The rupture of schools for migrants with the assumptions of the educational system

Abstract

Children and adolescents from migrant agricultural laborer families represent the social group facing the greatest barriers to access, persist and graduate within the national educational system in Mexico. The objective of this paper is to analyze the operational characteristics of schools serving migrant children, in comparison with those defined by the school grammar for the educational system. This seeks to better understand the characteristics of the educational offer to this population group. The research was conducted within the comprehensive paradigm and considers phenomenology as its guiding interpretive framework. The sample was designed based on the strategies of maximum variation and purposeful convenience sampling and included 11 schools of the Programa de Atención a la Niñez Migrante, where 25 educators worked. Data collection techniques applied were semi-structured interviews and video recordings of pedagogical practices. The analysis was inductive and was supported by the development of matrices and graphs. The main findings of this research reveal that the chronosystem (regulations referring to school times) has changed in schools serving migrants, in addition to a break with the principles defined for the educational system (simultaneity, direct communication and official study programs). The study concludes highlighting the need to recognize the characteristics of teaching practice aimed at populations in situations of educational vulnerability, and to value the experiences generated by educators in schools.