ABSTRACT
This case study describes one teacher’s critical awareness of racial inequities tied to language use in her classroom and her ongoing efforts to take action and reflect on this reality. At the beginning of the school year in her self-contained, two-way immersion fourth grade classroom in suburban Washington State, Maestra Brenda began to observe an entrenched discourse pattern in the group that privileged White English-speakers. As a Mexicana teacher, Maestra Brenda experienced sadness, frustration, and anger as she noted that White students tended to dominate classroom discussions, to avoid speaking in Spanish, and to discourage contributions from Latinx peers. Drawing on these powerful emotions Maestra Brenda engaged in critical conversations with her students regarding impact and worked to position Latinx students as content experts. At the same time, Maestra Brenda experienced tensions about the separation she was creating between English and Spanish in her classroom which led to further reflection and ongoing action. This case study demonstrates the messy cycles of action, dialogue, and reflection in critically conscious efforts to create equitable linguistic environments in 50/50 classroom spaces.
