Immigrant Parents’ Development of a Collective Voice in a Parent-School Organization

• In Event: Learning "In-Between" Cultural Worlds: An Immigrant Perspective on Education

Abstract

Immigrant families from Latin America to the U.S. today migrate to the U.S. in pursuit of employment and schooling opportunities that will improve the well-being and future development of family members. Because of nativist and ethnic/racial discrimination, and language differences allied with fear of non-English language usage, these families encounter significant barriers in developing voice and agency in the education of their children. This paper analyzes results from a pre-post evaluation questionnaire showing how parents in an organization known as Padres Adelante conducted in Spanish began to develop a collective voice as agents of school change though their participation in sessions offering them the opportunity to express and share their common as well as unique goals for participating in the parent organization.

Author

• Zuleyma Nayeli Rogel, University of California - Santa Barbara