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Bridging Borders: Teaching a Bridging Course with Precarious Status Students Transitioning to the University

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Critical Schooling

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Abstract

This chapter reflects on the process of planning and teaching a bridging course that facilitates the entry of precarious status migrant students to an Ontario university. While students in some US states have had official access to postsecondary schooling since the early 2000s, in Canada, access has been piecemeal if at all existent. The chapter examines how my own history of immigration influenced the development and running of the course, including the assumptions I had going in. I then evaluate the role of storytelling and disclosure and conceptualize the role of students as border-crossers or “bridges.” Finally, I think through the importance of interdisciplinarity in teaching such a course. The chapter provides understanding and recommendations about how to run such courses, the specific needs of precarious status students, and the role of instructors in the process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. California State University, San Bernardino, San Bernardino, CA, USA

    Paloma E. Villegas

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  1. Paloma E. Villegas
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Correspondence to Paloma E. Villegas .

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  1. Anthropology and Sociology, Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, MI, USA

    Francisco J. Villegas

  2. University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Janelle Brady

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Villegas, P.E. (2019). Bridging Borders: Teaching a Bridging Course with Precarious Status Students Transitioning to the University. In: Villegas, F.J., Brady, J. (eds) Critical Schooling. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00716-4_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00716-4_11

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-00715-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-00716-4

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