Contexts of International Migration and Multilingualism for Students with Disabilities in Transition to Postsecondary College and Career
A special issue of Youth (ISSN 2673-995X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 December 2025 | Viewed by 85
Special Issue Editors
Interests: equity and diversity in special education; transition from adolescence to adulthood; secondary analyses of large-scale databases; sociocultural theories of disability; culture and self-determination; secondary English learners and bilingual students with disabilities; learning and behavioral disabilities; qualitative research methods; culturally responsive research methods; research ethics
Interests: how teachers play a role in perpetuating/disrupting inequities in their instruction; how critical and contemplative pedagogies and practices may be used as tools for social justice in the classroom
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
By the middle of 2024, the world’s migrant population—people living in a country other than the country of their birth—numbered approximately 304 million, slightly under 4% of the total population (United Nations, 2024). Thirteen percent of all migrants were children under the age of 18 (UNICEF, 2021), including those accompanied by and those separated from their families, as well as those whose migration was voluntary and those for whom migration was forced. Reasons for migration include, but are not limited to, combinations of the following: access to labor, education, shelter, and health care; resource scarcity and famine; political conflict and war; acts of violence and enslavement; and existential economic and climate threats (migrationdataportal.org). According to the International Rescue Committee, a global nongovernmental organization serving migrant populations, people who migrate may also seek permanent residence in countries other than their birthplace, becoming immigrants, seeking asylum, being designated as refugees or receiving no relief through host-country governments (e.g., those in the United States [US] who get labeled as “illegal”, “alien”, or “undocumented”).
Educating children who migrate can be framed, theoretically and conceptually, as an intersectional issue. Borrowing from intersectional identity and research theories, migration and education have aspects that overlap. Migration and education can both be examined and illuminated by using intersectional lenses, as articulated by Esposito and Evans-Winters (2022), to include how a person’s multiple social identities (e.g., race, ethnicity, disability, gender, age, citizenship status) inform being in, engaging with, and understanding the world; how individuals’ and communities’ lived experiences and social histories also form their participation in it; and how these responses confer power and privilege, as well as vulnerability and risk (Esposito & Evans-Winters, 2022). Migration and education are also inseparable when considering and accepting that children, including those with disabilities, have human rights and that these include the right to exist without threats to their existence and the right to be educated ("Universal Declaration of Human Rights", 1948). Migration includes people with disabilities and migration can be traumatic. In addition to causal links between trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder, trauma can also have “adverse implications for an individual’s cognitive, behavioural, affective, biological, psychological, and social development”, (Hatzikiriakidis et al., 2023, p. 900). Children exposed to trauma in migration may need educational services during and following secondary school.
To further illustrate this phenomena in the context of transition, understanding cultural identities, which are impacted by migration and language experiences, are important as young people leave compulsory secondary school and move into adulthood (Kangas, 2020; Trainor et al., 2022). Young adults with disabilities have historically faced marginalizing systemic barriers that, at times, cross geopolitical borders. For example, in the US context, access to health in adulthood is associated with full-time employment, but for migrants, employment opportunities can be limited and for people with disabilities, employer biases and limited accessibility prevent or inhibit employment and even career development. As diversity and inclusion initiatives are challenged worldwide, supportive resource streams for youth in transition may evaporate, reducing young adults’ access to economic, intellectual, and social well-being and full participation in society. In the US context, for example, recent efforts to eradicate federal protection against discrimination included in Section 504 plans for individuals with disabilities may limit access to essential support and services in education and employment settings. The purpose of this Special Issue is to initiate and foster an international conversation for advancing equitable outcomes for young adults with disabilities as they accept increasing responsibilities for their wellbeing.
We focus this Special Issue on international research with and by people with disabilities in service to greater equity and inclusion among all people in recognition of historical and contemporary inequitable access to resources, power, and privilege. In so doing, we recognize that communities are often diasporic and individuals have intersectional identities related to ability, race/ethnicity, language and culture, gender identity and sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, geographic location, and sociopolitical realities affected by conflict.
We invite manuscripts with a focus on equity and human rights in international transition contexts. We are specifically interested in articles covering topics including, but not limited to, (1) perspectives and experiences of recently immigrated and/or transnational young adults with disabilities; (2) family involvement, engagement, and collaboration in transition education; (3) asset-based approaches to supporting transition for young adults with disabilities who are mobile; (4) the development of educators and related service providers who have the attitudes and skills necessary for supporting migration and transnational young adults with disabilities; (5) examples of resistance to and strategies for navigating sociopolitical systemic barriers to equity; and (6) research methodological advancements for studying all of the above in tenuous times.
References
Migration data portal: The bigger picture. (2024). Retrieved February 26, 2025, from https://www.migrationdataportal.org/themes-list
Esposito, J., & Evans-Winters, V. (2022). Introduction to intersectional qualitative research. Sage.
International Rescue Committee. (2018). Migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants: What’s the difference? Retrieved March 2 from https://www.rescue.org/article/migrants-asylum-seekers-refugees-and-immigrants-whats-difference
Kangas, S. E. N. (2020). Counternarratives of English learners with disabilities. Bilingual Research Journal, 43(3), 267-285. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2020.1807424
Trainor, A. A., Romano, L., Chen, Y.-L., Newman, L., & Ozuna Presinal, S. (2022). Secondary students receiving special education and English learner services: Identity informed transitions. Multiple Voices, 22(2), 4-24. https://doi.org/10.56829/2158-396X-22.2.4
UNICEF. (2021). Migration. Retrieved March 2 from https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-migration-and-displacement/migration/
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (1948). https://www.ohchr.org/en/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
Prof. Dr. Audrey Trainor
Guest Editor
Lindsay Romano
Co-Guest Editor
Logan Roberts
Guest Editor Assistant
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- postschool transition
- global immigration
- bilingualism
- equity
- culturally sustaining pedagogy
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