Two Mainstreams, One School System: The Complexities of Immigrant Integration in Barcelona By Willow Maria Sussex Mata A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Cynthia E. Coburn, Education, Chair Professor Bruce Fuller, Education Professor Irene Bloemraad, Sociology Spring 2013 © Copyright by Willow Maria Sussex Mata 2013 All Rights Reserved Abstract Two Mainstreams, One School System: The Complexities of Immigrant Integration in Barcelona By Willow Maria Sussex Mata Doctor of Philosophy in Education University of California, Berkeley Professor Cynthia E. Coburn, Chair Growing immigrant populations in the United States and Europe have transformed communities in recent years. Immigration brings important changes to everyday life, especially for schools. The integration of immigrants in schools prompts debates about assimilation and multicultural education. It spurs policymakers to respond to language and cultural diversity. And it alters the work of teachers, who are often on the front lines of community responses to immigration. Spain is a newcomer to these issues. Formerly an immigrant-sending country, Spain now has comparable rates of immigration to more traditional immigration countries like the United States, Germany, France and England. Study of the social change these new immigrant populations set in motion is just beginning in Spain. To date, studies mainly focus on policy models or the experiences of immigrants in schools (Agrela et al. 2008; Carrasco, Pàmies, and Ponferrada 2011; Zapata-Barrero and de Witte 2007). Researchers on both sides of the Atlantic have called for more studies of how the host society shapes immigrant integration (Alba 2005; Thomson and Crul 2007). This dissertation study therefore takes up the question of schools as a context shaping immigrant incorporation in Barcelona, Spain. Specifically, I focus on the role of schools in defining what it means for integrate into the cultural mainstream of society. Three broad questions guide this study of the symbolic and social ways schools matter for immigrant integration. How do education policies define what it means to integrate immigrants in schools? What does it mean to integrate immigrants at the school level, and how do policies matter? What are teacher beliefs about the meaning of immigrant integration? I investigate these questions in depth in this dissertation study, looking into what it means to belong in schools, the role of language in marking belonging, and assumptions of immigrant change. I also look into why immigrant integration comes to mean what it does at each level of the education system. I study these issues in Barcelona, Spain, where official bilingualism in Spanish and Catalan, and a large Spanish-speaking immigrant population, complicate questions of immigrant integration. The study employs in-depth case study research methods 1 including open-ended interviews, ethnographic observations, and document analysis. At the policy level, I interviewed 37 policy officials and collected and analyzed policy formation and implementation documents. To understand implementation at the school level, I compared two high schools with similar immigrant populations. I interviewed school leaders, new immigrant classroom teachers, and district coaches. I also did over 160 hours of observations in the two schools, and collected numerous documents. Finally, I interviewed 24 regular subject teachers to understand their beliefs about immigrant integration, belonging, and the mainstream in Barcelona. The study findings show how history – in this case earlier experiences with immigration, integration, and language issues – influences what integration comes to mean in schools. Specifically, I found that the meaning of integration in Barcelona schools depended on past experiences with diversity and difference. At the policy level, it depended on past versions of integration policies focused on integrating Spanish- speaking people from other parts of Spain. In schools it depended on school history and historical norms for how schools attended to differences in learning needs. And at the individual teacher level, beyond the reach of many policies, the meaning of immigrant integration depended on teachers’ own family and professional backgrounds with being different or seeking a unified Catalan identity in Barcelona, Spain. I also found that district coaches played an important intermediary role in shaping policy implementation. 2 For My Parents, who taught me to work hard and love learning. For Debbie, who believed in her barefoot, ambitious babysitter all those years ago. For Juanjo, who has cheered me on every step of the way. And for Mateo, whose birth showed me what I was capable of. i Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 Schools and the Meaning of Immigrant Integration Literature Review…………………………………………………………………...........10 Research Questions…………………………………………………………………........20 Conceptual Framework…………………………………………………………………..21 Overview of the Dissertation…………………………………………………………….25 CHAPTER 2 Research Design anD MethoDology Summary…………………………………………………………………........................28 Motivation for the Study Design…………………………………………………………28 The Context of Barcelona, Spain………………………………………………………...29 Sampling…………………………………………………………………........................33 Data Collection…………………………………………………………………..............39 Data Analysis………………………………………………………………….................42 Possibilities and Limitations of the Approach…………………………………………...46 CHAPTER 3 Language as the Backbone of Immigrant Integration Policy Introduction…………………………………………………………………....................48 Goals of the Policy………………………………………………………………….........51 Immigrants Viewed as a Threat to Catalan………………………………………………55 Language as the “Backbone” of Integration……………………………………………..61 Current Policy Shaped by Past Integration Initiatives…………………………………...66 Policy Resources Went to Newcomer Classrooms………………………………………70 Conclusion………………………………………………………………….....................73 CHAPTER 4 Integration in Practice: School Implementation of Newcomer Classrooms Introduction…………………………………………………………………...................76 Priorities for Implementing Newcomer Classrooms…………………………………….78 Implementation Up Close: Newcomer Classes at Gaudí and Miró……………………...86 Coaching and School History Shaped Policy Implementation…………………………104 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...................120 CHAPTER 5 Teacher Beliefs About the Meaning of Immigrant Integration Introduction………………………………………………………………….................122 The Symbolic Boundaries in Teachers’ Understandings of Integration……………….125 ii Personal Histories Shaped Teacher Beliefs About Immigrant Integration……………..148 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...................159 CHAPTER 6 Conclusion anD Implications Schools as a Context of Reception: Summary of Key Findings………………………..162 Implications for Immigration and Policy Studies………………………………………164 Future Directions………………………………………………………………….........169 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...................169 Appendix 1. Newcomer Teacher Background Information…………………………….172 Appendix 2. Mainstream Teacher Background Information…………………………...173 Appendix 3. Policy Interview Protocol…………………………….…………………...175 Appendix 4. Teacher Interview Protocol……………………………………………….179 Appendix 5. List of Documents Used in the Analysis…………………………………..183 Appendix 6. Definitions and Evidence for Key Dimensions……………………………186 References…………………………….…………………………….…………………..190 iii List of Tables anD Figures Figure 1.1 Conceptual Model ........................................................................................... 25 Table 2.1 Case Study School Information ........................................................................ 36 Table 2.2 Subjects Taught by Mainstream Teachers........................................................ 38 Table 2.3. Administrative Status of Mainstream Teachers............................................... 39 Table 2.4 School Interviews and Observations................................................................. 41 Figure 3.1 Target Areas of the Language and Social Cohesion Policy ............................ 52 Figure 3.2 Immigrant Origins in Catalonian Schools, 1999-2009.................................... 58 Table 3.1 Targets for Integration in the LSC Policy Implementation Documents ........... 59 Figure 3.3 Department of Education-produced Poster of the Inclusive School ............... 60 Figure 3.4 Immigrant Integration Poster Created by Catalan Government...................... 65 Figure 3.5 Context for the Policy as Described by the Catalan Government................... 67 Figure 4.1. Poster of Newcomer Classroom ..................................................................... 79 Table 4.1 Implementation Priorities for Newcomer Classrooms...................................... 85 Table 4.2 Congruence Analysis ........................................................................................ 99 Figure 5.1. Boundaries Identified in Teacher Talk about Immigrant Groups ................ 127 Table 5.1 References to Language, National Identity and Place .................................... 129 Figure 5.2 Positive and Negative Statements about Immigrant Groups......................... 139 Figure 5.3. Stance Toward Catalan Integration .............................................................. 150 Table 6.1 The Importance