Twenty-ninth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

The paper discusses the findings of a research project carried out in public primary schools of Tamaulipas, Mexico whose aim was to better understand the learning experiences of migrant children throughout the state. Utilizing a mixed methods approach, the first stage of the project analyzes data from nationwide and statewide public education databases to identify the schools with larger numbers of migrant children. In a second stage, ethnographic data were collected from a sample of twelve schools in the border region of the state. Central findings indicate that: a) the student population in Tamaulipas’ border region primary schools is more diverse than previously thought and includes a broad range of educational, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds, b) this diversity remains largely invisible due to several circumstances that range from an increase in teachers’ administrative duties for accountability purposes to a curriculum that promotes monolingual and monocultural classroom ecologies, and c)migrant children show on the one hand an impressive capacity to adapt to the educational context, and on the other hand, feel an unfulfilled desire to either return to their communities of origin or to share the unique cultural and linguistic capital they hold due to their migratory experiences. Conclusions review the value that intercultural learning approaches may have in the construction of classroom ecologies that help all children feel equally valued and more integrated to the receiving communities.