Missed opportunities and implementational spaces for developing critical consciousness: Three case studies in secondary Mandarin Chinese dual language bilingual education

ABSTRACT

In response to the call for centering critical consciousness as a foundational goal in dual language bilingual education (DLBE), this article explores secondary Chinese teachers’ instructional practices in Utah Mandarin Chinese DLBE programs and how their instructional practices reflect the missed opportunities and implementational spaces for developing critical consciousness in the backdrop of anti-Asian sentiment. Drawing on theoretical constructs of critical consciousness and using a narrative inquiry approach with ethnographic methods, this study focused on three secondary Chinese DLBE teachers’ reported and observed classroom practices concerning the development of critical consciousness. Findings reveal the different ways in which three Chinese DLBE teachers addressed critical topics in classrooms shaped by their attitudes toward the importance of promoting critical consciousness. Their classroom practices demonstrate the missed opportunities as well as implementational spaces to cultivate critical consciousness within the Mandarin Chinese DLBE curriculum. This study provides examples for DLBE teachers to implement critical pedagogies toward the critical consciousness goal and has implications for teachers, educators, families, and communities to support critical consciousness actions in and out of the classroom.

Acknowledgments

This manuscript draws upon data from my doctoral dissertation. I sincerely thank all the teachers who participated, dedicating their time and support to this study. I am also grateful for the constructive feedback and valuable insights provided by the anonymous reviewers and editors of the Bilingual Research Journal throughout the revision process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nuo Xu

Nuo Xu, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the School of Inclusive Teacher Education at Bowling Green State University. Her research focuses on dual language bilingual education, critical literacy, translanguaging pedagogy, teacher education that promotes multilingualism and multiculturalism, and the development of bilingualism and biliteracy in U.S. immigrant families.