Bridging Barriers with Migrant Youth

A Presentation of

Engaged Scholarship Focused on Educational Equity

Dr. Maria Timmons Flores

TESOL / Bilingual Education – Woodring College

Bridging Barriers with Migrant Youth

Migrant youth face many barriers in their pursuit of a quality education. They come from families who are poor and are often socially marginalized due to language, culture, mobility and immigration status. The Bilingual Pathways Initiative began with the Participatory Action Research question: What are the barriers to access that migrant/bilingual students face, and how can we work together to bridge them? This presentation will begin with the barriers migrant students face, then will highlight the programmatic bridges developed by students and their advocates including Leadership Conferences, Cross Age Tutoring, Cascading Mentorship, and Service Learning.

“Every time we sit at a table to enjoy the fruits and grain and vegetables from our good earth, remember that they come from the work of men and women and children who have been exploited for generations.”

~ César Chávez, Co-Founder, United Farm Workers

Participatory Action Research

Barriers to Educational Access

WWU

MYLC

Building Bridges with Migrant Youth

HS Class

Latinos in Action

MS Afterschool Program

Migrant Leadership

What are the barriers to access that migrant/bilingual students face, and how can we work together to bridge them?

Who are the migrant workers?

Global phenomena

US Migrant Farmworkers come from many cultural backgrounds: Hmong, Japanese, and Russian Immigrants, Native American, and US born from European Descendants.

The Students in this Partnership:

Largely Latino, many from indigenous communities in Latin America

Mix of Newcomers, Long Term Residents, and US Citizens

Immigration status may vary even within one family

Vast majority are either Bilingual or Trilingual

US Federal Migrant Education Program

To Qualify for Migrant Status:

A student whose family moves for the purposes of work in agriculture or fishing, at least once in a 3 year period.

Benefits:

Medical & Dental

National Database for School Records

Family Liaison and / or Graduations Specialists

Migrant Youth Leadership Program

College Access for Migrant Program

Barriers to Educational Access & Equity

The Achievement Gap

The Opportunity Gap

Ireland, L. (2009). Graduation and Dropout Statistics for Washington in 2007-08. Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Olympia, WA

Invisibility

According to the Migrant Education Program (MEP), this district has 104 students identified as migrant and likely has a much larger population if the district collaborated with MEP to identify them.

“Among the children of immigrants, one of the populations placed at greatest risk of not finishing high school are the children of migrant farmworkers. Although it is difficult to track graduation rates for migrant students because of their mobility, the U.S. Department of Education estimates that only half of all the migrant children finish high school.”

Gibson, Margaret A., & Hidalgo, Nicole D. (2009). Bridges to success in high school for migrant youth. Columbia University :Teachers College Record, 111, 683-711.

Barriers to Educational Access & Equity

Barriers: The Opportunity Gap

Poverty

Mobility

Cultural Differences

Language Viewed as Problem to overcome

Institutional Knowledge

Immigration Status - FEAR

Invisibility – Safety to Tell Their Story

Lack of Understanding: Schools & Families

If you really knew me….

Made by the Migrant Leaders

from La Venture & Mt. Baker Middle Schools

With their teacher and advocates

To help their teachers understand why sometimes their homework was not done or they seemed distracted in

class…..

Contribution to Family

In these harsh economic times, I have more students dropping out much earlier to work. They are leaving school at 12 and 13 to work full time because their families can not survive without their labor.

MS Migrant Graduation Specialist

Children play a central role in the family, working both in and outside the home.

Family First

You have to understand that family comes first in my community. We have a long tradition of working the earth and a pride in the knowledge we have passed on from each generation. In my culture, you also respect your parents and your family comes before anything. It is not that my parents don’t value education. They do and they want me to be successful, but family will always come first.

~ A WWU Mixteco Student

Giving Back

Why do you continue to work so hard to succeed in school despite the challenges?

So I can help my family.

So I can give back to my community.

I am one of the privileged ones, I need to pass that on.

My mom worked so hard for me, she gave up her home, her country, her friends, so I could have a better life here.

Bridges: The Design Principles

Understand the Challenges Students Face

Affirm Language and Culture as Assets

Support Academic Language Development

Recognize Resources within Communities

Cultivate Opportunities for Success

Build Positive Relationships

Provide Support to Navigate Institutions

Keep Hope Alive through Action

Build Partnerships with Parents

WWU Initiatives Migrant Youth Leadership Conference

TESL 497 Building Bridges with Migrant Youth

Service Learning in Migrant Communities

Youth Community Action Projects

AmeriCorps Retention Project Specialist

WWU Migrant Youth Leadership Conferences

Who: 100 students, 25 teachers & community advocates, 60 WWU students, 20 WWU Faculty

When: November & March

What:

Experiential Leadership Curriculum

Workshops Designed to Bridge Barriers

Faculty Information Fair

Affirm Language & Culture as Assets

TESL 497: Bridging Barriers with Migrant Youth

Research & practice related to supporting students from migrant backgrounds

Planning and teaching the MYLC

Service learning in our partner programs

Cultivating mentoring / advocacy skills

Developing Critical Inquiry

Cascading Mentorship

Youth Community Action Project

MS Migrant Leadership Project

GOAL: Educating Teachers & Community About the Experiences of Immigrant Youth

Papers: Public Showings & DREAM Act Talk

If You Really Knew Me: What I would tell teachers if I felt safe.

Theatre of the Oppressed: Naming & Addressing Challenges / Biases

Anthology of Stories of Immigration: Turning Pain into Power

MYL Benefits

Safe Space for Sharing & Asking Questions

Academic Language & Literacy Development Embedded in Engaging Learning

Agency: Identify challenges and means of addressing them.

Turning Pain into Power

Sustaining Relationships with Teachers / Mentors

Positive Cultural and Academic Identities

School Retention & Success

Youth Community Action Project

Latinos in Action Academic HS Course

Introduction to Theory, Practice, Professionalism and Equity in Education

Places Bilingual HS Students in Elementary Classrooms as Teaching Assistants

Provides Leadership Opportunities in Community

College Course Alignment & Credit

Opportunity to Lead

Benefits to Students

PESB: Recruiting Washington Teachers Evaluation

Academic language and literacy development embedded in meaningful and challenging work.

Provides a community of support with peers.

Both course readings and experiences affirm language and culture as assets, personally and professionally.

Being a role model for younger students motivates LIA students to do well academically.

Teaching younger students provides authentic responsibility and professional development.

Benefits (cont.) Service experience provides opportunities for LIA

students to interact with professionals in both schools and in the community.

The students’ accomplishments have inspired a shift in teachers’/community’s perspectives of Latino students’ as leaders.

The course provides first generation high school graduates / college students exposure to higher education options and support to gain access to college.

The LIA course has created new school identities that support students to succeed without giving up their culture, language, family or community.

The course offers a school identity that is respected and valued by peers.

From Heroic Effort to the Heart of Education

Understand the Challenges Students Face

Affirm Language and Culture as Assets

Support Academic Language Development

Recognize Resources within Communities

Cultivate Opportunities for Success

Build Positive Relationships

Provide Support to Navigate Institutions

Keep Hope Alive through Action

Build Partnerships with Parents