STORIES OF SCHOOL AND THE STORIED LIVES OF LATINA/O ELEMENTARY PRINCIPALS: A NARRATIVE INQUIRY by Patricia Rocha, M. Ed. A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Council of Texas State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy with a Major in School Improvement May 2016 Committee Members: Miguel A. Guajardo, Chair Monica Byrne-Jimenez Melissa A. Martinez John Oliver COPYRIGHT by Patricia Rocha 2016 FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT Fair Use This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgment. Use of this material for financial gain without the author’s express written permission is not allowed. Duplication Permission As the copyright holder of this work I, Patricia Rocha, refuse permission to copy in excess of the “Fair Use” exemption without my written permission. DEDICATION To my sobrinas, Cassandra Anahi Salazar and Andrea Carmen Rodriguez, you were my inspiration to make meaning and share stories of the multiple Chicana feminist experiences. May you both find the freedom within the borderlands to shine as beautiful individuals and may you continue to be aware of the possibilities of your creative gifts. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I must acknowledge my creator and savior, my Lord, Jesus Christ. It is in Him that all my journeys and days have been formed and ordained even before my days have come to be. I acknowledge His works in blessing me with the experiences, both triumphs and struggles, and with the fellowship of others that have made this work possible. In a prayer of thanksgiving, I humbly acknowledge my familia, colleagues, amigos, and mi hermana, who have walked this journey with me. I thank my mom, Antonia Garcia Rocha, for her love and support. You have inspired and informed this work as a mother and unofficial committee member. Thank you for taking an interest in the story of schools and for asking so many questions that led to the formation of this narrative quilt. I thank my father, who has always provided support to our family but in particular has been the quiet service provider of all things needed over the course of the past four years. By doing the kind acts that contributed to the care of my home, you gave me the gift of time to focus on this work. Gracias to Amy and Ana, your support and acts nourished me physically, intellectually, and spiritually. I appreciate all the times you willingly listened as I gave voice to my ideas, thoughts, and stories about this dissertation. I thank Norma, Pablo, Jr., Jorge, Chabis, and Paul, for your support and the familia time over the past four years. I thank my nieces and nephews, Ryan, Andrea, Cassandra, Sebastian, and PJ. Your hugs, kisses, and laughter are a constant source of inspiration. v I want to acknowledge my chair and mentor, Miguel, for inviting me to a space I could not have imagined, yet so longed to live in. It is this space of awareness, uncomfortableness, and relationship that fueled my political imagination and my being. To my committee members, Monica, Melissa, and John, thank you for your guidance, encouragement, and feedback through this process. Thank you for helping me put forth a body of work that honors stories, my ontology, and the requirements of academia. I want to thank the many educators I have had the privilege to know who have become a part of my story of school, in particular, the two educators who shared their stories of schools for this dissertation. Thank you for your stories and for what you do for Latino students. I must also acknowledge the friends along the way who unconditionally showed me love and support. Thank you Lisa, Sonia, Sylvia, and Rhonda, you are a great blessing. To my amigos who were part of the borderland writing group (Karen, Joca, Samuel, Lee) and cohort ’11, thank you for graciously providing the space to be vulnerable yet secure, and for inspiring me to be courageous with my thoughts and writing. I also acknowledge one of the most precious blessings that the Lord has put in my path through this dissertation journey, and that is the friendship and collaboration of my hermana, Yvette. Our pláticas have been a great source of inspiration, revelation, and motivation to continue the lucha as an emerging scholar, educator, and Latina. Gracias, amiga. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xii ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER I. PRINCIPAL’S STORY AS INTRODUCTION ..........................................1 Research Questions ..........................................................................2 Purposeful Disruption: The Flow of this Narrative .........................2 My Principal Story as Context .........................................................4 Cuento: Personal Narrative as Introduction of Self .........................9 Storied Lives: Cuentos de Tensión ................................................10 Quilting as Sense Making ..............................................................11 Interweaving/Sense Making: Storied Lives and the Landscape of School ..........................................................16 Stitching Sense Making: Story of School ......................................18 Purpose ...........................................................................................19 Stitching the Pieces of Storied Lives: Personal Justification .........21 My First Day of School......................................................21 First Day of School as Elementary School Principal .........22 My Story of School: An On-going Cuento ........................23 Practical Rationale and Social Need ..............................................24 Layout of a Storied Quilt: Story Map ............................................26 II. METHOD FOR QUILT MAKING ...........................................................34 The First Lesson: Personal Ontology .............................................34 A Triggered Memory: Fabric Store Lesson ...................................37 More Questions: The Plática Continues ........................................39 Who Am I and How This Contributes to My Research .................41 An Ode to a Chicano that Corrected My Spanish ..........................42 Relevancy of My Ontology ............................................................47 Disposition of the Researcher ........................................................47 Qualitative Design .........................................................................48 vii Theoretical Frame ..........................................................................49 Narrative Inquiry ................................................................49 Epistemological Implications of Narrative Inquiry ...........52 Chicana/o Way of Knowing...............................................53 Self-Reflection On Methodological Awareness ................55 A Mother’s Continued Guidance ...................................................57 III. CONDUCTING THE NARRATIVE INQUIRY ......................................61 Being in the Field: Walking into the Midst of Stories ...................63 Field Text .......................................................................................64 Field Text Engagement ..................................................................65 Considerations for Data Collection ................................................67 Data Analysis .................................................................................69 IV. KEEP IT SIMPLE, PATRICIA—LEARNING TO WORK WITH DATA ....................................................................72 Story Representation ......................................................................75 Poetic Transcriptions .....................................................................76 Cindi Marie’s Narrative Quilt—Stories of School ........................77 Cindi Marie’s High School Story of Schools ................................78 A High School Counselor’s Guidance ...............................78 Second Language Learner ..................................................80 Teacher’s Lounge...............................................................83 Cindi Marie’s College Story—Story of Schools ...........................84 Abuelo, Yo Necesito Ir ......................................................84 Walmart..............................................................................85 My First Semester ..............................................................86 That Voice That Fire—Going Back ...................................88 Church ................................................................................91 Pageant Senior Year ...........................................................94 Cindi Marie’s Teaching Story—Story of School...........................96 Graduate School and Teaching ..........................................96 Interview—I Speak Spanish ..............................................97 Teaching .............................................................................98 Thinking Back ....................................................................99