Reclaiming the Innocence of Latino Males: A Message to Middle School Teachers From Latino Male Students

• In Event: The Prison-to-School Pipeline: Nondeficit Approaches to Examining the Educational Trajectories of Marginalized Latino Males

Abstract

Recent literature research on Latino students has attempted to understand the performance of male students in an effort to close the gender and achievement gap (Noguera & Hurtado, 2012; Saenz & Ponjuan, 2009). However, the majority of this research focuses on high school, a period after the trajectories of most students have already been shaped and students have been placed into different academic tracks (Harper, 2015; Oakes, 1985). Educational achievement for Latino males is dwarfed due to them more likely to drop out of high school, join the workforce rather than attend college, or leave college before graduating (Solórzano, Villalpando & Oseguera, 2005; Gándara & Contreras, 2009). The lack of research that looks at critical stage of middle school continues to prevent the development of solutions that can truly change the outcomes for male students.

Using counterstorytelling as a methodological tool, this paper aims to counter the narrative that has often been crafted about Chicano/Latino male students that depicts them as deficient, troubled and disrespectful (Carter, 2003; Katz, 1999: Rios, 2011). Understanding that middle school is a critical juncture for students in the educational pipeline, this paper focuses on a composite narrative of three Latino middle school boys and their advice to teachers on how to better engaged Latino students. Counterstorytelling as described by Yosso (2006) is “a method of recounting the experience and perspectives of racially and socially marginalized people” that reflect on the lived experiences of People of Color to raise consciousness about social and racial injustice” (pp.10). As such, counterstorytelling seeks to give a voice to middle school Latino males and allow them to challenge the negative stereotypes that are associated with their community.

Students were cognizant of the role that race placed in their education and how teachers would treat based on race, but rather than being an excuse to rebel, students used this as motivation to succeed and prove teachers wrong. Students created a narrative that placed a high value on their education, as they understood that education was a key for a successful future. While teachers may not give students an equal opportunity, they kept working hard to prove to teachers that they were serious about their schooling. While race was an issue, students also recognized that there were a few good white teachers that others could model themselves after in order to better reach their Latino students.

This paper contributes new understanding of the school experiences of Latino middle school males and counters the deficit framework that has been created about this particular community. The significance of the narrative is that the educational experiences of middle school males are far more complex than previously documented and challenges the notion that oppositional behavior is the only behavioral form for male students of color by demonstrating the value that all Latino students, not just males, place on education and the significance that it can have for their future.

Author

• Eligio Martinez, University of California - San Diego