Child-volunteer socialisation in an after-school programme: a case study about transcaring and transformation

ABSTRACT

This paper explores interactions between a local volunteer and a newcomer child in an after-school programme in Barcelona. Building on the principles of transcaring, language socialisation and critical cosmopolitanism, I propose that adult and child engage in a transformative, two-way socialisation process as their cultural and linguistic repertoires are appraised and new meanings and understandings emerge. This socialisation enables them to develop essential dispositions to inhabit our globalised societies. The article also questions bounded conceptions around language, culture and belonging, foregrounding the complexity of life trajectories and cultural and linguistic repertoires in contexts of intense mobility and transnational interaction.

Aquest treball explora les interaccions entre una voluntària local i una menor nouvinguda en un programa extraescolar a Barcelona. A partir d'aplicar els principis de transcaring, la socialització lingüística i el cosmopolitisme crític argumentaré que aquesta parella construeix un procés de socialització bidireccional i transformador, valorant els seus repertoris lingüístics i culturals i alhora creant nous significats. Aquesta socialització col·laborativa els permet desenvolupar actituds essencials per viure en les nostres societats globalitzades. L’article també qüestiona concepcions rígides de llengua, cultura i pertinença, destacant la complexitat de les trajectòries i dels repertoris culturals i lingüístics de les persones en contextos d’intensa mobilitat i interacció transnacional.

KEYWORDS:

• After-school programmes
• language and cultural socialisation
• plurilingualism
• transcaring
• critical cosmopolitanism

Acknowledgements

This chapter has been written within the framework of the PhD in Education programme at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

The project described in this text could not have been possible without Pina, Shanti and her family, whose generosity to let me enter their tight bond and share their expectations and concerns with me through such special period of their lives opened new horizons for this work and to my own research stance. A special thanks also to the after-school programme coordinators at the time of my ethnographic research for their unconditional support. I emphatically thank my PhD supervisors for their support and caring. Finally, I would like to include here Angela Creese and Adrian Blackledge, whose enthusiastic reaction to a first version of this article, presented in a congress, fulfilled my heart and confidence.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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Notes on contributor

Claudia Vallejo Rubinstein is a PhD candidate, adjunt lecturer and member of GREIP (Research Centre for Plurilingual Teaching and Interaction) at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, where she teaches subjects on plurilingualism for pre-service teachers. She has participated in local and international projects on plurilingualism and social inequalities in education. Her PhD research analyses an after-school programme for children categorised as being ‘at-risk’ of not meeting established curricular objectives on language and literacy, and the transformative potential of their plurilingual practices and pluriliteracies for creating more inclusive educational environments.

Notes

1 The observation of the couple within the programme lasted from March to December 2015, when the child unexpectedly moved with her family to the UK. The couple then initiated a transnational relationship which was documented from 2016 to 2018, including a meeting with the girl and her family in the UK.

2 Translated from Catalan by the researcher.

3 The book is ‘En Teo i la seva germana’ (‘Teo and his sister’) by Violeta Denou. The story is part of a well-known Catalan collection of children books around a small boy named Teo.