Understanding Millennial Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Teacher Challenges of Preparation and Practice

• In Event: Millennial Teachers of Color: All Things Considered

Abstract

In this paper, we consider social and cultural factors in the search for a more nuanced perspective of millennials, generally and culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) preservice - in-service teachers, specifically. To this end, we engaged in a multimethod longitudinal study of CLD graduates of an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher education program at a large Midwestern university. Our presentation will be based on data collected from qualitative surveys and phenomenological interviews with a purposive sample of 13 CLD millennial in-service teachers. Using a blended theoretical framework, this study draws primarily on the tenets of Latino/a critical race theory (LatCrit) to examine the contextual, holistic, and thematic descriptions given by millennial CLDTs of their lived experiences as preservice and in-service teachers.
Our work is informed by a phenomenological interview study of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) graduates of an English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher education program at a large, mid-Western university we explore the psychological meaning perspectives, held by millennial, CLD teachers, about themselves and their peers amidst the dominant narratives of predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) in the mid-west.
There are prevailing and often inconsistent social narratives characterizing millennials as the entitled “Me generation,” many culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) millennials exist in the margins of society, struggling to define themselves within the predominantly middle-class, white normative spaces of K–12 schools and institutions of higher education. (Achinstein and Aguirre 2008, Sleeter 2017) Culturally and linguistically diverse millennials (especially those who are first- or second-generation immigrants) often experience dissonance between the strong societal messages they receive about their identity from their tertiary socialization (white normative culture perpetuated in US education systems) and the messages they receive from their primary socialization (home culture shared with their families and communities.(Kim et al 2016, Twenge 2014) These conflicting messages pervade the social, familial, educational, and professional spaces they must navigate on the road to a professional career. (Irizarry 2011, Yosso et al 2009)
Therefore, the purpose of the study, was to explore the meaning perspectives millennial CLDTs held about themselves, their peers, and their students amid the prevailing narratives of predominantly white normative educational spaces in the Midwestern United States. In the process, we uncovered a counternarrative. This more nuanced perspective of a subset of the millennial population allowed for problemitizing dominant narratives that potentially overgeneralize them, as well as brought to light the increasing cultural complexities that millennial CLDTs face in schools. In this presentation, we discuss and explicate study findings and implications for teacher education. Further, we provide opportunities for educational institutions to consider the various ways their policy and practice impact current and future teacher diversification.

Authors

• Amanda Morales, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Socorro Herrera, Kansas State University