The Migrant Educational Technology (MET) program is an after-school program that introduces Latino migrant families in Detroit to basic computing and educational software applications, with the goal of supporting students’ schoolwork and improving their academic achievement. The 1998-99 MET program was organized into three phases. In the introductory qualifying phase, migrant students had to meet academic, attendance, and citizenship requirements; maintain academic progress; and have a positive attitude toward peers and teachers. In the second phase, 50 qualifying students brought their families to after-school work sessions, and 22 families attended 60 hours of sessions and qualified to take home a computer and printer. In the third phase, these families received technical support for home use of the technology tools. Pedagogical models used in the program were project-based learning and participatory pedagogy. In a study of 14 families that regularly attended the program, critical discourse analysis of parents’ conversations and talk during work sessions revealed several key discursive program features that shaped a collective, participatory orientation among participants. These included the framing and reframing of “driving questions” (the group’s central concerns and goals), acknowledgement of the group’s shared experiences, and the facilitator’s use of inclusive, equitable language. The importance of social organization and discourse to promoting migrant families’ program participation is discussed. (SV)
