De los Derechos Humanos: Reimagining Civics in Bilingual & Bicultural Settings

Abstract

Dominant approaches to teaching social studies often marginalize bilingual and bicultural students. This is particularly troubling because the explicit goal of the social studies is to cultivate civic participation. Educational inequalities are thus tied to political inequalities. In light of this, this article shares a narrative case study of the author's own bilingual and bicultural approach to teaching middle school civics at a dual-language American school in Mexico. Through the illustration of a comparative civics curriculum that incorporates translanguaging practices, the author argues that embracing bilingualism and biculturalism in the social studies can lead to more expansive possibilities for justice-oriented civic education.

(Mis)representation of Latinxs in Florida social studies standards

“…Traditional social studies curriculum coupled with English-only language policies in the classroom further marginalize those Latinx students who also happen to be English language learners (ELLs). To address these issues, several scholars (Bondy, 2016;Gibson, 2017;Jaffee, 2016) call for teachers and/or teacher educators to question curriculum, standards and policies and instead promote alternative, culturally relevant understandings of citizenship among Latinx ELLs. Bondy (2016), a teacher educator, encourages prospective teachers to question English-only education and the normalization of the American national identity.…”

“…Bondy (2016), a teacher educator, encourages prospective teachers to question English-only education and the normalization of the American national identity. Additionally, Gibson (2017) provides a successful narrative of a Spanish-English bilingual approach to civic education that helps students "develop a critical consciousness about political and social narratives and to develop a vision of themselves as citizens capable of working for positive change in the communities they belong to" (p. 12). Finally, Jaffee (2016) discusses examples of multiple teaching strategies that provide culturally and linguistically relevant social studies content for ELLs despite the curricular requirements of state standards and assessments.…”

Linguistically diverse students’ perceptions of difficulties with reading and understanding texts in civics

“…Similarly, Myers and Zaman (2009) show that reading civic texts and thinking aloud about the language-and content-related characteristics that make them typical of civics supported L2 students' reading comprehension of the texts. These researchers also report that the civics themes discussed in texts and L2 students' prior knowledge in relation to these texts were a determining factor for the students' reading comprehension, even if some parts of the texts were difficult for students to understand due to the high level of abstraction in them (Myers & Zaman 2009, see also Dabach & Fones 2016, Gibson 2017, Di Stefano & Camicia 2018.…”

“…Thus, it can be argued that it is vital to include the perspectives of L2 students in research in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of these difficulties. L2 students' possible difficulties in civics classrooms were considered primarily from the civics teachers' perspectives, based on the methods used in the studies (e.g., teacher interviews and classroom observations) (Myres & Zaman 2011, Dabach 2014, Jaffee 2016, Dabach & Fones 2016, Gibson 2017, Di Stefano and Camicia 2018, Lai 2018, Dabach et al 2018. Interviews with L2 students in addition to teacher interviews are used in only two studies (Di Stefano & Camicia 2018, Myres & Zaman 2011.…”

“I Want Them to Feel Safe and to Feel Loved”: Collaborating to Teach Social Studies for Middle Level Emergent Bilingual Students

“…Creating a community in the classroom that embraces Latinx students' funds of knowledge is essential for scholars who embrace culturally and linguistically relevant pedagogy (Haneda, 2009;Moll, Amanti, Neff, & Gonzalez, 1992). Gibson (2017) reimagined civics in an eighth grade bilingual and bicultural classroom in Mexico. By implementing content and strategies that leveraged students' bilingualism (e.g., translanguaging pedagogy wherein students make meaning of content in both their first language and English) and biculturalism (e.g., examining notions of citizenship through bicultural identities and drawing on lived experiences) transformed and capitalized on new notions of "injustice, inequality, and social change" (p. 18).…”