Dreams Not Dreamed: An Intimate Narrative of Latina Mothers' Influence on Their Children's Educational Experiences

• In Event: Pursuing Our Mothers' Dreams: Experiencing Disillusionment and Empowerment on the Journey to Academia

Abstract

My mother did not hold educational dreams for me. Uninformed of the systems of oppression put in place to advance a few (Bowles and Gintis, 1976/2011), her views of our lived reality was uncritical. A caring and loving woman, who did not complete an elementary education, foresaw no gains in long-term credentialed education for her seven children. Growing up in Mexico, I was a very dedicated student with dreams of getting the credentials to legitimize my knowledge. At that point, it never occurred to me education could have a bigger purpose other than to just ‘legitimize knowledge. Yet, I knew attending school was important if I wanted to gain a way out of poverty. Once I began secondary education, my mother convinced me that studying was a waste of time as financial needs took priority in the family. As a young woman with strong caring connections with my family, I was persuaded to believe education was only for those who had the time to invest in it. With no economical means and lack of a supportive system, I was tracked into the workforce with no hopes of access to higher education.
The painful experience of suspending a formal education has stimulated my critical consciousness (Freire, 1970/1993) in a deep manner. The rich lived experiences with a poor and loving family uninformed of the importance of education as a ‘liberating praxis’ (Freire & Freire, 1994) influenced my –almost stubborn–alertness of the need for parental involvement and adult critical literacy as crucial components of education. Many years after my mother’s influential advice, I am on my way to attain a Ph.D. degree in language, literacy, and sociocultural studies. My personal story has profoundly influenced the focus of my research: critical pedagogy in English Language Teaching for Latina mothers in the US southwest and the correlation with their children’s educational attainment.
This paper explores the possibilities of critical pedagogy in English language teaching for Latina mothers and the impacts in their children’s education. Having taught English as a Second Language (ESL) for over nine years in community settings, I am aware of the issues Latina immigrants face to acquire the language of power and access in their new environs. In addition, I have observed ESL teaching programs that perpetuate Latina’s track to low-skills based work preparation in the USA (Auerbach & Burgess, 1985; Buttaro, 2007; Muro, 2012), which, I argue, has adverse repercussions such as low involvement in their children’s education. The significance of my examination is twofold. First, it intends to bring to light a gap in the literature concerning the correlation between immigrant mothers’ access to ESL with a transformative agentive purpose, and the influential repercussions in their children’s educational attainment. Secondly, it intends to stimulate discussions among practitioners in the ESL field of critical pedagogy approaches to teaching as a possibility for transformation in community settings.

Author

• Magda Dathe, The University of New Mexico