DREAMers, Immigrant Rights Advocates, and Allies: Strategic Engagements to Expand PK–16+ Public Education

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Defending public education for undocumented students PK-16+, the panelists present their dreams to expand Pre K-16+ education for all. Undocumented and U.S. born students from mixed status families suffer from intensified militarization of the U.S. Mexican border, increased deportation and detention and privatization of prisons. In harsh times, with heightened racist, anti-LGBT and anti-Muslim actions and statements emanating from government elected officials and in the media, educators must protect the most vulnerable students as they prepare multilingual learners for academic achievement and democratic participation. The papers address how educators can become advocates and allies through intersectionality, utilizing testimonio, music and critical discourse analysis to analyze and counter anti-foreign, misogynist, English-only and settler ideologies, policies and practices.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Second Language Research

Chair

• Shelley Wong, George Mason University

Papers

• DREAMing of STEM: Testimonio as a Means to Prepare Future Bilingual Teachers - Anita Bright, Portland State University; G. Sue Kasun, Georgia State University

• Using Music for Deconstructing Immigrant Discourses: A Critical Analytic Approach - Theresa Y. Austin, University of Massachusetts - Amherst; Gertrude M. Tinker Sachs, Georgia State University

• UndocuQueers: Resisting Double Exile in Education - Juan Rios, Bradley University; Sonja Franeta