Identities in Shifting Educational Policy Contexts: The Consequences of Moving from Two Languages, One Community to English Only

GREEN, JUDITH; HERAS MONNER SANS, ANA INÉS

Discourses and Identities in Contexts of Educational Change.

Peter Lang

Lugar: New York; Año: 2011; p. 155 - 193

In this chapter, we explore the impact of changes in policies on the opportunities for learning (Tuyay, Jennings, & Dixon, 1995) and on the potentials for identity constructions (e.g., Holland & Cole, 1995; Holland, Lachoite, Skinner, & Cain, 1998; Castanheira, Green, Dixon, & Yeager, 2007) in fifth grade classes between 1993 and 2000 taught by a teacher (Beth) in two different reform initiatives. The first reform context focuses on the period 1993 to 1998, where Bilingual Instruction was officially sanctioned; the second period, 1998 to 2000, focuses on a reform context in which the district-wide and statewide policy actions led to a change to English Only. To explore the impact of these changes on opportunities for learning and potential identities afforded to students, we created a unique data set consisting of class records constructed in a reform period officially supporting Bilingual Instruction (1993, 1996, and 1997), and a changing reform period supporting a move to English Only (1998; 2000). The anchor for this contrastive analysis was a TESOL Newsletter written by the teacher (Yeager, 1999a).