Latina Paraeducators’ Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Adaptation in an Alternative Route to Teaching Program

Adichie asserts that “stories matter” because they help us to humanize and empower one another. Stories allow us to make sense of our experiences or the “lived stories” of our lives. This qualitative case study draws from a federally funded, multiyear mixed-methods study focusing on an alternative route to teaching program designed to certify English language learning and bilingual teachers. Using Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) model and the Funds of Knowledge (FoK) framework via the analysis of video-recorded classes, observations, interviews, and written artifacts, we explore how six Latina paraeducators draw from their personal FoK and CCW to overcome great challenges before, during, and after they obtained their teaching credentials. This study points to the need for institutions of higher education, particularly teacher education programs, to apply asset-based perspectives in the recruitment, retention, and graduation of culturally and linguistically diverse teachers.