Negotiating Culture and Educational Expectations for Latin American Migrants

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the many renegotiations required surrounding educational pursuits for Latin American migrant populations. Migrants negotiate important cultural values and experience cultural loss, confront several challenges of (im)migration, and may experience racialization via linguistic barriers and institutional expectations. Anthropological inquiry suggests that education, in terms of engagement and outcomes, is culturally defined, and thus, has implications for the social structure in multicultural America, including educational institutions. Drawing on social science scholarship and ethnographic research, this chapter concludes with theoretical and practical implications to consider how educators, parents, and students might partner together more productively, making space for dialogue about what education can and perhaps should provide. Ultimately, this exploration may help to mitigate the many challenges migrants face transitioning their expectations of education to improve the well-being of parents, students, and educators in the process.