Transnational Experiences and School Adaptation for Children of Returnees in Mexico: impact of migration in school aged children

Guest Lecture im Rahmen des Projekts Transformative Horizons

The presentation will be given in English. The subsequent discussion will be held in English and Spanish. The lecture is open to the interested audience.

In this presentation, we will discuss the impact that migration has on school aged children. We will specifically focus on ways in which migrant families’ return to Mexico is transforming the lives of their U.S. born children. For some transnational children, the process of leaving their country of birth and relocating to an unfamiliar society causes tremendous stress. Others respond quite positively and become well adapted. A series of 32 semi-structured interviews were conducted with four kindergarteners over a period of three months. Children’s human and social capital, adaptation strategies, as well as bilingual development will be discussed. We will argue that economic and immigration policies are intertwined and will maintain that being more informed about children’s transnational experiences can help teachers in implementing pedagogical practices that recognize their funds of knowledge. Learning from the varied experiences of U.S. born children living in Mexico can better inform educational researchers on what support systems can work for these children and what schools need to do to ensure that they can obtain quality education for successful lives.