Honduran Teachers’ experiences with Transnational Students in Rural Schools / Experiencias de docentes hondureños con estudiantes transnacionales en escuelas rurales

With the recent rise in Central American child migrant apprehensions and deportations across the U.S. and Mexico (González 2019; Flores et al. 2019), there still exists little evidence about their return to their communities and schools. Through a teacher’s voice framework, this study asked: What are Honduran teachers’ experiences with transnational students? And, how do Honduran teachers make sense of transnational students’ experiences and knowledge? The methodologies used were: 1) 47 classroom surveys; 2) 10 individual transnational student surveys, and; 3) 9 semi-structured teacher interviews. Teacher responses revealed that: 1) there is a lack of information on the trajectories of transnational students; 2) new knowledge about migrant students is well-valued among teachers, and; 3) there is minimal teacher training on transnational students and their educational needs. The findings call for improved resources to support teaching practices targeted toward meeting the needs of transnational students as well as strategies to help facilitate increased and successful classroom reintegration upon return.