Why Stories Matter: Using Latine Children’s Literature in the Bilingual Elementary Classroom in Advancing the Civicness of Latine Communities (Poster 8)

• In Event: Teaching Culturally and Linguistically Relevant Social Studies: Research and Practice With and for Multilingual Youth

Abstract

Purposes:
The growing presence of emergent bilingual Latine students and their families yields a complex composite of students in our public-school classrooms that may include late arrival immigrants (e.g. Suárez-Orozco, et al., 2010), transnational (e.g. Sánchez, 2007), multi-generational (e.g. Portes & Rumbaut, 2001), and/or mixed status families (e.g. Abrego, 2011). Latine students and their communities present a rich mosaic and opportunity to engage in linguistically and culturally relevant and sustaining practices that ensure access to educational opportunities and civic instruction (Ramirez & Salinas, 2021). However, Latine students remain neglected by the social studies curriculum (Santiago & Kang, 2022).

Theoretical Framework:
Rosaldo’s (1993, 1997) notion of cultural citizenship –argues that the ‘marking’ of our race, gender, class, immigration, and sexuality are not only visible (and imagined) and marginalizing, but also have “consequences for full democratic participation” (Rosado 1997, p. 29). Recent work in social studies classrooms has includes accessing civic spaces in ways not common to the citizenship curricula (e.g. Clay & Rubin, 2020) and yet essential to immigrants (Hilburn, 2015), transnational Latinas (Bondy, 2016), and students in mixed status classrooms (Debach, 2015). Taylor Jaffee’s (2016) work with newcomers, for instance, fuses notions of culturally relevant citizenship with linguistically relevant citizenship, highlighting the importance of language as a means to accessing social studies and citizenship.
We view the enactment of Latine children’s literature as a means to disrupt the enduring presence of marginalizing narratives and language in teaching the social studies and the civicness of our community. Moreover, we also embrace translanguaging in recognizing “languaging is enmeshed in systems of power, and thus, can be oppressive or liberating, depending on the positioning of speakers and their agency” (García & Wei, 2014, p. 8).

Methods:
This qualitative research projects describes Latine bilingual elementary teacher education candidates’ analysis of Latine children’s literature as a means to develop the civic narrative of the community. During a focus group interview, the students shared their understanding of the civic importance of bilingual Latine children’s Amigos Del Otro Lado (Friends From the Other Side) (Anzaldúa, 1993).

Results:
Data analysis focused on ‘critical encounters’ (see DeNicolo & Fránquiz, 2006) as a means for the participants to articulate their understanding of Latine children’s literature as a means to disrupt dominant narratives and introduce other civic counternarratives. First, the text was considered vital in generating critical encounters that engage in civically relevant topics, language, and discussions including the geopolitical realities of immigration, ICE raids, and mix status families. Second, the text normalized civic discourses (e.g., ‘la migra’) common, if not essential, to the civic lives of Latine. Third, the text also revealed the experiences of the Latine bilingual teachers including a binary between traditional civic frames/spaces and more critical frames. For Latine teachers and their students’, notions of civic instruction are not congruent with dominant models, but instead include civic knowledge constructed through their experiences and in their own language.

Authors

• Cinthia S. Salinas, University of Texas at Austin

• Melissa Rojas Williams, University of North Texas

• Pedro A. Berlanga, University of Texas at Austin