Complicating our image of the “good student:” Mexican students’ use of navigational capital in a newcomer school

Abstract

Newcomer schools inherently frame students in terms of what they lack—namely, fluency in the English language. The purpose of this study, drawing on a six-month ethnography of 14 tenth grade students from Mexico, is to counter this deficit framing by exploring, using the additive framework of community cultural wealth, what supports newcomer students from Mexico have and use in the context of a newcomer school in Central Texas. I argue that participating students were assisted in their coursework by their previously developed navigational capital, which enabled them to position themselves as “good students.” However, these students’ efforts to embody the behaviors of “good students” occasionally led them to not ask clarifying questions, as they did not want to appear to have not paid attention. I end exploring the complications inherent in students using their community cultural wealth to navigate inequitable educational structures that reward docility over learning.