frameworks that recognize
the structural barriers that disadvantage immigrants in new southern gateway states
but also position immigrant youth, families, and communities as possessing and
utilizing valuable resources to promote educational access and achievement. This
contrasts with the deficit perspectives of immigrant youth and families, who are
often portrayed adversely in political discourse and the media and are reified in
educational communities.
We organized the 11 studies in this book into three sections to promote critical
dialogue by analyzing and critiquing the process, policies, and implementation of
policies through carefully examined examples of successful and not-so-successful
programs and practices in various areas. Section I is The Demographic Context and
Historical Backgrounds of Immigration and Education in North Carolina; Section II
is Immigration, Immigrants, Schools, and Communities in North Carolina; and
Section III is Language Education and the Translinguistic Community.
In Section I, two chapters frame the demographic context and historical
background of the book. They remind readers to reconsider the role of the school,
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