Other Teachers' Classrooms: Multilingual Paraprofessional Teachers' Hypothetical Language Policy Implementation Narratives

Authors

• Faythe Beauchemin, Boston CollegeFollow
• Rebecca Carpenter de Cortina, uark
• Jessica Somerville-Braun, Skidmore College

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2025

Keywords

agency, ethnography of language policy, hypothetical narratives, multilingualism, paraprofessional teachers, resistance, solidarity

Abstract

In this article, we draw upon an ethnographic approach to language policy to explore how multilingual paraprofessionals enrolled in a Grow Your Own teacher education program in a Mid-Southern, semi-rural U.S. town experienced and imagined attempts to implement more inclusive language policies through hypothetical narratives. Findings illustrate how paraprofessionals narrated their marginalization working alongside classroom teachers, their agency as they imagined possibilities for future classrooms, and their solidarity with each other in negotiating more inclusive language policies.

Comments

Web of Science

Wiley

Citation

Beauchemin, F., R. C. de Cortina, and J. Somerville-Braun. 2025. “ Other Teachers' Classrooms: Multilingual Paraprofessional Teachers' Hypothetical Language Policy Implementation Narratives.” Anthropology & Education Quarterly 56, no. 3: e70029. https://doi.org/10.1111/aeq.70029.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.