Negotiating Entangled Contradictions About Being Well Educated: Nudos (Knots) in the Lives of Bilingual Latina Teachers

In this paper the author draws from a qualitative study examining how bilingual Puerto Rican teachers in an urban elementary school conceptualized and enacted being a well-educated person. The research design was inspired and informed by the Chicana/Latina feminist concept of trenzas (braids) and explores how multiple strands of identity shape teachers' perspectives and experiences. The author uses trenzas as an analytical tool to strategically examine cultural views of education and schooling from the perspective of Latina/o teachers. In the findings the author emphasizes experiences when personal, professional and community identities merge to (re)affirm bilingual-bicultural perspectives, as well as collide and reflect points of entanglement in the lives of the participants. She forwards the concept of nudos (knots) to explain when participants negotiated entangled contradictions grounded in cultural differences and conflicting expectations. In the discussion and conclusion, she discusses implications for teacher education.