Laura Chávez-Moreno discusses how bilingual education programs influence the racialization of Latinx students.
Laura Chávez-Moreno says bilingual education inadvertently creates boundaries around Latinx identity by gathering Spanish-speaking students together.
“Bilingual education, rightfully so, has focused on language,” says Chávez-Moreno, an assistant professor at UCLA. “But there has to be also a recognition that bilingual education, because it is a part of schooling in the U.S., that it is also engaging in the process of creating ideas about race and about creating our ideas about racialized groups.”
In her new book, “How Schools Make Race,” she argues that while bilingual education aims to support students’ language and cultural identity, it often fails to address the broader racial dynamics affecting Latinx communities.
Chávez-Moreno believes that more could be done to integrate discussions of race and ethnic studies. “There's this national debate in the U.S. about whether schools should or not teach about race, and sometimes that gets called like attacks on critical race theory. I use that in scare quotes because it's really not critical race theory, but it's used…” she says. “It's causing a lot of fear in terms of what teachers can do. And instead of having that debate, we should recognize that schools teach about race already, whether we like it or not, in indirect and direct ways. But we should recognize that in order for us to then improve how we teach about it, we really need to take a more systematic approach to how teachers engage in this work. And unfortunately, that's not happening in our schools.”
She calls for an "ambitious" teaching model that would prepare educators to guide these conversations thoughtfully, helping students gain a deeper understanding of their place within a racialized society.
In this episode, she discusses how bilingual education programs influence the racialization of Latinx students and how a more nuanced approach could enhance bilingual education and better equip students to understand the complexities of race in the U.S.
JILL ANDERSON: I'm Jill Anderson.
This is the Harvard EdCast. The United States often celebrates bilingual education as anti-racist. But Laura Chávez-Moreno says it can also racialize Latinx students by grouping them based solely on language. She's an assistant professor at UCLA who studies the complexities of bilingual education and how it can inadvertently reinforce racial categorizations.
It's not that bilingual education is bad, but the limitations of the curriculum often present repetitive, superficial narratives about race. Instead, she encourages something called ambitious teaching, where educators engage students in understanding how society's structures create race and the difference between race and ethnicity. I asked her how bilingual education programs influence the racialization of Latinx students.
LAURA CHÁVEZ-MORENO: One of the ways that bilingual education works to racialize Latinx students is just in the idea of gathering students together, thinking that they share a language that they need to maintain. So that's actually one way that the bilingual education programs function as a racial project, which is not my term at all. But I use the idea of racial project in order to show that bilingual education just in gathering and lumping students together, that process itself is creating ideas about what this group is or the boundaries of this group.
Bilingual education is also a program that racializes Latinx students because it's actually in the US, historically, it counters racist practices that have historically affected Latinx students. Education in schools in the US, they have really placed an emphasis on just learning English and assimilating. And bilingual education is an anti-racist practice here in the US. In order for students to maintain their Spanish and their cultural ties or their familial ties, bilingual education works in both ways.
Bilingual education, rightfully so, has focused on language, right? But there has to be also a recognition that bilingual education, because it is a part of schooling in the US, that it is also engaging in the process of creating ideas about race and about creating our ideas about racialized groups. So because bilingual education cannot escape from that, bilingual education should recognize that it is constructing ideas about race, and then in particular, Spanish English bilingual education programs, that it is constructing ideas about the Latinx group.
JILL ANDERSON: One of the things I thought was really interesting, you were in these classrooms and studying what's happening. It seemed like the teachers had good intentions of trying to do these things that you just mentioned, but often struggled. Why do you think that is?
LAURA CHÁVEZ-MORENO: One of the issues with it is the context that we're living in. And it's not just now, but it is definitely something that I want to mention in terms of the heightened attention and in a negative way towards teaching about race. There's this national debate in the US about whether schools should or not teach about race, and sometimes that gets called like attacks on critical race theory. I use that in scare quotes because it's really not critical race theory, but it's used.
So one of the things that debate's causing is that it's causing a lot of fear in terms of what teachers can do. And instead of having that debate, we should recognize that schools teach about race already, whether we like it or not, in indirect and direct ways. But we should recognize that in order for us to then improve how we teach about it, we really need to take a more systematic approach to how teachers engage in this work. And unfortunately, that's not happening in our schools.
Let's think about math education. When we think about math, we can see that schools first teach students about numbers and about how to add and subtract and then division, et cetera. They go through a progression of ideas in order to then get into algebra, for example, when they're in middle or high school. But that doesn't happen with the ideas about race. We don't teach about ideas about our racialized society in a progressive way, for example.
And when I say progressive, I mean advancing students, scaffolding students, and enhancing their ideas about what is race and how race works in our racialized society. That's really not something that the US has, at least at this point, has really thought about deeply and encouraged teachers to also work towards that. There's very few resources that really look at the curriculum through kinder-- through high school in order for teachers to develop these ideas and ways of understanding our racialized society through the school years.
JILL ANDERSON: I'm wondering how we get beyond this idea of just emphasizing language, language, language and really make bilingual education more critically race conscious.
LAURA CHÁVEZ-MORENO: One of the things that I think bilingual education educators should really look towards is ethnic studies, with bilingual education and ethnic studies being integrated together. In these types of programs, there is some type of recognition about the role that schools play in making sure that students understand our racialized society. But if bilingual education doesn't take an approach that also incorporates ethnic studies, then it will only really focus on language, because that's really a lot of the main focus in bilingual education.
So for example, if you go to bilingual education conferences, they're sometimes very separate from ethnic studies conferences or ideas. So there has to be some type of blending into so that there is this approach that because school is racialized and racializes, ethnic studies is a good approach to take bilingual education.
JILL ANDERSON: And it seems like a lot of districts like to celebrate the fact that they have a bilingual education program.
LAURA CHÁVEZ-MORENO: Yes, definitely.
JILL ANDERSON: But it sounds like in practice, it's not really doing all that it could and should be doing.
LAURA CHÁVEZ-MORENO: Yes, and it's interesting because, like you mentioned, districts are very proud and communities are very proud of having bilingual education programs. As well they should be. It is an effort against the historical trend in the US of not emphasizing bilingual education. So it is a feat to have bilingual education. And I'm a big proponent of bilingual education programs.
The issue is very structural, though, because there are so many challenges to incorporating, for example, an ethnic studies approach into schooling. One of them is this debate, like I mentioned earlier, that there's this debate against critical race theory when it's the wrong debate to have. We're not even talking about how to advance racial ideas. It's more just banning everything outright.
JILL ANDERSON: One of the things that you talk about is this idea of ambitious teaching. What is ambitious teaching and what does that look like in the classroom?
LAURA CHÁVEZ-MORENO: When I invite educators to think about ambitious teaching in their own classes, I'm talking about also thinking about ambitious teaching in terms of race and racialization. So what I mean by racialization is this process of what is a racialized group and what is race? So what creates race in society? Race is not created in society based on how people look differently. That's not really how race has been created. Race was created in order to separate folks and oppress some in this hierarchy. So the way that's done is through racism. So racist practices. Racist practices create race and racialized groups.
So what I mean by an ambitious approach to teaching about race, I mean that we also have to emphasize this process in order for students to think about race in different ways versus just their identity versus just something that's innate to them or even in a multicultural way of thinking that it's a good thing. It's actually not a good thing that we're a racialized society or that we are ascribed to race.
JILL ANDERSON: What can you give me some examples of what this would look like in a classroom practice?
LAURA CHÁVEZ-MORENO: Sure. One of the things that I would imagine is for teachers to talk with students about what are the differences between, for example, race and ethnicity, and then moving on from that. For example, a teacher could guide students into exploring how their community thinks about or how different people in their school think about what is race versus ethnicity.
That could be an approach to get students to think about what are those differences. And then perhaps read or learn in other ways about what is this process, what creates race. So for example, read historical works or excerpts from historical works that discuss this in order for students to see that it's a process. It's not just something innate in people.
One of the ways that this is also done is by putting groups in relation to other groups. So I talk in the book a lot about how the program put Latinx in relation to other racialized groups. And that's actually another way that society creates racialized groups along with racist practices. And one of the things that teachers could do, for example, is think about this and think about the boundaries of different racialized groups and how one group is put in relation to another group.
JILL ANDERSON: How do you think we can better prepare teachers to take this more ambitious approach?
LAURA CHÁVEZ-MORENO: One of the things that I emphasize is the need for teachers to take an inquiry stance into their teaching. My idea of taking an inquiry stance is guided by Marilyn Cochran-Smith and Susan Lytle. Their work in terms of having teachers look systematically and intentionally at the practice and then also work with other teachers in order to improve their teaching and to examine their teaching, like I said, in a systematic way.
So networking with other teachers who are also motivated in order to improve their practice. I think that this is one of the best ways for teachers to learn about how to work towards these practices. In terms of teacher education programs, I think teacher education programs should also teach about how to take an inquiry approach to their teaching in order for teachers to have the tools that help them learn about how to be a better teacher in the classroom. So it's not just about providing teachers with the answers of this is how you do this, and this is how you do that. It's more about preparing teachers in order to be lifelong learners of their practice.
JILL ANDERSON: One of the things I thought was really funny was how you talk about we haven't really moved beyond this sort of Sesame Street approach in the classroom on this issue.
LAURA CHÁVEZ-MORENO: Yes, one of the things that I noticed in the program was that a lot of the lessons about race had to do with this multicultural approach to race, which is don't be mean to others, don't judge others based on how they look, be inclusive, et cetera, which are all really good lessons for students.
The issue is that those lessons were taught like a Sesame Street kind of level, which is Kinder, pre-Kinder. So by the time that the students got to high school, they're ready to learn more advanced ideas about race. But unless teachers have students explore, for example, racialization or the process that society does in order to create our ideas about race or racialized groups, we're not really getting anything more profound in terms of what are the lessons that students are being exposed to. So it was very repetitive for students to just keep hearing the same type of histories also.
JILL ANDERSON: Right. Because in many cases, that lesson has just continued on and on and on through most of their schooling.
LAURA CHÁVEZ-MORENO: Yeah, and students did mention this to me. For example, one student I recall mentioned, she said, I like history. The problem is that it seems that they run out of history to share with us after middle school. And I saw that also that there were some lessons that were taught in middle school and then again taught in high school. I mean, obviously there's differences, but it's basically very similar unit or material. So it was something that I observed in the classroom. And then students also mentioned this to me in their interviews.
JILL ANDERSON: What are some other actionable steps that educators and administrators can take to mitigate this racialization of Latinx students?
LAURA CHAVEZ-MORENO: We cannot escape being racialized in our society. So acknowledge that we are all racialized in our institutions, including schooling, participate in this. So what we should concentrate on is engaging in practices that combat racist practices. And really what creates race and racialized groups are the disproportionate distribution of resources.
I think schools need to be aware that they are engaged in racialization. And then one of the things that communities, for example, could do is make sure to remember that teachers are professionals and teachers have ideas about what their students need. Teachers need to listen to students' questions and follow their questions.
There were a lot of students in the classrooms who mentioned race and who sometimes they weren't even tied to the lesson. It was just kind of race talk in the classroom. And following students' questions and their inquiries would be a good first step for teachers. And then also for administrators, shielding teachers from this type of backlash that's going on. Communities also have a big role in this, because communities have to also support teachers' work in this.
JILL ANDERSON: Why is it so important that we take this different approach and start changing how we deliver this form of education, especially for our Latinx students?
LAURA CHÁVEZ-MORENO: It's important that we take an approach that is ambitious about teaching about race in our classes, because we have to recognize schools are already engaged in this practice. So if we're not intentional, then it just keeps being a status quo kind of thing where we're not taking steps towards anti-racism.
So first is recognize that this is already happening, and unless we're intentionally taking steps towards teaching about race in ways that advance critical racial consciousness, it's not going to happen. So we have to make sure that teachers are prepared and schools are supporting teachers and engaging in this practice, because otherwise we're going to continue reinforcing ideas that are racist in our society.
JILL ANDERSON: LAURA CHÁVEZ-MORENO is an assistant professor in the Department of Chicano, Chicana, and Central American Studies and also the Department of Education at UCLA. She is the author of, “How Schools Make Race: Teaching Latinx Racialization in America.” I'm Jill Anderson. This is the Harvard EdCast, Iproduced by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Thanks for listening.
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