PART 2 of 4: Immigration & Education
By Rebecca Fox
Graduate student in Human Rights & Migration Studies
Immigration has always been closely linked to education for me. My own experiences of migration were primarily due to education opportunities, and I am fortunate to have had my education in very immigrant-heavy communities and environments. My personal passions for restorative justice, equitable and accessible public education, and immigrant rights have been fused through my work in childcare and early education. I currently do volunteer work, primarily with children, at a local NGO’s center for refugees, migrants, and other vulnerable populations.
Growing up in the greater Houston area, the most diverse city in the US, I was able to experience different cultures, foods, holidays, languages, traditions, and other expressions of diversity through my classmates, friends, and neighborhoods. I remember about half of my preschool class spoke Spanish at home, and we learned everything from the alphabet to colors and the weather in both Spanish and English. ESL programs were a constant fixture in our public elementary schools. Now, on top of all the harm and hate directed at immigrant adults, immigrant children are dealt another blow as ESL programs are being dismantled.
When I was college-hunting, I realized I wanted somewhere with diversity– of backgrounds, languages, nationality, and race, but also of class, educational experiences, and other identity factors. Although in the middle of nowhere, the small liberal arts college I attended, Grinnell College, touts its small campus community as bursting with diversity and global presence, since the college has approximately 20% international students. I was able to meet people from all over the world and experience traditional celebrations, foods, dances, and other aspects of culture and identity shared at campus events.
Grinnell also has an alternative language learning program. With so many international students, the college would hire some to teach their native languages. Through this, I was able to learn and practice Greek leading up to my move here. These types of everyday things– a 30 minute language tutoring class a few times a week, a Palestinian breakfast, traditional Ukrainian dances in the concert auditorium, the excitement over the opening of the first Indian restaurant in our tiny rural town– illustrated the immense impact, benefit, and joy that comes from welcoming immigrants and having a diverse community (the more practical and economic benefits go without saying). Unfortunately, amid increasing xenophobia, immigration restrictions, and policy changes, international applications to and enrollment in the college have dropped.
Within my postgraduate program, here at ΠαΜακ, as I experienced at Grinnell, there are a significant number of students from abroad. Discussions are more engaging, interesting, and productive when my classmates and I share, compare, and contrast our different views, experiences, and backgrounds from across the world. It enriches our discussions of human rights, refugees, and migration when many of us speak from experience as migrants, or at least as world travelers.
Although we may have privileges that many migrants and refugees do not, there is value in having encountered new, unfamiliar, and uncomfortable perspectives and experiences in how it shapes your learning and understanding, empathy, and open-mindedness. Even disregarding that migration is one of our areas of study, education and immigration are often interconnected and mutually beneficial.
Linguistic and cultural barriers hinder and transform students’ education experiences all around the world, and these can be exacerbated if the children are immigrants. Children’s right to education is critical, yet often violated for immigrant children. By investing in education that is inclusive, equitable and that values diversity and global perspectives, all children benefit.
Recent political actions have disrupted and delayed kids’ schooling and social integration by not offering ESL classes and support, prohibiting immigrant children from accessing and utilizing the full extent of public education resources, and by defunding or discrediting already underserved or immigrant-heavy schools. Education, learning, and children’s development benefit when diversity thrives, and disregarding immigrants from these spheres hurts everyone– economically, politically, and culturally.
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