Establishing Undocumented Teacher Allies in North Carolina Through Critical Multicultural Coursework

• In Event: 42.054 - Raising Critical Consciousness: Disruptive Teaching Through Engagement

Abstract

Contemporary dominant discourses surrounding (un)documented migration in the United States are commonly divided into two polarized frames; those immigrants who are hard-workers seeking a better life, while the others are framed as border-crossing criminals. For teachers in North Carolina, developing an understanding of immigrants becomes critically important as new demographic trends and anti-immigration rhetoric has resulted in the implementation of restrictive laws, policies, and practices. This qualitative research study used observation, interview data, and student work samples to explore how one teacher education course infused with a social justice lens, informed the development of multicultural efficacy for 40 pre-service teachers. Data support how the use critical conversations around immigration can alter the frames in which teachers view children of immigration

Authors

• Lan Quach Kolano, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Leslie Clement Gutierrez, Johnson C. Smith University