Myths of monoculturalism: narratively claiming the other

This paper reports on monocultural education narratives associated with marginalizing newcomer English-as-a-New-Language learners and their families. These narratives emerged through a three-year long critical ethnography in the schools of a Midwest town (Unityville). The collective, social stories...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of qualitative studies in education 2016-10, Vol.29 (9), p.1069-1085
Main Author: Dennis, Barbara
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acculturation
Administrator Attitudes
Critical ethnography
Disadvantaged
English (Second Language)
ENL
ESL
Ethnography
Immigrants
Interviews
Misconceptions
multiculturalism
narrative and myth
new language learners
Participatory Research
schooling
Second Language Learning
Self Concept
Student Attitudes
Teacher Attitudes
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Summary:This paper reports on monocultural education narratives associated with marginalizing newcomer English-as-a-New-Language learners and their families. These narratives emerged through a three-year long critical ethnography in the schools of a Midwest town (Unityville). The collective, social stories emerged as 'story seeds' through interviews and positioned the storytellers as knowledgeable in relation to the newcomer others. The stories reproduced monocultural myths about the school itself and privileged the storytellers and those with whom they identified. The primary analytic tool was reconstructive horizon analysis through which four main stories were articulated. All of them involved a myth of monoculturalism: 'When my grandfather came here ...,' 'Latinos are the new blacks,' 'Sink or swim,' and 'Go home.' The Self/Other relations of the monocultural myths will be articulated and the way the collective stories structure those relations will be examined.
ISSN:0951-8398
1366-5898
DOI:10.1080/09518398.2016.1201161