Equitable Education for Marginalized Youth in Latin America and the Caribbean

“This edited volume provides a compelling analysis on the issues relating to educational access that, despite Education For All, have led to systemic and personal marginalization for students at the bottom of the pyramid in Latin America and the Caribbean countries. It uses a critical postcolonial lens to explore the social inequities in educational systems created by colonial legacies and the contemporary influence of globalization, political unrest and US intervention, development aid, and the COVID pandemic, whereby educational policies and practices favoring the elite persist in the Caribbean and have resulted in a severe marginalization of Indigenous and rural student populations in Latin America. I recommend this book to policy-makers, researchers, and practitioners alike both for its analysis of these systemic barriers and for the valuable solutions offered for change towards equity and social justice.” - Maya Kalyanpur, Professor and Chair, School of Leadership and Education Sciences, University of San Diego, USA “This edited volume provides interesting reading for Latin American and Caribbean scholars whose research focus is on the marginalization of Latin American and Caribbean youth. The editor, Stacey Blackman, presents an excellent introductory chapter in which she defines marginalization from the educational, societal and psychological perspectives and, just as important, highlights the common core of all the definitions, that is, “the othering or exclusion of the group, usually poor and/or minority.” […] A common theme running through the book is the challenges in meeting the successive UNESCO Education for All frameworks. The chapters are very informative and the references provide a rich source of literature for those interested in the area of research. Another theme running through the book is the legacy of the colonial past that has left Latin America and the Caribbean with an hierarchical education system that differentiates, stratifies and marginalizes and in so doing, maintains the status quo suited the colonial era. Overall this is a well-structured edited volume that adds to the limited research that looks at education systems in Latin America and the Caribbean and how policies and organizational structures perpetuate the marginalization of the youth. I recommend the volume as essential reading for educators and policy makers, and anyone interested in conducting further research in this area.” - Launcelot I. Brown, Retired Professor, Duquesne University, USA