Navigating Borders: Transnational Latine Students’ Use of Border Thinking Pedagogy Practices

Abstract

This qualitative case study examines how transnational Latine students leverage border thinking pedagogical practices to actively shape and define their identities within the socio-political landscape of the U.S. Southeast. Drawing upon border thinking pedagogy (BTP) framework, we analyze how eight Latine high school students utilize straddling, translanguaging, and testimonios as tools for identity construction and critical meaning-making within a nine-month, university-community writing partnership. Findings reveal that students engage in straddling to reconcile competing cultural expectations, translanguaging to situate identities across linguistic boundaries, and testimonios to challenge stereotypes and assert complex identities. Through these practices, students draw on various forms of community cultural wealth to navigate the tensions and richness of their transnational experiences. This study advances conceptualizations of BTP as a transformative approach for transnational students’ identity development and critical consciousness. Findings underscore the importance of education spaces that validate students’ dynamic cultural and linguistic practices as resources for empowerment. Implications discuss how centering border thinking in literacy instruction nurtures students’ ability to negotiate their multidimensional identities and enact culturally sustaining resistance. This work contributes to discourses on supporting transnational Latine students through asset-based, identity-affirming pedagogies.

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