Racist and Raciolinguistic Teacher Ideologies: When Bilingual Education is “Inherently Culturally Relevant” for Latinxs

Abstract

Many schools attempt to address the needs of “English-language learners,” who usually are Spanish-dominant Latinxs, by offering dual-language (DL) bilingual education. While undertaking a larger ethnographic study of one such secondary-level dual-language program, I examined how dual-language teachers understood the program as equitable for Latinxs. I found that teachers believed DL met Latinxs’ needs by providing Spanish-language/biliteracy schooling, which deemphasized the need for explicitly enhancing youths’ critical consciousness. This teacher ideology of assuming DL is “inherently culturally relevant” led to significant issues. For example, teachers believed DL would improve Latinxs’ academic achievement, but when teachers perceived Latinx achievement was not on par with White dual-language students’ outcomes, teachers made sense of Latinxs’ underperformance in DL through racist explanations and did not interrogate the program’s cultural relevance. Specifically, teachers pointed to the program not providing Latinxs the needed Spanish input even though the Latinx students self-identified as bilingual and were the “Spanish-dominant” students, and teachers pointed to Latinxs’ cultural and familial deficits. I argue teachers overlooked critical-racial consciousness as an important component of an equitable education. Implications include for teachers to cultivate their critical-racial consciousness, interrogate raciolinguistic ideologies, and define an equitable DL as centering critical-racial consciousness.

“I did not realize that my teacher had taken away part of my identity”: bilingual preservice teachers’ virtual libraries project

“…This study sought to unveil how teacher preparation programs play a critical role in constructing a teacher’s identity. The voices of Daniela, Alejandra and Sara exemplify how their multicultural teacher education courses raised opportunities for reflection through critical-racial consciousness (Chávez-Moreno, 2021; Flores and Morales (2021)). The stories presented the need for preservice teachers to reclaim their bilingual identities by specifically reflecting on moments within their own education.…”

“…Daniela, Alejandra and Sara’s experience within a multicultural education class illustrate how a single course within a BPST program has the potential to foster critical engagement from preservice teacher candidates. Chávez-Moreno (2021) centers that bilingual teacher training and competence should focus on opportunities that are grounded in culturally and linguistic sustaining practices. In terms of bilingual teacher preparation, Chávez-Moreno (2021) argues that programs need to work diligently to include ample opportunities to build academic Spanish proficiency.…”

“…Chávez-Moreno (2021) centers that bilingual teacher training and competence should focus on opportunities that are grounded in culturally and linguistic sustaining practices. In terms of bilingual teacher preparation, Chávez-Moreno (2021) argues that programs need to work diligently to include ample opportunities to build academic Spanish proficiency. Regarding bilingual teacher identity, preservice teachers need classroom and field experiences that allow them to use their agency in crafting lessons that are reflective of critical-racial consciousness.…”

Latina/o bilingual teacher candidates’ meaning-making of space and place: Attending to raciolinguistic landscapes in bilingual teacher education

“…Rosa and Flores’s (2017) call prompted important critical research focused on how racially hegemonic modes of perception manifest within US schools via educational policies (Hernández, 2017; Sung, 2018), pedagogical practices (Chavez-Moreno, 2021a; Flores et al, 2018; García-Mateus, 2020), school designations (Flores et al, 2020; Chaparro, 2019; Rosa, 2016), and student interactions (Braden, 2019; Dexter, 2020; Ricklefs, 2021). However, this research has paid little attention to space/place as factors reinscribing raciolinguistic ideologies or ideologies that frame the linguistic practices of racialized individuals as deficient and in need of management (Rosa and Flores, 2017).…”

Introducing “Trans~Resistance”: Translingual Literacies as Resistance to Epistemic Racism and Raciolinguistic Discourses in Schools

“…Finally, the hegemonic perceptions of coloniality and whiteness that live within individuals and institutions are both perpetuated through epistemic racism in teaching and learning contexts [34], making it difficult for Translinguals to escape the web of oppression created by epistemic racism. Understanding how epistemic racism works sets us up to discern signs of its existence and its processes in order to create healthy equitable educational environments that are safe for non-mainstream students like Translinguals.…”