Conference Agenda

This study addresses the role of language education in shaping students’ critical socio-political awareness in contexts characterized by inequality, power asymmetries, and contested identities. Specifically, it examines the extent to which Arabic language textbooks used in Arab schools in Israel support the development of critical socio-political literacy, understood as students’ capacity to question power relations, recognize ideological positioning in texts, and connect language learning to civic participation and social justice (Haj Yahya & Majadly, 2025).

The study is situated within the broader field of critical pedagogy, which conceptualizes education as an inherently political practice rather than a neutral or purely technical endeavor (Freire, 1970; McLaren, 2003). From this perspective, curricula and educational materials function as sites where dominant ideologies may either be reproduced or challenged. Language education, in particular, plays a central role in mediating identity, belonging, and access to civic voice, especially for students from marginalized communities (Haj Yahya & Abu-Baker, 2023; Majadly & Haj Yahya, 2024).

The conceptual framework of the study integrates three interrelated theoretical strands. First, critical pedagogy provides the foundation for analyzing how schooling may enable or constrain learners’ agency, critical consciousness, and civic positioning. Second, critical literacy (Janks, 2014) operationalizes this perspective by focusing on how texts position readers, whose voices are included or excluded, and how language encodes relations of power, normativity, and legitimacy. Third, Bourdieu’s (1991) theory of symbolic power informs the analysis of language as a form of capital that structures recognition, authority, and social mobility. Together, these frameworks allow for a multidimensional examination of textbooks as ideological artifacts that shape students’ understandings of society, power, and participation.

Empirically, the study analyzes Al-Arabiyya Lughatuna, the state-approved Arabic textbook series used for teaching Arabic as a mother tongue from Grades 1 to 12 in Arab schools in Israel. Although official curricular documents emphasize values such as equality, dialogue, and civic responsibility, previous research has questioned whether Arabic language education meaningfully engages with Arab students’ lived realities, including discrimination, marginalization, and contested national identity. This study examines how these tensions are reflected in the textbooks themselves.

Using qualitative content analysis, 293 texts across 16 textbooks were examined. Each text was analyzed using a structured rubric that assessed four dimensions central to critical socio-political literacy: (1) promotion of critical thinking, (2) representation of power relations, (3) diversity of perspectives, and (4) relevance to students’ socio-political context. This approach enabled a systematic comparison across grade levels and genres, while also attending to developmental progression and pedagogical coherence.

The research is guided by the following questions:
(1) To what extent do Arabic language textbooks in Arab schools include content that supports critical socio-political literacy?
(2) How are issues of power, justice, diversity, and civic participation represented across educational stages?
(3) Do the textbooks encourage critical inquiry and multiple perspectives, or do they reproduce dominant and depoliticized discourses?

Beyond the Israeli context, the study contributes to European and international debates on minority education, social justice, and intercultural learning. Across Europe and beyond, educational systems increasingly grapple with how to address diversity, migration, and inequality while often avoiding politically sensitive issues. By offering an evidence-based analysis of language textbooks in a divided society, this research speaks to broader questions concerning the role of curriculum in either fostering democratic engagement or maintaining symbolic marginalization. The study thus provides insights relevant to comparative education, language education, and social justice-oriented curriculum development in diverse and politically charged contexts.

The intensification of migratory movements in recent decades, which is virtually unprecedented in history, is closely linked to the transformations that have given rise to a new world order, evident in economic, technological, environmental and military terms, among others, and which has led to asymmetrical mobility between the global North and South (De Haas et al., 2020). Cross-border displacement has redefined the identity structures of host societies. Aa result, we are witnessing a phenomenon that has become one of the most decisive issues on the political agendas of the European Union and, consequently, in most of its Member States. Certainly, in Spain, which has seen one of the largest increases in the immigrant population on the continent in the last decade, this reality has changed the country's socio-demographic and cultural coordinates (Jornet, 2023).

It is a fact that the transnationalisation of migration brings about deep changes in the identity of those involved, both in terms of their sense of affiliation to their in-group and in the redefinition of subaltern practices (Bhatia, 2012). As Guerra et al. (2019) argue, when exposed to a new culture, people are exposed to cognitive and affective reorganisation, adaptation to unfamiliar patterns of behaviour and belief systems, grief over separation, and positioning in minority groups. Therefore, that this can trigger complex psychosocial transformations, especially during the developmental stage.

Thus, the rise in the presence of ethnically diverse children and adolescents in international migration deserves special attention, given that, in addition to the normative tasks inherent to this vital period, they face unique challenges that can compromise their well-being and physical/mental health (Suárez-Orozco et al., 2018). After contact with the receiving society, there is an increased need for identity rearticulation and affiliation with a particular group, seeking to integrate the cultural competencies of both the country of origin and the host country. Furthermore, it is essential to consider the role of families, peer groups, schools, the community and the impact of public policies in this regard (Sam et al., 2023).

Against this backdrop, our study adopts the Theory of ethnic identity (Phinney, 1990; Phinney & Ong, 2007; Phinney et al., 2023), as we are interested in addressing the way in which people construct their belongings based on emotional ties, participation in cultural practices, and commitment to the in-group, since they represent otherness in comparison with the hegemonic indigenous population.

In short, ethnic identity refers to each individual's experience of their ethnicity, exerting a direct influence on indicators of well-being, self-esteem, academic performance, and personal motivation. Ethnic awareness and/or identification is of particular interest in multicultural societies. This is in view of the power imbalances in the social and cultural fabric, which allow for the reclamation of certain spaces historically linked to the exclusion of minorities (Williams et al., 2020).

In the words of Umaña-Taylor (2024), the preservation of culture and the positive valuation of pluralism favour the construction of a solid and strong identity, since when there is self-identification as a member of a collective, group evaluation is more favourable and greater knowledge of ethnic practices is encouraged. However, when faced with situations of discrimination, two scenarios tend to arise: on the one hand, the rejection of one's own identity, and on the other, the reaffirmation of pride and identification with one's own homeland.

In this contribution, we propose to analyse the variables that influence the formation of ethnic identity among migrant adolescents. We do so from an epistemic framework specific to intercultural education, given that its focus is the empowerment of the integral development of all individuals, in terms of individual and collective recognition.

There are discursive situations where second-language-speaking teenage boys are repeatedly constructed as deviant or problematic in both the Swedish public and the school environment (e.g. Jonsson, 2014, 2017). Prior analyses of Swedish policy and curricula indicate that the school subject Swedish as a Second Language (SSL) is discursively contrasted with “regular” Swedish (SL), positioning students as in need of specialized instruction and responsible for linguistic shortcomings: patterns consistent with deficit framings and structurally embedded roles that narrow perceived agency (e.g., (Boréus & Bergström, 2018; Hedman & Magnusson, 2018; Siekkinen, 2017). Internationally, narrative and cultural‑psychological research cautions that such discourses shape what becomes sayable and doable in school (Bruner, 1991).

This study examines second language speaking boys’ narratives of languaging, learning, and identity at a liminal moment, late spring of ninth grade, just before upper‑secondary choice. Semi‑structured narrative life‑history interviews were conducted with seven boys (≥15 years), all enrolled in SSL, attending the same suburban school and representing diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. All used at least three languages in daily life; six had both parents born outside Sweden, and six had migrated during childhood. Interviews followed a chronological past–present–future sequence. Analysis followed Riessman’s (2008) thematic narrative approach, moving from holistic readings to case‑level narrative portraits and then cross‑case patterns, informed by narrative sense‑making (Bruner, 2004), narrative identity/agency (McAdams, 2013) social and institutional context (Goodson, 2013).

The results indicate that the boys consistently casted school as a gateway to imagined futures and emphasized its importance: "Otherwise you have no future". The patterns accord with narrative identity theory, whereby adolescents integrate reconstructed pasts and imagined futures into evolving self‑stories that confer unity and purpose (McAdams & McLean, 2013). The same applied to languaging. Strikingly, peers, not teachers, were cited as the primary drivers of “real” language learning, indicating that everyday interactional arenas were central to linguistic development and belonging. All informants told a story of a journey from times when the language was difficult to today when they maneuvered the language almost flawlessly. The boys saw multilingualism as a resource but still chose not to use their mother tongue in favour of Swedish and English, even though this meant that communication failed with their parents at home. This choice is in line with the school's organization, where national exams are only conducted in the languages of Swedish and English. A consequence was that the informants focused on the languages they perceived to be high status languages to get through school and have the future they dreamt of, but at the same time forgot their mother tongues.

In the boys’ futural narratives, visions of economic wealth and considerable freedom were most prominent. Only one boy described a future primarily centred on becoming happy. This can be understood in relation to McAdams (2001), who argues that individuals’ life stories are shaped through culturally available master narratives, in which economic success often functions as a central ideal. The stories were also characterized by a consistent use of “we” and “they,” where “they” referred to those the boys described as “Swedes.” According to Bruner (1991) identity is created through such narrative positionings, where storytelling is used to structure social distinctions and affiliations. In line with Goodson’s (2013) view of narratives as socially situated expressions, this division may be understood as part of a broader societal narrative which frames how the boys construct their own and others’ identities.