Speaking Up, Pushing Back, Closing the Door: Agency of Open and Covert Teacher Resistance in Dual-Language Bilingual Education

The increasing prominence of dual-language bilingual education (DLBE) in the United States necessitates deeper understanding of institutional roles and professional identities of DLBE teachers, particularly when incongruent. We qualitatively analyzed teacher resistance in discordant situations as di...

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Main Authors: Brandon Sherman, Trish Morita-Mullaney, Jennifer Renn
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:AERA Open
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584241311818
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author Brandon Sherman
Trish Morita-Mullaney
Jennifer Renn
author_facet Brandon Sherman
Trish Morita-Mullaney
Jennifer Renn
author_sort Brandon Sherman
collection DOAJ
description The increasing prominence of dual-language bilingual education (DLBE) in the United States necessitates deeper understanding of institutional roles and professional identities of DLBE teachers, particularly when incongruent. We qualitatively analyzed teacher resistance in discordant situations as discussed in conferences between DLBE teachers and a bilingual instructional coach in two districts over 2 years. In these conversations, we found a distinction between nonconfrontational and open, direct resistance. We applied an agentive triad model of teacher identity, agency, and power to understand how DLBE teachers navigated discordant situations in their schools. Teachers acted from different identity positions, including agentive compliance, anagentive compliance (without agency), and nonconfrontational resistance. Findings and theorization demonstrate that DLBE programs present special considerations for teacher identity, role, and resistance. Moreover, context-specific characteristics, including program age, model, and administration, may impact teachers’ approach to resistance. Findings and theorization are relevant to successful DLBE program implementation and equity focused instructional coaching.
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spelling doaj-art-5be92b79eb63425b87147b4a8a9049f82025-01-10T10:03:22ZengSAGE PublishingAERA Open2332-85842025-01-011110.1177/23328584241311818Speaking Up, Pushing Back, Closing the Door: Agency of Open and Covert Teacher Resistance in Dual-Language Bilingual EducationBrandon ShermanTrish Morita-MullaneyJennifer RennThe increasing prominence of dual-language bilingual education (DLBE) in the United States necessitates deeper understanding of institutional roles and professional identities of DLBE teachers, particularly when incongruent. We qualitatively analyzed teacher resistance in discordant situations as discussed in conferences between DLBE teachers and a bilingual instructional coach in two districts over 2 years. In these conversations, we found a distinction between nonconfrontational and open, direct resistance. We applied an agentive triad model of teacher identity, agency, and power to understand how DLBE teachers navigated discordant situations in their schools. Teachers acted from different identity positions, including agentive compliance, anagentive compliance (without agency), and nonconfrontational resistance. Findings and theorization demonstrate that DLBE programs present special considerations for teacher identity, role, and resistance. Moreover, context-specific characteristics, including program age, model, and administration, may impact teachers’ approach to resistance. Findings and theorization are relevant to successful DLBE program implementation and equity focused instructional coaching.https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584241311818
spellingShingle Brandon Sherman
Trish Morita-Mullaney
Jennifer Renn
Speaking Up, Pushing Back, Closing the Door: Agency of Open and Covert Teacher Resistance in Dual-Language Bilingual Education
AERA Open
title Speaking Up, Pushing Back, Closing the Door: Agency of Open and Covert Teacher Resistance in Dual-Language Bilingual Education
title_full Speaking Up, Pushing Back, Closing the Door: Agency of Open and Covert Teacher Resistance in Dual-Language Bilingual Education
title_fullStr Speaking Up, Pushing Back, Closing the Door: Agency of Open and Covert Teacher Resistance in Dual-Language Bilingual Education
title_full_unstemmed Speaking Up, Pushing Back, Closing the Door: Agency of Open and Covert Teacher Resistance in Dual-Language Bilingual Education
title_short Speaking Up, Pushing Back, Closing the Door: Agency of Open and Covert Teacher Resistance in Dual-Language Bilingual Education
title_sort speaking up pushing back closing the door agency of open and covert teacher resistance in dual language bilingual education
url https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584241311818
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AT jenniferrenn speakinguppushingbackclosingthedooragencyofopenandcovertteacherresistanceinduallanguagebilingualeducation