| Affiliations: | Race and Ethnic Studies Research Leadership |
| Project Leader: | P. Michelle Ochoa
p.michelle.ochoaa@tamu.edu Sociology |
| Faculty Mentor | Sarah Gatson, Ph.D. |
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Meeting Times:
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TBA |
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Team Size:
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7
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| Open Spots: | 0 |
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Special Opportunities:
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Students who decide to participate in this project will have the opportunity to learn how to conduct interviews, code qualitative data, will be invited to participate in conference presentations and be invited to travel on-site to conduct field research.
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Team Needs:
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Preferred requirements: – Knowledge of the U.S.-Mexico border – Have lived in the U.S.-Mexico border area – Good Communication skills – Active listening – Searching for information – Willing to ask questions – Time management – English-Spanish translation – Availability to miss class for research purposes if needed (Will be Excused Absences) Mandatory Requirements: – Writing – Note-taking – Attention to detail – Checking, Replying, and Sending Emails |
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Description:
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This project aims to investigate the experiences of K-12 transborder students, their parents, and teachers. The guiding questions for this dissertation proposal ask, “In what ways does the transborder lifestyle impact families with K-12 students in the U.S-Mexico borderlands?” followed by “What kind of strategies do transborder families use to navigate the U.S. educational system?” lastly, “How have K-12 teachers in the U.S-Mexico borderlands addressed transborder families’ experiences?” To address these questions, ethnographic methods are used to collect data and analyze the contextual effect of the transborder lifestyle in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. In addition to an autoethnographic analysis of being a transborder high school student, data will be collected through visual ethnography, semi-structured interviews, and survey responses of Texas transborder students, parents, and teachers. Researching transborder families may help understand what causes students to border commute, how families see themselves within the scope of the borderlands, and how the U.S. educational system has responded to address transborder students and their families’ needs. By exploring transborder student development, transborder parent navigation strategies, and transborder schooling in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, we can assess the impact of transborderism on families with K-12 border commuter students and their experiences with the U.S. educational system and how in turn the education system has been impacted. |