Beyond ‘Migrant Background’: How to Select Relevant, Social Justice Oriented, and Feasible Social Categories in Educational Research

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Vietze ◽  
Miriam Schwarzenthal ◽  
Ursula Moffitt ◽  
Sauro Civitillo
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Educational Research ◽  
Academic Motivation ◽  
Cultural Identification ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Binary Variable ◽  
Generation Status ◽  
Migrant Background ◽  
Multigroup Sem

Across continental Europe, educational research samples are often divided by ‘migrant background,’ a binary variable criticized for masking participant heterogeneity and reinforcing exclusionary norms of belonging. This study endorses more meaningful, representative, and precise research by offering four guiding questions for selecting relevant, social justice oriented, and feasible social categories. Using a preregistered empirical example, we compare selected social categories (‘migrant background,’ family heritage, religion, citizenship, cultural identification, generation status) in their potential to reveal participant heterogeneity and differences in means and relations between variables (discrimination experiences, perceived societal Islamophobia, national identity) and academic motivation among 1335 adolescents in Germany (48% female, Mage = 14.69). Regression analyses and multigroup SEM revealed differential experiences with and implications of discrimination for academic motivation. Results highlight the need for a deliberate, transparent use of social categories to make discrimination visible and centre participants’ subjective experiences.

International perspectives on English teaching

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry Locke
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Educational Research ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
English Teaching ◽  
International Perspectives ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The University

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a personalised overview of the content of English Teaching: Practice and Critique for the years it was hosted at the Wilf Malcolm Institute for Educational Research (WMIER) at the University of Waikato (2002-2014). Design/methodology/approach – It notes trends in relationship to the context of origin of 335 articles published in this period (excluding editorials), including significant increases in articles originating in the USA and Pacific Rim Asian nations, particularly South Korea and Taiwan. It comments on articles that relate to the original vision of the editors’ founders, especially their emphasis on practice, criticality and social justice. Findings – Prevailing themes across 13 years are mapped and in some cases discussed. Originality/value – A number of reflections are shared in relation to the future of the journal and some challenges currently facing subject English.

scholarly journals Global learning: Educational research in an emerging field

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-13
Author(s):  
Annette Scheunpflug
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Educational Research ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
World Society ◽  
Social Solidarity ◽  
Global Learning ◽  
Wide Range

Global learning may be understood as an educational response to the development towards a world society. The development of world society is accompanied by a wide range of adaptation challenges, such as the development of global social justice, the overcoming of paternalism or the facilitation of social solidarity and dealing with migration in an era of climate change. This paper reflects the learning of the understanding of world society by empirical studies. The paper shows some challenges for the research agenda, especially concerning the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s framework of global competences and suggests a framework for further research.

scholarly journals Using Professional Leadership to Promote Multicultural Understanding and Social Justice

2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Arredondo
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Educational Research ◽  
Multicultural Competencies ◽  
Great Demand ◽  
The Social ◽  
Societal Changes ◽  
Professional Leadership ◽  
Professional Psychologists ◽  
Multiculturally Diverse ◽  
Martin Luther King

AbstractSocial justice icons, like Rosa Parks, Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr. and César Chávez, known for their tireless, courageous leadership initiating societal changes that have benefited many, lead the way for contemporary professional psychologists. These leaders opened pathways for inclusive principles and practices in education, employment, and political contexts. At the same time, professional leadership on behalf of multicultural and social justice issues in professional organisations and other contexts is known to be challenging. Biases and assumptions, micro-aggressions, and ignorance of experiences with interpersonal oppression are communicated daily. In multiculturally diverse global societies, social justice leadership is in great demand. Psychologists are encouraged to develop multicultural competencies in educational, research, and organisational practices and emulate the social justice icons.

scholarly journals Affective (An)Archive as Method

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 310-329
Author(s):  
Erica Eva Colmenares ◽  
Jenna Kamrass Morvay
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Educational Research ◽  
Education Program ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
Feed Forward

The purpose of this article is to explore affective (an)archives in educational research. Unlike archives, which act more like a repository, the (an)archive is a technique for research-creation; it is a process-making engine that triggers new, creative events. The affective (an)archives studied in this paper encompass the affective intensities that arise for teacher-activists participating in public political activism, as well as the affects that animate the moments of emotional crisis (or “stuck moments”) of student teachers in a social justice-oriented teacher education program. We ruminate on the possibilities, intensities, conversations, and materialities that our (an)archives might open. Specifically, we wonder what new events can these (an)archives feed-forward and what pedagogical and emotional thresholds might the traces from our (an)archives do for both our own studies and the field of educational research.

scholarly journals Transition to emergency distance learning amid COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of students’ subjective experience of the transformation of university learning environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 111-146
Author(s):  
E. I. Kazakova ◽  
I. E. Kondrakova ◽  
Yu. L. Proekt
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Academic Motivation ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Optimal Balance ◽  
The University

The aim of the current research was to identify the students’ subjective experience of the transforming learning environment according to the perceived opportunities provided by the digital learning environment of the university.Methodology and research methods. The research methodological framework is based on leading theories related to the students’ behaviour in digital learning environments (DLE). The synthesis of the theories considered made it possible to propose a theoretical model of the students’ subjective experiences in relation to DLE of the university, which was operationalised by constructing a questionnaire that reveals the students’ perception of the main components of the DLE. The following methods were employed: a questionnaire on alienation from study, a method for the assessment of students’ subjective experiences, and the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS). Previous distance learning experience was identified by the use of self-rating scales. The survey results were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively using the Cronbach Alpha coefficient, the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, and the Pearson’s chi-squared test. The authors also used factorial ANOVA, correspondence analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. Statistical calculations were performed using Statistica ver. 7.0 (Statsoft). 4558 students from 30 Russian universities (located in 23 subjects of Russia) took part in the research.Results. The present research demonstrated a change in the usual forms of learning activities carried out by students in the distance learning process. Distance learning is presented to students as a basis for meeting the need for subjectivity of their personality, the ability to initiate their own learning activities. Students feel that there are sufficient conditions and resources for mastering digital learning tools, and they easily adapt to the digital environment of their universities. However, in this process, the student acts as an atomised subject, weakly interacting with other people and not feeling a sense of interpersonal closeness and connectedness with others.The research findings revealed that the perceived characteristics of the DLE of the university have a direct impact on the inner states of students in the learning process. The formation of a stable social environment within the framework of the DLE, which ensures harmonious interaction and communication between the subjects of the educational process, contributes to achieving an optimal balance of students’ subjective experiences, reduces the risk of negative inner states that lead to learning demotivation, the experience of alienation from study, the growing sense of meaninglessness and emptiness in the learning process.Scientific novelty. The developed model of the influence of DLE on the subjective experiences of students in the emergence distance learning made it possible to identify significant DLE components, which determine the motivational and emotional states of students, and to establish student ratio to achieve the optimal balance of subjective experiences.Practical significance. The empirically based findings presented in this study can be used to design the DLE of the university, to determine the directions of work on the formation of psychological readiness of students for distance learning.

scholarly journals Acculturation and attitudes toward code-switching: A bidimensional framework

2021 ◽  
pp. 136700692110194
Author(s):  
Odilia Yim ◽  
Richard Clément
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Social Characteristics ◽  
Cultural Identification ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Bidimensional Model ◽  
Social Strategy

Aims and objectives: Code-switching, the spontaneous switching from one language to another within a single speech event, is often performed by bilinguals who have mastered a communicative competence in two languages. It is also a social strategy – using linguistic cues as a means to index social categories and group solidarity. Code-switching is, therefore, linked to attitudes, seen as a reflection of the speaker and their values and identities. Traditionally perceived negatively, attitudes toward code-switching have been shown to be acceptable in certain cases, such as in multilingual contexts. However, it has yet to be determined empirically whether attitudes toward code-switching are associated with individual social characteristics, including cultural identity and identity negotiation. Adopting the bidimensional model of acculturation, the goal of the study was to investigate the relationships among cultural identity and code-switching attitudes. Specifically, we sought to examine whether the bidimensional framework can be used to characterize and distinguish biculturals and whether such distinctions result in differences in code-switching attitudes and other related factors. Data and analysis: Cantonese-English bilinguals ( n = 67) reported their language background and completed questionnaires relating to identity and code-switching. Findings: The findings suggest the bidimensional model was successful in classifying biculturals versus non-biculturals and, additionally, that biculturals could be differentiated according to their strength of cultural identification, which we designated as strong biculturals, Canadian-oriented biculturals, Chinese-oriented biculturals, and weak biculturals. Findings also revealed significant group differences in code-switching attitudes and other factors, such as code-switching comfort and preference, among the bicultural subgroups. Implications: The study supports the hypothesis that code-switching is linked to bicultural identity. The results conclude that a more nuanced classification of biculturals is meaningful, as individual differences in cultural identification among biculturals are linked to significant differences in code-switching comfort, code-switching preference, code-switching attitudes, and multicultural attitudes.

scholarly journals Intersectionality Research in Psychological Science: Resisting the Tendency to Disconnect, Dilute, and Depoliticize

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
NiCole T. Buchanan ◽  
Lauren O. Wiklund
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Treatment Utilization ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Racially Diverse ◽  
Preliminary Step ◽  
Intersectionality Theory ◽  
Psychological Science ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Conducting Research

Psychological science has been slow to incorporate intersectionality as a concept and as a framework for conducting research. This limits not only the potential for intersectionality theory, but also limits the potential impact of the research claiming to use it. Mennies and colleagues conducted a study of psychopathology and treatment utilization using a large racially diverse sample of youth and frame their work as intersectional because they compare across three social categories (race, sex, and social class) and consider social issues that may impact the groups studied. We argue that while this represents a preliminary step, it does not represent intersectionality theory and praxis. In this article we review intersectional theory and praxis, examine psychological science and its resistance to fully incorporating intersectionality, and highlight how research must shift to be truly intersectional. Finally, we issue a call to the field to integrate intersectionality theory and praxis and to resist the tendency to dilute and depoliticize intersectionality theory and disconnect from its social justice frame.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document