Abstract
This dissertation presents a case study of a rural transnational community. It is influenced by ethnographic tradition through its use of a participant-observer perspective. The focus is upon the lived experience of the members of the transnational community. Their stories were collected through field notes, photographs, interviews, and surveys conducted in Obscuridad, Veracruz, Mexico and Springfield, Minnesota, U.S.A. and presented as a scholarly narrative. I found that transnational communities are emerging around the world. They are a distinct migration paradigm that doesn’t follow a classic assimilation cycle. The host community and its public schools in particular, must come to know the story specific to the transnational community before progress will be made on common goals such as an achievement gap. Ultimately, it is the values that are shared among all residents that will facilitate transformation within the community and its schools. This study contributes to the research on the phenomenon of transnational communities through several unique strategies. There is currently a lack of literature available on rural to rural transnational communities. My dissertation further distinguishes itself by collecting data through primary sources at both sites of the transnational community in the participant’s language of choice.