Latinx Aspiring Teachers at Hispanic Serving Institutions: A Latcrit Narrative Inquiry

Across the United States (U.S), Latinx students comprise the largest ethnic student demographic in K-12 schools, yet they remain significantly underrepresented in the teaching profession, constituting less than 10% of the teacher workforce. This disparity highlights the urgent need to examine how they persist through the Latinx teacher pipeline, to enter the teaching profession. Teacher education programs, particularly those housed within Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), play a critical role in the recruitment, preparation, and retention of Latinx aspiring teachers. This qualitative study employed a critical narrative inquiry methodology to explore the racialized experiences of Latinx aspiring teachers at an HSI in the Mountain West region. Grounded in Critical Race Theory (CRT) tenets and Latina/o Critical Race Theory (LatCrit), the study examined Latinx aspiring teachers’ personal, academic, and social experiences as they navigated an education major. All nine aspiring Latinx teachers participated a brief demographic survey and one in-depth interview. The analysis included a restorying process using specific tenets that derived from CRT, CRT in education and LatCrit. Findings reveal the multiple forms of systemic oppression, and institutional marginalization these students encountered, as well as the familial support systems that sustained their persistence.Overall, this study filled a gap in the existing body of research related to undergraduate Latinx aspiring teachers at an HSI. Specifically, the experiences of undocumented aspiring teachers at HSIs. Additionally, this study also contributes to the existing research on the Latinx Teacher Pipeline. This study underscores and recommends the need for teacher education programs at HSIs to adopt more culturally sustaining and critically conscious practices to better prepare and support Latinx aspiring teachers.