Digital Commons Network^™

Retaining The Power To Teach And Advocate In The Era Of "Reform", David Aram Wilson, David Aram Wilson

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

This qualitative, multi-case study investigates veteran, dual-language teachers in urban elementary schools in the Southwest United States and how these teachers manage to continue teaching despite education “reforms” that have contributed to increased attrition among their peers. Each participant contributed qualitative data through a narrative questionnaire, two interviews, two focus groups., and physical artifacts. Coding and analysis of each case was inductive and involved the identification of patterns and themes that emerged from the data. A cross-case analysis was conducted. Modern Critical Theory served as the theoretical lens.

Teachers as advocates for their students’ cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic well-being emerged …

Toward A Nuevomexicana Consciousness: An Exploration Of Identity Through Education As Manifest Through The Colonial Legacy, Mercedes V. Avila

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

The purpose of this study is to explore the implications of the colonial legacy in informing the New Mexican Educational System in the present day. I engage a group of three self-identified young Nuevomexicana students in seeking to understand the spaces in which one must maneuver in order to thrive in an otherwise marginalizing system of Western Academia. Through a qualitative study, I hope to identify the intricacies of the New Mexican identity and the relationship these students hold with their determined homeland. By implementing the methods of interview, and participant observation in an undergraduate freshmen classroom, I will investigate …