From “Sí Se Puede” to “Échale Ganas”: Transforming the Migrant Life Narrative Through Debate Tournaments

• In Event: Roundtable Session 22
  In Roundtable Session: Identity Construction Through Texts

Abstract

This paper theorizes that migrant students who participate in Migrant Education Program’s debate tournaments develop a specific life narrative that is much more focused than the general success narratives historically presented. The data of this ethnographic study were collected over three years of regional and state Migrant Education debate tournaments from the theoretical perspectives of social justice, literacies, and situated learning. The findings in this study highlight the specificity of literacy development in the Migrant Education debate tournaments and in the new life narratives. This study contributes to a greater understanding of how programs of authentic practice can be designed and utilized with all students regardless of mobility or academic risk factors.

Author

• Julie Antilla, Seattle Pacific University