Pre-Service Teachers’ Changing Perspectives of Mexican Immigration following an Online Multicultural Literature Experience

Abstract

Abstract Misconceptions, stereotypes, and deficit views of Mexican immigrants are pervasive in the current U.S. media. Such views are inconsistent with culturally responsive pedagogy, and teachers who hold them will be impeded in their abilities to teach Mexican immigrant children effectively (Nathenson-Mejia & Escamilla, 2003). Research supports the notion that many teachers become more culturally responsive as a result of reading multicultural children’s literature (Nieto, 2013). Few studies, however, have looked specifically at literature with Mexican immigration themes, and fewer still have been done specifically with undergraduate pre-service teachers or utilizing critical discourse methodology. In this study, four pre-service teachers read and discussed the children’s novel Return to Sender in an online discussion board over four weeks. Critical discourse analysis of changes in participants ways of representing, ways of interacting, and ways of being (Fairclough, 2003) over the four weeks indicated that some participants developed more empathetic views toward Mexican immigrants, while others did not. These differences seemed related to the stance (Rosenblatt, 1978) they adopted when approaching the text. These findings may inform teacher educators as they plan multicultural literature experiences that promote culturally responsive understandings of the experiences of Mexican immigrant and other children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.