Raciolinguistic Hierarchies in Bilingual Science Education: The Role of ‘Messages’ Teachers Receive

• In Event: “No Justice, No Peace”: A Racial Reckoning for Science Education

Abstract

Objectives: There is a common sense that teaching science in Two-Way Dual Language Immersion (TWDLI) programs, where students identified as ‘English learners’ (ELs) and English monolinguals learn together (Palmer, 2019), redresses disparities in access to high-quality elementary science instruction and promotes equity by closing gaps in language and science content development.

Scholars caution that TWDLI programs may not be as equitable as intended in that such reforms operate via interest convergence (Bell, 1980) and better serve white English monolinguals than their bi/multilingual peers (Cervantes-Soon et al., 2017). Undergirding the common sense and the critiques is a sense of newness, but racially and linguistically minoritized students have been targeted for a long time (Kirchgasler, 2023). A century ago, Mexican American students were targeted as in need of tailored support to successfully Americanize and learn English. Science appeared as a key way to prepare students for healthy and rational ways of being and thinking. This study investigates the juxtaposition of racial and linguistic distinctions in two settings: (1) a present-day analysis of science teachers’ perceptions of their students in a TWDLI program, and (2) a historical analysis of segregated Mexican schools (1910–1947).

Modes of Inquiry and Sources: This raciolinguistic genealogy (Flores, 2021) explores how practices of labeling and attempting to remediate differences have historically conditioned science teachers’ perceptions of minoritized students and how these shifted over time.

Present-day analysis entailed ethnographic methods in a Midwestern TWDLI elementary school, including teacher interviews, focus groups, and science classroom observations. My historical analysis examined what made conditions of difference possible by compiling and analyzing digitized archival sources (e.g., teacher guides, newspapers) (1910–1947). Sources included: (1) systematic analysis with tabular coding, (2) citational tracking (Kirchgasler, 2023), and 3) keyword searches (e.g., Spanish-speaking, Mexican) in U.S. science education journals (e.g., Science Education).

Substantiated Conclusions: My analysis outlines three ways teachers receive ‘messages’ about their students. First, administrative practices (e.g., progress monitoring) that portray ELs as in need of differential surveillance and support. For instance, ‘correct’ pronunciation norms are monitored on ELs but do not appear to be on English monolingual students. A century ago, students were surveilled by a purified pronunciation and daily inspections of their bodies (e.g., face-washing routines in the classroom). Second, science lessons and teacher guides (e.g., Amplify) include differentiated practices for ‘ELs’ (e.g., extra opportunities to practice a skill) but no differentiations for their English monolingual students. Third, STEM-related ability grouping (e.g., Beast Math) with a high representation of English monolinguals. A century ago, student leaders surveiled other students in health habits and language productions, where the ‘cleanest, brightest Mexicans’ were seen as closer to whiteness and elevated as role models (García et al., 2012).

Significance: This study contributes to a growing discourse of unintended consequences in educational initiatives that project deficits onto minoritized groups of learners. It is a call to re-center equity from a historical perspective (Morales-Doyle, 2019) to learn from the past and reimagine a just education for minoritized students.

Author

• Cynthia T. Baeza, University of Wisconsin - Madison