Border crossings and border exclusions: Academic and social experiences of a second-grade child of indigenous descent in a dual language school

ABSTRACT In this ethnographic case study, border theory was used to analyze how a Guatemalan/Mexican student of Indigenous descent confronted borders in a second-grade, Spanish-English dual-language (DL) classroom in the U.S. The student faced structural/institutional borders that affected all the DL participants or Latinx students and social borders specific to himself and other students of Indigenous descent. He initially coped by not speaking English and assuming a Mexican identity. With his teacher’s support, he crossed social borders by speaking English, taking pride in his Indigeneity, and using Q’anjob’al. How DL programs could better address the needs of Indigenous students is discussed.