Thesis advisor: Mariela Páez / In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated persistent educational inequities and added exponentially to the existing “education debt” (Ladson-Billings, 2006). Public schools’ sudden shift to remote learning marginalized a large population of students, including young bilingual children from immigrant backgrounds. These students are among the most vulnerable when it comes to remote learning not only because of accessibility issues, but also because many of these students’ families live in underserved and under-resourced communities that were negatively affected by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and persistent systemic racism (Fortuna et al., 2020; Schmit et al., 2020). Hence, there is an urgent need to understand pandemic-related experiences of immigrant families with young bilingual children and to respond with educational strategies that strive to mitigate the negative effects of this educational crisis. This dissertation study comprised of three papers addresses this need through a collaborative project with 20 immigrant families with 42 young bilingual children and two community organizations from the Metro and Greater Boston Area. Paper 1 used sequential mixed methods to provide an in-depth account of immigrant families' remote learning experiences and investigate structural barriers such as lack of support and oppressive practices that hindered the establishment of home-school connections during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Paper 2 employed transformative mixed methods to document the development, implementation, and evaluation of a family engagement and remote learning program—the Home Connection. This program was firmly grounded in the equitable collaboration framework of family engagement to build a strong partnership with the family participants and to recognize the crucial roles of the families as co-designers, co-educators, co-researchers, and co-evaluators. Paper 3 is a practitioner inquiry reflecting on what I have learned as a teacher-researcher implementing culturally sustaining pedagogy to partner with immigrant families and teach young bilingual children from diverse backgrounds during pandemic remote learning. Findings from this dissertation documenting the struggles, resistance, and solidarity of these immigrant families will help inform educators, administrators, and policymakers in their planning and delivering of learning experiences and family engagement initiatives that center on the motivation, needs, and assets of diverse students and their families. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

This thesis was planned as an -interdisciplinary work, a possible exemplar of 'a peace study' (see Appendix 5). It offers an analysis of the situation of the Asian children of immigrant families, socially and racially disadvantaged in Britain, in the Bradford school system from the mid-1970's to 1980*, and their relative success in terms of external examination assessment in comparison with their peers. This is seen against the backcloth of pioneering Local Authority policies to support their education and observations of practice in schools. The findings are generalised as models of what is perceived by the policy-makers and practitioners to be progress towards racial justice and peace. It is argued that the British school system has shown limited facility to offer equal opportunity of success to pupils in socially disadvantaged groups and that this is borne out in an analysis of the situation of the Asian pupils in the County Upper schools in Bradford (CB), less likely to be allocated to external examination-orientated groups or to gain success in these than their peers. There are indications that their potential may not be being realised. It is argued that while language support for the bilingual child is important, account should also be taken of a more general cultural dominance in the school system and stereotyped low expectations from teachers which may feed racial bias in institutions. The data show that the LEA policies, though benevolent in intention, demonstrate institutional racism in effect. With four case studies from observations in Bradford schools, models are developed for practice that has potential for power-sharing and greater equity of opportunity -for pupils, involving respect for cultural diversity and antiracist education strategies supporting and supported by community participation in schools. It is argued that white educationists need to listen to black clients, pupils and their parents, involving them in dialogue to ascertain their real needs, to implement appropriate policy. As there was a considerable lapse of time between the field work research and writing up of this thesis, and its final presentation, an addendum (with bibliography) reviews some of the research and literature in the fleld since 1980. This situates the field work historically. The issues raised and discussed in the context of the 1970's are still far from being solved. The additional work stregthens, rather than changes my original conclusion that society is locked into a cycle of inequality. A counter-hegemony must emerge from 'grass-roots', community initiatives with a values-base linked not to self-seeking or confrontational power group politics but to a notion of the common good.

Despite the challenges they face in K-12 schools, members of immigrant communities consistently express high educational aspirations, a commitment reflected in the rising numbers of immigrant and first-generation students enrolling in higher education throughout the United States. Though colleges and universities have worked to institute programs that better serve the needs of diversifying student cohorts, members of immigrant families continue to experience challenges once they reach college, including stress and social isolation, restrictions on their future employment, and the looming threat of deportation or family separation. This indicates that personal investment in education and nascent institutional reforms are not enough to mitigate the inequalities that shape educational access for historically excluded communities, raising questions about how immigrant families collectively navigate the challenges and opportunities of higher education. Drawing on 28 months of ethnographic research in the San Fernando Valley, a collection of suburbs north of Los Angeles, CA, this dissertation explores how students from mixed-status immigrant families navigate the transition from high school to postsecondary life. This multi- sited, longitudinal study utilizes in-person and virtual participant observation, semi-structured interviews, archival research, text analysis, and guided photo elicitation. In total, the study includes data collected from students, educators, and caregivers throughout southern California. Over the course of the dissertation, I explore how family dynamics, coupled with socio- political constraints, inform postsecondary trajectories. I further investigate how family dynamics shift in response to new institutional priorities, highlighting the informal advising networks that emerge among older and younger members of the “first-generation” student population. In re-conceptualizing higher education as a familial project, my dissertation makes three primary contributions. First, I show how the pursuit of postsecondary education responds to cultural narratives of sacrifice that provide students with a critical foothold when they face challenges in K-12 and college environments. Second, I unravel how the technocratic activities involved in applying to and matriculating in college require that students from immigrant families engage in strategic acts of disclosure that can exacerbate stress, anxiety, and feelings of non-belonging that persist throughout their time in higher education. Finally, I break apart the traditional notion of the “first-generation” student, showing how older and younger members of this population differentially experience the high-school-to-college transition and seek to pave the way for those that follow them.

No description available.

The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to highlight a problem that is very relevant for young adults of foreign-born parents in Sweden. By conducting in-depth interviews with young adults who have experience of brokering during their childhood, we get a better understanding of how the role impacts immigrant families. In our analysis we use sociopsychological theories to illustrate on how the role of brokering contributes to an inner conflict, conflicts between parent and child, and changes in family dynamics. Conflicts arise from the child trying to define him-/herself from being seen as a child while also having increased responsibilities compared to its peers. These responsibilities increase with time, and as such lead to conflicts between the parent and the child, as the role dissolves traditional power hierarchies in families. The child however is not limited to only brokering for their own parents. They also act as brokers for other family members. Our central analysis is that while children act as brokers, they are progressively assigned more tasks by the parents. With time, these tasks lead to increased power for the child and makes the parents more dependent on the child. We define this process as spiral of power.

As families immigrate to a new country, adolescents often acculturate and learn the host-language more quickly than do their parents. As a result, many adolescents engage in language brokering (i.e., providing translation, interpretation, and communication mediation assistance) for their immigrant parents. This study aimed to disentangle the nature of multiple dimensions of language brokering within a community sample of 152 Chinese immigrant families residing in Western Canada. Specifically, I examined language brokering frequency as well as positive and negative feelings about language brokering as distinct constructs to better understand how they relate to one another and with adjustment. Applying self-determination theory, I also considered the role of autonomy-supportive contexts in moderating links between the various language brokering constructs and adjustment, with the expectation that language brokering would present less risk to adjustment in contexts high in autonomy support. A higher frequency of language brokering for both mothers and fathers predicted more intense feelings. Further, language brokering feelings were more predictive of adjustment than frequency. There was little evidence that brokering feelings moderated relations between language brokering frequency and adjustment. However, there was evidence that the absence of autonomy-supportive contexts was a risk for poorer adjustment, and that environments rich in autonomy support have the potential to mitigate risks associated with language brokering. The results are discussed with respect to unique adolescent experiences language brokering for mothers versus fathers, which further highlight the complex relations between language brokering and adjustment. / Graduate

This thesis was planned as an -interdisciplinary work, a possible exemplar of 'a peace study' (see Appendix 5). It offers an analysis of the situation of the Asian children of immigrant families, socially and racially disadvantaged in Britain, in the Bradford school system from the mid-1970's to 1980*, and their relative success in terms of external examination assessment in comparison with their peers. This is seen against the backcloth of pioneering Local Authority policies to support their education and observations of practice in schools. The findings are generalised as models of what is perceived by the policy-makers and practitioners to be progress towards racial justice and peace. It is argued that the British school system has shown limited facility to offer equal opportunity of success to pupils in socially disadvantaged groups and that this is borne out in an analysis of the situation of the Asian pupils in the County Upper schools in Bradford (CB), less likely to be allocated to external examination-orientated groups or to gain success in these than their peers. There are indications that their potential may not be being realised. It is argued that while language support for the bilingual child is important, account should also be taken of a more general cultural dominance in the school system and stereotyped low expectations from teachers which may feed racial bias in institutions. The data show that the LEA policies, though benevolent in intention, demonstrate institutional racism in effect. With four case studies from observations in Bradford schools, models are developed for practice that has potential for power-sharing and greater equity of opportunity -for pupils, involving respect for cultural diversity and antiracist education strategies supporting and supported by community participation in schools. It is argued that white educationists need to listen to black clients, pupils and their parents, involving them in dialogue to ascertain their real needs, to implement appropriate policy. As there was a considerable lapse of time between the field work research and writing up of this thesis, and its final presentation, an addendum (with bibliography) reviews some of the research and literature in the fleld since 1980. This situates the field work historically. The issues raised and discussed in the context of the 1970's are still far from being solved. The additional work stregthens, rather than changes my original conclusion that society is locked into a cycle of inequality. A counter-hegemony must emerge from 'grass-roots', community initiatives with a values-base linked not to self-seeking or confrontational power group politics but to a notion of the common good.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the understandings and perceptions that West Indian parents and caregivers residing in the U.S. have about U.S. public schools. A second purpose of this study was to examine the consistency between these findings and the cultural-ecological theory advanced by Ogbu (1974) which posits that immigrant minorities to the U.S. hold different perceptions and expectations in relation to U.S. schools. Using interviews with 13 families in the Tampa Bay area, the study examined West Indian parents' and caregivers' understanding of the American public schooling process, expectations for education, role beliefs, and roles they played in their children's schooling. Several themes emerged from the interviews regarding these areas. These themes included: families viewed education in very instrumental ways (a finding that aligned with Ogbu's cultural-ecological theory), families had overwhelmingly positive perceptions of resources and opportunities offered by U.S. public schools, and most families were satisfied with the home-school relationship. A minority of families described negative relationships with schools. In addition, families reported that they believed school-based involvement was important. However, they reported very low levels of school-based involvement, but high levels of home-based involvement. Obstacles to parent involvement included logistical barriers, and lack of familiarity with the U.S. school system. Implications of the findings for school personnel are discussed and suggestions for further research are offered.

The research problem focused on the 11 million Mexican immigrant families in the United States who speak little or no English. Their stated needs for English literacy, socioeconomic and academic success, and the increasing calls for xenophobic legislation throughout the nation indicated a need to investigate alternative pedagogies to compel positive social change through language fluency. In this case study, Mexican immigrant second-language learners and their descendants were asked how they wanted to learn English and if using native culture as a learning tool would help in achieving their literacy goals. Prior researchers had not asked those questions. Three adults from a 3-generation Mexican immigrant family living in Florida gave interviews to address this gap. The participants, 2 of whom were native Spanish speakers, were recruited via a Facebook call for participation, and interviews were conducted by telephone. Cultural theory served as a conceptual framework for understanding the relationship between culture and language, and for interpreting and respecting participants' articulations of their experiences and opinions. Analyses of interviews and language background questionnaires were completed using pattern matching and SPSS, respectively. The key finding was that participants agreed a cultural pedagogy would be helpful in learning English. A recommendation is made to implement an experimental teaching study using cultural pedagogy as its framework. Achieving positive social change begins with removing the barriers of cultural language discrimination and allowing immigrants to reach their stated goals without loss of their cultural heritage.

Syftet med studien är att få en ökad förståelse för hur socialsekreterare upplever bemötande och makt i mötet mellan socialsekreterare och familjer med migrationsbakgrund. Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ studie med semistrukturerade intervjuer som datainsamlingsmetod. Intervjumaterialet bygger på intervjuer med sju socialsekreterare som arbetar på ett socialkontor i en medelstor kommun i Sverige med inriktning på barn- och familjefrågor. Uppsatsen fokus ligger på studiens två centrala teman: Bemötande och Makt. Vi har i vår studie kommit fram till att bemötandet har en stor betydelse för förtroendet och relationen mellan socialtjänsten och familjer med migrationsbakgrund. Att bemöta familjerna med respekt och nyfikenhet ansåg socialsekreterarna som viktigt liksom användandet av en skicklig tolk. Reflektionerna kring makt varierade bland socialsekreterarna. Några upplevde en slags trygghet gällande sin maktposition till följd av de lagar som styr arbetet medan några inte reflekterade över maktförhållandet alls. Vad som även framkom var betydelsen av kulturförtrogenhet, det vill säga att ha kompetens och förståelse för olika kulturer. Det kan även vara en fördel för klientrelationen om socialsekreteraren har en liknande bakgrund som den aktuella familjen. Det empiriska materialet har analyserats utifrån maktperspektivet samt tidigare forskning som berört studiens ämne. Till skillnad från den redan befintliga forskningen bidrar denna studie med socialsekreterares egna perspektiv utifrån en svensk kontext. / The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how, encounter and the use of authority, affect the meetings between social secretaries and families with foreign backgrounds from a social secretary's standpoint. We conducted a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews as our data collection method. The interview material is based on interviews with seven social workers working at a social welfare office in a medium-sized municipality in Sweden focusing on child and family issues. The thesis is based on the study's two central themes: Encounter and Authority. We have found in our study that having a positive attitude has a great impact on building confidence and a meaningful relationship between social services and families with migration backgrounds. By treating families with respect, having an open mind and using a skilled interpreter, social workers felt this gave a positive response. The reflections around authority varied among social workers. Some experienced a sort of reassurance regarding their position of authority as a result of the laws governing their work while some do not reflect on the balance of power at all. What also emerged from the study was the importance of cultural familiarity, that is, to have the skills of understanding of different cultures. It can also be an advantage for client relationship if the social worker has a similar background to that of the family. The empirical data have been analyzed from the perspective of authority and previous research that has dealt with the study topic. Unlike existing research studies this study deals with the experiences of social secretaries and has a Swedish context.