“Más triste”: Bilingual Preservice Teachers’ Development of Ideological Clarity Through Journey Boxes

• In Event: On Healing Linguistic Wounds: Bilingual Latinx Maestres Expanding Biliteracies Through Critical Pedagogies and Humanizing Methodologies

Abstract

Objectives
I've seen and experienced within the school system how minorities are portrayed. So many stories of important people are not told in schools. I want to learn how to make this part of what I teach daily in social studies. ~Ana

As a point of departure, Ana’s reflection poses a challenge that we must continue to wrestle with in teacher education research regarding how teacher preparation programs can better prepare preservice teachers to teach students of color. The following question guided this research: How do teacher preparation programs provide opportunities for preservice teachers to develop critical consciousness?

Theoretical Framework
Alfaro and Bartolomé (2017) theory of ideological clarity argues “that teachers, in addition to developing humanistic bilingual pedagogical practices, must learn to identify hurtful dominant culture ideologies and their manifestation in the classroom so they can be prepared to intervene and create optimal learning conditions for all their students” (p. 13). Nuñez et al. (2021), affirm that pre-service teachers must be allowed to reconnect and reclaim their bilingual and biliterate identities through experiences within their teacher preparation programs.

Methodology
This study is grounded in qualitative methods (Saldaña, 2021) and shares the counternarratives of two bilingual preservice teachers' experiences in social studies methods course. While Ana and Jennifer (pseudonyms) were enrolled in the social studies methods course, they were asked to complete ongoing critical reflections and a social studies journey box final project. The journey box consisted of preservice teachers selecting a social studies standard and crafting a box with artifacts to teach the lesson (Alarcon et al. 2015). The data were analyzed through thematic coding, which involved identifying and categorizing key patterns and themes to draw meaningful insights.

Findings
Preliminary findings reveal how course assignments led preservice teachers to develop ideological clarity about historical omissions in their own PK-12 schooling. During the first week of class, students were asked to reflect on their experiences as students in social studies courses. This initial question was presented as a purposeful prompt to scaffold critical reflection and to raise consciousness about personal histories. Jennifer took this opportunity to connect social studies learning to court cases impacting education.
We learned about the Mendez v. Westminster case. I remember feeling upset about not knowing that this had happened. In Spanish we say, “más triste.” Más triste, it’s true so many bilingual students and families have no idea that this happened or why we even have bilingual education.
Jennifer acknowledged that many bilingual students, including herself, had been miseducated, and expressed her coraje with not learning about the Mendez v. Westminster case before entering the university. Jennifer’s reflection illustrates one event of many throughout the course that led to ideological clarity about her PK-12 schooling.

Scholarly Significance
The journey box project served as a tool for empowering bilingual preservice teachers to take action in their classrooms by creating social studies lessons for their Latinx students in the U.S. that reflect the ongoing struggle for equity in PK-12 schools.

Author

• Katherine Espinoza-Talati, Trinity University