Narratives of Structural Constraints in Implementing Culturally and Linguistically Sustaining Practices

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 7:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Negotiating Ideologies and Constraints in Language and Literacy Education

Abstract

This study investigates constraints educators report as limiting their ability to implement culturally and linguistically sustaining practices (CLSP) for multilingual learners (MLs) in K–12 classrooms. Drawing on narrative analysis of educator stories from a southeastern U.S. state, we reveal how institutional structures shape equity-focused teaching. Consistent with Neri et al. (2019), our findings identify three interrelated system-level barriers: limited professional development, policy-practice misalignments, and fragmented district procedures. Focusing on district-level registration processes, we show how inconsistent, opaque, and linguistically inaccessible systems produce exclusionary experiences for ML families at school entry. This research highlights the need for systemic redesign to center linguistic justice, contributing to a new vision of equitable education that attends to organizational structures alongside classroom practice.

Authors

• Heather Dunham, Clemson University

• Lindsey W. Rowe, Clemson University

• Carlos Sandoval, Clemson University

• Alexis Lawton, Clemson University