Transnational Teachers On Both Sides Of The U.S.-Mexico Border: Exploring Their Identities And Conocimiento. A Phenomenological Study With A Comparative Stance

The transnationalism phenomenon is at the core of an increasingly globalized world. This phenomenological study with a comparative stance explores the lived experiences and perspectives of teachers with a transnational migration background with regards to how they [re]construct their identities and conocimiento. It compares and contrasts the histories and insights from participants in the borderlands with those from the heart of Mexico. Specifically, this study contributes to the under-explored body of literature which has taken a comparative stance in looking at transnationalism in education on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Data derived from migration memory maps and in-depth, phenomenological interviews with a total of 10 participants (five participants in each of the two settings). Data analysis was guided by a three-pronged framework: transnationalism theory, theory of conocimiento, and identity theory, through both inductive and deductive data coding. Findings denote the different stages of conocimiento that the participants experienced, as well as borderlands epistemologies and imagined transnationalism.