Understanding SLIFE

The term SLIFE (students with limited and/or interrupted formal education) was developed and popularized by Andrea DeCapua along with her co-author Helaine Marshall.  Students who fit this description are categorized under several different labels in the literature, included that of English Language Learners (ELLs).   DeCapua and Marshall, however, assert that the term SLIFE most accurately describes that specific subset of ELLs, who often also need to:

• develop basic literacy skills, 
• learn basic and grade level subject area concepts, 
• develop academic ways of thinking, and 
• adapt to cultural differences in learning and teaching.  

Unfortunately, many of these needs go unmet and these students are at a very high risk for dropping out of school and/or attaining very low levels of literacy as adults.  For them to be successful, educators must find ways to attend to each of these areas. This process begins by identifying SLIFE within our schools and developing a deeper understanding of their unique educational needs.

 - - - - -

According to DeCapua and Marshall, one of the biggest challenges in in the education of SLIFE is the cultural dissonance which they experience. In particular, there is the mismatch between the goals and expectations of these students and their teachers. Teachers in our Western education system generally assume that:
  1. the goals of K-12 instruction are:
       a) to produce an independent learner
       b) to prepare that learner for life after schooling
  2. and that the learner brings along:
       a) an urge to compete and excel as an individual
       b) age-appropriate preparation for:
          (i) literacy development
          (ii) academic tasks
This is very different from the educational assumptions of most SLIFE who often come from cultural backgrounds where the preference is for:

• oral communication and  information sharing
•  pragmatic learning with immediate relevance
• working together and sharing responsibility

In order to create effective educational opportunities for SLIFE students, therefore, DeCapua and Marshall propose adoption of a Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm (MALP).  They have laid out that pedagogical approach in a number of books, articles, and presentations, including their most recent book, Making the Transition to Classroom Success: Culturally Responsive Teaching for Struggling Language Learners.  This approach requires both the teacher and the learner to adapt and stretch beyond the knowledge and behaviors which are most familiar and comfortable to them.  They argue that doing so will enable SLIFE to experience far greater success in our school systems and will better prepare them for the challenges of life in Western society.

(Adapted from DeCapua & Marshall, 2010, 2011, 2013; Marshall 1998)

- - - - - -

Beyond the work of DeCapua and Marshall, information on the education of SLIFE is sparse.   There are a few educational jurisdictions, including New York State and the Province of Ontario, which have tried to address the challenges of students with irregular educational histories.  They have produced documents which summarize key strategies believed to be effective with this population.  Sometimes those strategies can also be found within the more extensive literature on ELLs, newcomers, refugees, and adolescent and adult readers.  Other useful ideas can be drawn from the literature on differentiation and accommodation of student differences.  In addition, teachers of SLIFE may need to become acquainted with strategies for assessing and teaching early literacy skills since many SLIFE lack those foundational skills.

In Alberta, there is no funded category for SLIFE, although limitations in educational experience are mentioned in documents describing ELLs and refugees.  In Southern Alberta there are large numbers of SLIFE who come primarily from a Low German speaking Mennonite background, who do not meet criteria as refugees.  It is often difficult to meet their needs under the ELL structures alone, however.  At the same time, many of the strategies being used in large urban centers are impractical in the rural setting.  The Horizon School Division recognized that there was a need for greater study of this problem and made it part of their AISI research project for 2012-2013.  Even though this funding was cut in the spring of 2013, a dedicated group of Horizon teachers continued to work on these challenges through a SLIFE Community of Practice in 2013-2014.  This site grew out of those projects.

 - - - - - - -

SLIFE Tools and Resources is a short document that was prepared by Dan Vanden Dungen in the spring of 2013 as part of that AISI project.  It is full of links to presentations, books, articles, video, literacy tools, and other documents and websites that might be of used to educators who teach students with limited or interrupted formal education.



 - - - - - - -

References:

Alberta Education (2012). Programming information: Organizing for instruction. In: Supporting English Language Learners. Edmonton, AB: Alberta Learning. Retrieved from: http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/eslapb/organizing_for_instruction.html

Alberta Education (2013, March 7). Funding manual for school authorities: 2013/2014 school year. Edmonton, AB: Alberta Learning. Retrieved from: http://education.alberta.ca/media/6858000/20132014fundingmanual.pdf

DeCapua, A. & Marshall. H. W. (2013). Making the transition to classroom success: Culturally responsive teaching for struggling language learners. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

DeCapua, A. & Marshall. H. W. (2011). Breaking new ground: Teaching English learners with limited or interrupted formal education in US secondary schools. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

DeCapua, A., & Marshall, H., (2010). Serving ELLs with limited or interrupted education: Intervention that works. TESOL Journal 1(1), 49-70.

DeCapua, Smathers & Tang, University of Michigan Press, (2009). Meeting the needs of students with limited or interrupted schooling. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

DeCapua, A., Smathers, W., & Tang, L. F. (2007). Schooling, interrupted. Educational Leadership, 64, (6), 40-46.

Limited schooling (n.d.). In Teaching refugees with limited schooling. Retrieved from: http://www.teachingrefugees.com/

Marshall, H. W. (1998). A mutually adaptive learning paradigm (MALP) for Hmong students. Cultural Circles, 3, 134-141.

New York State Education Department (2011). Guidelines for Educating Limited English Proficient Students with Limited Formal Education. Albany, New York: State Education Department

Ontario Department of Education (2008). Supporting English Language Learners with Limited Prior Schooling: A Practical Guide for Ontario educators. Toronto, Ontario.