Aspiration, Attainment, and Assimilation : A Critical Ethnography of Newcomer Youth in an American High School
出版項
2018
說明
1 online resource (249 pages)
文字
text
無媒介
computer
成冊
online resource
附註
Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 80-02, Section: A
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis
Advisor: Collins, James
Thesis (Ph.D.)--State University of New York at Albany, 2018
Includes bibliographical references
As immigrants and refugees constitute an increasingly large proportion of public school students across the United States, much scholarly attention has focused on the variables which promote and hamper academic success of these students. Specifically, the high aspirations and optimistic attitudes towards schooling and the effects of assimilation pressures have been identified as two important features contributing to the academic performance of newcomers. This dissertation investigates these factors through an ethnographic study of newcomer immigrant and refugee students, identified as English Language Learners, in a public school in Upstate New York. Through the lens of Social Reproduction which view schools as institutions which preserve class hierarchy, this study explored the ways in which social class informed aspirations and academic performance among new arrivals. While class background remained a crucial piece of student performance, the impact of cultural assimilation was evident among participants who struggled to find their place in American society. This study endeavored to situate the attitudes and experiences of participants in the sociopolitical and economic context characterized by an hourglass-shaped job market, high-stakes exams, and rising levels of nativism. Chapter One explores the theoretical framework of Social Reproduction and its relevance to immigrant and refugee populations. Specifically, this study calls for the importance of race and language to be added to the study of class reproduction. Chapter Two provides a brief introduction to the fieldsite and elaborates on the methodologies used in this research study. Chapter Three discusses the attitudes and aspirations held by participants towards schooling and explores the significance of social class in informing these positions. Experiences of cultural assimilation and attitudes towards integration are discussed in Chapter Four with a focus on the intersections of race and class. Chapter Five sheds light on the challenges of high-stakes exams from the point of view of students and teachers and highlights the strategies which both groups take in mitigating the power of these tests. Chapter Six describes the transitions of students to college as well as interview data elicited from newcomers already in college. The final Chapter provides concluding remarks regarding the findings and limitations of the study with suggestions for future research
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Mich. : ProQuest, 2019
