My Research

Over the last ten years I've mainly focused on connecting ethnic minority and youth identities to experiences of unequal schooling and particularly institutional racism. In particular, I draw on on critical race theory, critical pedagogy, and youth studies literature to demonstrate the ambivalence between student agency and conformity to structural oppression.

In other words, I'm interested in the day to day events that influence ethnic minority youths' decisions about how to self-identify, and in what ways they try to resist or conflict with school values, norms or practices.

My work is broadly based on ethnographic qualitative techniques, which means the research context of the school is of vital importance, but I mainly focus on the words and discourses of students and staff, which ultimately comes down to using different interviewing techniques (sometimes in motion, sometimes static, sometimes group and sometimes individual).

I have mostly worked with Mapuche youth (to whom I am very grateful for all their time). They are the largest group among the indigenous Peoples in Chile. However, I have also carried out research with Latin American migrant youth as well, and most of my PhD students tend to focus on this rising and important population; whether in schools or in medical centres.

Thanks for taking the time to look at my profile and I hope my work inspires you to consider similar issues in this region and further afield.