Aspirantes’ Consejos on El Maga and the Role of Technology in La Clase Mágica

• In Event: La Clase Mágica: Generating Transworld Pedagogy

Abstract

1. Objectives: To illustrate how, when invited to dialogue, La Clase Mágica (LCM) aspirantes —bilingual teacher education candidates— eagerly embraced an ideological discourse of possibility and transformation. Dialogue is a contextually situated approach to education that stands at the heart of LCM, an after school program in which prospective bilingual teacher, or aspirantes, actively seek to transform the educational experience of young bilingual learners (Vasquez, 2003).

2. Theoretical framework: In LCM, dialogue is crucial for making the transformation process democratic, authentic and founded on “the capacity and inclination of human beings to reflect together on the meaning of their experience and their knowledge” (Shor, 1992, p. 86). To be democratic, dialogue must become a meeting ground where horizontal relationships are created (Freire, 2003). In essence, this open-ended process allows aspirantes to problematize their experiences within LCM as they explore, learn and formulate consejos. In this study, the use of this word emerged from the aspirantes themselves as they sought to contribute to the betterment of a project in which they had participated. Delgado-Gaitan (1994) described consejo as a notion that extends the meaning of advice, which in English is defined merely as an opinion. Consejos, Delgado-Gaitan states, imply “a cultural domain of communication sparked with emotional empathy and compassion, as well as familial expectation and inspiration” (p. 300). In the Latino culture, consejos are permeated by ‘caring’ behaviors and relationships that seek to empower and transform.

3. Methods: Using qualitative methodologies, we explored the experiences of five of the aspirantes who participated in an inaugural semester of LCM during the fall of 2009. This qualitative inquiry, defined as “an in-depth description and analysis of a bounded system” (Merriam, 2009), allowed us to center our analysis on a particular program as experienced by a well defined group of participants (Miles & Huberman, 1994)

4. Data sources: Data primarily stemmed from a series of reflective pláticas (informal discussions or chats) with the aspirantes. Other data sources included: researcher debriefings from monthly LCM observations, focus-group interviews, and feedback from member-checking. For the purpose of this study, we maintained ongoing informal conversations regarding aspirantes’ previous experience as participants in LCM.

5. Results: The findings will center on themes and corresponding consejos (advice) specific to El Maga (the wizard) and the role of technology as an educational tool. Specifically, aspirantes perceived El Maga as an influential figure whose consistency, depth, active involvement were crucial to the effectiveness of the program. Additionally, aspirantes viewed technology as a resource that from their perspective holds great potential as a tool for inquiry. Both themes inspired aspirantes to forsee possibilities for change.

6. Scholarly significance: Shifting the research lens to aspirantes is important, not only because they bring fresh eyes into the process, but also because they are affectively invested in LCM. Through their consejos, aspirantes learned to shape their discourse to match the cultural make up of the predominantly Latino community in which this LCM site is located.

Author

• Maria Guadalupe Arreguin-Anderson, The University of Texas - San Antonio