(Re)Constructing Home and School: Immigrant Parents,Agency,and the (Un)Desirability of Bridging Multiple Worlds

Abstract

Background/Context

This study examines the tactics that Haitian immigrant parents used to negotiate the boundaries around home and school, presenting the possibility that families play an active and deliberate role in creating distance between the worlds of home and school.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study

The following research questions were explored: (1) Why do Haitian immigrant parents resist bridges between the worlds of home and school? (2) How might this resistance be seen as a show of agency? (3) How do the resistance and agency of Haitian immigrants complicate the in-school/out-of-school dichotomy and push theories that too easily bring in-school and out-of-school worlds together?

Setting

Greater Boston, Massachusetts.

Population/Participants/Subjects

Participants were 54 parents of Haiti-born (1.5 generation) and U.S.-born (second generation) Haitian American adolescents.

Research Design

The study draws from a subset of data collected with Haitian families in a large longitudinal study of newly arrived immigrants from five different countries and from data collected in a supplemental study of second-generation Haitian families. Data sources include structured interviews and field notes.

Data Collection and Analysis

Data were collected by bilingual, bicultural research assistants. Interviews were recorded whenever possible, transcribed, and, if necessary, translated to English. Data were analyzed for this article using classic qualitative thematic analysis techniques.

Findings/Results

The findings suggest that parents actively constructed and reconstructed distinct boundaries for home and school rather than being passive victims of these boundaries. Three metathemes and seven related themes emerged related to the research questions: protecting the home terrain (displayed as a concern with family privacy; parental strictness; and discouraging friendships); equating schools with Americanization (shown through criticisms of U.S. schools/schooling; and parents’ limited contact with school), and negotiating a seat at the table (through parental advocacy; and reciprocal partnership-seeking)

Conclusions/Recommendations

These findings question the pervasive notion in educational literature and practice that close links between home and school should be the goal of both teachers and families.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abdul-Adil

J. K.

, & Farmer

A. D.

Jr. (2006). Inner-city African American parental involvement in elementary schools: Getting beyond urban legends of apathy. School Psychology Quarterly, 21(1), 1–12.

Bailey

(2001). The language of multiple identities among Dominican Americans. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 10, 190–223.

Bernard

H. R.

(2000). Social research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Bhabha

H. K.

(1994). The location of culture. New York: Routledge.

Bhatia

, & Ram

(2001). Rethinking acculturation in relation to diasporic cultures and postcolonial identities. Human Development, 44, 1–18.

Booth

, Crouter

A. C.

, & Landale

(1996). Immigration and the family: Research and policy on US immigrants. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Bright

J. A.

(1996). Partners: An urban black community's perspective on the school and home. New Schools, New Communities, 12(3), 32–37.

Bulcroft

R. A.

, Carmody

D. C.

, & Bulcroft

K. A.

(1996). Patterns of parental independence giving to adolescents: Variations by race, age, and gender of child. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 58, 866–883.

Cairney

T. H.

(2000). Beyond the classroom walls: The rediscovery of the family and community as partners in education. Educational Review, 52, 163–174.

10.

Carter, D. (2008). Achievement as resistance: The development of a critical race achievement ideology among Black achievers. Harvard Educational Review, 78, 466–497.

11.

Charmaz

(2000). Grounded theory: Objectivist and constructivist methods. In Denzin

N. K.

, & Lincoln

Y. S.

(Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research. (2nd ed., pp. 509–535). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

12.

Cook-Cottone

(2004). Constructivism in family literacy practices: Parents as mentors. Reading Improvement, 41(4), 208.

13.

Crozier

(1999). Is it a case of “we know when we're not wanted”? The parents’ perspective on parent-teacher roles and relationships. Educational Research, 41, 315–328.

14.

Crozier

(2001). Excluded parents: The deracialisation of parental involvement. Race, Ethnicity, and Education, 4, 329–341.

15.

Crozier

, & Davies

(2006). Family matters: A discussion of the Bangladeshi and Pakistani extended family and community in supporting the children's education. Sociological Review, 54, 678–695.

16.

Crozier

, & Davies

(2007). Hard to reach parents or hard to reach schools? A discussion of home-school relations, with particular reference to Bangladeshi and Pakistani parents. British Educational Research Journal, 33, 295–313.

17.

de Carvalho

M. E.

(2001). Rethinking family-school relations: A critique of parental involvement in schooling. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

18.

de Certeau

(1984/2002). The practice of everyday life. (S. Rendall, Trans.). Berkeley: University of California Press.

19.

Delgado-Gaitan

(1991). Involving parents in the schools: A process of empowerment. American Journal of Education, 100, 20–46.

20.

Delpit

(1995). The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other people's children. In Other people's children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. (pp. 21–47). New York: New Press.

21.

De Santis

, & Ugarriza

D. N.

(1995). Potential for intergenerational conflict in Cuban and Haitian immigrant families. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 9(6), 354–364.

22.

Desir

(2006). Lòt bò dlò: Across waters—Haitian students search for identity in U.S. schools. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

23.

Doucet

(2002, April). L'éducation: The missing link for Haitian parents. Paper presented at the National Coalition for Haitian Rights conference on Developing a National Haitian-American Agenda: Moving Forward Together, Miami, FL.

24.

Doucet

(2005). Divergent realities: The home and school lives of Haitian immigrant youth. Journal of Youth Ministry, 3(2), 37–65.

25.

Doucet

(2008). How African American parents understand their and teachers’ roles in children's schooling and what this means for preparing preservice teachers. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 29(2), 108–139.

26.

Doucet

(2011). The reproduction of color and class in Haitian bilingual classrooms. In Jackson

R. O.

(Ed.), Geographies of the Haitian diaspora. New York: Routledge.

27.

Doucet

(in preparation). On the edge of hope: Haitian families, education, and the American dream.

28.

Doucet

, & Suárez-Orozco

(2006). Ethnic identity and schooling: The experiences of Haitian immigrant youth. In Romanucci-Ross

, DeVos

, & Tsuda

T. G.

(Eds.), Ethnic identity: Creation, conflict, and accommodation. (4th ed., pp. 163–188). Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.

29.

Doucet

, & Tudge

J. R. H.

(2007). Co-constructing the transition to school: Reframing the “novice” versus “expert” roles of children, parents, and teachers from a cultural perspective. In Pianta

R. C.

, Cox

M. J.

, & Snow

K. L.

(Eds.), School readiness and the transition to kindergarten in the era of accountability. (pp. 307–328). Baltimore: Brookes.

30.

Driscoll

A. K.

, Russell

S. T.

, & Crockett

L. J.

(2008). Parenting styles and youth well-being across immigrant generations. Journal of Family Issues, 29, 185–209.

31.

Du Bois

W. E. B.

(1994). The souls of Black folk. New York: Dover. (Original work published 1903)

32.

Epstein

J. L.

(1987). Parent involvement: What research says to administrators. Education and Urban Society, 19, 119–136.

33.

Epstein

J. L.

(2001). School, family, and community partnerships: Preparing educators and improving schools. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

34.

Fan

(2001). Parental involvement and students’ academic achievement: A growth modeling analysis. Journal of Experimental Education, 70, 27–61.

35.

Fan

, & Chen

(2001). Parental involvement and students’ academic achievement: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 12, 1–22.

36.

Fine

(1993). [Ap]parent involvement: Reflections on parents, power, and urban public schools. Teachers College Record, 94, 682–709.

37.

Giles

H. C.

(1990). Counseling Haitian students and their families: Issues and interventions. Journal of Counseling and Development, 68, 317–320.

38.

Glaser

B. G.

, & Strauss

A. L.

(1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. New York: Aldine.

39.

Graue

M. E.

(1993). Social networks and home-school relations. Educational Policy, 7, 466–490.

40.

Graue

M. E.

, Kroeger

, & Prager

(2001). A Bakhtinian analysis of particular home-school relations. American Educational Research Journal, 38, 467–498.

41.

Gutiérrez

K. D.

(2008). Developing a sociocritical literacy in the Third Space. Reading Research Quarterly, 43, 148–164.

42.

Gutiérrez

K. D.

, & Orellana

M. F.

(2006). The “problem” of English learners: Constructing genres of difference. Research in the Teaching of English, 40, 502–507.

43.

Hall

H. R.

(2008). Student-parent-teacher partnerships: Creating safe classrooms and communities. Democracy and Education, 18, 46–49.

44.

Hanhan

S. F.

(2003). Parent-teacher communication: Who's talking? In Olsen

, & Fuller

M. L.

(Eds.), Home-school relations: Working successfully with parents and families. (2nd ed., pp. 111–133). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

45.

Henderson

A. T.

, & Berla

(Eds.). (1994). A new generation of evidence: The family is critical to student achievement. Washington, DC: National Committee for Citizens in Education.

46.

Hull

, & Schultz

(2001). Literacy and learning out of school: A review of theory and research. Review of Educational Research, 71, 575–611.

47.

Hull

, & Schultz

(2002). Connecting schools with out-of-school worlds: Insights from recent research on literacy in non-school settings. In Hull

, & Schultz

(Eds.), School's out! Bridging out-of-school literacies with classroom practice. (pp. 32–57). New York: Teachers College Press.

48.

Jeynes

W. H.

(2003). A meta-analysis: The effects of parental involvement on minority children's academic achievement. Education and Urban Society, 35, 202–218.

49.

Lareau

, & Horvat

E. M.

(1999). Moments of social inclusion and exclusion: Race, class, and cultural capital in family-school relationships. Sociology of Education, 72, 37–53.

50.

Lawrence-Lightfoot

(2003). The essential conversation: What parents and teachers can learn from each other. New York: Random House.

51.

Lawson

M. A.

(2003). School-family relations in context: Parent and teacher perceptions of parent involvement. Urban Education, 38, 77–133.

52.

(2003). Literacy, culture, and politics of schooling: Counternarratives of a Chinese Canadian family. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 34, 182–204.

53.

Lightfoot

(2004). “Some parents just don't care”: Decoding the meanings of parental involvement in urban schools. Urban Education, 39, 91–107.

54.

Lincoln

Y. S.

, & Guba

E. G.

(1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

55.

Mapp

K. L.

(2003). Having their say: Parents describe why and how they are engaged in their children's learning. School Community Journal, 13, 35–64.

56.

Mattingly

D. J.

, Prislin

, McKenzie

T. L.

, Rodriguez

J. L.

, & Kayzar

(2002). Evaluating evaluations: The case of parent involvement programs. Review of Educational Research, 72, 549–576.

57.

Miles

M. B.

, & Huberman

A. M.

(1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. (2nd ed.), Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

58.

Nasir

N. i. S.

, & Saxe

G. B.

(2003). Ethnic and academic identities: A cultural practice perspective on emerging tensions and their management in the lives of minority students. Educational Researcher, 32(5), 14–18.

59.

Olsen

(1997). Made in America: Immigrant students in our public schools. New York: New Press.

60.

Orellana

M. F.

, & Gutiérrez

K. D.

(2006). What's the problem? Constructing different genres for the study of English learners. Research in the Teaching of English, 41, 118–123.

61.

Orellana

M. F.

, Thorne

, Chee

, & Lam

W. S. E.

(2001). Transnational childhoods: The participation of children in processes of family migration. Social Problems, 48, 572–591.

62.

Pérez Carreón

, Drake

, & Calabrese Barton

(2005). The importance of presence: Immigrant parents’ school engagement experiences. American Educational Research Journal, 42, 465–498.

63.

Phelan

, Davidson

A. L.

, & Yu

H. C.

(1993). Students’ multiple worlds: Navigating the borders of family, peer, and culture. In Phelan

, & Davidson

A. L.

(Eds.), Renegotiating cultural diversity in American schools. (pp. 52–88). New York: Teachers College Press.

64.

Phelan

, Yu

H. C.

, & Davidson

A. L.

(1994). Navigating the psychosocial pressures of adolescence: The voices and experiences of high school youth. American Educational Research Journal, 31, 415–447.

65.

Pierce

W. J.

, & Elisme

(1997). Understanding and working with Haitian immigrant families. Journal of Family Social Work, 2, 49–65.

66.

Portes

, & Rumbaut

R. G.

(2001). Legacies: The story of the immigrant second generation. Berkeley: University of California Press.

67.

Pransky

, & Bailey

(2003). To meet your students where they are, first you have to find them: Working with culturally and linguistically diverse at-risk students. Reading Teacher, 56, 370–383.

68.

Reese

, Balzano

, Gallimore

, & Goldenberg

(1995). The concept of educación: Latino family values and American schooling. International Journal of Educational Research, 23, 57–81.

69.

Russell

(1991). Parental role conceptions associated with preschool involvement. Australian Journal of Education, 35, 273–291.

70.

Ryan

G. W.

, & Bernard

H. R.

(2003). Techniques to identify themes. Field Methods, 15, 85–109.

71.

Sabry

N. S.

, & Bruna

K. R.

(2007). Learning from the experience of Muslim students in American schools: Towards a proactive model of school-community cooperation. Multicultural Perspectives, 9(3), 44–50.

72.

Smith

M. J.

(2009). Right directions, wrong maps: Understanding the involvement of low-SES African American parents to enlist them as partners in college choice. Education and Urban Society, 41, 171–197.

73.

Stanton-Salazar

R. D.

(2001). Manufacturing hope and despair: The school and kin support networks of U.S.-Mexican youth. New York: Teachers College Press.

74.

Stepick

, Stepick

C. D.

, Eugene

, Teed

, & Labissiere

(2001). Shifting identities and intergenerational conflict: Growing up Haitian in Miami. In Rumbaut

R. G.

, & Portes

(Eds.), Ethnicities: Children of immigrants in America. (pp. 229–266). Berkeley: University of California Press.

75.

Sturm

(1991). Creating parent-teacher dialogue: Intercultural communication in child care. Young Children, 52(5), 34–38.

76.

Suárez-Orozco

, & Suárez-Orozco

M. M.

(2001). Children of immigration. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

77.

Suárez-Orozco

, Suárez-Orozco

M. M.

, & Todorova

(2008). Learning a new land: Immigrant students in American society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

78.

Tobin

, Arzubiaga

, & Mantovani

(2007). Entering into dialogue with immigrant parents. Early Childhood Matters, 108, 34–38.

79.

Trueba

E. T.

(1998). The education of Mexican immigrant children. In Suárez-Orozco

M. M.

(Ed.), Crossings: Mexican immigration in interdisciplinary perspectives. (pp. 253–275). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

80.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2006–2008). American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample 2006-2008. Retrieved from http://factfinder.census.gov/home/en/acs_pums_2008_3yr.html

81.

Valdès

(1996). Con respeto: Bridging the distance between culturally diverse families and schools: An ethnographic portrait. New York: Teachers College Press.

82.

Valdès

(1998). The world outside and inside schools: Language and immigrant children. Educational Researcher, 27(6), 4–18.

83.

van Manen

(1984). Practicing phenomenological writing. Phenomenology+Pedagogy, 2(1), 36–69.

84.

Varela

R. E.

, Vernberg

E. M.

, Sanchez-Sosa

J. J.

, Riveros

, Mitchell

, & Mashunkashey

(2004). Parenting style of Mexican, Mexican American, and Caucasian-non-Hispanic families: Social context and cultural influences. Journal of Family Psychology, 18, 651–657.

85.

Warren

M. R.

, Hong

, Rubin

C. L.

, & Uy

P. S.

(2009). Beyond the bake sale: A community-based relational approach to parent engagement in schools. Teachers College Record, 111, 2209–2254.

86.

Weiss

H. B.

, Coffman

, Post

, Bouffard

, & Little

(2005). Complementary learning. The Evaluation Exchange, 11(1), 2–6, 17.

87.

White

K. R.

, Taylor

M. J.

, & Moss

V. D.

(1992). Does research support claims about the benefits of involving parents in early intervention programs? Review of Educational Research, 62, 91–125.

88.

Wingfield

, & Parenton

V. J.

(1965). Class structure and class conflict in Haitian society. Social Forces, 43, 338–347.

89.

Yamauchi

L. A.

, & Tharp

R. G.

(1995). Culturally compatible conversations in Native American classrooms. Linguistics and Education, 7, 349–367.

90.

Zéphir

(2001). Trends in ethnic identification among second-generation Haitian immigrants in New York City. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey.

91.

Zéphir

(2004). The Haitian Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.