“I have meaningful work:” Crafting teaching and advocacy at an ESL after-school program

Abstract

While the importance of advocacy in TESOL has received greater attention in recent scholarship, less research has explored how English language teachers make meaning for their work as educators and advocates by acting within and beyond their official roles and responsibilities. This article explores how teachers in an after-school program supported refugee and immigrant students and their families. The researchers ask the following question: How do teachers craft their roles as educators and advocates for refugee and immigrant youth in an English as a second language (ESL) after-school program? They analyzed data through a job crafting lens (Haneda & Sherman, 2018; Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001) to make visible how teachers at the after-school program defined themselves as educators and advocates, and how the program hindered or empowered their efforts to act on these definitions. Findings share how four different teachers crafted opportunities, connections, leadership, and resources as they imagined and enacted their work with and for refugee and immigrant students and their families. Based on study findings, we suggest implications for TESOL educators in classrooms and community spaces, and recommend future directions for job crafting research on teaching and teacher advocacy.