Abstract
This study analyzed cultural conflicts of Latina educators as reflected in descriptions of literacy learning at home and school and of their teacher education experiences. Tensions are examined in terms of conflicts between authoritative discourses and various strategies for negotiation that these educators used. The study was part of a larger project involving teachers and paraprofessionals at two large, urban California elementary schools with predominantly poor, Latino student populations. The larger project examined how Latinas' school experiences related to their instructional practices in their own classrooms. Data for this study include transcripts from two focus groups and 12 interviews. Participants were five bilingual, biliterate teachers at each school. Interviews and focus groups examined teachers' memories of learning to read, both at home and school, and teachers' experiences in higher education and teacher preparation. Results highlight: conflicts (e.g., never getting the necessary support, gender issues, and clashes between values of differing discourses of home and school); discourses surrounding the tensions (who educated people are, with whom educated people associate, and what counts as evidence of education); and Latinas' strategic responses (silence or distancing and internalization or adoption of school values and perspectives). (Contains 13 references.) (SM)