Migrant Education Debate Tournaments: Situated Learning and Literacies as Access to Dominant Discourses in a Democratic Society

Migrant students who participate in Migrant Education debate tournaments access the dominant discourses in a democratic society through situated learning and literacies. The findings in this study reveal that participants learn through apprentice relationships with peers and adults and through the social practice of meaning making. The data of this ethnographic study was collected over two years of regional and state Migrant Education debate tournaments. More than 50 hours of video records of debates, interviews, and setting shots were collected and analyzed using narrative inquiry and constant comparative method. This study contributes a greater understanding of the functions of the Migrant Education debate tournaments. Furthermore, it is hoped that the findings from this study will be used in future determinations of state and federal support for the Migrant Education Program (MEP) in general and for the Migrant Education debate tournaments, specifically.