Border-crosser’s expertise: 'Testimonios' of exclusion, inclusion, and agency that span national borders

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

This panel is a contribution to the literature about Latinx transnational students. A specific sub-group of transnationals, transfronterizxs are border-crossers who live and study on both sides of the US-Mexico border, crossing national borders on a daily or weekly basis. They navigate back-and-fourth across countries, languages, educational systems, and homes (de la Piedra, et al., 2018). In times of a pervasive rhetoric of building walls, we analyze the experiences of a particular population who developed knowledges, skills, and agency when they engaged in the sociocultural practice of crossing numerous borders every day. There is much to learn from the voices and agency of transfronterizx students in order to foster inclusion and social justice that is transnational in “nuestra America.”
The papers present findings of studies conducted in the US-Mexico border. The first three papers discuss results of one study seeking to understand transfronterizx’ experiences of crossing the border for educational purposes. Researchers conducted three phenomenological interviews (Seidman, 2013) with each of 10 participants, college students or graduates, to write individual profiles. The testimonios present salient representations of experiences of border-crossings, students’ identities, cross-border relationships, and depictions of their experiences in the educational systems of both nations. Drawing from sociocultural theories of learning, each paper discusses main themes that emerged in the analysis of testimonios offering concrete examples of transfronterizx practices. The fourth paper examines high school transfronterizxs’ experiences with language learning and border crossings in two distinct educational programs. Authors discuss findings bilingually, reflecting the translanguaging practices common among transfronterizxs.

Sub Track

• Education, Citizenship, and Inclusion

Session Organizer

• María Teresa (Mayte) de la Piedra, University of Texas/El Paso

Chair

• María Teresa (Mayte) de la Piedra, University of Texas/El Paso

Individual Presentations

• Experiencing the transfronterizx world: Transfronterizx identities - Laura J Salazar, The University of Texas at El Paso; Claudia Cabrera; Alejandra Sanmiguel-López

• Racism, experiences of exclusion, and community cultural wealth - Laura E Mendoza; Maribel Santoyo

• Transcultural production of schooling among transfronterizxs - María Teresa (Mayte) de la Piedra, University of Texas/El Paso; Christina Convertino

• Crossing borders in high school: The inclusion and exclusion of transfronterizxs’ languages and literacies - Amy Bach; Katherine Mortimer, University of Texas at El Paso; Gabriela Dolsa