Feeling Their Way Toward Justice: Outlaw Emotions and Subversive Actions in Bilingual Teaching

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Thirteen
  In Roundtable Session: Teachers Transcending Justice Across Multilingual Contexts (Table 9)

Abstract

In order to navigate the many inequities present in classrooms today, novice teachers must develop a critical awareness of power in classroom environments. Recent research has suggested that this awareness, or critical consciousness should be a central aspect of teaching and learning in all bilingual programs. Currently, the field knows little about how such a consciousness develops or how it is connected to everyday classroom experiences. This study utilized a critical ethnographic approach to engage novice dual language teachers in a collaborative exploration of the daily experience of critical consciousness. Findings indicate that critical consciousness enabled novice teachers to interpret, navigate and respond to systemic inequities in their new teaching environments. These findings hold valuable implications for teacher education programs.

Author

• Rachel Snyder Bhansari, Portland State University
  Presenting Author