What: “Portuguese-Canadian Academic Underachievement and Parental Approaches Towards their Children’s Schooling” a lecture by Dr. Fernando Nunes, Assistant Professor in the Department of Child and Youth Study at Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Where: Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives located in the Claire T. Carney Library

When: Thursday, November 18 from 12:30 to 1:30 P.M.

The event is free and open to the public.

Based on a national, community-based study that was undertaken to uncover the barriers and support mechanisms influencing retention and academic achievement in Canada, the lecture will report the research’s preliminary findings for Portuguese-Canadian students and describe the common roles, approaches and responses of the parents of these youth to their children’s education. Dr. Nunes will also address the implications of the findings for current theory and policy, including anti-racism education, caste theory and the policy of Employment Equity.

The event will take place on Thursday, November 18 from 12:30 to 1:30 P.M. in the Prince Henry Society Reading Room of the Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives located in the Claire T. Carney Library.

Dr. Fernando Nunes holds a Ph.D. in the area of education and community development, and a M.Ed. in applied psychology, from the Multicultural Focus of OISE/UT, (the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education of the University of Toronto). He has conducted research on at-risk immigrant youth, the academic underachievement of Portuguese-Canadian children, Portuguese-Canadian immigrant women, and the Lusophone Diaspora; coordinated the first national study on the Portuguese in Canada, “Portuguese-Canadians: From Sea to Sea;” wrote the first monograph on the adaptation of the Portuguese in Canada– Problems and Adjustments of the Portuguese Immigrant Family in Canada;  and authored several research articles and reports on Portuguese Canadians.

Prior to his current position at Mount Saint Vincent University, he taught at OISE/UT, Brock, York and Ryerson Universities. He is affiliated with CERIS-Toronto (The Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement), and The Atlantic Metropolis Centre.

Dr. Nunes has also served as a board member of various community organizations, such as the Portuguese-Canadian National Congress, the Portuguese Interagency Network, Canadian National Institute for the Blind-Toronto and the Toronto Community Care Access Centre.  In the early 1980s, he also co-founded the first student-led Luso-Canadian student association, the York University Portuguese Association.

His current research activities focus on minority academic underachievement, the civic and political participation of Portuguese-Canadian youth, and the effectiveness of Canada’s model of immigration settlement services.  His most recent project, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, is examining the barriers and support mechanisms to the education of Luso-Canadian youth, in five Canadian cities.

Directions:

For directions to the UMass Dartmouth campus, see https://www.umassd.edu/vtour/.  Please use Parking Lot 13.

Access to the archives during library construction is by way of the library basement and first floor exit.