In Pursuit of Social Justice: Testimonios of Dual-Language Immersion Teachers

• In Event: 43.077 - MTCC Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: 43.077-9 - The Quest for Educational Equity for Bi/Multilingual Students

Abstract

The proliferation of dual language immersion (DLI) programs can lead to their commodification and erase the historical struggle of linguistic minorities to learn in native languages. It is important to remain attentive to the social justice intent of DLI programs, i.e. to improve learning outcomes of English Leaners. This study captures the personal and professional experiences of 10 veteran Latinx teachers in dual language immersion (DLI) programs in Southern California. Using participants' testimonios, we document how their familial and schooling experiences, as native Spanish language speakers, informs their perceptions of their roles as agents of social justice. LatCrit Theory and Transformative Resistance lenses allows us to position their practice as a challenge to historically hostile language policies in schools.

Authors

• Maria Estela Zarate, California State University - Fullerton

• Rosamaria Murillo, La Habra City School District