International Journal of Educational Research, 1995
Do traditional, agrarian values put minority culture children at a disadvantage in North American... more Do traditional, agrarian values put minority culture children at a disadvantage in North American schools? The available results are mixed. In this chapter we attempt to “unpack” some of the effects of traditional Latino family values on their children's early school adaptation and achievement. Our research suggests that agrarian-origin values, which differ from academic-occupational orientation of school personnel, do not necessarily work to the disadvantage of students. On the contrary, under certain conditions, these values may be complementary to those of the school and in fact serve to support educational adaptation and achievement. A key to our findings and analyses is the concept of educación beliefs among the parents in our sample. Not all strongly endorsed cultural beliefs are instantiated in ways that impact children's experiences and development. Some cultural beliefs lead to instantiation into everyday routines of families, while others seem to be readily available, expressed, and endorsed but not reliably acted on (D'Andrade & Strauss, 1992). Those beliefs that are instantiated into the daily routine are more likely to produce detectable effects on children's development, a conclusion supported by cross cultural evidence (Weisner, 1984).
ABSTRACT The tendency for immigrants to evaluate their circumstances in the host country in terms... more ABSTRACT The tendency for immigrants to evaluate their circumstances in the host country in terms of the life they knew in their native country has been described as a 'dual frame of reference'. Although the immigrant family may be living in crowded conditions and the parents working long hours for a minimum wage, family members can none the less compare their circumstances to those they left in their home country and feel that they are better off in their new land. However, for first-generation Mexican immigrant parents in the United States, for whom the traditional child-rearing values of respect, obedience and family unity form a significant ethnic marker, the dual frame of reference takes on an additional perspective. Although the home country is viewed as a land of economic hardship, it remains a treasured source of core moral values that continue to give coherence to everyday life. This study examines ways in which the twofold nature of the immigrants' frame of reference, in which the host country exemplifies both material good and moral decay, contributes to their differential adoption of US customs and values as well as heightened insecurity regarding their children's futures. The adaptive struggle confronting Mexican immigrants in the United States is played out in moral terms: how does one raise children who surpass their parents economically but do not fall prey to the moral dangers of contemporary American society?
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 2012
This article examines the relationships among the literacy practices engaged in by first-grade ch... more This article examines the relationships among the literacy practices engaged in by first-grade children and parents at home and the ways in which these practices are communicated, shaped, and fostered by teachers and administrators in two different sociocultural environments in urban Mexico. The differences observed between the home literacy experiences of children in a working class and a middle class community included transgenerational communication of assumptions regarding literacy and schooling, as well as attitudes associated with the parents' own school experiences. Class-based expectations on the part of teachers not only shaped interactions with parents, but were also reflected in the way the national curriculum was delivered, with a greater emphasis on rote skills and traditional reading instruction in the working class community. The authors argue that the school plays a role in the co-production of cultural capital in the home through its shaping of some of the literacy practices that children and families undertake.
International Journal of Educational Research, 1995
Do traditional, agrarian values put minority culture children at a disadvantage in North American... more Do traditional, agrarian values put minority culture children at a disadvantage in North American schools? The available results are mixed. In this chapter we attempt to “unpack” some of the effects of traditional Latino family values on their children's early school adaptation and achievement. Our research suggests that agrarian-origin values, which differ from academic-occupational orientation of school personnel, do not necessarily work to the disadvantage of students. On the contrary, under certain conditions, these values may be complementary to those of the school and in fact serve to support educational adaptation and achievement. A key to our findings and analyses is the concept of educación beliefs among the parents in our sample. Not all strongly endorsed cultural beliefs are instantiated in ways that impact children's experiences and development. Some cultural beliefs lead to instantiation into everyday routines of families, while others seem to be readily available, expressed, and endorsed but not reliably acted on (D'Andrade & Strauss, 1992). Those beliefs that are instantiated into the daily routine are more likely to produce detectable effects on children's development, a conclusion supported by cross cultural evidence (Weisner, 1984).
ABSTRACT The tendency for immigrants to evaluate their circumstances in the host country in terms... more ABSTRACT The tendency for immigrants to evaluate their circumstances in the host country in terms of the life they knew in their native country has been described as a 'dual frame of reference'. Although the immigrant family may be living in crowded conditions and the parents working long hours for a minimum wage, family members can none the less compare their circumstances to those they left in their home country and feel that they are better off in their new land. However, for first-generation Mexican immigrant parents in the United States, for whom the traditional child-rearing values of respect, obedience and family unity form a significant ethnic marker, the dual frame of reference takes on an additional perspective. Although the home country is viewed as a land of economic hardship, it remains a treasured source of core moral values that continue to give coherence to everyday life. This study examines ways in which the twofold nature of the immigrants' frame of reference, in which the host country exemplifies both material good and moral decay, contributes to their differential adoption of US customs and values as well as heightened insecurity regarding their children's futures. The adaptive struggle confronting Mexican immigrants in the United States is played out in moral terms: how does one raise children who surpass their parents economically but do not fall prey to the moral dangers of contemporary American society?
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 2012
This article examines the relationships among the literacy practices engaged in by first-grade ch... more This article examines the relationships among the literacy practices engaged in by first-grade children and parents at home and the ways in which these practices are communicated, shaped, and fostered by teachers and administrators in two different sociocultural environments in urban Mexico. The differences observed between the home literacy experiences of children in a working class and a middle class community included transgenerational communication of assumptions regarding literacy and schooling, as well as attitudes associated with the parents' own school experiences. Class-based expectations on the part of teachers not only shaped interactions with parents, but were also reflected in the way the national curriculum was delivered, with a greater emphasis on rote skills and traditional reading instruction in the working class community. The authors argue that the school plays a role in the co-production of cultural capital in the home through its shaping of some of the literacy practices that children and families undertake.
Uploads
Papers by Leslie Reese