Latino Bilingual Teachers: Negotiating the Figured World of Masculinity

• In Event: The Figured World of Bilingual Education: Proyecto Bilingüe as Context for Teacher Self-Authoring

Abstract

Objective: The qualitative study seeks to understand how Latino male teachers navigate their multiple identities in their elementary classrooms. One broad research question guides the research: How do Latino male teachers negotiate their identities in a gendered profession? Classroom literacy practices are highlighted as the teachers address students’ gendered positions.

Theoretical Framework: Figured Worlds
Holland and colleagues’ “figured worlds” (1998) offers a useful framework for the exploration of the multiple identities of male teachers in the master figured world of masculinity. At the center of these socially and culturally constructed figured worlds are power dynamics that are made visible in interactions with others. In the master figured worlds, male teachers are positioned as disciplinarians, role models, and father figures. In schools, all men, including Latino men, are expected to exemplify and model an idealized hegemonic masculinity (Connell, 2005). Ways teachers seek for themselves and create for their students’ space of authoring new identities is central to the investigation.

Methods and Data Sources: The three focal teachers in this study were selected through purposeful sampling (Patton, 2002) for their unique approach to literacy instruction. The teachers were familiarized with inclusive multicultural children’s literature during their Proyecto Bilingüe coursework and learned to provide students opportunities to understand complex issues through readalouds. Data sources to trace the readalouds included audio and video recordings, transcripts, classroom observations, ethnographic fieldnotes (Marshall & Rossman, 2006), and teacher interviews. The data was identified and coded into patterns and themes (Miles, Huberman, & Saldaña, 2013). Triangulation of the data was employed to establish trustworthiness (Mathison, 1988).

Findings: The following themes were identified from analysis of the data. The first theme, “Latino Male Privilege? Positioning and Repositioning of Male Identities”, highlights the complex, contradictory and problematic identities these male teachers negotiated in elementary schools. While they accepted them and benefited from certain roles, these men also self-authored nuanced identities guided by new understandings. The second theme, “Questioning and Imagining New Identities Through Children’s Literature”, illustrates the process by which the Latino teachers presented their students with a space to question rigid gendered positions, imagine more flexible boundaries for gender expression and learn to fashion new identities for the characters in stories and in their own lives.

Significance
Heteronormative masculinity pressures all male teachers to fashion performances that align with the master figured world of masculinity. While this study focused largely on male teachers, we cannot discount the ability of both male and female teachers to present themes of gender equity in the classroom via children’s literature. The implications for this study suggest that recruiting more Latino men into elementary school teaching requires some serious consideration.

Author

• Gilberto P. Lara, Oregon State University