Minoritized communities find themselves continuously confronted with experiences of racism, exclusion, and inequality. Overcoming these challenges and strengthening their youth’s chances are some of the main reasons why community leaders initiate and organizing community education. After-hours or in the weekend volunteers come together and offer classes which support pupils in their academic endeavors, teach heritage language, and nurture a sense of pride. Research shows that these supplementary schools are versatile and adaptable in the ways they respond to the challenges the communities are confronted with (Steenwegen et al., 2022). Schooling always serves the individual pupil on the one hand and wider society on the other, supplementary schools too are described as having a “‘wider impact’ than on individual pupils and families” (Maylor et al., 2013). Supplementary schools should be understood as instrumental in minoritized communities strive for social justice (Zhou & Kim, 2006). To understand how supplementary schools manage to serve not only their pupils but the whole community as well, we apply a framework of community cultural wealth to these educational spaces which recognizes the different forms of capital that are available within the community. 

In Yosso’s (2005) description of community cultural wealth, the traditional understanding of social capital, which is mainly present for members of mainstream society is broadened. The community cultural wealth approach recognizes the significance of the resources within the community that available to minoritized communities’ members. Yosso (2005) distinguishes six theoretical types of capital which together constitute community cultural wealth. Broadly, linguistic capital is the ability to communicate in different languages. Aspirational capital refers to the aspiration and hope to achieve more than what is currently available.  Familial capital refers to the cultural knowledge that is shared among family and community. Social capitalrefers to networks of people in the community and community resources. Navigational capital refers to skills in navigating through social institutions. Resistant capital refers to behavior and skills that challenge existing inequalities. 

We build upon previous work that describes the system of supplementary schooling as channeling resources and social capital (Kim & Zhou, 2006; Lee & Zhou, 2017). We combine this with studies that have applied a community cultural wealth approach to show how communities support pupils’ educational success (Holland, 2017; Lu, 2013; Solórzano & Yosso, 2007). In this study we look not only at how communities help to further children and pupils, but rather all members of the community and thus the whole community. Responding to the needs of the community, supplementary schools are pivotal in bundling community cultural wealth and channeling the resources available for the good of the community. 

Supplementary school leaders have been found to be responsive to the specific educational needs of their respective communities, showing great adaptability to accommodate their communities’ needs in different places and social contexts (Arthur & Souza, 2020; Simon, 2018). Therefore, school leaders are well placed to shed light on how the community’s resources are employed and made accessible. 

Research on supplementary schooling and the ways in which they seek to advance their communities remains scarce, specifically in a European context (Exception Hall et al., 2002; Tereshchenko & Grau Cárdenas, 2013). We respond to the gaps in the current literature by focusing on cases of supplementary schools in the region of Flanders in Belgium and by looking into the role the supplementary schools play in the strive for social justice for their communities.  The research question we seek to answer is: “How is community cultural wealth deployed as a resource for the whole community in supplementary schools in Flanders?”

In order to learn how supplementary schools deploy the community cultural wealth as a resource we conduct semi-structured interviews with the school leaders of twelve supplementary schools. In an initial phase of explorative fieldwork, we contact community leaders and different umbrella organizations. Through contacts in the field and further snowballing effect we then sampled twelve after-hours supplementary schools in Flanders, the northern Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. The twelve cases included in this study are the Russian, Thai, Chinese, Albanian, Syrian, Black, Turkish, Armenian, Greek, Italian and two Polish community schools. Within these schools we interviewed the school leaders. Semi-structured interviews are chosen for their flexibility in allowing respondents to express their ideas in their own words (Savin-Baden & Howell, 2013). The open nature of semi-structured interviews offers the opportunity for new and rich information to emerge (Yin, 2003) and participants can speak in their own words which is specifically important when taking an explorative approach. The interviews took place between October 2020 and January 2021. Most of the interviews are conducted in Dutch and some in English, depending on the preference of the interviewee. The duration of the interviews is between 35 and 75 minutes. Due to Covid-restrictions 10 of the 12 interviews are conducted online. To analyze the data the interviews are ad verbatim transcribed and then coded using Nvivo software We conducted the interviews inquiring about the schools’ learning goals formulated for the pupils. Throughout the interviews it emerged that beyond the objectives at the level of the pupil, the schools also sought to advance the whole community. To gain understanding in the supplementary schools’ role in forwarding the community, we looked at the transcripts through a framework of community cultural wealth. Distinguishing 6 theoretical types of capital we examined how community cultural wealth was put to practical use in and around the schools.

Our (preliminary) findings show that supplementary schools are pivotal in the endeavor to attain social justice for minoritized communities in society. They lean on voluntary members of the community to provide classes from which pupils benefit. Beyond the benefits on the level of the pupil, the schools offer opportunities for all members of the community. As theorized, supplementary schools engaged the six forms of capital, which Yosso identified as community cultural wealth. The schools channel the navigational capital of the community by organizing info session about school application and university admission processes. The linguistic capital is channeled in teaching heritage language classes but also in community members providing Flemish classes for parents. They use the social capital in providing safe spaces for women. They also lean on the community’s resistant capital. For example, in Flanders teachers are not allowed to wear a head scarf or veil. In the Syrian supplementary school, however, teachers with headscarves are employed, validated, and appreciated. The Russian school employs undocumented migrants as teachers. In the words of the school leader: “They come here, because in teaching they go from migrant to human-being.” In these ways, the schools provide wide access to the community cultural wealth for the community members. Supplementary schools are crucial in practical regards, providing support and direction but also as a platform where the community members can give back to the community and receive appreciation for their competences, offering relief from an experienced subordinate position in dominant society. In channeling the community cultural wealth and strengthening the community members in different ways the supplementary school proofs to be an instrument of empowerment for minoritized communities in Flanders, and most probably other Western-European countries too.

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