Waiting to Leave: Education in a Mexican Migrant Town, 1940-2000

• In Event: The Unsettling Impact of Migration on Education

Abstract

This study explores “culture of migration” in the small town of Villa Juarez, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, and the purpose for and the role of education in the context of migration over several generations. Through interviews with former and current teachers, former students, and government officials, this presentation covers current views on the meaning and purpose of education for students now, and in the future. The conceptual frameworks of globalization and the culture of migration theory were employed to analyze this original research, to provide insight into the changes that the town of Villa Juarez has undergone. The interviews suggest that the culture of migration and globalization have generated competition between migration and education in terms of students advancing economically. In communities such as Villa Juarez, the culture of migration has become a way of life, and a tradition of migration has existed over many generations. Education is affected directly in the “culture of migration” as students grow up aspiring to work and live in the United States, an influence which is transmitted over generations and across social networks. Thus, even while the nation promotes education and national and civic values through its system, Mexican education is undermined in this rural, agrarian setting where the benefits of migrating seem to supersede those of staying in school and achieving an education for a career in the country. The study captures stakeholder profiles and findings that relate to the culture of migration, i.e., the goals of education and changes caused by the culture of migration, and how these changes affected education in Villa Juarez.

Author

• Magda Banda, Morton College