From Social Equity to Socialization: The Various Values of a One-Way Spanish-Immersion Elementary School

• In Event: 49.053 - Critical Conversations in Dual Language Education

Abstract

While much research has demonstrated that English-only rhetoric negatively affects education for the children of U.S. immigrants, few have studied the discourses that shape multilingual programming for English speakers. This study analyzed data from an 18-month ethnography documenting the development of a Spanish language immersion school. Framed by neo-institutional theory, analyses examined leaders’ and parents’ cultural scripts or discourse. Findings demonstrate that the majority of leaders and diverse parents valued multilingualism as a right and resource for all students; however, parents also stressed the importance of identity, academics, and security. Cultural scripts beyond those about language shaped the implementation of a one-way language immersion school. Such results have implications for how educators and policymakers establish multilingual education for all.

Author

• Lisa M. Dorner, University of Missouri - Columbia