"I Prefer Not to Answer": Politically Agentive Communicative Silence in Nonprofit and Community-Based Education with Immigrant Students.
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| Title: | "I Prefer Not to Answer": Politically Agentive Communicative Silence in Nonprofit and Community-Based Education with Immigrant Students. |
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| Authors: | Entigar, Katherine E1 k.entigar@utoronto.ca |
| Source: | Adult Education Quarterly. May2026, Vol. 76 Issue 2, p103-121. 19p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Adult education, *Community organization, *Scholarships, *Teachers, *Social development |
| Abstract: | This paper conceptualizes a form of silence employed by immigrant learners in adult education. Based on an episode occurring during an educational study on nonprofit and community-based organizations, this paper highlights adult immigrant students' use of silence simultaneously to object to teachers' practices and to protect themselves. A review of interdisciplinary scholarship demonstrates limitations in conventional views of silence as a communicative lacuna signaling students' processing, inability to participate, experiences of marginalization, or resistance. Drawing upon insights from political science, social movement studies, and international relations, the author conceptualizes politically agentive communicative silence as a multivocal form of expression employed by immigrant students in heterogeneous learning contexts to disrupt power asymmetries while maintaining membership. Apprehending immigrant students' use of politically agentive communicative silence draws attention to practitioner authority and occasional missteps, inviting consideration of how culturally and linguistically dynamic students contribute to the epistemic, ethical, and political realities of adult learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Education Research Complete |
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