Abstract
Parent-School Interaction in a Post-Migration Context: An Analysis from the Perspectives of     English-Speaking Single Mothers with Children Enrolled in the French-Language Public School System in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Aurelia Loredana Roman, PhD
Concordia University, 2022

This study examines educational disadvantage in immigrant Canadian children and youth residing in the province of Quebec and attending public schools in the city of Montreal, a plurilingual, multiethnic, multiracial and multicultural city. Bronfenbrenner’s (1974, 1979, 1986) socio-ecological perspective of human development and intersectionality (Collins, 2009, 2015; Collins & Bilge, 2016; Crenshaw, 1991; Jiwani et al., 2021) were used to conceptualize the intersecting inequalities experienced by single-mother families in a post-migration context in Quebec. Inductive analysis of the data uncovers the unique challenges faced by single mothers in relation to their children’s education in Quebec, which has been largely neglected in the literature. Some of these challenges include linguicism, discrimination, racism, and inadequate pedagogical practices among multilingual immigrant youth in Accueil high schools.
The following insights emerge from interviews with twelve English-speaking immigrant single mothers: immigration is a feminist practice; urgent reforms are required to minimize educational injustices in Accueil schools; and a deceiving immigration environment is promoted by Canada and Quebec internationally.
Keywords: immigrant women; single mothers; educational disadvantage; immigrant Canadian children and youth; Quebec; immigrant Allophones; refugees; ethnocultural and racialized women.