The role of schools: Middle eastern and North African newcomers’ challenges in restorative versus non-Restorative ethea high schools

ABSTRACT

Students who are newcomers to the United States – as English Learners (ELs) – face barriers to learning, and their academic success often lags behind their native-English-speaking peers. Notably, there is paucity in the literature about Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) high school student newcomers’ academic challenges as ELs and the practices that schools implement to address the unique issues that refugee students face. The researchers employed qualitative methods to explore teachers’ perspectives of MENA newcomers’ challenges from Restorative and non-Restorative ethea of care and socio-emotional learning. Twenty-two teachers (N = 22) were interviewed using the focus groups method at two Restorative ethos high schools and two non-Restorative ethos high schools to understand the differences in leadership and practices targeted towards newcomers. Our results suggest that MENA students’ challenges were enhanced by non-Restorative organizational structural and leadership deficits, and the lack of communication and cultural awareness within the same school in addition to other ecological system challenges.

KEYWORDS:

• Newcomers
• English Learners
• Restorative ethos
• structural deficits
• Middle Eastern and North African students

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Julian Vasquez Heilig

Ikbal M. Noureddine is an experienced language coordinator skilled in lesson planning, curriculum design, teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), and training K-12 teachers. Working with the Lebanese Center for Educational Research and Development (LCERD) in Beirut for 6 years, she designed the Lebanese national kindergarten curriculum and, consequently, co-authored a series of textbooks and trained public school teachers on the new curriculum. Ikbal received a BA in Fine Arts from the Lebanese American University (LAU), a BA in English Literature from the Lebanese University, and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Management from the Lebanese International University in Beirut. She also completed a Doctor of Education (EdD) focused on Educational Leadership from California State University Sacramento.

Julian Vasquez Heilig leads nearly 3,000 students, staff and faculty as the Dean and a Professor of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation at the University of Kentucky College of Education. Over the course of his academic and professional careers, he has proven and distinguished himself as an individual who has a strong command of research skills and courage for justice. Vasquez Heilig’s multi-modal, interdisciplinary education policy and leadership research is primarily focused on education policy and leadership that impacts equity and inclusion.

Julian obtained his Ph.D. in Education Administration and Policy Analysis and a Masters in Sociology from Stanford University. He also holds a Masters of Higher Education and a Bachelor’s of History and Psychology from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. He blogs at Cloaking Inequity, consistently rated one of the top 50 education websites in the world by Teach100. Follow him on Twitter @ProfessorJVH.