"Remaining and Becoming: Cultural Crosscurrents in an Hispano School" deals with the politics of identity and the concept of boundaries during a time of rapid change. It investigates how the role of schooling for Hispanos in the Norteno School District (a pseudonym) in Northern New Mexico--a public school district, not fully consolidated until 1972--has changed significantly over the past three generations. Today, the Hispanos, a minority in the outside world but a majority in their own, are debating how the functions of the school should respond to the changes resulting from the coming of public education to their region. But the contemporary story of education in Norteno has much deeper roots in the political, religious, and cultural history of Northern New Mexico--a region where, over a period of several centuries, Spain, Mexico, and the United States each have claimed sovereignty, with differing goals for and attitudes about the welfare of the people.
This study is an analysis of the ambiguity of education, the losses and gains that are its consequences, the lingering doubts about the past, and the questions about what future education can and should serve. It is about asking: Is what the students are learning worth as much as what they are forgetting? How does schooling affect the evolving process of asserting, renegotiating, and defending an Hispano identity? By exploring historical factors and ideologies of a particular school within a particular community, Roberts seeks to understand community expectations for the school as a fitting place for its children. The goal is not to generalize from the particular to the universal, but to join others in suggesting that we move away from discussing students in a generic sense and focus instead on looking at them in relation to the community in which they live.
The fascinating and largely unknown story this book tells will be of interest to educators, researchers, and students across a range of fields, including sociology of education, educational anthropology, multicultural education, ethnic studies, Chicano studies, and qualitative research in education.
| Agradecimientos [Acknowledgements] | p. xi |
| Issues and Contexts: Place, Time, Identity | p. 1 |
| Finding My Story | p. 7 |
| A School Within a Community | p. 12 |
| Terms of identity: Self-Labeling and Labeling by Others | p. 17 |
| Souls and Minds: Norteno's Educational History | p. 23 |
| A Legacy to Reckon With | p. 28 |
| Spanish Colonization (1598-1821) | p. 28 |
| Mexican Rule (1821-1848) | p. 30 |
| United States Occupation (1848-1912) | p. 31 |
| The Rise of Sectarian Schools: Religion and Culture | p. 34 |
| The Dixon Case: A Protestant Secular Challenge to Catholic Public Schools | p. 41 |
| People Without a Language: Language Without a People | p. 50 |
| Debate Among Teachers | p. 52 |
| Debate Among Parents | p. 56 |
| Debate Epilogue | p. 60 |
| Caught in the Ebb and Flow of Cultural Crosscurrents | p. 62 |
| Ethnic Identity Versus Ethnic Identification | p. 69 |
| Cuentos and Consejos: Stories and Advice | p. 72 |
| Domains of Individuality: Public and Private | p. 87 |
| Luisa: The We of Me | p. 88 |
| Georgeann: The Links of Common Knowledge | p. 92 |
| Alfonso: La Importancia de Saber Dos Idiomas | p. 94 |
| Kate: Where Ethnic Pride Ends and Prejudice Begins | p. 97 |
| Hector: Leave to Make Something of Yourself | p. 99 |
| Bolivar: Stand and Deliver | p. 104 |
| A Kaleidoscope of Needs | p. 109 |
| Teacher Fit | p. 114 |
| A Fitting School: The Politics of Language and Identity | p. 118 |
| Language Politics: Language as a Problem, Right, Resource | p. 119 |
| Legislating Language | p. 119 |
| Forgotten Students: Educational Inequality | p. 121 |
| Advocacy for Language-Minority Students | p. 123 |
| Contested Rights About Language | p. 125 |
| Affirming Ethnicity | p. 126 |
| Competing Local and National Interests | p. 129 |
| Barriers to Local Control | p. 129 |
| A Community School Concept | p. 131 |
| Ethnic Boundary Maintenance | p. 133 |
| A Fitting School for Norteno | p. 137 |
| References | p. 143 |
| Population Decline of Hispano Villages, 1900-1980 | p. 153 |
| Author Index | p. 155 |
| Subject Index | p. 159 |
| Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved. |
ISBN: 9780805825213
ISBN-10: 0805825215
Series: Sociocultural, Political and Historical Studies in Education
Audience:
Professional
Format:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Number Of Pages: 168
Published: 12th January 2001
Dimensions (cm): 22.9 x 15.2
x 1.6
Weight (kg): 0.404