Copyright by Elizabeth Villarreal 2012
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Copyright by Elizabeth Villarreal 2012 This Dissertation Committee for Elizabeth Villarreal certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: An Educational Formula: Critical Border Education That Transcends Social and Linguistic Barriers Committee: Angela Valenzuela, Supervisor Luis Urrieta Emilio Zamora Maria Fránquiz Cynthis S. Salinas An Educational Formula: Critical Border Education That Transcends Social and Linguistic Barriers by Elizabeth Villarreal, B.S.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin August 2012 Dedication A mis padres Guadalupe y Raquel Villarreal. To all the teachers with whom I’ve had the pleasure of learning, especially the dedicated educators who shared their knowledge for this work. To my heart and soul, my husband Gabriel and children, Diego, Lupe, Eva, and Paulina. En memoria de mi querido padre. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work speaks to the tremendous strength of hermandad and familism. Para mis padres, Guadalupe y Raquel Villarreal. Gracias por su apoyo e inspiración a lo largo de mis estudios y por ayudarnos a mi y Gabriel con nuestro hogar mientras yo cumplía con cada etapa de mi odisea académica. A mi madre querida, le debo cada logro profesional, académico y personal. Sin sus consejos, inspiración y fuerza, jamás hubiese realizado esta labor. Igual usted mi padre, que en paz descanse. ¡Lo extraño, sigue siendo mi fortaleza! To my partner in life, Gabriel, thank you for being an exceptional parent especially during those times I had to step out of our home to work. My children Diego, Lupe, Eva, and Paulina, you will one day hear stories of being raised during mommy’s studies, kicking inside her tummy as she wrote, nursing between conference sessions, and silently sitting in during research interviews, seminar presentations, and study group meetings. My sister Nancy, brother in law Ray and primas Mirtha, Silvia (Fernando), and Vero thank you all for the support, especially for helping me co-parent and giving my children the loving extended family life and care anyone can only hope for. To my intellectual comadres, Claudia, Carol, and Toni for helping me reach each phase in my studies and to overcome personal and emotional tropezones. My Border sisters Irma, Martha, and Mayra, thank you for being by my side, giving me a sense of home, and grounding me every step of the way. Sonia Coyle, mi amiga del alma, your strength and sisterhood gave me the impulse I needed to pull through difficult times, I love you dearly. Josefina Villicana, amiga, thank you for giving my voice and the voices of Austin teachers a platform. v To my dissertation “Dream Team” and mentors for who I will always feel admiration and gratitude. Dr. Angela Valenzuela, you took me as a mentee realizing the many roles I played outside of my studies and helped me capitalize on each one of them to strengthen my work. Thank you for believing in me. You are a true example of how the well-balanced roles of mother, wife, scholar and leader can work harmoniously. Dr. Emilio Zamora, you sent me back home to find inspiration in who and what I knew best. I thank you for helping me keep my work real, relevant, and grounded in our Border/Valle history. Dr. Luis Urrieta, you left the doors to your office and home wide open for me. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and lovely family. Dr. Fránquiz and Dr. Salinas, I’ve had the pleasure of learning from you and closely monitoring your work with and inspiration of other students and their teaching professions. Both of you have served as examples of the tremendous strength scholars who transform pedagogy by maintaining one foot in the classroom and the other in academic progressive spaces. To Dr. Lourdes Diaz-Soto, thank you for that ‘granito de arena’ that you brought to our school and community. That fire you lit is still burning in many of us who you inspired with your strength, innovation, spirit, and wisdom. Dr. Deb Palmer, our paths met and kept us united through our shared passion for mentoring and supporting educational leaders. I am so grateful for your trust, for believing in my work and keeping me connected to local educators and public education with our column. I am especially thankful to all the teachers who have taught me, those who have inspired me, others who have allowed me to walk into their classrooms, and in particular, the eight participants who shared their voices, expertise, and precious time to help me fulfill this work. vi An Educational Formula: Critical Border Education That Transcends Social and Linguistic Barriers Elizabeth Villarreal, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2012 Supervisor: Angela Valenzuela Student academic achievement is a collective effort of family, community, and school experience (Sloat, Makkonen, & Koehler, 2007). However the biggest burden is placed on teachers who are assumed and expected to possess the skills, knowledge, caring, and commitment to students often without the appropriate support, resources and professional development. With a focus on teacher development this work will listen to the voices of eight veteran educators from the Texas-Mexico border region and trace the steps in their formation and critical understandings of themselves and their professions to better diagnose students’ academic needs. The site of my study is in the southern-most part of the U.S.-Mexico border known as the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas (RGV). This dynamic region of our country was occupied by immigrant settlers in the middle 1700s and has seen much socio-political and cultural change throughout the years. Nucleus to the “browning of America” (Rodriguez, 2002), the demographic shift toward more ethnic/racial diversity, and in particular the ascent of Latinos as the largest minority in the country, the Border and its teachers provide key insights regarding effective ways to educate Latino children because they have served this community the longest. vii This study is a synthesis of historical sociology and cultural anthropology inquiries based on applied research method of interviews with Border educators. It includes: ethnographic and historical data, and testimonios, or critically documented histories, that address views on educational reform intended to foster academic success among Latino students. Latinos have become the nation’s largest majority at 16.3% of the population. The growth trend is also evident in Texas with a 37.6% and 90.4% for the RGV (Census, 2010). The correlation between poverty and educational attainment places this population at a significant disadvantage in the nation as well as in the RGV. Some observers have expressed concern that Latinos will represent the majority of the population by 2040 as the “poorer, less educated, and productive” (Jillson, 2012, p. xiii). My work challenges this conceptual relationship between poverty and school failure by focusing on a region where the student body has historically been predominantly Latino and economically disadvantaged with a 32.6% poverty rate compared to a national figure of 11.3% (Census, 2010). My findings on the epistemic value of identity demonstrated through my Spotlight Identity (SI) framework, support the notion that aligning students with teachers of similar experiential and cultural backgrounds positively impacts academic achievement and that, generally speaking, these affinities improve relations with families and allow for teachers to better understand the academic and personal challenges that the students are facing. My constructivist analysis suggests that academic success can be achieved, regardless of economic impediments when communities, schools, educators, and families work collaboratively with a child-centered approach. For participants in the study, barriers such as low socioeconomic (SES) were not seen as germane to student academic success when all the elements in their “educational equation” were in place. Academic success—construed by participants as viii significant student yearly progress, meeting grade level requirements, and high school completion—can be achieved, regardless of social and economic factors, when communities, schools, educators, and families work together through child-centered efforts and mediated through “critical bicultural education” (Darder, 1991). ix TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS, CHARTS………………………………………..x ii INTRODUCTION A Journey Home……………………………………………………………... 1 CHAPTER 1: THE STUDY 1.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………… 8 1.2 Conceptual Underpinnings for the Study………………………………... 10 1.3 Statement of the Problem………………………………………………... 13 1.4 Significance of the Study………………………………………………... 15 1.5 Research Questions………………………………………………………. 17 1.6 Significance of the Study………………………………………………… 18 CHAPTER 2: THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER 2.1 Introduction ………….………………………………………………….. 20 2.2 A Rebirth ………………………………………………………………... 20 2.3 The U.S.-Mexico Border………………………………………………… 24 2.3.1 Early Texas Settlements and Borderline Conflicts…………….. 26 2.4 Border Immigration and Policy………………………………………….. 31 2.5 Intergovernmental Relations and Problemas Compartidos....................... 38 2.5.1 Border Drug Violence………………………………….............. 39 2.5.2 Poverty Along the Border……………………………………… 41 2.5.3 Maquiladora Industry………………………………………….. 42 2.5.4 Pollution………………………………………………………... 44 2.5.5 Social Infrastructure……………………………………………. 47 2.6