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The what and why of supplementary schooling in Flanders

Journal Contribution - Journal Article

Subtitle:purposes and underlying motives as perceived by initiators
Supplementary schooling can play an important role in the educational trajectory of minoritised youth. Yet, our knowledge of the communities' motives for organising education and the purposes the schools pursue remains limited. Existing literature tends to understand supplementary schools either as resisting ongoing inequity in mainstream society or as transmitting the heritage language. We argue that it is valuable to transcend this fragmented view by taking a more comprehensive approach to the diversity of purposes of supplementary schools and by revealing how purposes respond to various motives. Methodologically, semi-structured in-depth interviews with initiators of 12 supplementary schools in Flanders took place to learn about the pursued purposes and the motives underlying them. Rather than the fragmented view often presented in the literature, the initiators show a strong sensitivity to the variety of needs and are deeply invested to support and strengthen youth in navigating the different educational and socio-cultural contexts they are part of. These findings shed light on the variety of educational needs and desires of minoritised communities in continental Europa, highlighting opportunities to tackle enduring inequalities experienced by minoritised youth in mainstream school
Journal: Research papers in education
ISSN: 0267-1522
Volume: 38
Pages: 1029 - 1051
Publication year:2023
Keywords:A1 Journal article
Accessibility:Closed