Pero Aquí se Habla Inglés: Latina Immigrant Mothers’ Experiences of Discrimination, Resistance, and Pride Through Antropoesía

Abstract

This article examines the experiences of Latina mothers in one two‐way immersion Spanish‐English bilingual program in the United States. Through a qualitative analysis of ethnographic interviews and their selective transcription as verse—or antropoesía—this analysis seeks to illuminate the phenomenological aspects of what it means to be a Latina migrant mother. These poetic transcriptions evoke the themes of migration, of not knowing English, of discrimination, of resistance to English‐only discourses, and of pride in children’s bilingualism. Understanding the experiences of Latinx immigrant parents in schools is critical for both research and practice, given the important role that families and caregivers play in the education of children. In order to do justice to such experiences the author argues that we must learn to critically listen, and to do so requires us to represent our participants’ experiences differently in our work.

A Collective Journey: Coalitional Critical Consciousness and Collaborative Methodologies in Bilingual Teacher Education

“…Throughout this study, I wrote ethnographic poetry as a means for reflecting on, recording, and analyzing emergent themes. I used poetic transcription, or the formation of poems using audio recordings, of our critical reflection group meetings (Chaparro 2020; Leavy 2015). Because of this, the poems follow the format of a transcription and use the exact words stated by my collaborators in their original order.…”

“…I intermix these poems with more traditional narratives of findings and presentations of quotes to challenge the boundaries between poetic work and scholarly research. My purpose in selecting and including these poems is to engage more deeply with humanizing methods that invite the reader to take the time to really listen to my collaborator's words and to feel the impact of these words in their own bodies (Chaparro 2020). At the same time, it should be acknowledged that any form of transcription, especially a poetic transcription, is in itself an interpretation.…”

Beyond Grades: A Holistic Parental Report Card for Korean Dual Language Programs

“…The adverse experiences encountered by immigrant parents, in particular, reflect a critical concern. Although DLBE programs are designed to leverage the linguistic and cultural assets of non-English-speaking families, immigrant parents often face language barriers and discrimination, which hinder their active engagement in schools and collaboration with other parents (Chaparro, 2020; Ee, 2017a; Lee & Jeong, 2013). Moreover, although institutionalized racism and white supremacy (Rosa & Flores, 2017) and dominant language ideologies underlying the U.S. official language policy (Song, 2019) contribute to these negative experiences, immigrant parents often attribute their struggles to individual language abilities (Aguayo & Dorner, 2017; Chaparro, 2020).…”