Fully Realizing the Civic Fostering Civic Voice Since the earliest one-room schoolhouses, a Potential of Immigrant Youth core purpose of American education has been to create a well-informed citizenry,3 yet political forces often limit schools’ ability to work toward this goal.4 We developed BY REBECCA M. CALLAHAN AND communication network focused on this article, in part, in response to the KATHRYN M. OBENCHAIN immigrant families’ safety and well-being. challenging political context in which we Teachers concerned about the psycho- find ourselves—both as researchers invested logical well-being of immigrant families at in American students’ civic education and as Over the course of a few cold days one school shared with us a guide to teachers of immigrant youth. last February, immigrant families creating an emergency student action plan As educators, we take our charge to and their allies in Austin, Texas, were that they sent home with their students to nurture students’ democratic dispositions shaken by a series of raids as immigra- help prepare families if confronted by ICE seriously. In doing so, it is essential to tion officers descended upon the city. After officials. With room for the names and consider the growing diversity of the U.S. all was said and done, Immigration and phone numbers of teachers and other student population, where children in Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials arrested important adults in children’s lives, the immigrant families now account for one in 51 undocumented immigrants, most of guide prompts families to gather key four K–12 students.5 whom had no criminal record.1 documents and information in one place. The social studies curriculum is one space As the community raced to respond to The very act of creating this action plan also where students learn about those democratic the shock, teachers sought to protect their helps families take comfort in being dispositions, and the rights and responsibili- students. Reports flooded in of children proactive and planning ahead to ensure ties of citizenship in the United States. This being returned to school when bus drivers that someone will care for their children. overarching purpose is present in civics, found no one to pick the students up at In this article, we step back from the economics, geography, and history content, their stops, of teachers waiting with immediate aftermath of those ICE raids—in all part of social studies. Researchers have children until late into the evening when a Austin and numerous other cities around found a strong relationship for immigrant relative was finally identified, of empty the United States—to consider the role U.S. youth between taking social studies courses classrooms over the next several days, and schools and educators play in the civic and voting in young adulthood, but not for of students who would never return. growth of immigrant youth. Our purpose is children of U.S.-born parents.6 In addition, Families hurried to sign guardianship to show educators how to build on the civic other work has found patterns of limited papers to protect their children in case they potential of immigrant youth and prepare social studies enrollment overall, especially in were ever detained or deported. them for an active role in public discourse, honors and Advanced Placement classes, Educators saw an increase in students or what has been called “enlightened among immigrant youth, which we hypoth- from immigrant families both wanting and political engagement.” esize prevents many of these students from needing emotional support; many students Professor Walter Parker suggests that realizing their full civic potential.7 who came to school were distracted and enlightened political engagement is a core Most social studies content incorporates worried, anxious that their parents goal of education. Specifically, he frames American sociocultural and historical wouldn’t be there when they came home. democratic enlightenment and political narratives that may be less familiar to the Grades began to slip, and attendance engagement as two distinct and necessary children of foreign-born parents.8 For began to drop. In a matter of days, dimensions to enlightened political instance, when immigrant students learn numerous immigrant children and children engagement. Democratic enlightenment the history of Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa of immigrants,* many of them U.S. citizens, encompasses the knowledge of democratic Parks, and Malcolm X, they come to were withdrawn from school or simply traditions, principles, and political understand that the legacy of slavery stopped attending—their parents, fearing institutions; a commitment to justice; and continued to affect race relations long after deportation (for AFT resources, see page the disposition for tolerance. Political the end of the Civil War, and still does so 12), retreating from public view. engagement, on the other hand, refers to today. Manifest Destiny and American In the following weeks and months, the actions and activities found in civic exceptionalism are associated with particu- school communities responded by identify- participation. According to Parker, the lar narratives that frame the United States ing and providing resources to advise synthesis of these dimensions promotes in a specific and positive way. families about their legal rights and to help “wise participation in public affairs,”2 or Teachers will want to be aware that them navigate the system should they be what he terms enlightened political these “familiar” narratives may not be faced with immigration officers and/or engagement. To ensure that future familiar at all to their students’ foreign-born deportation. Educators’ mobilization efforts generations actively and wisely participate parents, who may or may not have been and outreach provided the basis for a in American democratic traditions, socialized into these particular perspectives. teachers of today’s immigrant students Explicit experiences with and knowledge of will want to focus not only on democratic G these narratives better positions immigrant N G JING TSO RbAeiulibnsetgicnuc aCal o/Mbllie.c guCelat ulolarfah Ela dendu iucsac ataintoi onans as noatdc i taaht eefa Upcrunolitvfyee srrsseiosteyr aoorffc hTe xas at iadcetiavsi taiensd a knndo awclteiodngse., but also on civic stthuedire nnetsw t oh onmaveiglaantde, tahcet icvievliyc econngtaegxitnsg o ifn N public discourse and championing the rights Y JI associate in the university’s Population Research Center. ONS B Kathryn M. Obenchain is the associate dean for learning, *We define immigrant youth as all children of onfa rtrhaetiirv ecos mdomeus nniotite ns.e Kcensosawrlielyd pgreo odfu tchee se ATI engagement and global initiatives and an associate immigrant parents, both those children born outside the ILLUSTR pUrnoifveesrssoitry oCfo slolecgiael ostfu Eddieusc aetdiounc.ation at the Purdue UUnniitteedd SSttaatteess ((fiserscto gnedn geeranteiorant)i,o ann).d those born in the upnroqvuideestsi obnaicnkgg raocucenpdt ainnfcoer;m raatthioenr, tito better 10 AMERICAN EDUCATOR | WINTER 2017–2018 understand the perspectives that these observe and internalize how their parents leadership skills. Extracurricular activities narratives may foster. are treated outside the home. place students in contact with a variety of Given the significant relationship Immigrant parent engagement can be as peers and adults as they engage in academic between academic attainment and civic simple as providing translators and services in competitions (e.g., science, math, engineer- involvement, secondary school teachers families’ native languages, outreach to the ing, and technology challenges, National and counselors can help to ensure that communities where parents live and work, History Day), service organizations (e.g., Key immigrants are appropriately enrolled in and support for teachers to connect with Club, 4-H), and speech and debate clubs. In challenging social studies courses. Immi- parents on their terms.† This includes hiring addition to contributing to the development grants’ access to rich social studies content immigrant educators in leadership positions of civic identity, these interactions promote in honors and Advanced Placement courses and providing professional development civil discourse and problem solving,14 will help ensure that democratic traditions opportunities for teachers to understand essential skills for democratic citizens. Just as not only survive but thrive. immigrant families. Together, these actions important, educators can foster immigrant students’ civic voices by drawing on their inherent strengths. More than two decades ago, researchers coined the term “immi- grant optimism” to explain the academic advantage children of immigrant parents repeatedly demonstrate relative to their peers, pointing to immigrant parents’ relatively high expectations.15 Likewise, advocates for bilingual education have long cited research documenting a bilingual advantage among immigrant youth.‡ Well-developed bilingualism and biliteracy are linked to numerous academic, cognitive, and professional advantages,16 similar to the ability of immigrant students to navigate and negotiate two or more cultures and perspectives.17 Teachers can Even in this precarious time, with nationalism on the rise, we believe that educators and schools are well positioned to foster civic participation among immigrant youth. Even in this precarious time, with validate immigrant parents and help capitalize on these immigrant advantages nationalism on the rise, we believe that incorporate them into the school community. in their instruction. The ability to make educators and schools are well positioned to Both studying academic subjects such as sense of diverse perspectives is a core tenet foster civic participation among immigrant reading, writing, math, social studies, and of American democracy, and immigrant youth. Strong civic actors recognize their science, and forging bonds with adults students experience this firsthand as they own abilities to act on their communities in and peers, are part and parcel of what we encounter diverse perspectives in their public and productive ways and to the do in school. They form the center of a daily lives. benefit of the public or common good.9 student’s educational universe, especially Without this commitment and a deep during adolescence, when academics and A strong civic identity includes a sense of knowledge of American history, even the social involvement coexist. Extracurricular membership in and commitment to strongest of republics will eventually crumble. experiences contribute to students’ improving one’s community.18 Simply As educators, we miss an opportunity to educational success,11 with evidence to living in a particular country or community strengthen and fortify our rich democratic suggest particular relevance for Latino and guarantees neither a robust civic identity nor traditions when we fail to recognize the civic immigrant youth.12 In fact, immigrant a connection to that place in particular.19 One potential of immigrant youth to fully engage youth may be particularly predisposed to need look no further than the anti-immi- in and commit to our republic. volunteer in their communities and take on grant rhetoric that has driven many notable leadership positions.13 state and local education policies20 to Ensuring Cohesive School Communities Educators can actively recruit and understand that immigrant students’ Together, teachers and administrators set support immigrant youth in extracurricular educational experiences are shaped not just the tone of the school community. School activities, where they can develop a sense of by curriculum and instruction, but also by the leaders not only can provide clearly belonging and commitment, as well as current political climate. articulated policies and procedures to (Continued on page 41) engage immigrant families, but also can †For more on parent engagement, see “Connecting with ‡For more on the history of bilingual education, see model inclusiveness for all faculty, staff, and Students and Families through Home Visits” in the Fall “Bilingual Education” in the Fall 2015 issue of American students. Making immigrant parents feel 2015 issue of American Educator, available at www.aft. Educator, available at www.aft.org/ae/fall2015/ welcome at school is critical,10 as children org/ae/fall2015/faber. goldenberg_wagner. AMERICAN EDUCATOR | WINTER 2017–2018 11 Engaging Immigrant Students (Continued from page 11) In fact, the large-scale immigrant rights marches of 2006 were organized and run largely by U.S.-born children of immigrants, frustrated with the virulent anti-immigrant sentiment aimed at their parents.21 It is in the best interest of our nation, our communities, our schools, and our students to nurture a healthy civic identity in immigrant youth. If, as a nation, we frame INTENTIONALLY our demographic diversity as a strength rather than as a liability, we can fully realize LEFT BLANK the civic potential of immigrant youth and, ultimately, of our republic. Endnotes 1. Tony Plohetski, “Austin No. 1 in U.S.—For Non-Criminals Arrested in ICE Raids,” Austin American-Statesman, February 22, 2017, www.statesman.com/news/austin-for-non-criminals- arrested-ice-raids/R8suKsN9kUIjnpz10S2DII. 2. Walter C. Parker, Teaching Democracy: Unity and Diversity in Public Life (New York: Teachers College Press, 2003), 33. 3. See David Tyack, Seeking Common Ground: Public Schools in a Diverse Society (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003); Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, The Civic Mission of Schools (New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York, 2003); and Howard Zinn and Donaldo Macedo, Howard Zinn on Democratic Education (Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2004). 4. Joel Westheimer, “No Child Left Thinking: Democracy at Risk in American Schools,” Colleagues 3, no. 2 (Fall 2008): 10–15. AMERICAN EDUCATOR | WINTER 2017–2018 41 5. Donald J. Hernandez, Nancy A. Denton, and Suzanne E. Macartney, “Children in Immigrant Families: Looking to America’s Future,” Social Policy Report 22, no. 3 (2008). See also Joel McFarland et al., The Condition of Education 2017 (Washington, DC: Department of Education, 2017). 6. Rebecca M. Callahan, Chandra Muller, and Kathryn S. Schiller, “Preparing for Citizenship: Immigrant High School Students’ Curriculum and Socialization,” Theory and Research in Social Education 36, no. 2 (2008): 6–31. 7. Rebecca M. Callahan and Kathryn M. Obenchain, “Garnering Civic Hope: Social Studies, Expectations, and the Lost Civic Potential of Immigrant Youth,” Theory and Research in Social Education 44, no. 1 (2016): 36–71. 8. See National Council for the Social Studies, National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: A Framework for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (Silver Spring, MD: National Council for the Social Studies, 2010); and Surbhi Godsay et al., “State Civic Education Requirements” (Medford, MA: Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, 2012). 9. Ian Baptiste, “Beyond Lifelong Learning: A Call to Civically Responsible Change,” International Journal of Lifelong Education 18 (1999): 94–102. 10. Hiromi Ishizawa, “Civic Participation through Volunteerism among Youth across Immigrant Generations,” Sociological Perspectives 58 (2015): 264–285. 11. Stephen Lipscomb, “Secondary School Extracurricular Involvement and Academic Achievement: A Fixed Effects Approach,” Economics of Education Review 26 (2007): 463–472; Jonathan F. Zaff et al., “Implications of Extracurricular Activity Participation during Adolescence on Positive Outcomes,” Journal of Adolescent Research 18 (2003): 599–630; and Jacquelynne S. Eccles et al., “Extracurricular Activities and Adolescent Development,” Journal of Social Issues 59 (2003): 865–889. 12. Rebecca M. Callahan, “Latino Language-Minority College Going: Adolescent Boys’ Language Use and Girls’ Social Integration,” Bilingual Research Journal 31 (2008): 175–200; and Anthony A. Peguero, “Immigrant Youth Involvement in School-Based Extracurricular Activities,” Journal of Educational Research 104 (2011): 19–27. INTENTIONALLY 13. Rebecca Callahan and Kathryn Obenchain, “Finding a Civic Voice: Latino Immigrant Youths’ Experiences in High School Social LEFT BLANK Studies,” High School Journal 96 (2012): 20–32; and Ishizawa, “Civic Participation.” 14. James Youniss, Jeffrey A. McLellan, and Miranda Yates, “A Developmental Approach to Civil Society,” in Beyond Tocqueville: Civil Society and the Social Capital Debate in Comparative Perspective, ed. Bob Edwards, Michael W. Foley, and Mario Diani (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 2001), 243–253. 15. Grace Kao and Marta Tienda, “Optimism and Achievement: The Educational Performance of Immigrant Youth,” Social Science Quarterly 76 (1995): 1–19. 16. Tanya Golash-Boza, “Assessing the Advantages of Bilingualism for the Children of Immigrants,” International Migration Review 39 (2005): 721–753; Rebecca M. Callahan and Patricia C. Gándara, eds., The Bilingual Advantage: Language, Literacy, and the US Labor Market (Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters, 2014); and Anastasia Greenberg, Buddhika Bellana, and Ellen Bialystok, “Perspective-Taking Ability in Bilingual Children: Extending Advantages in Executive Control to Spatial Reasoning,” Cognitive Development 28 (2013): 41–50. 17. Cynthia Feliciano and Yader R. Lanuza, “The Immigrant Advantage in Adolescent Educational Expectations,” International Migration Review 50 (2016): 758–792; Vivian Louie, Keeping the Immigrant Bargain: The Costs and Rewards of Success in America (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2012); Kao and Tienda, “Optimism and Achievement”; and S. Karthick Ramakrishnan and Irene Bloemraad, eds., Civic Hopes and Political Realities: Immigrants, Community Organizations, and Political Engagement (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2008). 18. Robert Atkins and Daniel Hart, “Neighborhoods, Adults, and the Development of Civic Identity in Urban Youth,” Applied Development Science 7 (2003): 156–164. 19. Xi Zou, Michael W. Morris, and Verónica Benet-Martínez, “Identity Motives and Cultural Priming: Cultural (Dis)Identification in Assimilative and Contrastive Responses,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 44 (2008): 1151–1159. 20. Phillip J. Cooper, “Plyler at the Core: Understanding the Proposition 187 Challenge,” Chicano-Latino Law Review 17 (1995): 64–87; and Christine T. Brenner, Kirk A. Leach, and David Tulloch, “Plyler Children: 21st Century Challenges with Judicial-Policy Implementation Affecting Immigrant Children in New Jersey,” Journal of Public Management & Social Policy 20, no. 1 (2014): 98–116. 21. Amalia Pallares and Nilda Flores-González, eds., ¡Marcha!: Latino Chicago and the Immigrant Rights Movement (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2010). 42 AMERICAN EDUCATOR | WINTER 2017–2018