Coalition-Building in TWBE
Activism, Allyship, and Empowerment as a Way Forward
Keywords:
bilingual education, two-way immersion programs, ethnographic poetry, racial integration, social justice, cross-cultural friendshipsAbstract
This article explores the potential for coalition building in integrated two-way bilingual education (TWBE) programs. I begin with an ethnographic poem as a point of departure. The poem is based on the relationship between two kindergarten girls who were participants in my study; I envision what one might say to the other based on observations, field notes, and the analysis of interactions between them over their first year as classmates. Drawing from the literature on integration and cross-cultural friendships within and outside the TWBE literature, I explore tensions and possibilities in TWBE settings, and provide ethnographic examples of activism, allyship, and empowerment in integrated TWBE contexts as a way to build coalition-spaces for social justice.
