"To Help Restore Our Native Language": Bilingual Teaching Candidates, Motivations, and California's Bilingual Education Renaissance (Poster 1)

• In Event: Advancing Raciolinguistic Equity for Emergent Bilinguals While Cultivating Grassroots Knowledge and Expertise

Abstract

Emerging from nearly two decades of language suppression wrought by Proposition 227, a Bilingual Education Renaissance is underway in California as new programs proliferate at a much faster clip than the state can produce certified bilingual teachers (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017; Gándara & Hopkins, 2010; Gándara & Hopkins, 2017). California’s policy shift is built upon an officially stated view of bilingualism as a resource beneficial for student academic success and global economic competitiveness (CDE, 2018; 2020). While the stated goals of public policy are clear, less known is what motivates educators aspiring to serve these new programs and how these individuals have been personally affected by the language restrictions of Proposition 227. Through analysis of surveys and autobiographical writing collected from bilingual authorization candidates in the rural and conservative southern San Joaquin Valley of California--and through use of a raciolinguistic lens that considers these phenomenon as being nested within an ideological landscape shaped by racialized White Supremacist notions that systematically devalue the linguistic repertoires of communities of color (Flores, 2019; Rosa & Flores, 2017; Rosa, 2018)--we explore the motivations of these budding bilingual educators, compare and contrast these motivations to those of state policy, and examine in autobiographical detail their ethnolinguistic experiences. We find that bilingual certification candidates—in contrast to the economic considerations of the state--are overwhelmingly driven by a sense of advocacy for language rights and personal identification with the ethnolinguistic experiences and struggles of emergent bilingual students. We discuss implications for public policy, candidate recruitment, and the design of program content that is supportive and leveraging of candidate ethnolinguistic experiences and assets.

Author

• Adam Sawyer, California State University - Bakersfield
  Presenting Author