Uncovering the Transnational and Navigational Capital of Teachers in the Borderlands

• In Event: Gutter Rainbows and Concrete Roses: Utilizing Community Cultural Wealth to Find Beauty in the Hideous

Abstract

This paper examines how Latina bilingual pre-service teachers drew from various forms of cultural capital (Yosso, 2005) to author their developing maestra identities and navigate their bilingual teacher preparation program. In order to understand how bilingual pre-service teachers drew up various forms of cultural capital to author their developing maestra identities, I analyze the texts (written, visual, and oral) of four pre-service teachers by using a combined theoretical framework of self-authoring (Holland et al., 1998) and cultural capital theory (Yosso, 2005). These data sources were analyzed using textual analysis (Fairclough, 2003; Moje & Lewis, 2007) and cross case analysis (Merriam, 1998) to present findings across and between the four focal case study participants.

A principal finding is the necessity for development of transformative navigational capital among pre-service teachers. Specific analysis of their talk as well as the texts they produced demonstrate how transformative navigational capital was cultivated and fostered between the maestras and further mediated by their professors as a strategy essential for their continued success. The program also provided symbolic spaces and authentic opportunities for pre-service teachers to develop and cultivate their maestra identity. As this identity grew, the pre-service teachers became advocates for bilingual and Latina/o children, reclaimed their Spanish/English biliteracy, and nurtured a strong sense of community with peers and professors. The data strongly suggests that transformative navigational capital is central to the success of these maestras in social institutions.

The current scholarship in Latino critical race theory and community cultural wealth frames our understanding of navigation by communities of color in historically white institutions. Since this study was conducted within a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), it is important to expand this conceptual framework to include navigating an HSI that is, at times, affirmative yet contested and marginalized. It also must take into account borderland spaces and communities where Mexican-Americans are the majority.

The findings indicate that Latina bilingual pre-service teachers utilize various forms of cultural capital to navigate a teacher preparation program. The maestras in this study drew upon their navigational and transnational capital to navigate through historically racist social institutions. Consequently, this program, which affirmed their bicultural and bilingual identities, allowed them finally to enter their classrooms without leaving parts of themselves at the door.

The findings also suggest that transformative navigational capital was mediated by all other types of capital, including transnational, inspirational, familial, and linguistic. It is important that for many of these maestras, critical navigation through multiple worlds also included navigating physical, cultural, and linguistic borderlands, which was made possible because the program included opportunities grounded in assets and affirmative pedagogies (Darder, 1991). An important finding was the role of transnational capital within the biliteracy development of maestras. The program provided various opportunities for these maestras to draw from their biliterate and bicultural “repertoires of practice” (Rubenstein-Avila, 2007; Gutierrez & Rogoff, 2003, p. 22). These repertoires were often multi-sited and transnational.

Author

• Carol Brochin, The University of Texas - El Paso