This paper examines the acculturation process of male Central Americanorigin youths in Toronto, a group who are known to have a higher than average risk of dropping out of high school. Using data from semi-structured interviews with a small sample of male youths born in the region or born in Canada to parents from the region, we examine interrelated and shifting friendship patterns, ethno-social identities, and aspirations for schooling. The findings reveal that some youths become marginalized with weak friendship networks, diffuse ethno-social identities and low school completion aspirations, while others develop relatively strong affiliations exclusively with co-ethnic friends who have modest school completion goals. The strongest trend was toward being integrated with a mix of co-ethnic friends and those from other backgrounds, hybrid ethno-social identities, and higher schooling goals. The analysis examines whether the youths are aware of the relationships between social belonging and academic belonging, and whether they feel it possible to escape from being Bboxed in^to acculturation patterns associated with poor school completion. These findings add to research on efforts to understand and improve schooling outcomes for Bat risk^minority youth in a multicultural city.
Following a pattern observed elsewhere in North America, male Central American-origin youths in Toronto are, on average, less likely than others to do well in high school and less likely to go on to post-secondary studies. In an effort to better understand how these outcomes emerge, this study examines variation in academic goals between individuals, changes in individual academic goals over time, and social-relations factors associated with such variation and change. Qualitative interviews with sixteen Central American-origin males on their schooling aspirations and social relations in high school point to structural forces that lead minority students to feel marginalized academically and socially in school. More importantly, however, the interviews also point to opportunities for resisting marginalization and for belonging more fully in school. Youths who broaden their social relations and friendships to include those outside their own ethno-social background generally also want to do better academically, and vice versa. These findings on schooling process contribute to the understanding of theoretical models and research priorities for addressing the schooling experiences and outcomes for "at risk” minority youth. Selon une tendance observée quelque part en Amérique du Nord, les jeunes hommes originaires de l’Amérique centrale à Toronto ont, en moyenne, moins de chances de réussir que d’autres dans l’éducation secondaire et ont aussi moins de chances de poursuivre des études postsecondaires. Dans le but de mieux comprendre comment les résultats de ce constat, cet article examine la variation dans les objectifs académiques chez les individus, les changements dans ces objectifs académiques individuels au fil du temps et les facteurs de relations sociales liés à une telle variation et un tel changement. Des entretiens qualitatifs avec seize jeunes provenant de l’Amérique centrale ont porté sur leurs aspirations scolaires et sur leurs relations sociales à l’école, cadre des forces structurales qui amènent les étudiants minoritaires à se sentir marginalisés académiquement. Plus important, cependant, ces entretiens indiquent aussi des opportunités pour résister à la marginalisation et appartenir pleinement à l’école. Les jeunes qui élargissent leurs relations sociales et leurs amitiés pour inclure des individus en dehors de leur origine ethno-sociale sont généralement portés à vouloir améliorer leur performance scolaire et vice-versa. Ces résultats sur le processus de scolarisation contribuent à la compréhension des modèles théoriques et des priorités de recherche dans le contexte de l’étude des expériences et des résultats scolaires d’un groupe de jeunes « à risque ».
Young, Well-Educated and Adaptable: Chilean Exiles in Ontario and Quebec, 1973–2010Francis Peddie Winnipeg, Manitoba: University of Manitoba Press, 2014
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