A Historical Overview of Research About the Gentrification of Dual Language Bilingual Education

• In Event: Overcoming the Gentrification of Dual Language Bilingual Education Programs

Abstract

Objectives & Theoretical Framework
There are three main objectives for this paper presentation. The first objective is to provide a detailed overview of the research to date about the gentrification of DLBE in the United States. Second, because language matters, we present categories for the different forms of DLBE gentrification documented in the literature to offer greater nuance in naming the range of ways that DLBE gentrification impacts the education of bilingual children and communities. Lastly, we share a framework to help prevent, navigate, and overcome DLBE gentrification.

Methods
This paper was completed in the form of a literature review. We gathered and reviewed all of the literature to date on the topic of DLBE gentrification, to help us contextualize and historicize the gentrification of DLBE in the United States, and organized it chronologically. We considered the different types of DLBE programs, languages, and communities that have been discussed in the literature inclusive of doctoral dissertations, journal articles, and book chapters.

Results/Findings
The first part of this presentation concerns the development of DLBE prior to the gentrification critiques in the literature. This section of the review overviews the literature on: (1) the civil rights origins of bilingual education and “compensatory” approaches of the 1960s; (2) DLBE as a proposed solution to segregation and compensatory bilingual education in the 1970s, and (3) the anti-bilingual education attacks and the portrayal of DLBE from a saviorist perspective.

The second part of this presentation focuses on the evolution and expansion of DLBE gentrification critiques. We provide a historical overview organized by four stages: (1) critiques starting in the 1990s, including Guadalupe Valdés’ (1997) classic cautionary note; (2) critiques in the literature in the 2000s, (3) literature ranging from 2010-2015, and (4) literature from 2015-2021. In this part of the presentation we will introduce language that we propose to categorize and name the different forms of DLBE gentrification.

Lastly, drawing on social justice and DLBE literature, we propose a framework that can be useful for scholars and those committed to addressing DLBE gentrification.

Scholarly Significance
Drawing from the literature, this paper presentation sheds light on how DLBE has been gentrified in the United States, which can help the audience gain a holistic understanding of how this phenomenon has affected multilingual and racialized students. The language we propose can help scholars better denounce, navigate, and provide solutions for DLBE gentrification. This is complemented by a framework to overcome DLBE gentrification that will provide the audience with a way to move forward, achieve true integration, and find justice for all in DLBE.

Authors

• Garrett Delavan, University of New Mexico

• Juan A. Freire, Brigham Young University

• Kate Menken, Queens College - CUNY