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Exploring Questions of Social Justice in Bilingual/Bicultural Teacher Education: Towards a Parity of Participation

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Abstract

This qualitative study examined the development of bilingual and bicultural preservice teachers’ beliefs and attitudes about social justice and its role in the education of language minority children. Fraser’s in Redistribution or recognition: a political-philosophical exchange. Verso, New York, (2003) perspectival dualist framework, which calls for the consideration of both the distribution of resources and the recognition of cultural identity, was applied to the investigation of participants’ social justice claims. In addition to observing these preservice teachers in their courses and conducting interviews, the researchers also analyzed the teaching practices of their bilingual-bicultural professors. Findings indicate that bilingual teacher candidates need to have space and support for reflecting upon the conflicting meanings they might ascribe to experiences and insights gained through the occupation of different identity positions. Bilingual-bicultural university professors’ ability to recognize and legitimate the experiences and perspectives of bilingual/bicultural teacher candidates was significant and empowering.

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Notes

  1. Some recent examples of this trend include the Gap’s “Red” campaign and President Bush’s request that Americans continue to shop in order to support the war effort and protect the American way of life.

  2. All names used throughout the paper are pseudonyms to maintain the confidentiality of participants.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Appalachian State University, 108 Duncan Hall, Boone, NC, 28608, USA

    Shanan Fitts

  2. Department of Elementary and Bilingual Education, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, CA, USA

    Evelyn M. Weisman

Authors
  1. Shanan Fitts
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  2. Evelyn M. Weisman
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Correspondence to Shanan Fitts.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Transcription Conventions (Eggins and Slade 1997)

All names are pseudonyms.

(1):

Indicates a pause and number of seconds

((smiling)):

Paralinguistic and non-verbal information. Items in double parentheses indicate actions, gestures, or observed emotions

(x):

Non-transcribable segments of talk

(vida):

Uncertain transcription. Items inside single parenthesis indicate that speech was not 100% clear

[bilingual]:

Phrases inserted for clarification. Words or phrases inside brackets are included to clarify the participant’s speech for ease of reading

.:

A period indicates a full stop

,:

A comma indicates “parcelings of non-final talk” (Eggins and Slade 1997, p. 2)

…:

An ellipsis indicates hesitation

?:

Rising intonation

….:

Indicates lines deleted

E:ven:

Colon indicates elongated sound

=:

Indicates immediate rejoinder

[]:

Brackets indicate overlapping speech

-:

Dash indicates interrupted speech or speech that was cut off

Italics :

Italicized speech indicates speech that is emphasized

Bolded italics :

Words in bolded italics are even more emphatic than italicized speech

Appendix 2: Interview Protocol

(Revised 12/4/07)

  1. 1.

    What do our Latino ELL students need in order to succeed academically?

    1. a.

      How are you prepared to meet their needs?

  2. 2.

    What do you bring to the education of ELL’s that monolingual, monocultural teachers might not have?

    1. a.

      How have your beliefs or ideas about the role of Latina/o teachers grown or changed?

      1. i.

        What has contributed to that?

  3. 3.

    What has surprised you the most about teaching and learning after your classes, readings, student teaching assignments, and the communities you worked in?

  4. 4.

    Given everything that you have read and experienced over the last year and a half, what do you know for sure about teaching?

  5. 5.

    Given everything that you have learned and reflected on throughout the past year and a half what do you think your next steps will be?

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Fitts, S., Weisman, E.M. Exploring Questions of Social Justice in Bilingual/Bicultural Teacher Education: Towards a Parity of Participation. Urban Rev 42, 373–393 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-009-0139-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-009-0139-9

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