Immigrant Parents’ Educational Hopes for Their Children: Qualitative Study of West Africans in New York

• In Event: Socializing Youth for Success: The Role of Schools, Teachers, and Parents in Students’ Educational Perceptions

Abstract

The current study examined patterns in the migration narratives of West African families residing in New York City in order to explore salient themes in the ways parents frame their experiences of loss and their educational hopes for their children. Participants comprised a purposive sample of 20 forced and voluntary immigrant parents from four West African countries. The study design was qualitative and consisted of three interviews with each family in which parents were asked to narrate their migration histories and to discuss migration-specific family processes. Transcripts of interviews were coded and analyzed using grounded theory, followed by a thematic coding approach. Findings suggest that educational aspirations are the primary idiom through which parents express their future hopes. Discussions of loss were found to be markedly proximal to discussions of children’s education. References to past loss generated three primary themes: loss of assets, status, and culture. Children’s schooling was seen as providing opportunity for material gain and upward mobility, while children’s education in the home was seen as fostering cultural continuity. However, U.S. schooling was also regarded as conflicting with parents’ desire to transmit cultural values. Discussion contextualizes findings in line with Hobfoll’s (1989, 2001) conservation of resources theory and Kagitcibasi’s (2005) model of cultural value orientations and parental rearing goals. Findings suggest that educational aspirations among West African immigrant parents arise at least in part from migration-related loss. Implications include the salience of loss to educational goals among immigrants, and for educators, its relevance to culturally sensitive practices for fostering school-family partnerships.

Author

• Sonia Roubeni, Fordham University