Latine Students Identified Obstacles to Furthering Their Education and Becoming a Teacher.

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 9:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Latine Students Righting the Wrongs in and for Their Schools and Communities (Table 3)

Abstract

Students in a justice centered Grow Your Own program were interviewed to better understand the obstacles, perceptions, and experiences of Latine students as they consider entering the teaching profession. Our coding analysis was done using Perna’s (2006) holistic assessment of college readiness. The findings have led to some important distinctions that address key systemic issues both in understanding career pathways to education and the ability to see themselves as teachers.
Through these findings, this team coded and evaluated key relationships between the experiences students of color are having in the high school system with their ability to be prepared to enter the college environment. Furthermore, we unpack how students perceive the notion of entering the field of education and evaluate relationships between four specific variables: Individual, School & Community, Higher Education, and Economic, Social & Policy.
This panel also examined the barriers currently faced by underrepresented youth in 2024 that highlights the systemic challenges by communities not understanding the pathways to higher education, uncovering unique obstacles faced in high school environments today, and the evaluation needed to assess what it means to support a student in this specific system. This study aims to better understand how we can advocate for more students to enter the teaching profession, how the teaching profession is perceived by those who are part of underrepresented identities, and what can we learn from these experiences. When we understand the barriers in understanding what it means to belong in higher education we can begin to repair the system.

Authors

• Dylan Andrew Dybedahl-West, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Meghan Leclerc, University of Colorado - Denver

• Madhavi Tandon, University of Colorado - Denver