Creating Positive Contexts of Reception: The Value of Immigrant Teachers in U.S. Early Childhood Education - An Analysis of Preschool Teachers

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by ahduag

Young children of immigrants increasingly participate in early childhood programs in the United States, yet preschool teachers often hold mixed attitudes and approaches toward immigrant families. This article analyzes data from focus group interviews with 50 preschool teachers across five U.S. cities within the Children Crossing Borders video-cued ethnographic study. Findings show that sites valuing immigrant teachers’ insights develop more positive views of immigrant communities and stronger communication mechanisms with immigrant parents, supporting policy efforts that make reception contexts affirming.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages33

Reading Time1 h 23 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Immigrant children, early schooling success, and teacher affect

Study purpose and data source (Children Crossing Borders)

| education policy analysis archives
A peer-reviewed, independent, open access, multilingual journal | | | --- | --- | | Arizona State University | | | Volume 24 Number 1 January 4th, 2016 ISSN 1068-2341 | | Creating Positive Contexts of Reception: The Value of Immigrant Teachers in U.S. Early Childhood Education Programs Jennifer Keys Adair University of Texas at Austin USA Citation: Adair, J. K. (2016) . Creating positive contexts of reception: The value of immigrant teachers in U.S. early childhood education programs. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 24(1) . [http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v24.2110](http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v24.2110) Abstract: Young children of immigrants are increasingly part of early childhood programs in the United States but teachers have mixed approaches and attitudes about the immigrant families that they work with. This article details an analysis of 50 preschool teachers in five US cities using data from the Children Crossing Borders video-cued ethnographic study. The analysis finds that preschool sites that valued the insight of immigrant teachers had more positive views of immigrant communities and stronger mechanisms to communicate with immigrant parents. The article ultimately argues that policies that support the presence and meaningful input of immigrant preschool teachers can help preschool sites be positive, rather than negative or indifferent, contexts of reception. Keywords: early childhood education, immigration, teachers, video-cued ethnography Creando contextos positivos de recepción: El valor de profesores inmigrantes en programas de Educación Infantil en EE.UU. Resumen: Los hijos pequeños de familias inmigrantes son cada vez más parte de los programas para la primera infancia en los Estados Unidos, pero los docentes tienen enfoques y actitudes mixtas sobre las familias inmigrantes con las que tienen que trabajar. Este artículo detalla un análisis de 50 docentes de preescolar en cinco ciudades de Estados Unidos a partir de datos de un estudio que usa datos del Children Crossing Borders pistas etnográficas en video (Children Crossing Borders video-cued ethnographic study) . El análisis concluye que los organizacionespreescolares que valoran la intuición de los profesores inmigrantes tenían opiniones máspositivas de las comunidades de inmigrantes y mecanismos más fuertes para comunicarse con los padres inmigrantes. Este artículo argumenta que en última instancia políticas que apoyen lapresencia y el aporte significativo de los maestros de preescolar inmigrantes pueden ayudar a organizaciones preescolares a generar contextos de recepción positivos, más que negativos o indiferente, Palabras clave: educación de la primera infancia; inmigración; profesores; pistas etnográficas en video Criando contextos positivos de recepção: O valor de professores imigrantes nos programas de educação infantil nos EUA Resumo: Jovens filhos de imigrantes são parte cada vez mais dos programas para a primeira infância nos Estados Unidos, mas os professores "são misturados em abordagens e as famíliasimigrantes que trabalham atitudes Este artigo detalha uma análise de 50 professores de préescola em cinco cidades norte-americanas de dados del Children Crossing Borders pistasetnográficas en video (em inglês video-cued-ethnography) . A análise conclui que as organizações pré-escolares que valorizam professores imigrantes tinham opiniões mais positivas das comunidades imigrantes e mecanismos mais fortes para se comunicar com pais imigrantes. O artigo argumenta que políticas que apoiam a presença e valorizam as contribuição significativa dos professores imigrantes podem ajudar organizações pré-escolares para gerar contextos de recepção positivos, em vez de negativos ou indiferentes. Palavras-chave: educação infantil; imigração; professores; pistas etnográficas en video Introduction The early schooling success of children of immigrants and the early engagement of their p

FAQs

What concern does the article address regarding immigrant families in early childhood programs?

It addresses that young children of immigrants and their parents face inconsistent teacher attitudes and approaches, affecting how welcome and engagement are experienced in preschool settings.

What research data does the article use?

The study uses focus group interview data with 50 preschool teachers in five U.S. cities collected as part of the Children Crossing Borders video-cued ethnographic study.

What does the analysis find about preschool sites that value immigrant teachers?

It finds those sites hold more positive views of immigrant communities and have stronger mechanisms to communicate with immigrant parents.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by ahduag