A Latina Speaks: Experiences in Higher Education

• In Event: Pathways to Success in Academia: Experiences of Women of Color in a College of Education

Abstract

This self-study emanates from a retrospective analysis of my experience as a tenured Latina faculty member. Utilizing an initial analysis from this reflection, I constructed action research study framing how these ideas inform my pedagogy in bilingual teacher preparation.

Objectives
1. To consider the challenges/opportunities from my experience as a Latina faculty member through a retrospective analysis
2. To utilize the initial analysis from this reflection to construct an action research project as a means for informing my pedagogy in bilingual teacher preparation

Theoretical Framework

Action research lends itself to considering my experience and to a principal inquiry of this study, “How does my experience as a Latina faculty member inform my pedagogy in bilingual teacher preparation? “. Carr and Kemmis (1986) characterize action research as “retrospective analysis and prospective action”. The opportunity to consider my experiences retrospectively afforded me the context for engaging in praxis. Freire and Macedo (1996) describe praxis as the dialectics between the action, consciously examined and theorized, and which informs and transforms the theory behind it. Thus, theory and action become an “ongoing, interdependent process in which reflection, including theoretical analysis, enlightens action, and in its turn the transformed action changes our understanding of the object of our reflection” (Torres & Mercado 2002).

Modes of inquiry
Action research as an iterative process with recursive stages, an on-going process of reflection/action is optimal for making pedagogical use of self-reflection. Borrowing concepts from Chicana feminism and critical sociolinguistics served to organize pivotal moments in my experience and development of an initial analysis. This study is ongoing and as such only the themes from the retrospective analysis and an initial application to bilingual teacher preparation are presented.

Data Sources
-Examination of key promotion and tenure documents as a means for reflecting upon pivotal moments
-Reconstruction of stories compiled from recollection of pivotal moments
-Dialogical conversations with critical friend, (colleague familiar with my experiences)
-Examination of syllabi, course notes, major assignments/key pedagogy utilized in two bilingual education courses (undergraduate/graduate) as a means for application of my stories/experiences.

Conclusions
1. Learning to participate in the academy requires bi-Discoursal “people who have or are mastering two contesting or conflicting Discourses” abilities (Gee 1996).
2. Understanding of my complex positionality as a Latina while reconceptualizing idea of multiple subjectivities towards the construct of intersubjectivity.
3. Realizing the challenges/opportunities present in role of “cultural broker”.
In addition, I present a framework as an initial application to my pedagogy.
4. Towards a praxis of bilingual teacher preparation
Bilingual Education Con Respeto y Carino: Adhering to an English Plus Framework
-Whose Funds of Knowledge?
-No More Subtractive Schooling
- I am my Language

Significance
An examination of my experiences can lend insights for other women of color who are currently in the academy. In addition, considering my reflection and experience within critical frameworks presents alternative ideas perhaps serving as a means for broadening pedagogies in the field of bilingual teacher preparation.

Author

• Maria D. Mercado, New Mexico State University