Dual language teachers’ stated barriers to implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy

ABSTRACT

Culturally relevant pedagogy receives limited attention in many U.S. dual language classrooms. This article focuses on understanding the barriers eight elementary Spanish-English dual language teachers saw as preventing the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in their urban classrooms. Employing critical sociocultural theory and drawing on pláticas as a method, four primary barriers were identified: lack of time, lack of culturally relevant materials, lack of knowledge, and the belief that social justice topics were inappropriate for young children. The individual and contextual issues surrounding these barriers and their implications are discussed for teacher educators and those involved in dual language education.

Acknowledgments

This manuscript is based on data of the doctoral dissertation of Juan A. Freire. We thank the participant teachers for their time and collaboration in this study. We also thank the Adelante Partnership for their support and for making this research possible.

Notes

^1. The term minoritized acknowledges the socially imposed “minority” status of people whose access to opportunities and power in society are marginalized due to race, language, ethnicity, etc., whether they are numerically in the minority or not.

^2. This chart has three columns. The first column is for “K,” in which the individual writes what s/he already knows; the second column is for “W,” in which the individual writes what s/he wants to learn; the last column is for “L,” in which the individual eventually writes what s/he learned.

^3. We choose not to italicize the Spanish word “plática” as a way of validating Spanish and raising its status in academia and in the United States.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Juan A. Freire

Juan A. Freire is affiliated with the Department of Teacher Education at Brigham Young University.

Verónica E. Valdez

Verónica E. Valdez is affiliated with the Department of Education, Culture and Society at the University of Utah.