Ideological Clarity Research Articles

Exploring diverse educators’ language ideologies: how lived experiences shape understandings of bilingual education goals

ABSTRACT This study explores the ways diverse educators’ lived experiences shape their understanding of dual language bilingual education (DLBE) goals, responding to calls for research to better understand how educator ideologies impact the equitable implementation of program goals. This qualitative case study highlights the voices of DLBE educators who identify as transnational, Latinx and African American and includes data from classroom observations, interviews, focus groups and pláticas. We offer a conceptual framework that reveals how ideologies related to language acquisition, status, and variation are impacted by teachers’ prior schooling/teaching, institutional positioning and understandings of racialization and cultural identity – sociocultural factors that are co-constructed across micro and macro-level discourse. Our findings suggest that through teaching in DLBE programs and reflecting upon their lived experiences, educators’ ideologies are constantly developing and can shift to foreground equity and center multilingual learners in DLBE programs. Our study has implications for teacher education and professional development that recognizes educators’ diverse experiences (e.g. transnational and/or lived experiences related to race/ethnicity and institutional positioning) to support the ongoing development of ideological clarity that has bearing on the realization of DLBE goals in the pursuit of equity.

인식틀 전환의 화용론적 효과

In this paper, I have analyzed a pragmatical effect of the call of the “universal care.” The care problem has become one of the most issues in the age of the so-called ‘polycrisis.’ So ask many people seeking the alternatives for a better society to change our epistemological framework. According to them, the care problem is not only for some vulnerable people, but for everyone. They say we need to be more politically engaged to solve the problem. It also means the call for the strengthened subjectivity. However, we know that asking for everyone is sometimes asking for no one. Therefore, in order the call to ‘universal care’ to have practical power, it will require not only ideological clarity but also careful consideration of the conditions of reality. I tried to show this pragmatical problem in relation to the poverty of the subjectivity in our days.

“We’re not fully us without our languages”: multilingual Latina educators and raciolinguistic ideological clarity

ABSTRACT Ideological clarity has been defined as a process in which one struggles to identify dominant society’s explanations for existing societal socioeconomic hierarchies and then juxtapose them with one’s own. In this paper, ideological clarity is used to analyze the ability of multilingual Latina educators to identify, name, and disrupt dominant raciolinguistic narratives and their effects on the students they teach. We present the anécdotas – short, illustrative stories frequently used for teaching and learning – of five K-12 multilingual Latina educators to show how they have developed and employed raciolinguistic ideological clarity. Our findings demonstrate that, in identifying, naming, and disrupting dominant raciolinguistic narratives through both their words and their actions, they actively dismantle racial injustice and construct educational possibilities for language minoritized students of color.

Ambiguity and vagueness in party competition

A central theme emerging from recent research on party competition is that political actors sometimes remain deliberately opaque in their communication. This phenomenon has been investigated under labels such as position-blurring, ambiguity, issue clarity or ideological clarity. In this paper we propose a distinction between two concepts that are sometimes conflated in this literature: ambiguity and vagueness. While ambiguity means that there is substantial variance in parties' positional signals, vagueness denotes political statements that are non-committal in terms of the policy action to be taken or the outcome to be achieved. We explore the co-variation of these two dimensions and their relationship to issue ownership and government status using manifesto data produced by the Austrian National Election Study. These data are unique in that they provide detailed positional information as well as information on policy commitment (election pledges). We show that the two dimensions are uncorrelated and have opposite relationships with issue ownership (vagueness positive, ambiguity negative). We conclude that analyses of position-blurring in party competition should take different strategies of non-clarity in party communication into account.

From ideological clarity to Linguistic Ideological Clarity: Critical reflections, examination of language ideologies & interrogation of pedagogical practices

This article explores the specific ways in which three dual language (DL) teachers from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds engaged in ideological clarity (Bartolome, 2000), and then expanded this understanding to engage in what we have identified as linguistic ideological clarity. This process entails self-reflection, the naming of unjust practices through the deployment of linguistic, cultural, and ethnic identities and agency, and the display of critical consciousness seeking to address inequities. Data for this paper comes from two independently conducted qualitative studies in similar U.S. geographical regions. Data sources included life-history and semi-structured interviews, demographic questionnaires, and field notes. This inquiry sheds light on the significant role that linguistic ideological clarity plays in dual language teachers’ language learning ideologies and the principles surrounding their pedagogical practices in racialized contexts. Through the exploration of these teachers’ journeys and actions, we hope to add to the critical work needed within DL contexts.

‘We couldn’t share who we are without being able to draw on this “twoness”’: lessons for higher education in integrating linguistic and racial justice in the United States

ABSTRACT This article describes a program which centered multilingualism and racial justice in higher education in an elementary teacher education program in the United States. By using the theory of ideological clarity, we sought to understand learning outcomes for teacher candidates (TCs) and their contexts, and make salient the racial and linguistic intersections within TCs' identities/subjectivities. We show that by drawing significantly on candidates' linguistic, racial, and cultural resources, and intentionally supporting them within their teacher development, the program allowed TCs to develop critical awareness of ongoing educational inequities. At the same time, how candidates take up linguistic justice varies according to their raciolinguicized subjectivities while their reflections and enactments around multilingualism cannot necessarily be equated with taking a stance towards racial justice. We, therefore, advocate for higher education to continue establishing multilingual pedagogies through pedagogies and frameworks that concurrently address racism and decenter Whiteness.

A longitudinal study of strengths, challenges, and inequities in a Spanish-English dual-language program

ABSTRACT In this longitudinal, qualitative case study, critical pedagogical and sociocultural perspectives were employed to analyze the language and literacy strengths, challenges, inequities, and gentrification issues that characterized the first three years of a two-way, 50–50 Spanish-English dual-language (DL) program’s implementation, and how the DL staff addressed the challenges, inequities, and gentrification issues. Examples of strengths were a balanced Spanish-English instructional schedule, literacy materials in Spanish and English, and the presence of translanguaging. Some challenges were the required use of instructional reading materials and English report cards employed with the district’s monolingual English-speaking students, and finding time to teach literacy in both languages. Several initial gentrification issues were allowing more students from English-speaking families to enroll in the DL program than students from Spanish-speaking families and not providing Spanish report cards. Although the DL personnel resolved some of the inequities and gentrification issues, the district’s actions and policies undermined the DL program’s bilingual and biliteracy goals. The English-dominant students were privileged compared to the Spanish-dominant students, and the DL students’ English performance was prioritized over their Spanish performance. The importance of working with district staff to develop political and ideological clarity along with educational and research implications are highlighted.

The Critical Journey to Develop Ideological Clarity and Redress the Hidden Curriculum

In this article, I examine the role that educators have in preparing students for the 21st-century knowledge economy. I argue that teachers and their curriculum are crucial for enacting equitable teaching practices that promote inquiry, problem-solving, and innovative thinking --skills essential for everyone to gain access to high-skill/high-pay jobs and participate meaningfully in this era. I begin by drawing attention to the work teachers must do to develop ideological clarity and gain the knowledge and skills to redress the negative impact of the hidden curriculum, particularly for minoritized students. This is necessary work because teachers need to know how to challenge hegemonic curricula and create and maintain just and equitable learning environments in an effort to disrupt the status quo. Using the context of disciplinary literacy, I explain pedagogical practices that apprentice students to the language and thinking processes of various disciplines and prepare them with the skill set to inquire, problem-solve, and engage in innovative thinking. Finally, I emphasize the importance of students' voices in maintaining a classroom learning culture. Throughout the article, I provide tools and resources for educators to use as they embark on this work. Keywords: ideological clarity, hidden curriculum, disciplinary literacy instruction, culturally relevant curriculum DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-10-05 Publication date: April 30 th 2023

Remembering the Herero-Nama Genocide in Namibia

Remembering the Herero-Nama Genocide in Namibia

Crooked and Straight: Street Stories and Moral Stories in Early Soviet Odessa

Moral storytelling about urban public life in Odesa in the 1920s is at the center of attention. A key social space is in focus: streets and corners as spaces and as concepts. And a particular storyteller is central: the well-known and yet biographically mysterious feuilletonist for the city's evening newspaper, “Al. Svetlov.” Soviet journalists, like Soviet reality, were expected to offer ideological clarity: a morally unambiguous and teleologically straight story about the death of the past and the birth of a bright and healthy new world. But such temporal and moral (and thus political) consistency was elusive—in the urban spaces where “vestiges” of the old persisted, and in their telling, as observers found it difficult to sustain an unwavering and unambiguous moral orientation. The article asks also how minor and subordinated individuals understood their own lives, suggesting an orientation other than delinquency and pathology.

Unbiased but ideologically unclear: Teacher beliefs about language practices of emergent bilingual students in the U.S.

Language ideologies are influential on teaching practices and teachers’ beliefs and attitudes toward linguistically and culturally diverse students. This multiple case study investigates the beliefs and experiences of two content-area teachers and focuses on their language ideologies regarding the home language use of emergent bilingual (EB) students in the United States. We collected data from our interviews and informal meetings with them as well as observations of their participation in a workshop. Our cross-case analysis reveals that they seemed to have positive beliefs about tapping into the home language of EB students as a resource but were simultaneously guided by normative language ideologies. Although the teachers were aware of their power of negotiating and resisting normative language ideologies, they were guided by the liberal ideology of home languages, which states that they should be used with restriction. They did not seem to demonstrate the ideological clarity of critically incorporating home languages into teaching practices. We concur that there is a need for preparing teachers to be more critical to challenge taken-for-granted assumptions about EB’s use of language.

Becoming teachers of emergent bilinguals: Navigating ideological and identity tensions

Teacher candidates (TCs) go through intense identity negotiations and tensions at the intersection of personal, professional, and political dimensions of education. This iterative and complex process brings about ideological tensions. In this article, following a qualitative research design, we analysed the interviews of 48 (majority white monolingual) TCs during a semester-long practice teaching experience with emergent bilingual students (EBs) in grades 6–8 classrooms. The constant comparative method and critical discourse analysis informed our data analysis. The findings demonstrated that TCs experienced tensions related to their identities, ideologies, and future student populations. These tensions were revealed in their discourses, language choices, and the metaphors they adopted. One prevalent metaphor used was ‘language barrier’, depicting TCs’ limited agency and helplessness in their teaching if they did not speak the first language of their EBs. Another recurrent theme was the need to better understand the who, what, where, when, and why questions of teaching as TCs reflected on their professional decision-making at the intersection of personal, professional, and political discourses of teaching EBs. The study suggests that these ideological tensions should be unpacked in teacher education programs to build identity-focused critical teacher learning practices. Such practices can help TCs understand and navigate discourses that are introduced during teacher preparation in an effort to develop ideological clarity and claim ownership of their transformation into becoming social justice-oriented teachers of EBs.

Keeping an eye on equity in bilingual education

ABSTRACT In 2016, California voters approved state Proposition 58, repealing an almost 20-year ban on bilingual education for English Learners (ELs), who represent nearly 20% of the state’s public school students. The state’s reversal on bilingual education reflects a national trend of promoting bilingualism and expanding bilingual (also referred to as dual language) programs for all students, not just ELs. This expansion comes with many challenges. Chief among them are issues of equity for linguistically minoritized students, whose needs are subverted to their middle-class English-dominant peers. For over 10 years, SEAL has worked with preschool and elementary school educators in California to center the needs of linguistically minoritized students and their families. This article focuses on SEAL’s work to reduce inequities in bilingual education by fostering ideological clarity among bilingual teachers and the meaningful engagement of Spanish-speaking families. It suggests that stakeholders at multiple levels should play an active role in advancing equity in bilingual education and offers an example of how organizations that provide professional development can do so.

Linguistically Responsive Instruction for Latinx Teacher Candidates: Surfacing Language Ideological Dilemmas

AbstractThis qualitative study explored Linguistically Responsive Instruction (LRI) for linguistically diverse Latinx preservice Teacher Candidates (TCs) at a tertiary institution in the southwest region of the United States. To provide an example of preparing TCs to engage in LRI by helping them reflect upon ideological orientations, we operationalized LRI as a series of three reflective tasks—language portraits, ideology trees, and utterance analysis—designed to pose linguistic ideological dilemmas (LIDs) for participants. Findings from multimodal thematic analysis suggest that during the study, engaging in LRI afforded teacher candidates space to explore tensions surrounding broader ideologies in circulation (ideological infrastructures), as well as personal ideological orientations towards themselves, their future learners, and society. These tensions generated dilemmas that caused participants to engage in language and ethnicity gatekeeping in ways that revealed the impact of institutionalized ideological stances toward linguistically and ethnically diverse speakers. Implications include (1) potential ways for faculty and students interested in LRI implementation to interrogate sociopolitical dimensions of language use across disciplines, (2) better understanding of whether and what type of ideological clarity may emerge from LRI in tertiary classrooms, and (3) how LRI might contribute to the disruption of less nuanced approaches to serving linguistically diverse learners in higher education.

Reclaiming, Recalibrating Political and Ideological Clarity in Our Praxis

The pandemics of COVID-19, racial injustice, and inequality have brought the country to a screeching halt. Minoritized faculty at the intersection of race, class, gender, linguistic identity, and national origin have been impacted in profound ways. The researchers here discuss the ongoing challenges using Roy’s Portal metaphor and Freire’s political and ideological clarity to shed light on the failure of institutions of higher learning and on the opportunities of this historical moment to reexamine and recalibrate our praxis of liberation.

Ciencias bilingües: how dual language teachers cultivate equity in dual language classrooms

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to document how K-8 critically conscious, dual language, science teachers (CCDLSTs) working with bilingual learners (BLs) practice their critical consciousness via the four tenets of dual language education: ideological clarity, pedagogical perspective and clarity, access for all, and equitable spaces (IPAE). This paper is informed by the fourth tenet and research question: How do CCDLSTs create equitable spaces in science learning environments? Previous research offers limited information on how dual language, science teachers practice their critical consciousness. Given the era of Common Core State Standards and the number of BLs left with underprepared teachers, this study advances an understanding of what CCDLSTs are doing in classrooms to draw upon the assets of BLs while implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). A phenomenological qualitative design was used to gather interview and observational data of how six CCDLSTs working in Southern California public schools employed a critically conscious pedagogy in a Spanish/English dual language setting while creating access to science content with equity at the core. Findings include research-based examples of the instructional processes CCDLSTs used in their classrooms to create equity while teaching science in dual language classrooms.

Funds of Identity and Education: The Journey of a Latina Educator from Linguistic Erasure to Linguistic Empowerment

This study had three aims: to present a case study and explain the funds of identity of a Latina educator; to use this as an opportunity to connect heritage language to ideological clarity and humanizing pedagogies in educator preparation programs; and to illustrate how pedagogy and language education can include transformational and healing elements when educators are engaged in culturally and linguistically affirming professional development. By understanding ourselves as teachers in relation to the communities in which we teach, we are able to develop ideological clarity and reject deficit perspectives that serve to erase non-English languages spoken at home in order to effectively serve and advocate for our multilingual, emerging bilingual and heritage language students. This case study of one Latina’s journey to linguistic empowerment may serve as an example of how future teachers can transform their own experiences of language loss into empowerment and reclaim their own culture, language, and values not only for themselves but for their students as well.

The Boal-Freire Nexus: Rehearsing Praxis, Imagining Liberation in Bilingual Teacher Education

Author(s): Caldas, Blanca | Abstract: Freire (2005) encourages people to take “critical ownership of the formation of ourselves” (p. 44) in order to be able to act upon the world in what he (1993) calls “praxis.” This praxis consists of the development of critical consciousness leading to transformative action. Critical consciousness and praxis should be conceived as an ongoing and creative process through the actual doing within spaces of authoring (Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, a Cain, 2003). Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed might provide Freire’s ideas with a stage where liberation and praxis can be concretized, rehearsed and imagined. A discussion of this Freire-Boal complementation is offered by providing examples of two studies I conducted among Mexican-American/Latinx bilingual pre-service teachers to 1) prepare them linguistically after years of subtractive anglo-centric schooling, 2) to develop political and ideological clarity (Bartolome a Balderrama, 2001), and 3) to encourage them to engage in leadership and advocacy inside and outside of the classroom.

Non-Islamist parties in post-2011 Egypt: winners in an MB-free political sphere

Purpose Years after the 2011 uprising Egypt, it seems that the country’s non-Islamist parties are still included in the political game. After significant alterations in their political sphere by mid-2013 at the advent of the Muslim Brother exclusion and the subsequent discrediting of Salafi al-Nour party, non-Islamist parties took clear part in the mobilization for presidential elections (2014, 2018) and competed for legislative seats in 2015. Nonetheless, it is difficult to expect them to turn into long-term key political players with clear-cut ideological postures, unique platforms and strong grass root mobilization. With the exception of the electoral gains scored by numbered parties like Free Egyptians’ party and Nation’s Future in 2015 legislative elections, these parties seem to be lagging behind esp. in terms of their popular base; who became winners at the advent of the radical exclusion of the MB from July 2013 onwards. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on archival research and guided by basic assumptions of rational choice institutionalism, mainly game-theoretic versions of the approach. It is divided into four sections, three of them are chronological and the last one is thematic. Findings Egypt’s non-Islamists engaged in the post-2011 political sphere, with strong Islamist rivals crippling their political chances in the first two years following the 2011 uprising. They surely capitalized on the exclusion and discrediting of the latter, but they suffered lack of ideological clarity and fragmentation from 2011 onwards with no enough evidence these weaknesses were surpassed after Islamists were “out of their way”. The only strand of non-Islamist parties which came out as “game winners” were those possessing the resources and enjoying overt “friendly” relations with al-Sisi regime. Nonetheless, internal conflicts inside key secularist parties shed light on their capacity to turn into long-term players in Egypt’s political sphere. Originality/value Very few papers were published on Egypt’s secularists parties after the 2011 uprising from the perspective of the alteration that occurred in their political environment affecting their political weight and gains. More generally, literature on non-ruling parties in authoritarian contexts mostly reduce these parties to secondary roles allocated by ruling regimes. The paper seeks to overcome both shortages.

Critical historical inquiry: The intersection of ideological clarity and pedagogical content knowledge

This paper presents the relationship between pedagogical content knowledge and political/ideological clarity as a framework for understanding the nuanced interpretations and applications of critical social studies pedagogy and practice. Using a qualitative case study research design, this study explores the decision-making process of two novice social studies teachers as they decide if and how to utilize critical historical inquiry within their classrooms. Findings indicate that teachers' use of critical historical inquiry is informed by their subject area consciousness and political and ideological clarity which is cultivated through personal, schooling, and communal experiences. However, we also find that a teacher's pedagogy is significantly strengthened when political and ideological clarity are coupled with pedagogical content knowledge to ensure a more developed enactment of critical historical inquiry is reached within the social studies classroom.