Segregation or Sanctuary? Examining the Educational Possibilities of Counterpublics for Immigrant English Learners

ABSTRACT

Exploring critiques of immigrant segregation, this paper considers how schools exclusively serving immigrant EL students are supportive “counterpublics.” Drawing on data from two ethnographic case studies, the analysis reveals how the schools are intentional communities where teaching was designed to address the unique academic, linguistic and emotional needs of immigrant ELs. Second, they provided safe spaces for the sharing of language and transnational experiences that are often silenced in traditional schools. Third, they offered teachers significant supports and ongoing learning opportunities that enabled them to extend the support and sanctuary that newcomer immigrant EL’s require.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Short and Boyson (2012) conducted the first national survey of newcomer programs from 1996 to 2001, finding “115 programs operating at 196 sites in 29 states plus the District of Columbia” (p. 4). In a new survey that began in 2008, they found that many programs no longer existed, and the current database of newcomer programs included only 63 schools. They reasoned that many separate-site programs closed because they could not make adequate yearly progress as schools serving only students who were always at the lowest levels of English proficiency.