Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant: Youth in Debate with the West: Citizenship Within and Beyond the European Classroom

研究生Maisa Taha（亚利桑那大学），由Norma Mendoza-Denton博士监督，将在西班牙东南部进行研究，那里密集的温室农业繁荣吸引了来自拉丁美洲，撒哈拉以南非洲，东欧，尤其是穆斯林北非的移民。这项研究将探讨由于目前正在发生的全球化和跨国进程而使移民人口融入社会和融入社会的进程。 具体而言，它将侧重于西班牙和第一代移民青年在高中课堂上的互动，旨在促进民主价值观和道德生活（欧盟所谓的“公民”课程的一部分）。研究人员将使用参与观察，半结构化访谈，焦点小组和音频/视频记录，以记录移民和西班牙学生如何检查自己的多元文化存在与对方和教师。这项研究将在三个具有不同人口特征的城镇的高中进行，目的是（a）评估在公民课程中围绕自由、平等、自治和世俗主义理想进行的东西方争论的普遍程度;（B）记录课堂内外的政治和文化辩论;以及（c）在地方、国家和泛欧层面上，将当前关于移民包容、教育和公民身份的辩论历史地置于背景之中。这项研究产生了许多更广泛的影响。该项目意义重大，因为它将加深对高度多样化环境中的公立学校青年如何参与旨在促进整个欧盟“多样性中的团结”的公民和道德教育的理解。鉴于种族，语言，宗教和文化差异，隔离社区在西班牙东南部，从这项研究的结果也将有助于教育政策和课程开发，同时提供了一个即将到来的，新的多元文化的一代公民学习处理社会包容和民主行动的第一手资料。这些结果将证明对世界各地的决策者、教育工作者、社区组织者和学者具有现实意义，他们寻求理解民主和多元化如何能够同步发展的途径，特别是在涉及到边缘化和往往被污名化的非西方群体时。

Graduate student Maisa Taha (University of Arizona), supervised by Dr. Norma Mendoza-Denton, will do research in southeast Spain, where an intensive greenhouse agriculture boom has attracted immigrants from Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, and above all, Muslim North Africa. This research will address the processes of incorporation and inclusion of immigrant populations resulting from globalization and transnational processes presently occurring. Specifically it will focus on the interactions of Spanish and first-generation immigrant youth in high school classes designed to promote democratic values and ethical living (part of the EU's so-called "Citizenship" curricula). The researcher will use participant observation, semi-structured interviews, focus groups and audio/video recordings to document how immigrant and Spanish students examine their own multicultural existences with each other and with teachers. The research will take place at high schools in three towns with distinct demographic profiles, with the objectives of (a) assessing the prevalence of East-versus-West arguments around ideals of freedom, equality, autonomy, and secularism taught in the Citizenship classes; (b) documenting political and cultural debates inside and outside of classrooms; and (c) historically contextualizing current debates about immigrant inclusion, education, and citizenship at the local, national, and pan-European levels. There are numerous broader impacts from this research. The project is significant because it will deepen understanding of how publicly-schooled youth in highly diverse settings engage with civic and ethical education intended to promote "unity-in-diversity" across the entire EU. Given the racial, linguistic, religious, and cultural differences that have segregated communities in southeast Spain, the findings from this study will also contribute to education policy and curriculum development while offering a first-hand view of an upcoming, newly multicultural generation of citizens learning to handle social inclusion and democratic action. Such results will prove relevant to policy makers, educators, community organizers and scholars around the world who seek ways of understanding how democracy and pluralism can grow in tandem, particularly when it comes to marginalized and often stigmatized, non-Western groups.