UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Shared Immigrant Journeys and Inspirational Life Lessons: Critical Reflections on Immigrant Punjabi Sikh Mothers' Participation in Their Children's Schooling Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/71z3v45z Author Tiwana, Ravneet Kaur Publication Date 2012 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Shared Immigrant Journeys and Inspirational Life Lessons: Critical Reflections on Immigrant Punjabi Sikh Mothers’ Participation in Their Children’s Schooling A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Education by Ravneet Kaur Tiwana 2012 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! © Copyright by Ravneet Kaur Tiwana 2012 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Shared Immigrant Journeys and Inspirational Life Lessons: Critical Reflections on Immigrant Punjabi Sikh Mothers’ Participation in Their Children’s Schooling by Ravneet Kaur Tiwana Doctor of Philosophy in Education University of California, Los Angeles, 2012 Professor Frederick Erickson, Chair By 2040, one out of three children in the United States will come from immigrant households (Suárez-Orozco et al, 2008). It is imperative to understand how immigrant parents participate in their children’s schooling. This study examined the dynamic ways immigrant parents participated in schools, which did not conform to conventional notions of parental involvement. Previous research studies showed that immigrant parents used their knowledge and skills to participate in effective ways in order to maintain high educational expectations. However, more research was needed to illuminate how immigrant parents transmitted social values regarding the importance of education. This qualitative study utilized the immigrant Punjabi Sikh community in California as a case study for immigrant parental participation. Ethnographic interviews were conducted with immigrant mothers and their children from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds in order to describe how Punjabi Sikh mothers from three migration periods in California participated in ii their children’s schooling by transmuting obstacles and triumphs into educational messages. These messages were saturated with human and social capital acquired through a shared immigrant journey with their children. Knowledge and skills gained through difficult experiences of integrating into American society, such as English language issues, domestic violence, and navigating the job market, were used as fulcrums for developing positive messages containing the value of education. Theoretical frameworks and methods of inquiry such as, “funds of knowledge,” “community cultural wealth,” “standpoint theory,” and “grounded theory” were used. The significance of this project lies in conceptualizing immigrant women’s experiences in more dynamic terms that do not re-victimize women, but, instead, highlight their agency. Immigrant parental participation can be better understood as a social process through which human and social capital within Communities of Color is cultivated and leveraged in order to achieve educational goals through a collective familial effort. This does not mean that immigrant parents do not participate in traditional activities within schools, but that these activities are not their primary ways of participating in their children’s schooling. Therefore, focusing only on traditional notions of parental involvement do a disservice by overlooking the inherent strengths within these families, which can be maximized to build a more equitable American educational system. ! ! ! ! iii ! ! ! The dissertation of Ravneet Kaur Tiwana is approved. Marjorie Faulstich Orellana Mike Rose Daniel Solorzano Min Zhou Frederick Erickson, Committee Chair ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! University of California, Los Angeles 2012 ! ! ! ! ! iv To my mother, Lakhwinder Kaur Tiwana. mwvW TMfIAW CwvW Mavan Thandiyan Chavan (mothers are like cool shade). -Punjabi Proverb ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! v TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page 1- Introduction …………………………………………………………………………….... 1 Research Questions …………………………………………………………….... 4 Organization of Study ………………………………………………………….... 5 2- Literature Review ………………………………………………………….…………...... 8 Immigrant Women ……………………………………………….…………….... 9 Children of Immigrants ………………………………………………………… 19 Immigrant Parental Participation ………………………………………………. 24 Funds of Knowledge ……………………………………………………….……32 Community Cultural Wealth …………………………………………………….33 3- Research Methods …………………………………………………………………….…37 Research Participants & Setting ………………………………………………... 40 Data Collection ………………………………………………………………… 44 Data Analysis …………………………………………………………………... 49 Interview Transcription as Analysis ………………………………………….... 50 Coding & Reporting …………………………………………………………..... 52 4- Situating Insider/Outsider Research ………………………………………………….... 55 De-Colonizing Anthropology Through a Native Anthropology ……………….. 56 A Situational Insider/Outsider …………………………………………………. 58 Re-Colonization Through Academic Frameworks …………………………….. 60 “Outsider within Status”: When You Become Skinfolk or Kinfolk …………... 62 The “Outsider Within” …………………………………………………………. 63 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………... 65 5- Punjabi Sikhs- Constructing A Context Of Global Mobilization ……...….……………. 67 Historical Panjab (a.k.a. Punjab) ……………….……………………………..... 67 Partition ……………………………………………….………………………... 69 Origins of Sikhi ……………………………………………….………………... 72 Sikh Immigration ……………………….……………………………………..... 77 The Sojourners: Late 1800s-1914 …………………………………………….... 80 “The Ghadar Party” …………………………………………………………….. 81 Termination of Asian Indian Immigration: 1915-1944 ……………………….... 83 Second Wave of Immigration: 1945-1965 ……………………………………... 86 The Third Wave of Immigration: 1966-1981 …………………………………... 88 Contemporary Immigration: 1982- Present …………………………………….. 88 Contemporary Relationship Between Diaspora and Punjab …………………..... 91 vi 6- Immigrant Punjabi Sikh Women’s Experiences in California- Voices From Within ….. 95 Introduction …………………………………………………………………….. 95 Reasons for Migration ………………………………………………………….. 98 Impressions of the United States ……………………………………………… 103 Decision-Making …………………………………………………………….... 106 Substance Abuse & Domestic Violence ………………………………………. 113 Workforce ……………………………………………………………………... 119 Value of Education ……………………………………………………………. 127 Language Issues ……………………………………………………………….. 131 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………….. 133 7- “Learning Together”- Opportunities for Co-Constructing …………………………..... 135 Immigrant Human and Social Capital Introduction ………………………………………………………………….... 135 Navigating School …………………………………………………………….. 137 Navigating Outside of the Home ………………………………………...….... 146 Navigating English Language Learning ……………………………...………. 148 Navigating the Job Market ………………………………………...………….. 155 Learning & Growing Together Inside/Outside The Home …………………… 156 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………. 160 8- Value of Education- Educational Messaging for Mobility and Stability ……………... 163 Introduction …………………………………………………………………… 163 Education as a Collective Goal ………………………………………………. 165 Cultural Continuity and Change ……………………………………………… 171 Mobility and Stability ………………………………………………………… 177 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………….… 183 9- Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………. 186 Summary of Findings …………………………………………………………. 187 Immigrant Punjabi Sikh Women’s Experiences …………………………….... 189 Learning Together …………………………………………………………….. 194 Value of Education ………………………………………………………….... 197 Limitations of this Study …………………………………………………….... 202 Implications of the Study ……………………………………………………... 206 10- Appendix A: Historical Map of Panjab ………………………………………………. 213 11- Appendix B: Map of Punjab, India ………………………………………………….... 214 12- Appendix C: Chart of Research Participants …………………………………………. 215 13- Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………….. 217 ! vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I acknowledge, respectfully, Waheguru (the Sikh term for the divine higher power) and my mother for being my most inspirational teachers. My gratitude goes to my family, particularly my father, brother, and maternal grandmother (Bibi/Naniji), for supporting me in their own ways. I am also grateful for my schoolteachers (starting from preschool), university professors, friends, and colleagues who have helped nurture me into the person and researcher I have become. I am honored that the immigrant Punjabi Sikh mothers and their children in this study shared their life journeys, hopes and dreams for the future with me. I was humbled by your experiences and thoughtful insights. Professor Puran Singh writes, “Our history is of the soul, all its events are of the soul. All truth for us is personal. We have not to prove it, we have to stand witness to it in our soul.” It was a privilege to stand witness to your soulful reflections. Dr. Frederick Erickson, my academic advisor, I appreciate your support and guidance. I am grateful for the kindness, encouragement and constructive feedback you gave me during difficult times on this writing journey. I have learned from you that rigorous qualitative research and its teaching are “soulful” acts that connect us to the humanity in others and in ourselves. I express my gratitude to Dr. Marjorie Faulstich Orellana for playing an instrumental role in conceptualizing the analysis portion of this study and providing detailed feedback on the dissertation. In moments of great cloudiness