An ethnographic approach to school engagement in immigration contexts: the role of sociability dynamics
Abstract
This article reviews some key contributions based on ethnographic and qualitative research on the school engagement experiences and dynamics of children living in contexts of ethno-cultural diversity and social inequality shaped by migration flows. More concretely, it is analysed the impact of school climate and sociability dynamics (both between pupils and adults, and among peers). We argue that the attentive incorporation of the ethnographic perspective in this field is essential and enriches both theoretically and methodologically the traditional psychological approaches from which the concept of school attachment has been approached and measured.
Keywords
School engagement, Dynamics of sociability, Immigration, Cultural Diversity, School ethnographyReferences
Allport, G. W. (1954). The Nature of Prejudice. Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Amit-Talai, V. & Wulff, H. (eds.) (1995). Youth Cultures: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. London: Routledge.
Ballestín, B. (2008). Inmigració i identitats a l’escola primaria. Experiències i dinámiques de vinculació i desvinculació escolar al Maresme. Doctoral Dissertation, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Departament d’Antropologia Social i Cultural.
Ballestín, B. (2011). Los niños de la inmigración en la escuela primaria: identidades y dinámicas de des/vinculación escolar entre el ‘colour-blindness’ y los esencialismos culturalistas. In Poveda, Jociles, & Franzé (eds.). Etnografías de la infancia: discursos, prácticas y campos de acción. Madrid: La Catarata.
Ballestín, B. (2012). “¡Dile al negrito y al cola cao que paren de molestarnos!”. Sociabilidad entre iguales y dinámicas de segregación en la escuela primaria. In F. J. García Castaño, & Olmos (Eds.). Segregaciones y construcción de la diferencia en la escuela. Madrid: Trotta.
Ballestín, B. (2014) What (cultural) difference does it make? Immigrant children´s academic dis/engagement between colour-blind and culturalist ideologies at Primary Schools in Catalonia. In A. Teervoren, A.; N. Engel; M. Göhlich; I. Miethe; & S. Reh (eds.) Ethnographie und Differenz in pädagogischen Feldern. Internationale Entwicklungen erziehungswissenschaftlicher Forschung. Erlängen: University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Publications, pp. 309-328. ISBN 978-3-8376-2245-4.
Ballestín, B. (2015). De “su cultura es muy fuerte” a “no se adapta a la escuela”: alumnado de origen inmigrante, evaluación y efecto Pigmalión en primaria. RASE, Revista de la Asociación de Sociología de la Educación, 8 (3), 361-379. https://ojs.uv.es/index.php/RASE/article/view/8390/7983
Ballestín González, B. (2017) Infants i joves d’origen immigrant a Catalunya. Un estat de la qüestió socioeducativa. Barcelona: Fundació Jaume Bofill. 217 pp. https://fundaciobofill.cat/uploads/docs/i/8/o/x/7/f/q/m/i/estatquestio_documenttreball_30_beaballestin_300317.pdf
Ball, S. J. (1981). Beachside Comprehensive: A case study of schooling. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Berlowitz, M. J. et al. (2006). Oppositional Culture Theory and the Delusion of Colorblindness. Multicultural Learning and Teaching, 1 (2), 35-43. https://doi.org/10.2202/2161-2412.1009
Bonilla-Silva, E. (2006). Racism without racists. Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the United States (2nd ed.). Rowman y Littlefield Publishers, INC.
Brooker, L. (2002). Starting School. Young Children Learning Cultures. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Carbonaro, W. (2005). Tracking, Students’ Effort, and Academic Achievement. Sociology of Education, 78 (1), 27-49. https://doi.org/10.1177/003804070507800102
Carrasco, S. (2020). Aspiraciones y oportunidades desde la equidad educativa local: de la investigación sobre el abandono escolar prematuro a la intervención sobre el terreno. In D. García Goncet; Ch. Chimeno, Ch.; B. Dieste; & A.C Blasco (coords.) Políticas públicas frente a la exclusión educativa. Educación, Inclusión y Territorio, cap. 8, 65-75. Zaragoza: Universidad de Zaragoza.
Carrasco, S.; Pàmies, J.; Ponferrada, M.; Ballestín, B.; & Bertran, M. (2011). Segregación escolar e inmigración en Cataluña: aproximaciones etnográficas, in F. J. García Castaño & S. Carrasco (eds.) Población inmigrante y escuela. Conocimientos y saberes de investigación. Textos reunidos en homenaje a Eduardo Terrén Lalana. Colección Estudios Creade N.º 5. Madrid: Ministerio de Educación.
Carrasco, S., Narciso, L., Bertran, M. (2015). ¿Qué pueden hacer los centros públicos ante el abandono escolar prematuro (ESL)? Las medidas de apoyo al alumnado a través de dos estudios de caso en Cataluña. Profesorado. Revista de currículum y formación del profesorado, 19 (3), 76-92.
Carrasco, S.; Pàmies, J.; Narciso, L. (2018). Abandono Escolar Prematuro y alumnado de origen extranjero en España: ¿un problema invisible? In J. Arango; R. Mahía; D. Moya; & E. Sánchez Montijano, E. (dirs.) Anuario CIDOB de la inmigración 2018. Barcelona: CIDOB, 211-236.
Carrasco, S., Narciso, L., Bertran, M. (2018). Neglected aspirations. Academic trajectories and the risk of ESL among immigrant and minority youth in Spain. In Ch. Timmermann, L. Van Praag, & N. Clycq (eds.) Comparative perspectives on Early School Leaving in the EU. London: Routledge, 164-182.
Carrasco, S., Ruiz-Haro, I., Bereményi, B. Á. (2018). No bridges to reengagement? Exploring compensatory measures for early school leavers in Spain from a qualitative approach. In Ch. Timmermann, L. Van Praag, & N. Clycq, (eds.) Comparative perspectives on Early School Leaving in the EU. London: Routledge,185-198.
Conejo, R. & Redondo, J. (2001). El clima escolar percibido por los alumnos de enseñanza media. Una investigación en algunos liceos Mario Sandoval Manríquez 177 de la Región Metropolitana. Última Década, 15. Valparaíso: Ediciones CIDPA.
Connolly, P. (1998). Racism, Gender Identities and Young Children. London: Routledge.
Connolly, P. (2000). “What now for the Contact Hypothesis? Towards a new research agenda”. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 3 (2), 169-193. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320050074023
Corsaro, W. A. (1997). The Sociology of Childhood. Thousand Oaks (California): Pine Forge Press.
Crozier, G. (2001). Excluded parents: the deracialisation of parental involvement. Race, Ethnicity and Educación, 4 (4), 329-341. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13613320120096643
Dauber, S., Alexander K., & Entwisle, D. (1996). Tracking and Transitions through the Middle Grades: Channeling Educational Trajectories. Sociology of Education, 69 (4), 290-307. https://doi.org/10.2307/2112716
Davidson A. L. (1996). Making and Molding Identity in Schools. Student Narratives on Race, Gender, and Academic Engagement. New York: State University of New York Press.
Downey, D. B., & Ainsworth-Darnell, J. W. (2002). The search for Oppositional Culture among black students. American Sociological Review, 67 (1), 156-164. https://doi.org/10.2307/3088939
Downey, D. B., & Pribesh S. (2004). When race matters: teachers’ evaluations of students’ classroom behavior. Sociology of Education, 77 (4), 267-282. https://doi.org/10.1177/003804070407700401
Farkas, G., Lleras, C., & Maczuga, S. (2002). Does Oppositional Culture exist in minoriy and poverty peer groups? American Sociological Review, 67 (1), 148-155. https://doi.org/10.2307/3088938
Fordham, S., & Ogbu, J. U. (1986). Black students' school success: Coping with the "burden of ‘acting White'". The Urban Review, 18(3), 176-206. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01112192
Franzé, A. (2002). Lo que sabía no valía. Escuela, diversidad e inmigración. Madrid: Consejo Económico y Social de la Comunidad de Madrid.
Fredricks, J., Blumenfeld, P., & Paris, A. (2004). School Engagement: Potential of the Concept, State of the Evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74 (1), 59-109. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543074001059
Freiberg, H. J. (1994). Understanding resilience: Implications for inner-city schools and their near and far communities. In M.C.
Wang & E.W. Gordon (Eds.). Educational resilience in inner-city America: Challenges and prospects. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers.
Fryer, R. G., & Torelli, P. (2006). An Empirical Analysis of ‘Acting White’. Journal of Public Economics, 94 (5-6), 380-396. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2009.10.011
Gibson, M., & Ogbu, J. (1991). Minority Status and Schooling. A Comparative Study of Immigrant and Involuntary Minorities. New York - London: Garland Publishing.
Gibson, M., Gándara, P., & Koyama, J.P. (2004). School connections: U.S. Mexican Youth, Peers, and School Achievement. New York: Teachers’ College Press.
Gifford-Smith, M. E., & Brownell, C. A. (2003). Childhood peer relationships: social acceptance, friendships, and peer networks. Journal of School Psychology, 41, 235-284. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/S0022-4405(03)00048-7
Gillborn, D. (1990). “Race”, Ethnicity and Education. Teaching and learning in multi-ethnic schools. London: Unwin Hyman.
Gilroy, P. (1992). The End of Anti-Racism. En J. Donad & A. Rattansi (eds.) 'Race', Culture and Difference. London: Sage.
Giroux, H. (1989). Los profesores como intelectuales. Barcelona: Paidós/MEC.
Gratacós, P., & Ugidos, P. (2011). Diversitat cultural i exclusió escolar. Dinàmiques educatives, relacions interpersonals i actituds del professorat. Barcelona: Fundació Jaume Bofill.
Greenwood, C. R., Horton, B. T. & Utley, C. A. (2002). Academic engagement: Current perspectives on research an practice. School Psychology Review, 31 (3), 328-349. https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2002.12086159
Hallam, S., Ireson, J., & Davies, J. (2004). Primary pupils’ experiences of different types of grouping in school. British Educational Research Journal, 30 (4), 515-532. https://doi.org/10.1080/0141192042000237211
Hargreaves, D. H. (1986). Las interacciones interpersonales en la educación. Madrid: Narcea.
Hartup, W. W. (1996). The company they keep: Friendships and their developmental significance. Child Development, 67, 1 –13. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131681
Hatcher, R. (1995). Racism and children’s cultures. In M. Griffiths M. & B. Troyna (Eds). Anti-racism, Culture and Social Justice in Education. Stoke-On-Trent: Trentham Books.
Hirschfeld, L. A. (2002). Why Don’t Anthropologists Like Children?. American Anthropologist, 104 (2), 611-627. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.2002.104.2.611
Jiménez, V., & Fajardo, M. I. (2010) Inteligencia emocional y clima escolar. International Journal of Developmental and Educational Psychology, 4 (1), 729-743. Retrieved from: https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=349832327076
Lacey, C. (1970). Hightown Grammar. The school as a social system. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Lareau, A. & McNamara Horvat, E. (1999). Moments of Social Inclusion and Exclusion: Race, Class and Cultural Capital in Family-School Relationships. Sociology of Education,72 (1), 37-53. https://doi.org/10.2307/2673185
Le Roux, J. (2001). Social dynamics of the multicultural classroom. Intercultural Education, 12 (3), 273-288. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14675980120087480
Loukas, A. (2007). What is school climate?. Leadership Compass, 51 (1), 1-3. https://www.naesp.org/sites/default/files/resources/2/Leadership_Compass/2007/LC2007v5n1a4.pdf
Martin, A., Burns, E., Collie, R., Cutmore, M., MacLeod, S., & Donlevy, V. (2022) The role of engagement in immigrant students’ academic resilience. Learning and Instruction, vol. 82, 101650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2022.101650
McLaren, P. (1994). Multiculturalism and the Post-Modern Critique: Toward a Pedagogy of Resistance and Transformation. In H. Giroux & P. McLaren (Eds.). Between borders: Pedagogy and the politics of cultural studies. Routledge: New York.
MacLeod, J. (1987). Ain't no makin' it: Leveled aspirations in a low-income neighborhood. Boulder, Co.: Westview Press.
Mehan, H., Hubbard, L., Villanueva, I. & Lintz, A. (1996). Constructing School Success. The Consequences of Untracking Low-Achievement Students. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Motti-Stefanidi, F., & Masten, A. S. (2013). School success and school engagement of immigrant children and adolescents: A risk and resilience developmental perspective. European Psychologist, 18(2), 126–135. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000139
Narciso, L.; Carrasco, S. (2021). West African boys and early school leaving: persistence as the counter-narrative. Culture and Education, 33 (4), 651–676. https://doi.org/10.1080/11356405.2021.1974219
Ogbu, J. U., & Simons, H. D. (1998). Voluntary and Involuntary Minorities: a Cultural-Ecological Theory of School Performance with Some Implications for Education. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 29 (2),155-188. https://doi.org/10.1525/aeq.1998.29.2.155
Oller, J., Vila, I. & Zufiaurre, B. (2012). Student and teacher perceptions of school involvement and their effect on multicultural education: a Catalonian survey. Race Ethnicity and Education, 15 (3), 353-378. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2011.618829
Pellegrini, A. D., & Blatchford, P. (2000). The child at school: Interactions with peers and teachers. London: Arnold.
Pettigrew, T. F. (1971). Racially Separated or Together? New York: McGraw-Hill.
Reyes, R., Carrasco, S. (2018). Unintended effects of language policy on the transition of immigrant students to upper secondary education in Catalonia. European Journal of Education, (53) 4, 514-527. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12304
Sandoval, M. (2014). Convivencia y clima escolar: claves de la gestión del conocimiento. Última Década, 41, 153-178, Centro de Estudios Sociales Valparaíso, Chile.
Stolcke, V. (1995). Talking Culture: New Boundaries, New Rethorics of Exclusion in Europe. Current Anthropology, 36 (1), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1086/714414
Suárez-Orozco, C., Pimentel, A. & Martin, M. (2009). The Significance of Relationships: Academic Engagement and Achievement Among Newcomer Immigrant Youth. Teachers College Record, 111 (3), 712-749. https://doi.org/10.1177/0161468109111003
Thorne, B. (1993). Gender Play. Girls and Boys in School. New Brunswick (N. J): Rutgers University Press.
Valenzuela, A. (1999). Subtractive Schooling: US-Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring. New York: SUNY.
Willes, M. (1983). Children into Pupils. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Williams, R. (1947). Reduction of Integroup Tension. New York: Social Science Research Council.
Woods, P. (1983). Sociology and the School. An Interactionist Viewpoint. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Wright, C. (1992). Race relations in the Primary School. London: David Fulton Publishers.
Published
Downloads
Copyright (c) 2023 Beatriz Ballestín González
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
