https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7160-6593
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ABSTRACT
This article explores Brazilian immigrant parents’ perspectives about a newly established Two-Way Immersion (TWI) program in their community. The analysis of parental answers to a family engagement survey, using the framework of investment, reveals that the Brazilian parents in our sample assembled narratives of gratitude through overt statements of thankfulness, multiple compliments to the school, to the bilingual program and its teachers, and by placing the TWI program as a space for “helping those in need”. On one hand, engagement with the discourse of gratitude validated school agents as authorities and relegated immigrant parents and children to vulnerable positions as beneficiaries. On the other hand, it enabled parents to secure the right to speak in interactions with the school and vouch for their children’s education. This article sheds light on immigrant parents’ beliefs and orientations toward a model of bilingual education that is rapidly growing in popularity in U.S. schools.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Correction Statement
This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
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Notes on contributors
Gabrielle Oliveira
Gabrielle Oliveira is an assistant professor of education at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development. Her research focuses on immigrant children’s and families’ experiences as it relates to care and education.
Mariana Lima Becker
Mariana Lima Becker is a doctoral student in Curriculum & Instruction at Boston College. She taught English as a Foreign Language for several years in Brazil and is a licensed ESL teacher in Massachusetts. Her research interests involve bilingual education and immigrant children’s language and literacy development from a sociocultural perspective.
Ahrum Jeon
Ahrum Jeon is a Ph.D. student in Curriculum and Instruction at Boston College. Her research interests center on language and literacy practices among immigrant children and families in the context of transnationalism. She has served as an instructor and student-teacher supervisor at Boston College.