Learning About Undocumentedness and (Im)Migration in Mexican Primary Schools

• In Event: Undocumented Youth and Education Across Contexts

Abstract

Objective
Although migration between Mexico and the United States is often assumed to move from South to North, from 2005-2015 this shifted with more Mexicans returning to Mexico than arriving to the US (Gónzalez-Barrera, 2015) and in 2016 it was estimated that at least 500,000 young people with US schooling experiences were enrolled in Mexican schools (Gándara, 2016). Situated within the context of reception of a rural Mexican primary school, this paper examines how an exceptional teacher successfully integrates repatriated and transnational students’ experiences related to undocumentedness and (im)migration into the classroom.

Theoretical framework
To analyze the ways that students and educators engage in classroom learning related to undocumentedness and (im)migration I draw upon a politicized funds of knowledge framework (Gallo & Link, 2015). Gallo and Link (2015) proposed a focus on politicized funds of knowledge, or the experiences, knowledges, and skills that young people deploy and develop across learning contexts that are often positioned as ‘too dangerous’ to incorporate into classroom learning. This framing aims to proactively “bring attention to a range of experiences that are often excluded from schooling and to unpack the challenges and potential of recognizing and incorporating them within students’ classrooms” (Gallo & Link, 2015, p. 362).

Methods & Data Sources
This ethnographic study took place in a semi-rural 5th grade classroom in Central Mexico during the 2016-207 academic year. Participants included a binational student who had recently relocated to Mexico due to US-based immigration policies, her peers from transnational families, and their 5th grade teacher. This school-based ethnographic study involved weekly participant observation and video recording of routine activities in Profe Julio’s 5th grade classroom. Observations were triangulated with additional data sources such as interviews (with educators, binational students, and binational caregivers) and artifacts (such as homework assignments and student writing).

Findings & Significance
Through a close examination of classroom interactions, such as a lesson on la bestia train that transports (im)migrants to the Mexico-US border and an educational conversation between the teacher and a binational student about the papeles [papers] needed to travel to the US, I illustrate how the teacher brought students’ experiences related to undocumentedness into school by leveraging openings in the curriculum, developing interpersonal relationships of care, and engaging in a range of pedagogical moves that invited students’ (im)migration experiences.
This study unfolded within a larger context where students and educators on both sides of the Mexico-US border navigated emboldened political discourse that pathologized (im)migrants, particularly those from Mexico. As this divisive rhetoric continues during the Trump administration, educators seek guidance on how to safely address topics related to (im)migration within their classrooms (Rogers et al., 2017). I illustrate the ways that an exceptional 5th grade teacher opened up spaces for his students to develop knowledges about undocumentedness and (im)migration at school as a window into how educators could tailor similar practices to their classrooms. Yet doing so requires careful consideration of differences in local contexts when students’ (im)migration experiences are broached or silenced.

Author

• Sarah Gallo, Rutgers University