Storytelling with Nepantla: A Portrait of One Mexican American Teacher's Literacy Practices

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Story Telling; Mexican Americans; Portraiture; Teaching Methods; Teacher Education Programs; Oral History; Feminism; Elementary School Teachers; Experienced Teachers; Trust (Psychology); Personal Autonomy; Student Empowerment; Moral Values; Literacy Education; Females; Futures (of Society); Minority Group Teachers; Psychological Patterns; Political Attitudes; Spiritual Development; Personal Narratives; Kindergarten; Elementary Secondary Education

10.1080/15348431.2020.1799378

1534-8431
1532-771X

In this article, the author braids storytelling with oral life history interviews, Chicana Feminisms, and portraiture. The piece centers the portrait of Ms. Sotomayor, a veteran elementary teacher, who through her stories shares with us pedagogies of pain, trust, autonomy, and empowerment. These glimpses of her life journey as a Nepantlera offer readers opportunities to see her stories as fuel for her spiritual activism, evident in her teaching. The portrait highlighted in this article comes from a larger study that centers the life stories of Chicana K-12 teachers from Southern California who view their teaching as a political, spiritual, and/or moral commitment. Using oral life history interviews and classroom observations to invite Chicana teachers to tell their stories, I document how this group of teachers explain connections between their lived experiences and their literacy pedagogies and practices in the classroom. Through Muxerista Portraiture and a borderlands analysis, I testify the power of stories from women who struggle for a better tomorrow. Implications include the possibilities of Nepantla as a pedagogical framework in teacher education praxis with homegrown, Teachers of Color.

As Provided

2023

EJ1381693