Harvesting hardships: Educators’ views on the challenges of migrant students and their consequences on education

Abstract

This exploratory study examines the hardships experienced by migrant students, most of them immigrants or children of immigrants, drawing on in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with 20 migrant educators employed in the public school system in Florida in 2013. We examine immigrant migrant students’ hardships and analyze the impact they have on migrant students’ education and, ultimately, social mobility. We find that migrant students face five major challenges that may adversely affect their education and social mobility: (1) cultural barriers, including language and communication and students’ and parents’ knowledge, interactions and involvement with school; (2) challenges related to family and care, such as parental absence and working conditions, family structure, children’s care responsibilities for younger siblings and other family issues; (3) material needs, especially poverty, hunger, housing, underage child labor, transportation, and health issues; (4) educational challenges as a result of students’ migratory lifestyles, lack of school supplies and teachers’ lack of knowledge about and attitudes towards migrant students; and (5) hardships related to undocumented legal status. We show how these hardships result in specific practical, physical, social, and emotional consequences that adversely affect migrant students’ education. Lastly, we discuss our findings in the context of existing scholarship and present implications for policy and future research.