The Struggles of Identity, Education, and Agency in the Lives of Undocumented Students : The Burden of Hyperdocumentation

Annotation This book weaves together two distinct and powerfully related sources of knowledge: the author's journey and transition from a once undocumented immigrant from Guatemala to a hyperdocumented academic, and five years of on-going national research on the identity, education, and agency of undocumented college students. In interlacing both personal experiences with findings from her empirical qualitative research, Chang explores practical and theoretical pedagogical, curricular, and policy-related discussions around issues that impact undocumented immigrants while provide compelling rich narrative vignettes. Collectively, these findings support the argument that undocumented students can cultivate an empowering self-identity by performing the role of infallible cultural citizen Dedication 5 Preface 6 Acknowledgments 12 Contents 16 List of Table 17 Chapter 1: Introduction 18 References 27 Chapter 2: Undocumented to Hyperdocumented: A Jornada of Papers, Protection, and PhD Status 28 Rites of Passage 33 A PhD a Doctor Does Not Make 37 Uncommon Sense: Facultad 41 References 43 Chapter 3: Privileged and Undocumented: Toward a Borderland Love Ethic 44 Love and Research 46 A Borderland Love Ethic 47 Nurturing Our Strength to Love in Spaces of Contention 48 Tolerance of Ambiguity as a Revolutionary Virtue 49 Humbly Beginning Anew Again and Again 50 The Moment 51 Guadalupe’s Border Crossing 54 Researcher’s Crossing of Multiple Borders 56 Geographical Border 56 Academic Border 57 Personal Border 57 The Insider (Native)/Outsider Dilemma 58 Contradictions 61 Conclusion 61 References 62 Chapter 4: Figured Worlds and American Dreams: An Exploration of Agency and Identity Among Undocumented Students 64 Literature Review 65 An Overview of Undocumented Students Research (K-PhD) 66 Identity, Education, and Agency in Undocumented Students’ Lives 67 Methodology 68 Data Analysis 69 Theoretical Framework 70 Positional/Relational Identity 71 Space of Authoring and Play 71 Improvisational Activity 72 Figured Worlds 73 Findings 74 Adversity as an Undocumented American 74 Community Cultural Wealth and Collective Resistance 78 Discussion 87 Conclusion 90 Limitations 91 References 92 Chapter 5: Doing Good and Doing Damage: Educators’ Impact on Undocumented Latinx Students’ Lives 99 Existing Research About Undocumented Students 100 Theoretical Framework: Educación and Authentic Caring 102 Methodology 103 Procedure 103 Data Analysis 105 Findings 106 Doing Good 106 Doing Damage 109 Maintaining Hope 113 Discussion 115 Conclusion 117 References 118 Chapter 6: Working with Undocumented Students: What They Say We Need to Know 124 You Don’t Need to Know a Lot to Help Me 126 Don’t Tell Me Everything Is Going to Be Fine 128 Walk the Path Alongside Me 130 Maria and the Fake ID 130 Ahmed and the Mayor 133 References 135 Chapter 7: Academic Agency and the Burden of Perfectionism 136 Borderlands and Mestiza Consciousness Within a Provisional Space 140 Armed Love 141 Interactionality 142 Engaging the Borderland Love Ethic 143 Write Yourself into Academia 144 References 145 Index 146 Front Matter ....Pages i-xix Introduction (Aurora Chang)....Pages 1-10 Undocumented to Hyperdocumented: A Jornada of Papers, Protection, and PhD Status (Aurora Chang)....Pages 11-26 Privileged and Undocumented: Toward a Borderland Love Ethic (Aurora Chang)....Pages 27-46 Figured Worlds and American Dreams: An Exploration of Agency and Identity Among Undocumented Students (Aurora Chang)....Pages 47-81 Doing Good and Doing Damage: Educators’ Impact on Undocumented Latinx Students’ Lives (Aurora Chang)....Pages 83-107 Working with Undocumented Students: What They Say We Need to Know (Aurora Chang)....Pages 109-120 Academic Agency and the Burden of Perfectionism (Aurora Chang)....Pages 121-130 Back Matter ....Pages 131-135