A Systems ‘Analysis of Latine Education in Massachusetts: A Call for Critical Intercultural Integration

Abstract

AbstractDespite attending schools in a state internationally recognized for innovation, research and education, Latine students in Massachusetts, USA continue to disproportionately experience discrimination, economic segregation, health disparities and racial inequities that have shaped their schooling experiences and outcomes across the educational pipeline (Colón, “We are beautiful people”: The schooling experiences of Puerto Rican school‐aged mothers [PhD Thesis]. Tufts University, 2019). Grounded in critical analysis of intercultural education towards social justice (Pica‐Smith et al., Social justice education in European multi‐ethnic schools. Addressing the goals of intercultural education. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, London, 2019), this paper critically examines publicly available data to highlight barriers, opportunities and the need for educational researchers, policymakers and administrators to collectively reimagine an educational project that attends to the needs of this population. In the context of the unyielding disparate impact of COVID‐19, we argue that more ever, this reimagination needs to be grounded in the dynamic conception of culture (Levitt et al., International Migration Review, 38, 1002, 2004), intercultural perspectives on education that are based on critical notions of intergroup contact, dialogue and exchange (Allport, Forms and techniques of altruistic and spiritual growth: a symposium, 1954, 367; Council of Europe, White paper on intercultural dialogue. Living together as equals in dignity, Strasburgo, 2008) and multidimensional notion of belonging at the micro and macro levels for a more just education writ large.