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Council on Anthropology and Education
Volunteered - Oral Presentation Session
Jessica Mitchell-McCollough
Doctoral Candidate
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
In spite of open concern (Valdés, 1997) dual language education (DLE) has been a model being implemented in increasing number to attend to the shift in socio-ecological climates of schools requiring changes in strategy to better meet the needs of students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Since the year 2000 DLE has been a model implemented in increasing size to accommodate the needs of diverse learners in the state of Nebraska, a state defined by its position as a part of the New Latino Diaspora (Hamann, Wortham, Murillo, 2002). During the same time frame the political and ideological environment of the state has continued to be dominated by discourse and policy promoting English only identities, including the targeting of DACA, a program in direct support of students within the state’s schools. The following case study will examine the social and political climates in the state of Nebraska that are supporting growth and development of DLE at the community level in times of nativist headwinds in state level policy. If DLE programs are to be sustainable and equitable then it is necessary to have a clear understanding of the mechanisms that accomplish those goals in spite of political and socio-historical climates that spawn ideologies that are less than welcoming for the communities they serve.