Anglophone Caribbean Immigrant Women: Learning and Development within the Contexts of Transnational Migration

Authors

  • Mary Alfred Texas A&M University

Abstract

This study used a heuristic phenomenological approach to examine the learning and development experiences of 15 Anglophone Caribbean immigrant women in the United States. The findings suggest that culture and early school socialization in the country of origin influence learning and development experiences in the host country. Some of the major challenges participants faced in their learning and development in the United States were in transforming their cultural assumptions about silence, negotiating language and identity, and reorienting to a new meaning of teaching and learning. Reconceptualizing Belenky et al.'s (1986) model of women's ways of knowing, the study demonstrated that agency, culture, social capital, and the sociocultural environment influence the epistemological position that a woman occupies. The women were found to move freely among the epistemological positions of knowing.

Résumé

Cette étude a fait appel à une approche heuristique et phénoménologique dans l'analyse des expériences d'apprentissage et de perfectionnement d'immigrantes antillaises anglophones vivant am États-Unis. Les résultats de notre recherche suggèrent que la culture et la socialisation scolaire précoce dans le pays d'origine ont une influence sur les expériences d'apprentissage et de perfectionnement dans le pays d'accueil. Parmi les principaux défis relevés par les femmes dans leurs apprentissages et leur perfectionnement, notons l'obligation de changer leur perception par rapport au silence, négocier leur langue et leur identité et revoir leur définition de l'enseignement et de l'apprentissage. En reprenant les modèles d'apprentissage féministe de Belenky et al. (1986), notre étude a montré comment l'environnement social, communautaire, culturel et économique influençait la position épistémologique de la femme en société. Les femmes se retrouvaient à tons les niveaux épistémologiques du savoir.

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Published

2004-11-01

How to Cite

Alfred, M. (2004). Anglophone Caribbean Immigrant Women: Learning and Development within the Contexts of Transnational Migration. Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, 18(2), 1–26. Retrieved from https://cjsae.library.dal.ca/cjsae/article/view/1832

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 2 (2004)

Section

Articles

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