An Intersection of Bilingual Teacher Preparation and Social Justice Education

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Sesion 4
  In Roundtable Session: Preparing and Sustaining Bilingual Teachers in Antiracist, Socially Just, and Culturally Affirming Pedagogies

Abstract

This study explores the voices of Latinx pre-service bilingual teachers. Using Anthropolitical Linguistics (Zentella, 1997); Positioning Theory (Davies & Harré, 1999, 2001); and tenets of Social Justice as a theoretical lens in conjunction with Gee’s (Gee, 2011a, 2011b, 2015) work on Discourse and discourse analysis, this paper explains how Latinx bilingual teacher candidates in South Texas perceive and position themselves as bilingual and biliterate individuals. In addition, this study shows how these bilingual individuals describe their realities and possibilities while pursuing their dream of becoming a bilingual educator. The presenter discusses implications for (bilingual) teacher preparation programs such as the need of revamping bilingual teacher education programs by providing coursework taught in Spanish.

Author

• Armando Garza Ayala, University of New Mexico