“This is a Very Sensitive Point”: Bilingual Teachers' Interactions with Neo‐Nationalism in a Two‐Way Immersion Program in the United States

Abstract

AbstractConcurrent with the rise in U.S. neo‐nationalism is the growing influx of im/migrant children in the nation's schools. This article explores how a group of eight K‐3 Brazilian bilingual teachers in a Portuguese‐English Two‐Way Immersion (TWI) program in the United States interact with neo‐nationalist discourses pertaining to the theme of immigration. Drawing on recent theorizing about the intersections of neo‐nationalism, language, and bilingual education, this multi‐year ethnographic study leverages multiple formal interviews and informal conversations with TWI educators to understand their perspectives and classroom practices. We found that most of the interviewed teachers were keenly aware that their im/migrant students regularly shared complex narratives of immigration in their classrooms, at times during whole‐group instruction. However, these educators consistently evaded opportunities to engage in conversations about immigration with their students due to a range of perceived obstacles. The teachers also expressed willingness to eventually include a narrow range of “positive” or “neutral” images of immigration in their curriculum and instruction, which further decoupled issues of immigration from U.S. neo‐nationalism. Findings bear implications for language education researchers and practitioners since they indicate how neo‐nationalist discourses may shape elementary‐school educators' orientations and daily moves within bilingual classrooms designed to better serve racialized bilingual students.