Privilege and Vulnerability: Early Study Abroad Experiences and Policy Enactment in a Superdiverse Secondary School

This dissertation explores the lived experience of Early Study Abroad (fee-paying international) students in a publicly funded Ontario secondary school. I situate my research in the broader context of international education, particularly the recruitment and hosting of students from abroad. The study also explores the complex world of adolescent language learning and intercultural exchange in a superdiverse school setting.

My qualitative case study comprises interviews with students, who describe their personal experiences, and educators, who reflect on their own practices and share observations of their colleagues’ pedagogical response to this cohort. My analysis was influenced by my experience as an English as a Second Language/English teacher who worked with Early Study Abroad students and informed by a reading of relevant policy documents.

I use several complementary frameworks: Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) ecological model of development; theories from critical policy research (Ball, 1993, 2015; Ball et al., 2012; Levinson & Sutton, 2001) and engaged language policy and practice (Menken & García; 2010; Ricento & Hornberger, 1996); and Vertovec’s (2007, 2019) concept of superdiversity.

My findings reveal that students’ experiences and teacher responses are broadly shaped by discourses that support the marketization of education at a global scale. At the school level, highly agentive students successfully navigated their way through an educational system that did not widely acknowledge or support them, notwithstanding the efforts of few engaged teachers. My policy recommendations include stronger oversight of student care and well-being, more opportunities for professional development and collaboration for teachers who work in linguistically diverse classrooms, and greater transparency in accounting for the management of student tuition revenue.