social media,

different migrant organisations

Currently, I engage with the rural student community in Arifwala, Punjab, specifically at a Government Girls City High School. My engagement directly involves migrant voices, as I teach a classroom that includes Afghan refugee students. These students represent a "double marginalization"—being both refugees in a foreign land and living in a rural area far from the resources of Pakistan’s major metropoles like Lahore.

2. What works / doesn’t work and why?

• What works: Translingualism and Multimodal learning. By integrating Urdu and Dari subtitles and intercultural workshops, I saw a 40% increase in attendance. This works because it validates the students' home languages and creates "linguistic hospitality," making the school a site of resilience rather than exclusion.

• What doesn’t work: Monolingual "Colonial Mimicry." The rigid insistence on English-only or Urdu-only instruction without acknowledging the students' native Dari or Pashto often leads to academic disruption and a sense of "un-belonging." It reinforces structural hierarchies rather than breaking them.

3. What are the spaces in your city where people participate actively?

In Lahore, active participation often happens in:

• University Hubs: Institutions like FCCU provide spaces for intellectual discourse on policy and migration.

• Center for Public Policy and Governance (CPPG): A vital space where research is translated into policy advocacy.

• Religious and Community Centers: In rural areas like Arifwala, these are the primary spaces for social cohesion, though they are rarely utilized for formal educational policy-making.

4. What methods do you use to reach residents? (Padlet Contribution)

If you were to post on the Padlet, you could highlight these innovative methods you've pioneered:

• Linguistic Mapping: Using classroom interactions to identify the "linguistic capital" of students and tailoring resources (like subtitles) to meet them where they are.

• Intercultural Pairing: Pairing local students with refugee peers to foster mutual empathy and reduce the "Good Migrant" stereotype.

• Data-Driven Advocacy: Utilizing qualitative research and attendance metrics to prove to school administrators that inclusive methods yield tangible results.