Becoming Something Different: Learning from Esmé

Abstract

In this article, Fairbanks, Crooks, and Ariail followed Esmé Martinez, a Spanish-speaking Latina, from the sixth grade to the eleventh grade, focusing on her perspectives of schooling and her shifting identities related to home, school, friendships, and future. Drawing on the construct of artifacts, a sociohistorical concept that understands skills, practices, and the means of putting them to use in social spaces, they detail Esmé's school history, the ways she was positioned there, and the resources she used to respond and reposition herself. This examination offers a long-term profile of the complex interactions that school entails and a nuanced reflection on agency within institutional constraints.