Shifting Demographics, Unshifting Perspectives: Supporting Latinx Students Through Antiracist Pedagogy

• In Event: Latinx Experiences in U.S. Schools: Students, Teachers, Teacher Educators, and Education Allies as Collaborators

Abstract

Objectives/Purposes
Despite the fact that the majority of Latinx students are citizens of the United States (Foxen & Mather, 2016), this population is often minoritized and often portrayed as negative stereotypes in popular media (Ramasubramanian, Doshi, & Saleem, 2017; Sui & Paul, 2017). In public schools, these racial and linguistic biases can translate into segregation, lower teacher expectations, lower tracking, and/or stigma of their English Learner status (Umansky, 2016). The purpose of this paper is to learn from teachers who are committed to working against these inequities.

Theoretical Framework
As our schools have become increasingly diverse (NCES, 2018), methods for supporting a more culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms have evolved. From the early work of Gloria Ladson-Billings (1994) on culturally relevant pedagogy to the more recent use of culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris, 2016) as well as asset based perspectives such as funds of knowledge (Moll, Amanti, Neff, & Gonzalez, 1992) and Yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth model, these critical perspectives have shaped the modern multicultural education movement. While there is no argument against the benefits of multicultural education, simply modifying the curriculum does not address deeply rooted issues of oppression. Drawing from Blakeney (2005), we are driven by the idea that issues of equity and access in education can not be addressed by multicultural education alone, but must also include anti-racist pedagogy.

Methods and Data Sources
Two participants, an early career teacher and a veteran teacher, reflected on their work as English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers, focusing particularly on teacher-teacher, teacher-student, and student-student interactions as they relate to issues of racism and linguicism toward Latinx students. Drawing from narrative research (Salkind, 2010), we used personal narratives to capture these interactions, focusing initially on the time period immediately following the 2016 Trump election.
Results
The teacher stories revealed that while the use of xenophobic language and anti-immigrant sentiments have had a stronger presence in their schools post-election, these linguist and racist ideologies have always been present. These stories support the argument that anti-racist pedagogy is a crucial tool in working against systemic oppression in education and findings suggest that anti-racist pedagogy should be part of both the student and teacher learning experience.

Significance
This work provides insights into the challenges teachers face in providing equitable and safe learning environments for their multilingual students of color. Specifically, our work highlights not just the need for schools to move beyond multicultural education, but also the need for anti-racist teacher professional learning.

Authors

• Christine Montecillo Leider, University of Massachusetts - Boston

• Megan Schantz, Waltham Public Schools District

• Molly Ross