When Immigrant Mothers of Color

Become Public School Teachers for

English Language Learners:
Intersectionality for Transformative
Teacher Preparation

YIN LAM LEE-JOHNSON

Webster University
St Louis, Missouri, United States

Abstract
This article contests the whitewashed ideologies and practices in tea-
cher preparation programs and K–12 schools (Lee-Johnson, 2019) with
a counter-storytelling analysis (Solorzano & Yosso, 2001, 2002). Based
on the analysis of the lived experiences of two immigrant mothers of
color (IMC), who had transitioned into certified English Language
Learner (ELL) teachers, the researcher proposes a transformative
frame, which stems from Crenshaw’s (1989) intersectionality and Mezir-
ow’s (1990) transformative learning. The data sources include the two
immigrant mothers’ oral stories told at an ELL parent panel, their writ-
ten teaching philosophy statements, and blog posts. The findings con-
tribute to the knowledge base of teacher preparation in TESOL and
applied linguistics by foregrounding the racially othered experiences of
IMC; envisioning intersectionality as an agentive tool for negotiation,
emancipation, and advocacy; and proposing a transformative frame for
TESOL teacher education. The researcher calls for considerations of
using intersectionality for transforming the teaching practices and ide-
ologies in teacher preparation programs and K–12 schools.
doi: 10.1002/tesq.3171

TESOL QUARTERLY Vol. 0, No. 0, 0000 1

Ó 2022 TESOL International Association.
INTRODUCTION

I n the field of TESOL teacher preparation, the majoritarian perspec-

tive1 foregrounds the voices of native English-speaking White teach-
ers, thus marginalizing the voices of minority teachers, who are non-
White and non-native English speaking (Motha, 2006). Immigrant
mothers of color (IMC), who transitioned into certified teachers for
English Language Learners (ELLs), do not make up the majority of
the teacher candidate pool, and thus empirical data are not available
and their voices have been muted (Pollock, 2009). This research study
aims at filling the research gap regarding IMCs intersectionality, as
they transitioned to become ELL teachers in public schools.
As far as their intersectionality is concerned, IMCs face quadruple
jeopardy due to being (1) non-White: so they do not enjoy White privi-
leges (Ruecker & Ives, 2015); (2) non-native English speaking: there-
fore being scrutinized about their pronunciation and legitimacy to
teach (Amin, 1997, 2001; Braine, 1999; Llurda & Huguet, 2003;
Rubin, 1992; Tang, 1997); (3) mothers: therefore facing the challenge
of raising their own children while teaching and juggling family
responsibilities as a mom (Claffey, Gratz, & Boulton, 1995; Ran-
son, 1998); and (4) immigrants or refugees: and thus went through
legal identity transitions and experienced racism due to their per-
ceived “otherness” (Arndt, 2015; Reid, 2005). Some IMCs and their
children are undocumented and they face heightened stress from
being deported. Undocumented IMCs might not be able to register in
teacher certification tests and get certified, depending on the state’s
policy. Therefore, it is critical to validate their linguistic and cultural
capitals (Bourdieu, 1991) and funds of knowledge (Moll, Amanti,
Neff, & Gonzalez, 1992), and to explore a transformative frame in tea-
cher preparation programs for advocacy and validation purposes.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2021),
about 79% of U.S. public elementary and secondary schools were
White and about 76% were female in 2017–2018. The United States
has been criticized by education researchers for perpetuating white-
ness by hiring White female middle-class teachers in K–12 schools
(Ladson-Billings, 2005) and by practicing whitewashedness, which is
an unmarked ideological system that forces minority to conform to
whiteness in schools and in teacher education programs (Lee-
Johnson, 2019).
Eurocentrism, linguistic imperialism, and the recycling of White
privileges (Canagarajah & Said, 2010; Kubota & Lin, 2006, 2009;

1
The “majoritarian perspective” is adapted from Solorzano and Yosso’s (2002) “majoritar-
ian stories of racial privilege” (p. 32).

2 TESOL QUARTERLY
Motha, 2014; Phillipson, 1992) are prevalent in the United States
K–12 educational system and TESOL teacher education. Despite the
emergence of translanguaging (Garc
ıa & Wei, 2014), culturally respon-
sive approach (Ladson-Billings, 1995), and critical pedagogies
(Santana-Williamson, 2000), there are yet deeply rooted racialized ide-
ologies in schools and in higher education (Flores, Lewis, &
Phuong, 2018), which perpetuate the stereotypes of non-White and
non-native English-speaking teachers (Santana-Williamson &
Kelch, 2002).

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The theoretical framework of the study is built upon intersectional-

ity (Crenshaw, 1989) and transformative learning (Mezirow, 1990).
Crenshaw’s (1989) intersectionality, which problematized how identity
constructs intersect from a Black feminist perspective, laid the ground-
work for women of color to claim legitimacy against racism and sexism
(p. 142). Based on Collins (1990) and Crenshaw (2003), Bell (2016)
summarized and reiterated the complexity of intersectionality, “we rec-
ognize that different forms of oppression interact with and co-
constitute one another as interlocking systems that overlap and rein-
force each other” (p. 13).
Intersectionality, stemming from critical race theory, enlightens the
transformative framework of this study as it highlights and foregrounds
the racialized and gendered lived experiences of IMCs.
Mezirow’s (1990) transformative learning was referenced when I inter-
preted the transitions that IMCs went through. This is because Mezir-
ow’s perspective offers a holistic framing that are unique to adults.
Mezirow defined learning as “the process of making a new or revised
interpretation of the meaning of an experience” (Mezirow, 1990, p.
1). His transformative approach sheds light on challenging the habit-
ual thinking pattern among adult learners, and it contributes to an
emancipatory frame, in which “meaning perspectives are transformed
through a critical reflective assessment of epistemic, sociocultural, or
psychic distortions acquired through the process of introjection, the
uncritical acceptance of another’s values” (Mezirow, 1990, p. 14). The
three kinds of distortions: epistemic, sociocultural, and psychic, refer
to the taken-for-granted mindset regarding the nature of knowledge,
social relationships, and psychological reactions in various contexts
(Mezirow, 1990, p. 15–17).
Transformative learning framework has been widely discussed,
applied, and critiqued in educational research (Brown, 2004; Fetter-
man, 2017; Howie & Bagnall, 2013; Schugurensky, 2002; Servant-

TRANSFORMATIVE TEACHER PREPARATION 3

Miklos & Noordegraaf-Eelens, 2021; Taylor & Cranton, 2013; Tib-
bitts, 2005). The overarching claim among these scholars is that trans-
formation is discursive and recursive, and it involves critical reflection,
emancipation, and empowerment in teaching and learning practices.
For example, Howie and Bagnall (2013) summarized transformative
learning as “the conceptual domain of consciousness raising, improv-
ing, becoming free from the past, undoing twisted views of the world,
raising above self-limitations, being future oriented, becoming enlight-
ened, unfolding spiritually, metaphorically of butterflies emerging” (p.
12). Pennycook (1999) argued for a transformative dimension within
critical approaches for advancing social, cultural, and political change
(p. 341).

Literature Review
Deeply rooted whitewashedness in schools and in teacher education
programs are often perpetuated through normalized assimilation prac-
tices, which have deep implications on ELLs’ academic trajectories
and identity development (Compton-Lilly, Ellison, Perry, & Smagorin-
sky, 2021; Fuentes, 2016; Marx & Larson, 2012). It is therefore critical
for us to take a closer look at the counter-stories for disrupting the sta-
tus quo.
This study warrants a review of literature about immigrant mothers’
transition into public school teachers; as well as intersectionality and
transformative perspectives in TESOL and applied linguistics. There is
a dearth of studies that focused on immigrant mothers’ transition to
become teachers. The lack of studies testifies the marginalization of
IMCs’ voices, which is a loss to the field of TESOL. The relevant stud-
ies confirmed the cultural and linguistic capital (Bourdieu, 1991)
brought along by the immigrant teachers (Ross, 2001, 2003).
Ross (2001) introduced a newcomers entering teaching certification
program offered by a university in Portland, Maine. Six people com-
pleted the program which included men and women from Sudan, Ser-
bia, Somali, India, and Iran. Ross (2003) cited 10 candidates
supported by the Newcomer program-Extended Teacher Education
Program and noted the linguistic and cultural enrichment that the
newcomers brought to the teacher education courses.
Despite the linguistic and cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1991) that
IMCs bring to the field, their non-native-speaking status and foreign
accents contribute toward their plights when transitioning into a tea-
cher role. For example, the deficit view of NNESTs being “the schizo-
phrenic teacher” (Medgyes, 1983). Such deficit view of NNESTs had
been contested by the works of Suresh Canagarajah, Braj Kachru,

4 TESOL QUARTERLY
George Braine, and Keiko Samimy. The belief of an idealized native
English speaker and linguistic imperialism (Lippi-Green, 1997; Phillip-
son, 1992) had been challenged by scholars in the field. Empirical
studies have confirmed the connection between perception of accents
and racism (Amin, 1997, 2001; Braine, 1999; Llurda & Huguet, 2003;
Rubin, 1992; Tang, 1997). The racism toward NNESTs without evaluat-
ing their “declarative” or “procedural” knowledge as a professional
educator (Pasternak and Bailey, as cited in Kamhi-Stein, ed., 2004,
p. 158) has been pervasive.
The unique contributions of immigrant teachers (Adair, 2011; Car-
rison, 2007; Larson, 2018; McDevitt, 2018) should be explored. These
studies corroborated that the immigrant teachers advocated for learn-
ers’ home languages, shared similar immigration and language learn-
ing experiences with their learners, and supported culturally
responsive teaching (Adair, 2011; Larson, 2018; McDevitt, 2018). In
particular, Carrison (2007) examined seven bilingual and bicultural
ELL paraeducators’ transition to certified teachers. These immigrant
teachers showed strong advocacy for immigrant learners and they
regarded their jobs as their calling. One of the immigrant teachers
wrote, “I come from thriving on the joy in my children’s eyes. When
they share their successes and happiness. I come from courage, deter-
mination, and love for my family” (Carrison, 2007, p. 148). The moth-
erhood and its tendency to connect teaching as an act of love was
evidenced in the findings of Carrison (2007). Though unmarried and
non-immigrant teachers may also consider teaching as an act of love;
this ethos of love among IMCs is unique as it entails a shared under-
standing of uprooting and transplanting experiences, language learn-
ing, and challenges of cultural identities between the IMCs and ELLs.
As far as how intersectionality and transformative perspective was
investigated in TESOL and applied linguistics, scholars explored these
two terms both theoretically (Liggett, 2014; Zhu, 2017) and empiri-
cally (Lawrence & Nagashima, 2020; Senyshyn, 2018). For instance,
Liggett (2014) examined intersectionality by referring to “language
and race to better understand linguicism and the historical context
that frames discourse around English language education, and how
this context overlaps with race, racial identity, and racialization” (p.
122). Similarly, Hua (2017) explored the pluralistic conceptualization
of identities and underscored the importance of highlighting the
transformative aspects of intersectionality in situated contexts (p. 13–
14). Empirical studies such as Lawrence and Nagashima (2020),
Senyshyn (2018), Miller, Liu, and Ball (2020), together with others
(Fairley, 2020; Ubaque-Casallas, 2021) purported the need to further
explore the application of a transformative lens in TESOL and applied
linguistics.

TRANSFORMATIVE TEACHER PREPARATION 5

 Based on the literature review, there is a noted gap in regards to
the intersectionality of immigrant mothers and their transition to
become ELL certified. Teacher agency in TESOL (Hamid, Zhu, & Bal-
dauf, 2014; Ilieva & Ravindran, 2018; Yuan & Yang, 2021) has been
well researched and yet intersectionality had yet to be envisioned as an
agentive tool. This research study intends to fill this gap. The research
questions are (1) How did intersectionality inform the IMCs’ transition
to become ELL teachers? (2) How did the IMCs’ counter-stories
inform the development of a transformative frame for teacher prepara-
tion?

METHODOLOGY

Contextualization of the Study

The empirical data of the study came from a 5-year National Profes-
sional Development Grant project, which was funded by the U.S.
Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition.
The grant project was a large-scale research project including a quasi-
experimental investigation on teachers’ self and collective efficacies,
and a qualitative study that stems from community of practice (Lave &
Wenger, 1991) and family engagement (Moll et al., 1992). The grant
project included coursework required in the M.A. Teaching-English-as-
a-second-language program, a series of 8 Saturday seminars, as well as
targeted grant activities for building community and family engage-
ment, such as blogging, mentor-mentee and peer-peer teaching obser-
vations, etc. The project was to cultivate 1202 state-certified ELL
teachers from six school districts in the St Louis metropolitan area.
For the Saturday Seminars, grant participants submitted blog postings
about what they learned (averaging one to two postings after each
seminar), teaching philosophy statements, key assessments from
coursework and other assignments. I made a decision to focus on the
participants’ response as the main data source, whereas having the
teaching philosophy statements and blog posts as supplementary
sources for corroborating the claims made in this article. I then
assigned codes following open (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) and axial cod-
ing (Strauss & Corbin, 1990) guidelines, and retold the stories of Jua-
nita and Layla via the emerged themes, in response to the research
questions.

2
The actual number of graduates from the grant project may vary, due to COVID-19 cir-
cumstances and other factors.

6 TESOL QUARTERLY
 Between 2017 and 2021, the Saturday Seminars of the grant project
invited ELLs, ELL parents, mentor teachers, and school personnel as
panelists, who shared personal experiences with the teachers in the
grant. ELL parents were invited to speak at Saturday panels, where tea-
cher candidates in the grant participated for building self and collec-
tive efficacies (Bandura, 1977, 2000), capacities for building
communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991), and family engage-
ment (Epstein, Sanders, & Simon, 2009). At one of the parent panels,
two grant teachers, Juanita and Layla (pseudonyms), spoke as panelists
regarding their lived experiences as IMC. As Juanita and Layla were
minority teachers, to protect their identity, the countries of origin
were replaced by generic descriptors throughout the study.
Both Juanita and Layla were in their 50s, certified teachers in K–12
schools in the State of Missouri, and both had a master’s degree, as
well as experience teaching in middle schools before. Juanita was born
in St Louis, grew up in a Hispanic country, and then came back to
obtain a Master of Arts in Teaching degree in one of the universities
in Missouri. She had taught for 3 years in K–12 schools. Juanita self-
identified as Hispanic. Layla was born in the Middle-East. She
obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Europe, and she came back for a Mas-
ter’s degree in one of the universities in Missouri. Layla had 1 year of
experience teaching in K–12 schools. Both Juanita and Layla had teen-
age children at the time of data collection and their children went to
public schools in Missouri.

Researcher Positionality

Following Milner’s (2007) call for researcher positionality, I went

through reflexivity (Jacobson & Mustafa, 2019) to examine her role in
the research. She self-identified as a middle-class, female, Chinese, cis-
gender, heterosexual, immigrant mother in her 40s. I claimed to have
an emic perspective as she experienced the barriers of being non-
native English-speaking, non-White, and an immigrant mother. I was a
note-taker at the parent panel. I acknowledged the differences
between herself and the IMCs in the study, that is, race and ethnicity,
age, and experiences in public schools as she did not go through the
transition to become a public school ELL teacher.

Counter-Storytelling as a Methodology and Analytical Frame

I followed Solorzano and Yosso’s (2001, 2002) counter-storytelling

as the method and analytical frame in this study, because this

TRANSFORMATIVE TEACHER PREPARATION 7

approach foregrounds the voices of minoritized populations. Solor-
zano and Yosso (2002) mentioned, “A majoritarian story distorts and
silences the experiences of people of color” (p. 29). For example,
administrators and educators often assume that immigrant parents do
not care when failing to show up at parent–teacher conference, inter-
national nights, or special events geared toward ELLs and their par-
ents (Guo, 2006, 2007, 2010). Such majoritarian stories were usually
written from a middle-class White perspective that validates the educa-
tional system, which recycles assimilation approaches in parental
engagement. Solorzano and Yosso (2002) mentioned, “We define the
counter-story as a method of telling the stories of those people whose
experiences are not often told (i.e., those on the margins of society).
The counter-story is also a tool for exposing, analyzing, and challeng-
ing the majoritarian stories of racial privilege” (p. 32).
In the field of educational research, counter-stories have been
adopted by researchers for transforming teacher education
(Cho, 2017; Martin-Beltran, Montoya-Avila, & Garcia, 2020). In addi-
tion to these studies, based on a review of 60 empirical articles which
cited counter-narrative3 as transformative methodology, Miller
et al. (2020) purported an emerging frame that argued for “counter-
narrative as full methodology” (p. 277).

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

In the following paragraphs, the two IMCs’ responses at the Satur-
day parent panel in the form of typed notes were represented in
Table 1, with the discussion of the themes that emerged in the study.
Then my response to the research questions follows.

First Theme: Racially Othered Mothers of ELLs

Both Juanita and Layla confirmed the racial marginalization and
whitewashedness that has been perpetuated via common sense
(Kumashiro, 2004) public school education. For example, the home-
work load, assumption of parent’s help in the completion of assign-
ments, cultural understanding of “Yellow Stones,” “Christmas,”
“Kwanzaa,” “Hanukkah,” and “Easter” among ELL families, reminded
ELL parents that they were foreign and othered. One day, Layla’s
daughter was asked by a teacher to choose between Christmas,

3
In Miller et al.’s (2020) article, both counter-narratives and counter-stories were refer-
enced as personal lived experiences.

8 TESOL QUARTERLY
 TABLE 1
Main Data Source: Juanita and Layla’s Responses at Parent Panel
Parent Panel Questions
1. Did you have any problems or
challenges when enrolling
your child in schools?
Considering the cultures that
you are familiar with, is that
expectation the same here?
TRANSFORMATIVE TEACHER PREPARATION
2. Other than language
problems, what cultural
problems did you have when
communicating with teachers
and other people at the
school?
9
Juanita’s Responses
• Gathering all the forms and docu-
mentation
• Homework: It was between my hus-
band and me to be available at
home
• We were not African American. So
for my kids it’s a problem of iden-
tity we don’t know where we
belong. So we are just “peach.” So
everybody was happy with that
Layla’s Responses
• My kids were born here. Now they are 16 and 18. I had to sup-
port at home for their homework because of the culture shock.
They sent us papers we thought we had to pay. I came to Amer-
ica with English with a degree but that was different for me.
Another thing: When my kids start at kindergarten, I didn’t
know they give you five days’ homework and you should do it
day by day. We did all homework the first day. I went to princi-
pal and told him, my kids know read and write and she should
go to the next level but he said no, I am sorry she has to stay
here. He couldn’t change the option and another is to go to
religious schools but I didn’t want that. I want them to be
Americans coz they were born here. Sometimes parents strug-
gle even with the English language. Sometimes we don’t under-
stand the American culture and I don’t know Yellow Stones
and I don’t know anything outside of St Louis how am I going
to fix that?
• My kid had substitute teacher that day and she came home
and said, “Mom we are Jewish.” And I said, “ok.” She said,
“Mom the teachers give us three options, you have Christmas,
the Kwanzaa and you have the Hanukkah.” She said, “We don’t
celebrate Christmas and I am not African
American and so I chose Hanukkah.” She said, “Now we are
officially Jewish.” I was not angry. You don’t know everybody’s
culture as a teacher and I don’t know what to do. She’s now
8th grade and I still keep that paper from her school
• I have the same trouble. (Abbreviated: See Insertion A under
First Theme for full response)
 TABLE 1 (Continued)
10
Parent Panel Questions
3. What are ways that the
teachers help you connect
with the school community?
4. What are some of the ways
your schools can help
strengthen your connection
for you as parents?
TESOL QUARTERLY
Juanita’s Responses
• (Abbreviated: See Insertion B
under First Theme for full
response)
• I never felt welcomed in my kids
school. I never had. We are His-
panic even if I were dead and born
again. Hispanics people have party
and gather together. We talked
about international night but it was
more like a show. So I am enjoying
more with people that I have con-
nection with. Piggy back with what
you said, I wouldn’t want people to
taste my black beans, but we just
want other parents who can share
our culture. We actually leave our
identity and we have to try some-
thing else
Layla’s Responses
• My kids went to District A and now District B. When she went
to A, I was always there. The principal gave me a paper and
said, “Why don’t you apply for a job.” I told my husband that
“I didn’t ask for a job.” After all, I went to the interview, my
interview was with the assistant superintendent and another
principal. I didn’t understand why I was hired. I was just a crazy
mom at school. The principal was tired of me. I was the liaison
with the school. After a week, “You are hired,” they said. Also
with the middle school principal, she called me by first name,
and she said, “Why don’t you come and do PD with us?”
• When you come to the country you have expectations, you
want to fit in. Now I am here, and you should accept who I
am. It’s not easy job for teachers. I am helping my kids to be
themselves. I chose to stay here and I don’t want to go any-
where. This is what I have to face and I am facing it
• I think providing interpreters. We have monthly meetings at Dis-
trict B where we have ELL families and African American families
get together and try to answer some questions. I met with PTO
member who didn’t know about family and he asked, “Do you
know that meeting was only for people who want to meet with
us?” He’s my friend but sometimes with good intention, people
think that’s enough. When they see something they don’t under-
stand, oh they are the weird people. Common sense as American
is not international common sense. If I go back to the 60s, Afri-
can Americans cannot come to schools or vote. There are things
happening we think this way. If we have the intention to under-
stand them not just to categorize them. We have to accept them,
tolerate them. I accept that person the way he is, he needs to
learn English but I want him to believe in himself and his input
is important. There was a teacher told me, “Your kids don’t
speak.” There was a teacher who said, “I don’t know that your
kids can speak two languages at home.”
 TABLE 1 (Continued)
Parent Panel Questions
5. What are the ways to
communicate with parents
and families in the school
district? Do you prefer emails
or phone calls or mails or
apps? What is best to
communicate
6. How can you encourage more
parental engagement with
your school or district? How
would you want to be involved
TRANSFORMATIVE TEACHER PREPARATION
as a parent?
11
Juanita’s Responses
• All the things taken for granted.
Processes, procedures, forms to file.
I would like someone to tell me in
my face in my language. That
would be the most effective thing
• Dido (after the other parent talked
about visiting their kids’ schools)
Layla’s Responses
• Email is not effective for us. I think texting was more effective.
I have notes from parents who use Google Translate to send
me something in English. We had interpreters and they can
talk to the interpreters in their own language. Email is not
effective for international students
• Do you know how many hours do kids go to school outside of
America? (In the Middle-East country where I was born): it’s
only 4 hours. When you have people from the Middle-East,
they are working at home more than at school. Teacher only
gives kids what to know
• I went to school almost every week. I was afraid they would
teach something different that I would teach at home. I was
there at lunch and after and that was my idea of supporting my
kids. When I started that job, I thought maybe I can evaluate
my degree. I can be a substitute teacher. So I did that in Dis-
trict B. I went to my kids’ school and I want to see what’s hap-
pening at schools, different cultures, norms?
• I want to teach normal American kids so they see me as a par-
ent as a teacher as someone coming from another culture. I
can help others. I am not the typical parent. I want to send the
message to all communities. Muslims: you can participate you
can give the community and give something to the school. My
experience at international day was different. When I am there
I am presenting about another culture. So you tried to learn
about another culture. I want to help them represent that
culture. That’s good for everybody. I don’t have to be another
person. What if you do your research and you know about my
culture and you come and tell me, I found this. What do you
think?
 TABLE 1 (Continued)
12
Parent Panel Questions
7. How do you make decisions
about languages that your
kids speak?
TESOL QUARTERLY
Juanita’s Responses Layla’s Responses
• My youngest was 2 and I couldn’t • I was so stubborn I want my kids to be bilingual. I taught her
stay home anymore. I decided to go Arabic. She learned Spanish. She passed the Arabic and we are
to work. I had another baby. I just waiting for her Spanish test. Everything was Arabic at home.
want them to belong and 1 day we We managed to have bilingual and trilingual at the family and
made decision that they won’t it’s not easy. It’s not language by the way, it’s the culture. How
speak Spanish any more. That was can you keep the culture. She has her third culture. She is
when they were in Preschool. Now proud of her culture. She doesn’t wear the scarf. It’s not easy
they are in college and now they for me or for her
are trying to link themselves to the
background and it was too late. I
didn’t know or understand Easter.
A basket for what? Eggs. Chocolate
eggs, Oh my God! What do I do
with the basket. It was the first
Easter we celebrated. We had Good
Friday and our own tradition. This
is the one thing that I bring to you.
So 1 day if you decide to go home,
you can have one thing. (Abbrevi-
ated: See Insertion C under
Response to Research Question
One for full response). That transi-
tion of them about losing their
identity. That was a serious thing. I
think what we have been talking:
make them feel that they are
important. How many nationalities
do we have now. Reading multicul-
tural books. Something that help
their self-esteem. That would have
made it for me
Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah that her family celebrated. Layla’s daughter,
who did not fully comprehend the racial reductionism
(Wrigley, 2004), told her mother that she was Jewish, because she
could not identify herself with the first two choices of Christmas and
Kwanzaa. Based on the elimination method when approaching a
multiple-choice question, Layla’s daughter chose “Hanukkah.” The
counter-story of Layla’s daughter being identified as Jewish was an
example of racial reductionism as her cultural practice was not among
any of the choices on the worksheet, and she was forced to deny her
own cultural, ethnic, and racial identity. Layla, as a mother, faced simi-
lar challenges of not knowing which racial category to click for her
own racial identity as a parent, as she was not Hispanic/Latino, Asian,
or African American. She was forced to click “White” in the racial cate-
gory for parents, that she did not agree with. Layla continued to say,
Arabs are White in America. When I came, I thought I was Asian
because of where I was born. With my kids, I told them they were
White in the system but they were not White and sometimes they don’t
have “other” to choose. I went to the superintendent, I told them, “We
are not White. So they said they couldn’t figure out and we are still
White” (Insertion A: Layla’s response to panel question 2 in Table 1).
When the majoritarian story was to categorize minorities into sepa-
rate boxes, the counter-story told by Layla contested such categories,
especially when minorities were mis-categorized and forced to identify
as White. Layla’s intersectional identities (Arab, mother, educator)
went beyond the racial/ethnic checkboxes, and the richness of her
lived experiences could only be told via counter-stories that are inclu-
sive and comprehensive.
A similar counter-story was also told by Juanita. She said, “We were
not African American. So for my kids it’s a problem of identity we
don’t know where we belong. So we are just “peach” (Juanita’s
response to panel question 2 in Table 1). “Peach” is “soft, inviting,
and easy to get into, but is has a hard core that is difficult to pene-
trate” (Yamashita & Schwartz, 2012, p. 59). Juanita here meant that
they would identify as “peach” for their cultural relational style but
they could not easily identify where they belonged. Juanita continued
to say, “For the most part, we were trying to hide who we really were
and make sure my kids were safe. Since our skin color and culture
don’t match. For us as parents, it was a process. A lot of things we see
and we had to pretend we don’t see and move on” (Insertion B: Juani-
ta’s response to panel question 3 in Table 1). Juanita continued to
establish her counter-story that her family’s skin color and culture did
not match the mainstream assumption. They were non-White and
non-Black, but Juanita mentioned that their skin color appeared more

TRANSFORMATIVE TEACHER PREPARATION 13

White than most Hispanic people. So they were often mistaken as
White, when their cultural heritage and language (Spanish) did not
match those of White people. Both Juanita and Layla faced a troubled
sense of their racial identity. Their counter-stories invalidated the
majoritarian approach of categorizing minority families. The conse-
quence was a recycling of whitewashedness as their children were sub-
jected to racial marginalization and a troubled-sense of otherness
(Lee-Johnson, 2015). Both Juanita and Layla’s counter-stories showed
how the whitewashed system of education marginalized them and their
children in schools.

Second Theme: Use of Intersectionality as an Agentive Tool

Layla said, “I went to school almost every week. I was afraid they
would teach something different that I would teach at home” (Layla’s
response to panel question 6 in Table 1). In this counter-story, Layla
talked about her engagement as an ELL parent. She was in her kids’
school almost every week. By visiting the school, she wanted to find
out the culture and norms of the school so that she could find out
the home–school disconnect and support her kids. Using her intersec-
tionality as a negotiation tool by showing competence as an immigrant
mom, Layla successfully landed a job as a liaison at her kids’ school.
Layla wrote in her teaching philosophy statement, “Recognized at my
kid’s school and offered an opportunity to be a parent liaison for new
immigrants was the first step to enter the schools as a professional.”
She then worked as a substitute teacher for 5 years and transitioned to
becoming a certified teacher. This is an example of how Layla used
intersectionality as an agentive tool to negotiate for her legitimacy as a
teaching professional.
As mothers of ELLs, Juanita and Layla both insisted on bi- and multilin-
gualism at home, which was an emancipatory experience when compared
to those who prohibited their kids from speaking their mother tongues. As
Larsen-Freeman (2012) mentioned, “What will learner emancipation
take? It will take a shift of attitude, similar to what ensued when the SLA
researchers no longer regarded the L1 exclusively as a source of interfer-
ence in L2 learning” (p. 306). Giving the kids the freedom to express their
linguistic repertoire at home is emancipatory and an important step to vali-
date who they are. Juanita and Layla’s motherhood empowered them to be
strong in making sure their kids could be who they were and comfortable in
their own skin in schools and at home. Both Juanita and Layla’s transition
echoed with Mezirow’s (1990) transformative learning as they both evolved
into transformative educators, based on their own personal transformative
experience as immigrant mothers. Their intersectionality enabled them to

14 TESOL QUARTERLY
see languages, race, culture, and family engagement differently than the
majoritarian perspective, thus resulting in an emancipatory rather than
oppressive experience for them and their kids.
In addition, Layla was an advocate for immigrant families. She wrote
in her teaching philosophy statement,
Working with other immigrants to help them understand the American
school system, motivate them to be part of their children’s education,
and working with principals to help parents opened my eyes to new
horizons . . . Providing a voice for parents by sharing with them the
goals in the classroom and keeping the classroom a safe and productive
environment where learning is joy and kindness is power.
Similar to Layla, Juanita also wrote about advocacy in her teaching
philosophy statement. She wrote,
A tough obstacle to overcome as an English Learner is to establish
their sense of self-advocacy and confidence, not only at school, but also
in their daily routines. As a role model, and by transmitting my own
life values, students tend to feel connected as some of my own experi-
ences draw their attention and instill curiosity.
Regarding Juanita’s rationale to become an ELL teacher, she wrote
in her teaching philosophy statement,
Millions of individuals share my same debilitating feelings of frustra-
tion, anger, hopelessness, and loneliness. Our reality is unavoidable,
every day; there are more of us, ironically labeled as immigrants. Gen-
erally, the term “immigrant” is accompanied by a negative connotation,
influencing individuals’ development. As an educator, I feel responsi-
ble for providing a positive learning environment to keep my students
engaged, for getting to know them to tailor to their learning needs,
and for embracing their background, origin, and culture to promote
their self-worth.
Both Juanita and Layla expressed a strong sense of advocacy for
immigrant students, as their intersectionality as an immigrant, non-
native English speaker, and being mothers of ELLs shaped their phi-
losophy as an educator. Regarding parent engagement, Juanita men-
tioned that the international night was regarded as a show, and so it
lacked the depth or effort to connect new families with mentor fami-
lies. Layla also mentioned how good intention was not enough and
there ought to be stronger connection with ELL families via genuine
interest in knowing more about the cultural differences and literacy
practices (Street, 2003) at home. In the following paragraphs, discus-
sion of the findings in response to the research questions will follow.

TRANSFORMATIVE TEACHER PREPARATION 15

Response to Research Question One: Personal
Transformation; Burgeoning Seeds

The first research question pertains to the IMC’s transition to

become ELL teachers. Juanita and Layla both transitioned from the
role of immigrant mothers to certified teachers in public schools. Jua-
nita was born in the United States, grew up in a Hispanic country, and
then moved back as an adult. She mentioned, “I was born in St Louis
but grew up in a Hispanic country. When I lived there, there was bully-
ing and kids were making fun of me, Eating worms. I needed Counsel-
ing. Thank God there was one teacher who speak both languages. So I
want to be that person” (Insertion C: Juanita’s response to panel ques-
tion 7 in Table 1). Juanita wanted to become a bilingual cultural liai-
son for ELLs because she personally experienced trauma and she was
inspired by the bilingual teacher who helped her. She also wrote in
the professional blog, “Is it really common sense?” and she identified
the hurdles that ELL families had to go through,
Immunizations, enrollments, requirements, academics, grades, tran-
scripts, money, testing, language barriers, programs, directives, instruc-
tions, friendships, social development, resources, help, orientation,
time, money, jobs, homework help, acronyms, technology, friends,
translation services, safety, quality education, cultural shock, special
food limitations, transportations, rules, laws, struggle starts at home,
just to name a few! This is just the beginning of the numerous strug-
gles an ELL student and families go through just to be able to function
in our country.
Juanita’s blog posting shows the consciousness for defying common
sense (Kumashiro, 2004) and her own journey as an immigrant mom
gave her the cause to contest the common sense assumptions.
Similar to Juanita, Layla wanted to become a cultural liaison upon
observing her kids’ struggle in school. Her own transition from an
immigrant mom contributed to her calling as an ELL teacher, which
was evidenced in her teaching philosophy statement, that she wanted
to become a voice and advocate for immigrant parents. Their counter-
stories continue to empower other ELL teachers-to-be in the grant
program via the Parent Panel. As such, by going through personal
transformation, Juanita and Layla became burgeoning seeds that foster
transformation among other teacher candidates.

16 TESOL QUARTERLY
Response to Research Question Two: What Does a
Transformative Teacher Preparation Look Like?

The following paragraphs respond to the second research question

regarding the developing of a transformative frame. Mezirow (1997)
wrote, “we may transform our ethnocentric habit of mind by becoming
aware and critically reflective of our generalized bias in the way we
view groups other than our own” (p. 7). His transformative framework
mentioned the requirement of critical reflection and consciousness in
the process, whereas the two IMCs in the study expanded his transfor-
mative framework with their intersectionality as immigrant mothers.
The following illustration represents the transformative teacher prepa-
ration frame in TESOL teacher education (Figure 1).
Based on Juanita and Layla’s counter-stories, personal transforma-
tion is the first step. Such transformation requires and includes the
following constructs: critical reflection (Farrell, 2015; Peercy, Sharkey,
Baecher, Motha, & Varghese, 2019), reflexivity (Milner, 2007), inter-
sectionality (Crenshaw, 1989), and anti-Whitewashedness (Lee-
Johnson, 2021). Critical reflection (Farrell, 2015) requires the teacher

Transformed ELL Transformed

Education in K-12 Teacher
Schools Education
Programs in
Universities

Personal
Transformation

Intersectionality
Negotiation Tool for
Legitimizing Emancipatory
Professional Educator Tool as Voices of
Role Minoritized
Populations
Advocacy Tool for
Validating Linguistic,
Cultural and Racial
Repertoires

FIGURE 1. Intersectionality for transformative frame of teacher preparation.

TRANSFORMATIVE TEACHER PREPARATION 17

candidates to be open-minded and engaged in reflections that lead to
actions. Reflexivity (Milner, 2007) entails an examination of the tea-
cher candidate’s positionality in epistemology and ontology. It is also
connected to their teaching philosophy and teacher agency (Supasir-
aprapa & De Costa, 2017). This study contributes to the theoretical
conceptualization of intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989), as it was envi-
sioned as an agentive tool for negotiation, emancipation, and advo-
cacy, rather than identity markers.
Educators “exercise their agency as they make sense of and engage
with their situated work contexts” (Yuan & Yang, 2021, p. 8) As shown
in the findings, Layla and Juanita took agency with their intersectional-
ity and (1) negotiated for professional recognition; (2) advocated for
validating linguistic, cultural, and racial repertoires; and (3) went
through emancipation as minoritized populations. The transformative
power that the IMCs generate is derived from intersectionality and the
agency they took. The envisioning of intersectionality as an agentive
tool and the framing of transformation for contesting whitewashedness
further expanded the existing theoretical conceptualization of inter-
sectionality and transformative education in TESOL, particularly in
regard to empowering IMCs and other teachers to take agency and
ownership for transforming themselves and the system.
The transformative frame is itself a cycle of empowerment that
begins from one person’s decision and agency to transform. Such
transformation continues to empower all the stakeholders in the ELL
education system. On the other hand, if the individual makes a deci-
sion to keep the status quo, uphold the common sense
(Kumashiro, 2004) practices, and be subsumed by whitewashed ideolo-
gies, that eventually causes a recycling of Whiteness (Sleeter, 2001).

CONCLUSION
Though the findings of the study corroborate the “grow your own”
movement (Skinner, 2010) for teachers of color to teach in urban set-
tings, such movement focused on growing Black and Brown teachers
rather than immigrant parents. This study proposes a new transforma-
tive teacher preparation frame, which foregrounds the need to contest
whitewashedness in TESOL. As Motha (2014) mentioned, non-White
and non-native speaking teachers as well as ESL learners have long
been subject to “the legacy of colonization and racialization in which
the profession is embedded” (p. 2). Such colonization and racializa-
tion is the manifestation of White supremacy (Kubota, 2002) that per-
meates the field as of today. The transformative framework contests
the status quo and offers a new perspective which is applicable to

18 TESOL QUARTERLY
inner, expanding, and outer circle ESL and EFL contexts
(Kachru, 1992) where whiteness and Eurocentrism are normalized and
practiced. The study contributes to our knowledge base regarding how
personal transformation occurred, and how these immigrant mothers
took agency to utilize intersectionality as a negotiation, emancipatory,
and advocacy tool. I call for teacher preparation programs to highlight
and foreground the voices and experiences of IMC and contest white-
washedness.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to thank all the research participants and the grant team for their
contribution to the grant project.

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

The author declares no conflict of interests.

ETHICAL APPROVAL NUMBER (IF APPLICABLE)

The research project was approved by Webster University’s Institu-

tional Review Board (FA 17-19).

CONTRIBUTION AND FUNDING STATEMENT

The grant project was funded by the Office of English Language
Acquisition (T365Z170037), US Department of Education.

THE AUTHOR

Yin Lam Lee-Johnson is an associate professor and the Director of Doctor of Edu-
cation (Ed.D.) program at Webster University’s School of Education. As a first-
generation immigrant in the United States, Lee-Johnson aspires to become a voice
and advocate for minoritized populations via research, teaching, and community
services.

TRANSFORMATIVE TEACHER PREPARATION 19

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