“Who We Are Today”: Latinx Youth Perspectives on the Possibilities of Being Bilingual and Bicultural

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article investigates the perspectives of seven adolescent Latinx students in relation to being bilingual and bicultural, and to their former K-8 elementary school, which offered a variety of culturally sustaining practices, including campus-wide use of both Spanish and English and a dual language program. Within this qualitative case study, students recount what they value from their elementary K-8 school and share how they’ve drawn from that experience to negotiate various challenges to their linguistic and cultural identities in high school. The students characterize their elementary years as providing a foundation of support, helping them in becoming who they are today. This study examines the curricular and instructional practices at a bilingual elementary K-8 school through the students’ own perspectives and draws from the students’ recollections to deepen our understanding of collaborative processes of empowerment for Latinx students in school.