Ruptures of Possibility: Mexican Origin Mothers as Critical Border Pedagogues

In U.S. schools, educators are often regarded as knowledge producers and sole pedagogues, whereas parents (particularly of Color) are perceived as not engaged or interested in their child(ren)'s education (Colgrove, 2019; Nuñez, 2019; Ramirez, 2020). These negative stereotypes and white-centered discourses sustain raciolinguistic perspectives (Rosa & Flores, 2017) of families of Color and immigrant backgrounds. For the present study, we employed critical discourse analysis to explore why and how Mexican mothers raise bilingual children by examining how their experiences inform us about their powerful roles as critical translanguaging pedagogues. Drawing on border thinking and pedagogy of border thinking, the findings revealed two main themes: (1) how mothers recognize and draw on the ruptures of cultural and linguistic worlds, and (2) how they sustain language through family and cultural practices. Lastly, we share implications for educators, teacher educators, and policymakers.

The development of shyness from late childhood to adolescence: A longitudinal study of Mexican-origin youth

Shyness, or the tendency to be inhibited and uncomfortable in novel social situations, is a consequential personality trait, especially during adolescence. The present study examined the development of shyness from late childhood (age 10) through adolescence (age 16) using data from a large, longitudinal study of Mexican-origin youth (N = 674). Using both self- and mother-reports of shyness assessed via the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised, we found moderate to high rank-order stabilities across two-year intervals and a mean-level decrease in shyness from age 10 to 16. Anxiety and depression were associated with higher initial levels of shyness, and anxiety was associated with greater decreases in shyness from age 10 to 16. Contrary to predictions, neither nativity (country of birth) nor language proficiency (English, Spanish) was associated with the development of shyness across adolescence. Thus, youth generally decline in shyness during adolescence, although there is substantial individual variability in shyness trajectories.

Big Five Development From Young Adulthood to Midlife: Findings From a Longitudinal Study of Mexican-Origin Adults

A large body of research has documented how personality develops across adulthood, yet very little longitudinal work has examined whether these findings generalize beyond predominantly middle-class, highly-educated White American or Western European individuals. This pre-registered study uses longitudinal data from 1,110 Mexican-origin adults who completed a well-validated personality measure, the Big Five Inventory, up to 6 times across 12 years (median age at Wave 1 = 37.7; range = 26 to 65). Individuals generally maintained their rank ordering on the Big Five over time (rs=.66-.80), and all of the Big Five traits showed small, mean-level decreases across adulthood. These trajectories had few associations with sociodemographic factors (sex, education level, IQ) and cultural factors (generational status, age at immigration, Spanish/English language preference, Mexican cultural values, American cultural values, ethnic discrimination). Divergences between the present findings and previous research highlight the need to study personality development across diverse aging samples.