With the growing number of immigrant youth moving into new communities and host nations across the globe (Suarez-Orozco, 2007), it is critical that we deepen our understanding of the ways in which schools enable either the civic engagement or the social marginalization of these young people. In this article Reva Jaffe-Walter presents the results…

In this reflection, Louise Pascale describes the evolution, development, and outcomes of the Afghan Children's Songbook Project, which is reintroducing children's ethnic songs to the children of Afghanistan and Afghan expats as well as to American schoolchildren. Her reflection highlights the potential for music to unify and strengthen…

During the winter of 2011-2012, Weardale, England, was the setting for an ambitious informal adult education project. In this rural area in the northeast part of the country, the local arts collective, Jack Drum Arts, established a community play project entitled "The Bonny Moorhen." This dramatic undertaking aimed to retell the story of…

"Why should they stay? This is our land. We were born here!" The year is 2004. The class is at a fictional town meeting in a rural village in Cambridgeshire, England, debating whether or not a group of travelers who have pitched up in a field at the edge of the settlement should be allowed to remain. The debate is coming to a climax, and…

Youth are coming of age in a digital era and learning and exercising citizenship in fundamentally different ways compared to previous generations. Around the globe, a monumental generational rupture is taking place that is being facilitated--not driven in some inevitable and teleological process--by new media and communication technologies. The…

In this article, Fairbanks, Crooks, and Ariail followed Esme Martinez, a Spanish-speaking Latina, from the sixth grade to the eleventh grade, focusing on her perspectives of schooling and her shifting identities related to home, school, friendships, and future. Drawing on the construct of artifacts, a sociohistorical concept that understands…

Using ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a public high school located in the greater Barcelona area, Anne Rios-Rojas focuses on the experiences of immigrant youth as they negotiate a sense of belonging in an ever more globalized society. Rios-Rojas pays particular attention to the multiple and at times contradictory ways in which youth maneuver…

In this article, Gill Rutherford seeks to understand, from the perspectives of teacher aides, the influence of their work on the school experiences of New Zealand students with disabilities. Rutherford contributes to a growing body of international research regarding the role of teacher aides that documents the complex and ambiguous nature of…

In this interview conducted by "Harvard Educational Review" editor Raygine DiAquoi, Fabienne Doucet of New York University and Louis Herns Marcelin of the University of Miami discuss their roles as Haitian American scholars who are participating in Haiti's reconstruction process after the earthquake of January 2010. Each professor focuses on…

In this essay, Charlene Desir reflects on her role as an academic from the Haitian diaspora and her journey to reconnect to her Haitian roots after the 2010 earthquake. Desir begins by exploring her family background and the centrality of "lakou"--a sacred family space in which to connect to her ancestors and cultural ways of knowing. By centering…

In October 2010, Harvard Educational Review editor Raygine DiAquoi interviewed Maryse Desgrottes, the mother of a close friend and a visible presence in the relief efforts in Petit Goave, Haiti. Desgrottes, a former physician's assistant turned educator and school superintendent, shares the story of her involvement in Haiti's relief efforts since…

In this essay, Joyce King attempts to interrupt the calculus of human (un)worthiness and to repair the collective cultural amnesia that are legacies of slavery and that make it easy--hegemonically and dysconsciously--for the public to accept myths and media reports, such as those about the depravity of survivors of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans…

This article presents the author's personal narrative as an immigrant from Sierra Leone who has undergone so many challenges in life and ended up turning all these obstacles into opportunities. In this article, the author describes his life growing up in Sierra Leone, his first experience of the horrors of war, his life as a student, and his dream…

In this article, the author describes his life experiences and how difficult it was for him as a Mexican immigrant living in the United States. His life changed when he moved to America, but his character changed when he started middle school. He had been constantly insulted by his classmates, and at the time he wanted to get revenge. The kids he…

The author moved from Guatemala to California with her mom. In this article, she talks about the challenges of learning English. She needs to learn English to take care of her mom until her "papa" comes to take care of them. If she knows English she can help her mother with the groceries and answering the phone. She can also teach her English.…