Contexts of Care: Supporting Immigrant-Origin Students and Families in a New Destination

Abstract

This dissertation examines how educators, families, and youth collectively build caring contexts of reception in a growing, diversifying school district in the United States. Drawing on over 800 hours of embodied ethnographic research conducted during the 2023–2024 school year, the study explores the daily experiences of immigrant educators, students, and families. Merging critical qualitative ethnographic research with applied experience, the author worked as an Amharic- and Spanish-speaking family liaison across the district and as a college access mentor for immigrant-origin students in a college preparation program for immigrant-origin youth. First, the study demonstrates that immigrant educators develop creative strategies to meet both individual and collective needs within institutional constraints. These educators actively work to interrupt systemic harm while navigating educational structures that often perpetuate inequities for immigrant-origin students. Second, the research illuminates how multiple actors—including students, families, and educators—interact within layered institutional contexts. An intersectional analysis reveals that these interactions are significantly shaped by factors beyond immigration status alone, including income, housing status, and national origin. Third, the findings show that caring educational practices emerge in complex and sometimes contradictory ways. While symbolic gestures of inclusion exist, the most effective practices address material needs and structural barriers facing immigrant communities. Fourth, the data indicates that student outcomes are closely tied to the availability of multilingual staff and resources that reflect the diverse backgrounds of the student population. Schools with more comprehensive linguistic support systems demonstrated more positive integration experiences. Finally, the research documents how immigrant youth themselves develop resilience strategies and peer support networks that function as protective mechanisms against exclusion and discrimination. These student-led initiatives often operate alongside formal institutional supports but fill critical gaps in the educational context of reception. The dissertation concludes with policy recommendations that address structural barriers facing immigrant communities, including expanding higher education access for students with liminal immigration statuses, implementing staffing practices that reflect student diversity, providing attendance stipends for low-income students, and developing welcoming school cultures that address material needs beyond symbolic gestures. These recommendations are grounded in transformative care ethics and target multiple dimensions of contexts of reception, recognizing that meaningful immigrant integration requires coordinated interventions across educational and social domains.