ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we view standard English as a foundational literacy and gatekeeper proficiency that provides access to critical literacies in multiple disciplines. In light of the recruit and retain discourse regarding teachers of color in the United States, we illustrate the importance of this foundational literacy by examining an aspiring teacher of color’s experiences and perspectives. We use critical bifocality (Weis & Fine, 2012) as a theory of method to analyze how systemic structures and policies impact individuals to produce, maintain, or reproduce inequitable outcomes. Accordingly, we provide a wide-angle analysis of neoliberalism in teacher education. We then examine how neoliberalism manifests itself in the standard English literacy development of an African American adult majoring in elementary education. This examination informs educators’ work to help adult learners (and all learners) strengthen their standard English proficiency, and it is also useful for those that apply critical bifocality in equity-focused scholarship and policymaking.
