Illuminating the Immigrant Bargain: Multilingual Asian Families Leading and Cultivating Agency and Voice

• In Event: Dismantling Barriers and Centering Multilingual Families Through Humanizing, Critical Partnerships

Abstract

Objectives or purposes

This paper presents the potential of multilingual Asian immigrant and Asian American families as leaders and liaisons within family-school partnerships to illuminate how they can draw on agentic behaviors. They have the power to lead efforts to shrink equity gaps in multilingual family-school partnerships while co-constructing what it means to partner with schools based on holistic reciprocity. Research on multilingual immigrant families consistently frames the immigrant bargain (Smith, 2006) in terms of the sacrifices families are willing to endure in hopes of providing their children with schooling opportunities and the accompanying success. Family sacrifices include letting go of heritage culture and language in exchange for learning about American culture and the English language.



Theoretical framework

Guided by the conceptual frameworks of Amartya Sen’s (1999) capability approach and the utility of racial socialization (Hughes et al., 2006), this study examines how multilingual immigrant families develop their capabilities and agency as they negotiate the American school community.



Methods

Purposive and convenience sampling were used to recruit multilingual Asian immigrants and Asian American individuals for the study (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). For a period of four months, participants were invited to the study via social media, Asian and Asian-American forums, and other online groups. Anyone over 18 who identified as Asian or Asian-American who was living, working, or studying in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic was invited to participate. Both deductive and inductive coding methods were used, including a priori and In Vivo coding strategies (Saldaña, 2021).



Data sources

The data for this paper is drawn from a qualitative interview study focused on the racial discrimination experiences of 21 Asian immigrant and Asian American families.



Results

Multilingual Asian immigrant and Asian American families are committed to supporting their children in a racially diverse society. Families apply their knowledge, skills, and experience to navigate the education landscape of the new system, access resources, and address their children’s racial discrimination experiences. Families seek to build collaborative partnerships with schools, however, their capabilities are largely determined by the tacit knowledge and understanding of the dominant language and culture. Multilingual Asian immigrant and Asian American families develop their capabilities to disrupt current structural and systemic barriers to family-school partnerships.



Scholarly significance of the study

Implications of this study will inform not only how Asian parents can lead family-school partnerships by supporting their children’s educational development but also how the leadership they exhibit helps prepare their children to thrive in a multicultural society socially and emotionally. Additionally, how multilingual immigrant youth and their families negotiate the immigrant bargain including academic learning and social-emotional well-being are highlighted.

Authors

• Peggy A. Kong, University of Utah

• Stephanie Smith Budhai, University of Delaware

• Xinwei Zhang, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Anu Sachdev, Lehigh University

• Nino Dzotsenidze, Policy and Management Consulting Group

• Xiaoran Yu, Citrus College