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U.S.-Mexican Youth & the Politics of Caring Angela Valenzuela Ingrida Barker Sonja Cantrell Melissa Farrish Lee Ann Porter Sherri Stepp Jill Wood CI 706 Dr. Lassiter

Biography • Director of Texas Center for Education Policy • Professor, Visiting Scholar, and recipient of awards • Research and teaching interests in education • Author

Themes 

Caring

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Subtractive Schooling

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Social Capital

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Caring Nel Noddings’s concept of caring in education permeates Valenzuela’s work. The following ideas promoted by Noddings are applied by Valenzuela to Seguin students: • Focus on teacher and student orientations towards each other • A teacher’s attitudinal predisposition is essential to caring • Privileging expressive over technical discourse: Expressive discourse as “a broad and loosely defined ethic of caring that molds itself in situations and has proper regard for human affection, weakness, and anxieties” (Noddings, 1984, p. 25). • Teachers’ ultimate goal of apprehending their students’ subjective reality is best achieved through involvement into the “students’ welfare and emotional displacement” (Valenzuela, p. 61)

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Caring • Teacher expectation for students caring about school in the absence of a relationship is juxtaposed to the student view of caring as the basis for all learning. • Students face a double standard that asks them to make sense of schooling when schooling does not want to make sense of them. • Material, physical, psychological, and spiritual needs of students should guide the educational process thus calling for the need to avoid giving the same kind of education to everybody. • Priorities in education should lie in dedication to full human growth, not just focus on student achievement.

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Subtractive Schooling Valenzuela (1999) makes connections throughout the text that illustrate how schooling subtracts resources from Mexican-American youth, but in her closing comments she mentions this is applicable for all minorities.

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How is school subtractive to youth? (Valenzuela, 1999, p.20) 1. Dismisses their definition of education Educación—cultural term that encompasses both educational and familial relationships and the way to be in society; huge focus on respect, caring, responsibility, manners, and social skills When teachers reject this by refusing to have authentic reciprocal relationships, they are essentially rejecting Mexican culture

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Subtractive Schooling 2. Assimilative nature of school policies and practices • Attempts to remove or erase their Mexican culture and language – Curriculum is not sensitive or relevant to Mexican Americans and their heritage

• Non-neutral process—divorcing them from their communities – Youth resist schooling in an effort to stay loyal to their people

• Creates cultural divisions between youth through scheduling

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– College Track, Regular Track (ESL & Non-ESL) – Relationships don’t form between various groups which could improve achievement

• Essentially, this results in the “…erosion of students’ social capital…” (p.20)

Social Capital • Based on Social Exchange Theory

• Social capital comes into being whenever social interaction makes use of resources residing within the web of social relationships. • Social capital is defined by its function in group or network structures. • Enables attainment of goals that cannot be attained individually.

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Social Capital Valenzuela looks at academic achievement as a collective process. • This collective process is “one that issues from non-rationalistic, emotional commitments among individuals who are embedded in support networks.” •

“Academic competence is human capital that becomes social capital in the context of the group.”

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The immigrant students have the highest level of social capital. These friendship groups consist of two or more students who share.

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School-related information, material resources, school-based knowledge

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Though less obvious, U.S.-born groups also experienced social capital

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Strongest level of social alienation was in mixed-generation groups

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Yet … “social capital is clearly no match against an invisible system of tracking that excludes the vast majority of youth”

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Relationships - Ellis Assimilation –  “De-Indianization is a manifestation of the subtractive assimilation processes that operate at a transactional level wherever indigenous communities are viewed with contempt”  “Contrasts in language, clothing, demeanor, & other cultural markers” (Valenzuela, 1999. p. 89).

Social Capital –  Their social networks have value. Students continue to speak their native language.

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Relationships - Spatig Subtractive Curriculum –  Guidance Counselors mishandle schedule; taking unnecessary coursework  Weakened academic coursework

Caring –  Similar to Rick MacDowell & Shelley Gaines, Mr. Sosa worked to develop strong bonds with students.

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As an illustration of “caring”, enjoy your Mexican dishes!

Discussion 1.Does Valenzuela’s Latina ethnicity allow her a certain level of social capital within the groups, particularly the immigrant groups? 2.Is Valenzuela’s research biased because of her ethnicity? Back to school

Discussion 3. Valenzuela believes schools subtract resources from youth in two ways – i. By dismissing their definition of education and ii. Through assimilationist policies and practices that minimize their culture and language Do you agree? If so, is this negative? Back to school

Discussion 4. As we just finished the Girl Box in the last class, in regard to gender roles, did you notice any similarities in the Subtractive Schooling book? Any similarities to Invitation and/or Rainy Mountain? 5. If a teacher earned the respect of the students (ie. cared), what essential characteristics did these teachers have? Why do you think the other teachers Back to did not have these characteristics/care? school

Discussion 6. In her book, Valenzuela reinforced the importance of caring and dwell on a couple of examples of caring teachers. In terms of teacher preparation and professional supports, what role should the teacher prep programs and professional development at schools play in supporting, challenging, and developing skills and background for caring teacher development? Is it the responsibility of teacher colleges and schools? Or is it something that every teacher should aspire to become as an individual, on his or her own? Back to school

Discussion 7. Have their been any significant changes at Seguin as a result of Valenzuela's three-year ethnographic investigation of academic achievement and schooling orientation? How has this book opened your eyes to similar problems at your school? Back to school

Discussion 8. Valenzuela mentions that the curriculum is not relevant to Mexican-American youth and their system of cultural tracking further divides the immigrants and U.S.-born youth. What, if any, possible solutions could change this situation? Is curriculum and scheduling too rigid to make substantial and meaningful changes?

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