| This research presents an ethnographic understanding of the personal and professional lives of four emerging bilingual assistants (EBAs) who designed and implemented an additive bilingual program in preschool classrooms. Through a qualitative design that included participant observations, interviews, visual and narrative constructions, and video recording, I explore the EBAs' professional roles (including duties, challenges, collaboration with teachers, support, relationships and educational goals). I then examine their personal and family challenges, language ideologies, and changing practices and beliefs outside the school domain. These themes are analyzed through a conceptual framework that merges Freire's concept of empowerment with Bandura's notion of self-efficacy. My findings suggest that school and home domains intersect, transforming what the EBAs, their families, and friends believe about language, education, and themselves. I conclude that the effects of the EB program extend beyond the classroom and reach the lives of the EBAs, their family, friends, and community. |
