Student Meaning-making About the Purposes of Schooling in the Río Grande Valley of South Texas

• In Event: Divison G VP Grad Student Early Career Poster Session

Abstract

This poster session presents preliminary findings from a critical socio-phenomenological dissertation study about traditional public high school students’ meaning-making about the purposes of public schooling. In a time of widespread concerns about decreased human connection and social interaction, traditional public schools (TPSs) remain one of few places where young people in the U.S. can engage with each other across diverse life experiences for a significant portion of their lives. Yet, traditional public schools have experienced declining popular support; drops in enrollment as enrollments in alternative school choice options rise; loss of public funding due in part to the redirection of public funds to support private voucher programs; and targeted, right-wing political attacks that vilify Black, Brown, immigrant, and/or Queer students.

Author

• Alejandro Madrigal, University of Texas at Austin