Exploring Latinx Middle School Students' and Their Mothers' Familial and Cultural Strengths

• In Event: Cultivating Inclusive Learning Spaces for Latinx Students: Centering Cultural Strengths in Transforming Educational Contexts

Abstract

Objective
This study explores the experiences of Latina middle school students and their mothers with school administration and how they use their cultural wealth to achieve their academic goals.

Theoretical Framework
While scarce, research has found that family members can cultivate Latinx middle school students’ educational aspirations (Means, 2019). Family members offer rich community cultural knowledge (i.e., valuable knowledge and skills possessed by minoritized communities), facilitating their academic success (Means, 2019; Yosso, 2005). Research using the Community Cultural Wealth framework (CCW) shifts away from a deficit view of communities of color and towards a strengths-based approach. This approach centers on cultural knowledge, skills, abilities, and community possessed by socially marginalized groups that often go unrecognized and unacknowledged (Yosso, 2005). Still, the experiences of family members and the cultural wealth of Latinx middle school students and family members are rarely considered in research (Cuevas, 2020). Thus, the current study seeks to explore the following: 1) the academic experiences of middle school Latina students 2) the experiences of Latina mothers with school administrations 3) the types of CCW amongst Latina mothers and students and how they relate to students’ academic goals.

Data and Methods
Nine middle school students participated in a youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) after-school program focusing on research, college preparation, and community building. Pedagogically, YPAR shifted the narrative to center on minoritized youth and disrupted traditional research and school power dynamics (Bertrand et al., 2017; Cammarota & Fine, 2008). Eight 11-12 year-old Latina students completed an interview focused on their educational experiences and the CCW they possess. Five students’ mothers participated in a 1-2 hour interview to understand the experiences of Latinx parents with educational systems. Four mothers identified as Hispanic or Latinx females, and one mother identified as a white and Latina female. Interviews for students and their mothers were either conducted in Spanish or English. Only one student interview and four parent interviews were conducted in Spanish. Deductive and inductive coding was used to develop a coding manual to analyze the themes emerging from the student and parent interviews (Miles & Huberman, 1994).

Results
Preliminary results suggest that Latinx students and their family members do not always feel that their Latinx or Hispanic culture is represented and appreciated by the school administration. Parents feel most comfortable with school administration who speak Spanish or are members of the afterschool ELAC (i.e., English Learner Advisory Committee) meetings. Additionally, family members and students draw from different forms of CCW, including familial, navigational, social, and resistant capital.

Significance
The current study counters deficit notions of Latinx students, families, and communities using a strength-based approach. Our project aims to illuminate the importance of leveraging the familial and cultural strengths of Latinx students by engaging in participatory research with students and family members to create a platform with school administration on how to create a more inclusive environment for Latinx students and their families.

Authors

• Valeria Jacqueline Alonso Blanco, University of California - Santa Cruz
  Presenting Author

• Saskias Casanova, University of California - Santa Cruz
  Non-Presenting Author