Cultures of critical spirituality to advance the inclusion of immigrant students and families in Catholic schools

Abstract

Xenophobic, racist, and linguistically hegemonic discourses undermine the common good in our pluralistic communities. This article focuses on how these discourses adversely affect one subset of the population in the United States – those who are culturally and linguistically diverse – and how schools can disrupt this. Specifically, it explores how a culture of critical spirituality can spur systemic reform of schools to embrace cultural and linguistic diversity.

Keywords:

• Critical spirituality
• cultural and linguistic diversity
• educational leadership
• common good

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1 As Thúy Nguyên & Pendleton (2020) explain, “The use of language has historically and contemporaneously signified how Blackness and anti-Blackness is understood and functions in the United States” (n.p.). I capitalize Black and White in an effort to attend directly to how race and racism function in society in general and education in particular.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Martin Scanlan

Scanlan's early career as a teacher and administrator in P K-8 schools laid a foundation for his scholarship, which focuses on how schools can be organized to more effectively welcome all. Scanlan studies the organizational routines and practices of adults in schools, including the policies and procedures that shape these.