Latina collegians' perceptions of their mothers' PK-12 involvement and lessons: A Chicana/Latina feminist narrative inquiry

Latina mothers frequently impart guidance and lessons on their children as they traverse educational spaces. Drawing from their own lived experiences and epistemologies, Latina mothers often provide advice and support necessary for their children to persist academically and authentically. To extend the existing literature, our narrative study centering twelve Latina collegians highlighted the enduring cognitive impacts of their mothers' teachings throughout their PK-12 education. Uniquely, we employed a Chicana/Latina feminist lens to understand Latina collegians' recounts of their PK-12 experiences and their mothers' involvement. Our retrospective approach allowed us to observe participants' formative educational moments involving their mothers and how these shaped their future selves. Findings detailed how Latina students recognized racialized and gendered dynamics of the schooling system, mothers instilling expectations to do well academically in the face of structural inequities, and how daughters experienced shifting perceptions of home and schooling. We then provide implications for future research and practice.