Developing Voices: Transformative Education in a First- Grade Two-way Spanish Immersion Classroom, A Participatory Study

Abstract

This study drew a portrait of an actual classroom striving to initiate a transformative educational experience in an urban elementary school among students of different socioeconomic status, cultures, and languages. This participatory research design (Ada, Beutel, & Gottesman, 1991; Kieffer, 1981; Park, 1989) described the transformative process that a first-grade two-way Spanish immersion classroom underwent to build a community of learners. The researcher analyzed how, within the process of a transformative classroom, the teacher provided daily opportunities to engage young students in dialogue to develop their voices, created a literacy rich environment that serves multiple purposes including becoming literate, and fostered a strong sense of community. The following research questions were posed: How is critical pedagogy applied to a lower primary-grade classroom? Through the teacher's own reconceptualization of voice, how can opportunities be provided for young children to develop voice? How does literacy function as a means of empowerment for first-grade students?