Buscando Adonde No Hay: Immigrant-Origin Families Narratives of Navigating Public Systems

• In Event: From Remedy to Reality: The Intersections of Immigration and Education Over 40 Years After Plyler

Abstract

Objectives & Framework: This paper explores the intersections of xenophobia and racism in the context of education and immigration (Author & Author, 2021). Public schools operate as societal microcosms and nuclei of the community yet systematically fail to offer adequate services and support for immigrant-origin families (Turner, 2015). For the last several decades researchers have argued that the main function of education is the reproduction of societies structures of power. It is only by transforming the principles that hold systems in place that everyday people can reclaim spaces where democratic values can authentically exist (Bowles & Gintis, 1976; Lipman, 2011, Anyon, 1997). Moreover, minimal scholarship acknowledges the role of schools as part of a nexus of institutions that are inherently xenophobic and racist. This research paper addresses the (infra)structural disconnects, meaning what is embedded into the foundation of structural issues, regarding responsiveness and responsibility in the school context localized in a large urban city in the east coast of the US.
As co-conspirators, it is imperative that we actively oppose systems that stifle and subjugate while simultaneously working towards implementing transformative policies (Author et al., 2017). The central theme of our data analysis is “The System.” We chose to examine the data using this framework due to the unique ways immigrant families and schools converge in the United States. The intersection of xenophobia and racism is widely present in the experiences of these families of immigrant origin (Braden, 2020). This data collection analysis highlights the long-standing hurdles families face within and outside the school system, particularly how the education system continues to marginalize families through curriculum, lack of access to educational assistance, and cultural isolation.

Methods & Results: This paper utilizes data gathered over a three-year collaboration with one public school in partnership with a university-led research project. The data includes focus group interviews with students, educators, and students’ families. Additionally, the data contains school-wide educator surveys administered during the second year of the partner school collaboration. We approach “The System” by using two subcodes that include “responsibility,” which is defined as how the responsible persons and groups are identified in the education system related to immigration, and “responsiveness,” which refers to the system’s ability to respond to the persons involved in immigration and education effectively. Using these subcodes points us to areas requiring repair and remedy. Utilizing this approach, families and educators point to the failed public systems that hinder their families’ socioeconomic and educational progress in the United States.

Significance: This collaborative partnership over time between the school and the researchers created the space of sustained work that allowed us to build relationships of trust and be able to center the voices of families and educators. Research such as this alludes to the importance of looking at the locality of immigrant issues and its ties to the education system and other public institutions such as health and housing. The results of this research paper highlight the necessary remedy and repair from a local to (infra)structural approach.

Authors

• Rosa Angela Calosso, Graduate Center - CUNY

• Cecilia M. Espinosa, Lehman College - CUNY