The authors of this article investigated a middle school in the United States, named Kousanar, and documented how Mexicans, Bosnians, and other immigrants were caught in institutional practices that simultaneously welcomed and “unwelcomed” them. To explain this contradiction, their data suggest that particular discourses and forms of materiality, in part, motivated and encouraged individuals and groups to make certain decisions and act in certain ways. Specifically, the authors found that teachers, students, and the local White community surrounding the school often were motivated by employment issues, the concerns of local businesses, fear of potential violence, and the wish to maintain an academic advantage. Conversely, immigrant students attending Kousanar and their parents often were motivated by family cohesion, a “good parent” discourse, safety concerns, and the wish for economic and academic opportunities. The authors conclude that discursive and contextual influences limit many opportunities for immigrant students and place them on the margins of school life.

Background: Family Planning (FP) is a key developmental focus for the government of Nepal. Use of modern contraceptives has stagnated at 43.2% since 2011. Unmet need for family planning (FP) in Nepal remains high at 27%. Despite relatively high unmet need, a factor contributing to this levelling of contraceptive use is the limited range of methods available to most clients at most sites. To address the FP need among married women of reproductive age (WRA), we tested integration of FP into agricultural programs. Aim: To assess the effectiveness of a FP program integrated into an agriculture (e.g., non-health) sector program. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional (post interventional) study was conducted November 2015 to February 2016 among 525 WRA participating in an agriculture program. Results: The contraceptives commonly used by women in the study location were Depo Provera and Minilap. After Technical Integration Coverage and Access (TICA) interventions, almost all of the respondents (99.6%) had heard about FP of which 67.8% correctly understood FP as a method to prevent unwanted pregnancy. About 50% of the respondents were found currently using FP. The percentage of WRA aware of long-acting and permanent FP methods increased from 49.0% to 62.0% and 39.0% to 52.0% respectively. Decisions on using a FP method were predominantly made by the husband (68.0%). However, 68.4% women reported that they were accompanied by their husband. The proportion of men willing to use FP increased from 5.2% to 15.5% after TICA activities implementation. The main reason identified for not currently using FP devices was that the husband and wife were not living together (88.8%). Most of the women (98.0%) reported that FP utilization improved their quality of life. Conclusion: TICA activities were very successful in both increasing FP knowledge level as well as utilizing FP services among the targeted beneficiaries. The use of FP increased

The global movement of people has increased the number of immigrant students in countries such as the United States and Canada. The number of immigrant teachers working with these students has also risen, especially those in English as a Second Language programs (ESL). Scholars have argued that the increase in immigrant teachers, and teachers of color more generally, along with pedagogies that draw from the personal and collective experiences of marginalized students is a needed corrective to the overly white, Eurocentric orientation to teaching and content found in schools. This article examines these assumptions by documenting the struggle of one Senegalese-American middle school ESL teacher who was attempting to utilize the culture of his students as a dominant part of his pedagogy. The findings indicate that this teacher found himself in a school context where his political desires for immigrant students were modified by institutional structures and disenabling discourses about immigrants. What he enacted was a borderland pedagogy that had elements of the culturally relevant pedagogy that he sought and the assimilationist pedagogy that was pervasive within the school. The implications suggest that placing responsibility on these immigrant teachers to challenge assimilationist and marginalizing tendencies in the schools may end up blaming these practitioners for influential factors that reside largely outside their control. Consequently, to meet the needs of those marginalized by society requires work with and on the possibilities and limits embedded in these borderland spaces of schools, teacher desires, and communities.