The Politics of Decolonizing Linguistic Hegemony

• In Event: Challenging Dominant Narratives Through Student Autobiographies and Testimonios

Abstract

On the heels of 20 years of restrictive English only language policies, California is embarking on a new path toward reconciling its stance on bilingual education. The 2016 passage of proposition 58—the California Education for a Global Economy (Ed.G.E.) Initiative—provides instruction beyond English only instruction for “all” students, inclusive of non-native English speakers. Despite the legislative push toward additive education policies, remnants of deficit-oriented policies and practices remain (Author). Research also finds that even in an era of proposition 58, bilingual teacher candidates view themselves through a deficit-oriented lens, as lacking proficiency in both English and Spanish when placed as classroom instructors in bilingual education settings (Briceño, et al., 2018). These findings hold pertinent implications for both K12 and higher education, in particular teacher education programs.

This paper draws from the testimonios of 40 bilingual teacher candidates who identify as Spanish heritage language speakers, enrolled in two regional-serving teacher education programs in Central California. Grounded in a critical race theory framework, Testimonios are a methodological tool that allows for deeper interrogations of social institutions to understand influences on the educational experiences of minoritized communities (Delgado Bernal, et al., 2012; Huber, 2009)—in our case, bilingual teacher candidates. Our data collection took place in two phases. In phase one, prior to engaging in the testimonio, all credential candidate participants engaged in several experiences in and out of the formal classroom setting about US and California language policy—i.e., readings, collaborative work, reflections, and discussions. During this phase, the candidates were guided through inquiry where they were asked to discuss a) the implications of English only language policies on broader society; b) the benefits of bilingual education; and c) various pedagogical approaches to build bilingualism. Once credential candidates were afforded opportunities to deepen their background knowledge of bilingual education policy and practice, they were asked to engage in a reflective exercise of Testimonios to share their experiences expanding their linguistic repertoires.

Preliminary findings highlight how credential candidates who grew up in Spanish speaking households overwhelmingly experienced struggle, exclusion, and isolation within formal education spaces. However, despite their personal educational experience, these candidates also found solace in their familial, peer, and local communities, exhibiting social, navigational, and resistance capital to maintain and sustain their heritage language that the institution worked to erase. For credential candidates who grew up in bilingual households, these participants expressed acknowledgement of their perceived advantages in being able to navigate and negotiate both their community and institution educational spaces. In both cases, candidates provide profound insights on various forms of racial/ethnic and linguistic inequalities and how these forms of institutional racism instill deficit-oriented sentiments that carry over into their experiences in teaching credential programs. Moreover, bilingual candidates’ testimonios hold significance for teacher education programs, particularly as it relates to their role in rejecting the reproduction of raciolinguistic ideologies (Flores & Rosa, 2015) in order to expand educational opportunities for the public good.

Authors

• Michelle Soto-Pena

• Patricia D. Lopez, California State University - Fresno