ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 highlights Jesse’s enactment of dialogic problem-posing. In dialogic problem-posing, students – primarily through talk – explore questions and issues, formed out of their lived experiences and interests. This chapter narrates a series of lessons and classroom interactions on who is American, what is race, and why racism exists in the United States. Guided by Jesse’s talk moves and supported by his choice of texts, emergent bilingual youth theorized the complex relationship between language, citizenship, identity, and belonging, and wrestled with different manifestations of racism. In this process, they practiced vocabulary, internalized new language structures, and developed different lenses to see themselves and the world. The chapter offers resources for practitioners and teacher educators, including sample units and titles of sample texts, as well as talk moves for facilitating dialogue with emergent bilinguals.
