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Teachers and Staff's Perceptions of an Antiracist and Dual Language Bilingual Program at an Urban School" (2013)

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Teachers and Staff's Perceptions of an Antiracist and Dual Language Bilingual Program at an Urban School University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations December 2013 Teachers and Staff 's Perceptions of an Antiracist and Dual Language Bilingual Program at an Urban School Ximena Soza University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons Recommended Citation Soza, Ximena, "Teachers and Staff's Perceptions of an Antiracist and Dual Language Bilingual Program at an Urban School" (2013). Theses and Dissertations. 377. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/377 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TEACHERS AND STAFF´S PERCEPTIONS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ANTIRACIST AND DUAL LANGUAGE BILINGUAL PROGRAM AT AN URBAN SCHOOL by Ximena Soza Vergara A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Urban Education at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee December, 2013 ABSTRACT TEACHERS AND STAFF´S PERCEPTIONS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ANTIRACIST AND DUAL LANGUAGE BILINGUAL PROGRAM AT AN URBAN SCHOOL by Ximena Soza Vergara The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2013 Under the supervision of Dr Rene Antrop- González and Dr Raji Swaminathan This study was conducted in an urban school in the Midwestern region of the United States that implements a two-way bilingual (English- Spanish) and an antiracist program. The focus of the study was to learn about the teachers and staff´s perceptions of these two programs. While the study revealed challenges in both programs that can weaken their implementation; most teachers and staff at the school shared a common understanding about antiracist principles. However The school’s dual language program was subtractive to minority students (Valenzuela, 1999) since the quality of the Spanish language and culture offered at the school was limited. Highlighting the majority language over the minority language and depriving minority students from developing their language and culture, resulted in the school’s perpetration of linguistic racism, contradicting the antiracist values they aim to promote through their antiracist program. ii These findings based on the school’s teachers and staff insight cam help analyze and improve both programs in the school, as well as antiracist and dual language programs in general. iii Copy right by Ximena Soza, 2013 All rights reserve iv Dedication I dedicate this work to whom I dedicate all my creations, those who I admire the most, those who have filled with light all the dark corners of my life; my sons Relmu Manque and Antv Ñankv Antinao Soza, also to who rescued me from my childhood and who showed me that the struggle for social justice was necessary; my brother and sister, Nelson and Carolina Soza. And to those who came after us and have created a path for themselves; my bothers Miguel and Alonso and for my nieces and nephews who are ahead of us, as it should be. I dedicate the long hours I worked, while he cooked, cleaned, droved and loved, to my husband Cristian Munoz. I also dedicate it to the friends that put up with me and believed I could do this when I did not; Sue Pezanoski-Browne, Anne Mansfield, Dale Wise, Dinorah Marquez, Naomi Lara, Fernando Cañizaris, Ed Weinstein and Marci Valdivieso and, to Natalia Lagos just for being there, like she always has. I dedicate this work to all the students that have taught me to be a teacher and the teachers that allowed me to be myself in their classrooms. Also to all of those that knew what they knew because they never went to school teaching me more than I ever learned in the formal education system and to those that fight around the world in fierce protests for quality education for all. This work is also dedicated to Aprendamos’ families and students. v Finally, I dedicate this work to myself, as proof that I can challenge life and its bad omens. Acknowledgments I will like to acknowledge the help of each of my members for giving me so many opportunities to grow. Dr Shutz thanks for you rigor, your practical advice and for standing up for me. Dr Velez thank you for agreeing to take this risk in such a hectic time. Dr Martell thank you being an inspiration to me and many Latinos/as, I know your career will fill with pride the name of our people. Dr Jones thank you for all the hard work that has brought you here and your fight for public schools. I want to express my infinite gratitude to Dr Antrop- Gonzalez and Dr Swaminathan for their patience and support and for being key in the professional and personal journey working in this dissertation has been. I will like to acknowledge the incredible work of Sarah Jo Heiser, thank her for receiving my million questions with smiles and chocolates no matter how silly they were. I would not have made it through this program without her answers and help with the paper work. I will also like to thank Dr Kailin for her support in the first part of this road and to Jose Luis Ortega Martin and La Universidad de Granada, for welcoming one year during my career as a guest professor. Lastly I want to thank the UW-Milwaukee’s Education Department, the Kuehneisen & Eliseo and the William B. Harvey Scholarships for their support, to the Graduate School and the Department of Latin American And Caribbean vi Studies’ travel awards and especially to the AOP Fellowship program that made my studies possible. I must thank the participants from this study, the great family of Aprendamos School that opened their doors and heart to me. vii Table of Contents Chapter I..................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction................................................................................................................ 2 Aprendamos ............................................................................................................... 2 Research Problem, Purpose, and Significance of the Study ................................... 3 A Personal Journey; Why I Chose this Research at Aprendamos.......................... 7 How I Found My Way to Aprendamos.................................................................. 13 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 13 Chapter II ................................................................................................................. 15 Introduction.............................................................................................................. 16 The Concept of Race ............................................................................................... 17 Race Relations ......................................................................................................... 19 Racism ...................................................................................................................... 21 White Privilege ........................................................................................................ 22 Linguistic Racism .................................................................................................... 24 Antiracist Education ................................................................................................ 27 Bilingual Education ................................................................................................. 34 Two-Way Bilingual/Dual Language Bilingual Education.................................... 37 Additive Subtracting Bilingualism and Schooling ................................................ 42 Conceptual Framework ........................................................................................... 48 Critical Pedagogy .................................................................................................... 48 Synthesis .................................................................................................................. 55 ChapterIII ................................................................................................................. 58 Methods.................................................................................................................... 58 viii Research Questions ................................................................................................. 59 Main Question ......................................................................................................... 59 Secondary Questions ............................................................................................... 59 An Interview Study Framed Within the Critical Paradigm .................................. 59 Critical Research ..................................................................................................... 60 Critical Researcher .................................................................................................. 63 Interview Methods................................................................................................... 64 Validity in Interview Methods................................................................................ 65 Changes in the Study ............................................................................................... 67 Description of the School Site
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