• Refine Query
  • Source
  • Publication year
  • to
  • Language
  • 71
  • 25
  • 11
  • 2
  • 2
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • Tagged with
  • 127
  • 127
  • 57
  • 48
  • 27
  • 27
  • 26
  • 25
  • 24
  • 22
  • 21
  • 20
  • 19
  • 18
  • 17
  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
121

[en] THE RELATIONSHIP SCHOOL-FAMILY-NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE FAVELA DA MARÉ AND THE PROGRAM SCHOOLS OF TOMORROW/EDUCATING NEIGHBORHOOD / [pt] A RELAÇÃO ESCOLA-FAMÍLIA-VIZINHANÇA NA FAVELA DA MARÉ E O PROGRAMA ESCOLAS DO AMANHÃ/BAIRRO EDUCADOR

EDSON DINIZ NOBREGA JUNIOR 11 October 2017 (has links)
[pt] Este trabalho procura contribuir para o debate sobre as relações entre escolas públicas, famílias de origem popular e vizinhança escolar, tendo como referência territórios pobres da cidade, notadamente o conjunto de favelas da Maré. A pesquisa aborda, especificamente,as relações no âmbito do Programa Escolas do Amanhã/ Bairro Educador (PEA/BE), política que se coloca na perspectiva, tanto das novas formas de educação prioritária e compensatória para escolas em territórios vulneráveis, como da reconfiguração dos espaços e tempos escolares e de uma visão ampliada dos espaços educacionais. Do ponto de vista metodológico, um estudo de abordagem qualitativa dessa experiência foi conduzido em escolas públicas municipais de Ensino Fundamental que se caracterizam por serem participantes e não participantes do PEA/BE na Maré. Com o objetivo de indagar a possível existência de diferenças nas relações entre escola-família-vizinhança em escolas que se distinguem basicamente por serem ou não participantes do PEA/BE, foram realizadas entrevistas com diferentes agentes educacionais, escolares, familiares e sociais envolvidos direta ou indiretamente no programa, buscando conhecer a percepção deles acerca dessa política. Particularmente, o Projeto Bairro Educador foi desenvolvido no âmbito do Programa Escolas do Amanhã da Secretaria Municipal de Educação da cidade do Rio de Janeiro (SME-RJ), com a finalidade de aproximar as escolas públicas localizadas em territórios marcados pela violência e que apresentam resultados abaixo da média da sua respectiva rede de ensino, das famílias e de suas vizinhanças, através do uso do território como ferramenta educativa e pedagógica. Os principais resultados da pesquisa permitem afirmar que o Programa Escolas de Amanhã/Bairro Educador não deixou um legado suficientemente consistente a ponto de marcar uma diferença substancial nas relações escolas-família-vizinhança entre as escolas que dele participaram. Uma das possíveis explicações para isso diz respeito à falta de alinhamento entre as orientações do PEA/BE e sua implementação, bem como aos problemas de externalidade, fragmentação e segmentação da coordenação político-pedagógica do BE e à falta de uma orientação mais enfática da SME-RJ acerca dos caminhos a percorrer para atingir os objetivos propostos. O trabalho se encerra com a apresentação de recomendações que pretendem contribuir para a orientação de políticas públicas que tenham como objetivo a aproximação entre escolas-famílias-vizinhança. / [en] This study aims on discussing the relations among public schools, low-income families, and the schools neighborhood, considering poor areas in Rio de Janeiro, specially a community called Maré. The research focuses on the relations within Escolas do Amanhã / Educator Neighborhood (PEA/BE in Portuguese), which considers the perspective of new priority and compensatory ways of education driven to vulnerable areas, as well as school space and time adjustments. A qualitative study of this experience has been conducted in order to analyze elementary and middle public schools in Maré that participate or not in PEA/BE. The objective has been to question if there are differences in the relations among school, family and neighborhood, considering schools which participate in the program and schools which do not. Different educational, school, family and social agents have been interviewed in order to comprehend the way they see this policy. Educator Neighborhood project, in particular, has been developed within Escolas do Amanhã program by the Education Municipal Office (SME-RJ in Portuguese), with the goal of integrating public schools placed in violent areas and with low results in relation to their education network, families and neighborhood, considering territory as an educational and pedagogical tool. The main results of the research show that Escolas do Amanhã / Educator Neighborhood program did not leave a consistent result in building better school, family and neighborhood relations among the schools that participated in the program. One of the possible reasons for it may be the lack of a guideline between PEA/BE and its implementation, as well as problems referring to its political-pedagogical coordination, such as its fragmentation and segmentation. This guideline could come from the Education Municipal Office, pointing to a path that leads to the program s objectives. Therefore, this thesis ends up with some recommendation about public policies that may contribute to closer relations among school, family and neighborhood.
122

Políticas de formação de professores para a educação profissional e tecnológica: cenários contemporâneos

Costa, Maria Adélia da 12 December 2012 (has links)
The present investigation had as subject of study the teacher education policies for Professional and Technological Education (EPT in Portuguese). Reflecting on teacher education policies for EPT, in a model of society ruled by the capitalist and neoliberal logic, is a challenge that arises in our daily lives because we are actors and authors who make and remake, directly or indirectly, Brazilian education history. The thesis that guided this research was the lack of policies on teacher education for EPT. In this sense, the documentary analysis and literature surveys enabled us to realize that, throughout their history, policies in this area have not set yet as State policy, but rather as government programs that aim to facilitate and regulate the access for professionals (not teachers) to the classrooms of technological education. Regarding these policies, there are the relations among education, work and society. In this context, we discuss and confront the teacher education policies for EPT from the 1990s until today. This starting point, the 1990s, is due to the fact that it was a decade of expansion of college education in Brazil. However, our emphasis will start in 2007, with the implementation of Federal Institutes for Education, Science and Technology (IFETs in Portuguese), which, since then, are obligated to offer teaching degree courses, mission previously delegated to universities. In this context, we sought to understand the meanings and the materialization of the teaching profession in a context where a teaching degree is not a necessary requirement for professional practice, especially in institutions that have no previous experience in providing these kids of courses. The results showed the following situations: i) the materialization of lightened, discontinuous and fragmented teacher education courses programs for EPT; ii) the extraordinary expansion of the Federal Network for Education, Science and Technology has required a greater number of teachers for this level of education; iii ) we identified that the documents of PDIs and PPPs from the IFETs investigated follow MEC / SETEC policies iv) we noticed that some IFETs do not include professional education in basic education, therefore, they are dedicated to educate teachers for basic education, considering only elementary and high school; v) we identified a close link between the category of work and production models; vi) we found that, in New Developmental government of ex-President Lula, there was development of inclusive education policies, consolidated by the IFETs expansion, which, therefore, represented a considerable increase in jobs positions at all levels of professional education. However, we believe that Lula s government has left many conflict situations in order to reach its goal of social inclusion; vii) we perceived a lack of MEC's interest in discussing and regulating policies for teacher education for EPT and also in promulgating national guidelines for such education; and viii) we realized that the institutes themselves are organized in order to value teaching degrees so that they can ensure the requirement for this kind of degrees or special programs for teacher education, in order to practice teaching profession. / A presente investigação teve como objeto de estudo as políticas de formação de professores para a Educação Profissional e Tecnológica (EPT). Refletir sobre as políticas de formação de professores para a EPT, num modelo de sociedade regulada pela lógica capitalista e neoliberal, é um desafio que se põe em nosso cotidiano uma vez que somos atores e autores que fazem e refazem, direta ou indiretamente, a história da educação brasileira. A tese que orientou essa pesquisa foi a inexistência de políticas de formação de professores para a EPT. Nesse sentido, as análises documentais e os levantamentos bibliográficos possibilitaram a percepção de que, ao longo de sua história, as políticas para essa área ainda não se firmaram como políticas de Estado, mas, sim com programas de governo que visam a facilitar e a regulamentar o acesso de profissionais (não professores) às salas de aula dos cursos técnicos de nível médio. Concernente às políticas de formação docente para a EPT, estão as relações estabelecidas entre a educação, o trabalho e a sociedade. Nesse contexto, discutimos e problematizamos as políticas de formação de professores para a EPT a partir da década de 1990 até a atualidade. Esse ponto de partida, 1990, é decorrente do fato de ter sido a década da expansão do ensino superior no Brasil. Contudo, nossa ênfase será a partir de 2007, com a implantação dos Institutos Federais de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia (IFETs), que passam a ter a obrigatoriedade de ofertar cursos de licenciaturas, missão antes delegada às universidades. No âmbito dessas questões, procuramos apreender os sentidos e a materialização da profissão docente num contexto em que as licenciaturas não são requisitos necessários para o exercício da docência, e, sobretudo, em instituições que não têm referência na oferta desses cursos. Os resultados dessa pesquisa apontam para as seguintes situações: i) a materialização de programas de formação de professores para a EPT com percursos aligeirados, descontínuos e fragmentados; ii) a expansão extraordinária da RFEPCT passou a exigir um maior contingente de professores para esse nível de ensino; iii) identificamos que os documentos PDIs e PPPs dos IFETs investigados se alinham às políticas do MEC/SETEC; iv) observamos que alguns IFETs se referem à educação básica excluindo a educação profissional e, portanto, dedicam-se a habilitar professores para a educação básica, considerando somente o ensino fundamental e ensino médio regular; v) identificamos um vínculo estreito entre a categoria trabalho e os modelos de produção; vi) constatamos que, no governo Novo Desenvolvimentista do ex-presidente Lula, houve elaboração de políticas de inclusão educacional, consolidadas pela expansão da rede, o que, por conseguinte, representou um aumento considerável de vagas em todos os níveis da educação profissional, no entanto entendemos que o governo Lula deixou muitas situações conflitantes visando atingir a sua meta de inclusão social; vii) percebemos a falta de interesse do MEC em discutir e regulamentar as políticas de formação de professores para a EPT bem como de promulgar as diretrizes nacionais para essa formação e; viii) percebemos que os próprios Institutos se organizam de forma a valorizar as licenciaturas garantindo a exigência da mesma, ou de cursos de formação pedagógica, para o ingresso na carreira docente. / Doutor em Educação
123

A prática pedagógica alfabetizadora e a formação do Pacto Nacional de Alfabetização na Idade Certa (PNAIC) / La práctica pedagógica alfabetizadora y formación del Pacto Nacional de Alfabetización en el Oriente Uno (PNAIC)

Julioti, Sueli 30 November 2016 (has links)
Submitted by Nadir Basilio (nadirsb@uninove.br) on 2017-01-26T20:21:18Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Sueli Julioti.pdf: 1150897 bytes, checksum: b4ad4a55c16c81a7d5bec945fd9c9276 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-01-26T20:21:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sueli Julioti.pdf: 1150897 bytes, checksum: b4ad4a55c16c81a7d5bec945fd9c9276 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-11-30 / This research aimed to analyze the pedagogical practice of the teachers of literacy based on the formation of the National Pact for Literacy at the Right Age (PNAIC). The specific objectives are the following: identify whether there were changes in pedagogical practices of the teachers of literacy after their participation in the formation of PNAIC and see which subjects the teachers would add to the formation. We seek to answer the following questions: Were there changes in pedagogical practices of the teachers of literacy after their participation in the formation of PNAIC? Which one? The changes, if they occurred, make it possible to improve the literacy process? What subjects the teachers would add to the formation? Our hypothesis is that the formation conducted by PNAIC promotes changes in teaching practice because it is an area constituted dialogically, therefore, developer of reflection on the praxis, ideological and methodological concepts. The research was conducted in a public school located in the eastern of São Paulo/SP City. The subjects are six, which five are teachers who teach in the literacy cycle and participated in the training and one is a pedagogical coordinator, advisor in training. The methodology used was a qualitative approach and the data collection instrument were semi-structured interviews and observation as well as analysis of the official documents that rule the the present Pact. Data analysis was based on content analysis proposed by Bardin (2011). The research was based on the following authors: Soares (2003), Leal (2005), Ferreiro (1985), Freire (2015) to support the literacy category; Nóvoa (1999), Mortatti (2006), Sacristán (2008), Gatti (2015) to support the formation of teachers category. As results we found that: a) the PNAIC constitutes a necessary intervention for the Brazilian educational context and presents implementation strategies and well-designed partnerships; b) in general, course participants teachers and advisors, considered the PNAIC quite valid because it offers a consistent theoretical and practical instrumentalisation and has contributed to the improvement of pedagogical practice in literacy classes; c) the Pact focuses on the specific and limited aspect (continuing education for teachers in literacy and mathematics) and emphasizes the teaching work in an individual action perspective. The conclusion is that the PNAIC is a necessary measure but not sufficient for an effective promotion of the quality of education, which requires a number of other actions that go beyond the continuing education for teachers, such as: the collective literacy work in the school, the valorisation of education professionals, adequate infrastructure to schools, stimulus for the construction of curriculum proposals with the participation of teachers, the existence of consistent educational projects in educational networks and in schools, the use of the results obtained through evaluations for planning intervention strategies with the participation of public schools, among other measures. / Este estudio tiene por objeto analizar la práctica pedagógica de los (as) maestros (as) a partir de la formación del Pacto Nacional por la Alfabetización en la Edad Cierta (PNAIC). Los objetivos específicos son los siguientes: identificar si hubo cambios en las prácticas pedagógicas de los (as) maestros (as) de alfabetización después de la participación en la formación de PNAIC y ver que temas los (as) maestros (as) añadirían a la formación. Buscamos contestar a las siguientes cuestiones: ¿Hubo cambios en las prácticas pedagógicas de los (as) maestros (as) de alfabetización después de la participación en la formación de PNAIC? ¿Cuales? ¿ Los cambios, si se producen, pueden mejorar el proceso de alfabetización? ¿ Qué temas los maestros añadirían en la formación? Nuestra hipótesis es que la formación realizada por PNAIC promueve cambios en la práctica de la enseñanza, ya que es un espacio formado dialógicamente, por tanto, desarrolladores de la reflexión sobre la praxis, conceptos ideológicos y metodológicos. El estudio ocurrió en una escuela pública situada en el este de la ciudad de São Paulo/SP. Son seis sujetos en el estudio, cinco maestros (as) que enseñan en el ciclo de alfabetización y participaron de la formación y un coordinador pedagógico, consejero en la formación. La metodología utilizada fue un enfoque cualitativo y el instrumento de recolección de datos fueron entrevistas semiestructuradas y la observación y análisis de los documentos oficiales que rigen el Pacto. Análisis de los datos fue basado en el análisis de contenido propuesto por Bardin (2011). El estudio se basa en los siguientes autores: Soares (2003), Leal (2005), Ferreiro (1985), Freire (2015) para apoyar la categoría alfabetización; Nóvoa (1999), Mortatti (2006), Sacristán (2008), Gatti (2015) para apoyar la categoría formación de maestros. Los resultados encontrados son: a) el PNAIC constituye una intervención necesaria para el contexto educativo brasileño y presenta estrategias de ejecución bien diseñados; b) en general, los orientadores y maestros consideran el PNAIC muy válido, ya que ofrece una instrumentalización teórica y práctica consistente y ha contribuido para la mejora de la práctica pedagógica en las clases de alfabetización; c) el Pacto se centra en el aspecto específico y limitado (la formación continuada de los (as) maestros (as) en las áreas de alfabetización y matemática) y hace hincapié en las labores de enseñanza en una perspectiva de la acción individual. Se concluye que el PNAIC es una condición necesaria, pero no suficiente para la promoción efectiva de la calidad de la educación, lo que requiere el encaminamiento de una serie de otras acciones que están más allá de la formación continuada de los (as) maestros (as), tales como: el trabajo de alfabetización colectiva en la escuela, la valoración de los profesionales de la educación, la seguridad de la infraestructura adecuada a las escuelas, el estímulo para la construcción de propuestas curriculares con la participación de los (as) maestros (as), la existencia de proyectos educativos consistentes en redes de la educación y las escuelas, el uso de los resultados obtenidos a través de las evaluaciones para la planificación de estrategias de intervención con la participación de las escuelas públicas, entre otras medidas. / Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo geral analisar a prática pedagógica de docentes alfabetizadores(as) a partir da formação do Pacto Nacional de Alfabetização na Idade Certa (PNAIC). Como objetivos específicos, elencamos os seguintes: identificar se ocorreram mudanças nas práticas pedagógicas dos docentes alfabetizadores(as) após a participação na formação do PNAIC e verificar quais temáticas as professoras acrescentariam à formação. Buscamos responder as seguintes perguntas: Ocorreram mudanças na prática pedagógica dos(as) docentes alfabetizadores(as) após a participação na formação do PNAIC? Quais? As mudanças, se ocorreram, possibilitaram a melhoria do processo de alfabetização? Que temáticas as docentes acrescentariam na formação? Partimos da hipótese de que a formação realizada pelo PNAIC promove mudanças na prática pedagógica por tratar-se de um espaço constituído dialogicamente, portanto, fomentador de reflexão a respeito das práxis, das concepções ideológicas e metodológicas. O universo da pesquisa é uma escola pública estadual localizada na zona leste da cidade de São Paulo (SP). Os sujeitos são seis, sendo cinco professores(as) que lecionam no ciclo de alfabetização e participaram da formação e um coordenador pedagógico, orientador na formação. A metodologia utilizada foi de cunho qualitativo e o instrumento de coleta de dados foram entrevistas semiestruturadas e observação, além de análise dos documentos oficiais que regem o referido Pacto. A análise dos dados foi baseada na análise de conteúdo proposta por Bardin (2011). A pesquisa se fundamentou nos seguintes autores: Soares (2003), Leal (2005), Ferreiro (1985), Freire (2015) para fundamentar a categoria alfabetização; Nóvoa (1999), Mortatti (2006), Sacristán (2008), Gatti (2015) para fundamentar a categoria formação de professores. Como resultados, constatamos que: a) o PNAIC constitui-se em uma intervenção necessária para o contexto educacional brasileiro e apresenta estratégias de implementação e de parcerias bem delineadas; b) em geral, os orientadores e professores cursistas consideraram o PNAIC bastante válido, pois oferece uma instrumentalização teórico-prática consistente e tem contribuído para a melhoria da prática pedagógica nas classes de alfabetização; c) o Pacto focaliza o aspecto específico e pontual – a formação continuada dos(as) professores(as) nas áreas de alfabetização e da matemática – e enfatiza o trabalho docente em uma perspectiva de ação individual. Conclui-se que o PNAIC é uma medida necessária, mas não suficiente para uma promoção efetiva da qualidade da educação, que demanda o encaminhamento de uma série de outras ações que ultrapassam a formação continuada dos(as) professores(as), tais como: o trabalho de alfabetização coletivo na escola, a valorização dos profissionais da educação, a garantia de infraestrutura adequada às escolas, estímulo para a construção de propostas curriculares com a participação dos(as) professores(as), a existência de projetos pedagógicos consistentes nas redes de ensino e nas escolas, a utilização dos resultados obtidos por meio de avaliações para o planejamento de estratégias de intervenção com a participação do coletivo das escolas, entre outras medidas.
124

L'action sociale des universités à l'épreuve des mutations de l'enseignement supérieur en Europe / Universities' social action and the European higher education mutations

Maes, Renaud David 13 February 2014 (has links)
Les réformes de l'enseignement supérieur européen reconfigurent en profondeur les missions et l'organisation des universités. L'objet de notre thèse est de décrire les caractéristiques de la « nouvelle université capitaliste » telle qu’elle émerge progressivement par la mise en application du « modèle » de l’université de marché.<p>Dans une première partie, nous questionnons l'origine de ce modèle d'université de marché, en le confrontant aux différents "modèles historiques" qui ponctuent l'histoire des universités modernes. Nous étudions alors l'évolution des missions de recherche et d'enseignement des universités.<p>Afin d'interroger la description ainsi offerte de la nouvelle université capitaliste à l'aune de constat empiriques, nous interrogeons dans la seconde partie les différentes manières par lesquelles elle contribue à reproduire les inégalités sociales, à produire des héritiers et des « miraculés ». Cela nous permet de raffiner la description et de montrer quelques propriétés particulières de l'université en cours d'avènement.<p> / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished
125

Die gebruik van liggaamsportrette deur opvoeders in die vervulling van hulle pastorale rol (Afrikaans)

McCallaghan, Malize 19 November 2007 (has links)
The objective of this qualitative study was to explore the extent to which body maps could be implemented by educators as part of the fulfilment of their pastoral role. I approached the study from a constructivistinterpretivist perspective underpinned by action research principles. I implemented an instrumental case study as research design and selected a primary school located in an informal settlement community in the Nelson Mandela Metropole. Ten female educators at this school, three other members of a research team and I took part in the process of data generation. Having acquired baseline information during the first field visit, a fellow researcher and I implemented an intervention during which the techniques of body mapping and making memory boxes (the study focus of my fellow researcher) were introduced to the participants. We then requested them to apply the two techniques (as part of a research assignment) before we undertook a second field visit. At the second visit, we attempted to explore the participants' experiences during the application of the techniques. Throughout the study I relied on focus group discussions, observation, critical self-reflection, auditive methods, visual methods, photos, a reflective research journal and field notes as data collection and capture methods. I analysed and interpreted raw data thematically. Baseline information indicated that educators were quite clear about the theoretical nature of the pastoral role, yet the practical application of this role presented a challenge. Data generated after the intervention indicates how educators understood and used the body mapping technique. This theme was refined into subthemes dealing with implementation modes, application contexts and application outcomes of the body mapping technique. The second main theme indicated the applicability of body maps in the classroom context as part of the pastoral role. This theme comprises subthemes relating to general curricula, practical considerations, alternative uses and application modes, pastoral responsibilities that were facilitated (and not) by participants' use of the body mapping technique. Research findings therefore seem to indicate that the body mapping technique could be used by educators in fulfilling their pastoral role. / Dissertation (MEd (Educational Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Educational Psychology / MEd / unrestricted
126

Immigration, Literacy, and Mobility: A Critical Ethnographic Study of Well-educated Chinese Immigrants’ Trajectories in Canada

Wang, Lurong 13 June 2011 (has links)
This dissertation interrogates the deficit assumptions about English proficiency of skilled immigrants who were recruited by Canadian governments between the late 1990s and early 2000s. Through the lens of literacy as social practice, the eighteen-month ethnographic qualitative research explores the sequential experiences of settlement and economic integration of seven well-educated Chinese immigrant professionals. The analytical framework is built on sociocultural approaches to literacy and learning, as well as the theories of discourses and language reproduction. Using multiple data sources (observations, conversational interviews, journal and diary entries, photographs, documents, and artifacts collected in everyday lives), I document many different ways that well-educated Chinese immigrants take advantage of their language and literacy skills in English across several social domains of home, school, job market, and workplace. Examining the trans-contextual patterning of the participants’ language and literacy activities reveals that immigrant professionals use literacy as assistance in seeking, negotiating, and taking hold of resources and opportunities within certain social settings. However, my data show that their language and literacy engagements might not always generate positive consequences for social networks, job opportunities, and upward economic mobility. Close analyses of processes and outcomes of the participants’ engagements across these discursive discourses make it very clear that the monolithic assumptions of the dominant language shape and reinforce structural barriers by constraining their social participation, decision making, and learning practice, and thereby make literacy’s consequences unpredictable. The deficit model of language proficiency serves the grounds for linguistic stereotypes and economic marginalization, which produces profoundly consequential effects on immigrants’ pathways as they strive for having access to resources and opportunities in the new society. My analyses illuminate the ways that language and literacy create the complex web of discursive spaces wherein institutional agendas and personal desires are intertwined and collide in complex ways that constitute conditions and processes of social and economic mobility of immigrant populations. Based on these analyses, I argue that immigrants’ successful integration into a host country is not about the mastery of the technical skills in the dominant language. Rather, it is largely about the recognition and acceptance of the value of their language use and literacy practice as they attempt to partake in the globalized new economy.
127

Immigration, Literacy, and Mobility: A Critical Ethnographic Study of Well-educated Chinese Immigrants’ Trajectories in Canada

Wang, Lurong 13 June 2011 (has links)
This dissertation interrogates the deficit assumptions about English proficiency of skilled immigrants who were recruited by Canadian governments between the late 1990s and early 2000s. Through the lens of literacy as social practice, the eighteen-month ethnographic qualitative research explores the sequential experiences of settlement and economic integration of seven well-educated Chinese immigrant professionals. The analytical framework is built on sociocultural approaches to literacy and learning, as well as the theories of discourses and language reproduction. Using multiple data sources (observations, conversational interviews, journal and diary entries, photographs, documents, and artifacts collected in everyday lives), I document many different ways that well-educated Chinese immigrants take advantage of their language and literacy skills in English across several social domains of home, school, job market, and workplace. Examining the trans-contextual patterning of the participants’ language and literacy activities reveals that immigrant professionals use literacy as assistance in seeking, negotiating, and taking hold of resources and opportunities within certain social settings. However, my data show that their language and literacy engagements might not always generate positive consequences for social networks, job opportunities, and upward economic mobility. Close analyses of processes and outcomes of the participants’ engagements across these discursive discourses make it very clear that the monolithic assumptions of the dominant language shape and reinforce structural barriers by constraining their social participation, decision making, and learning practice, and thereby make literacy’s consequences unpredictable. The deficit model of language proficiency serves the grounds for linguistic stereotypes and economic marginalization, which produces profoundly consequential effects on immigrants’ pathways as they strive for having access to resources and opportunities in the new society. My analyses illuminate the ways that language and literacy create the complex web of discursive spaces wherein institutional agendas and personal desires are intertwined and collide in complex ways that constitute conditions and processes of social and economic mobility of immigrant populations. Based on these analyses, I argue that immigrants’ successful integration into a host country is not about the mastery of the technical skills in the dominant language. Rather, it is largely about the recognition and acceptance of the value of their language use and literacy practice as they attempt to partake in the globalized new economy.

Page generated in 0.1299 seconds