¡Los policías! Latinx children’s agency in highly regulated early childhood contexts

Abstract

This article shows how two Latina bilingual teachers provided opportunities for their Latinx students from immigrant families to enact their agency in a highly regulated Head Start bilingual preschool classroom in ways that aligned with culturally sustaining pedagogy. Using video-cued ethnography and data from the Blinded Study, the authors center three- and four-year-old children who engaged in a collaborative, dynamic make-believe game involving a struggle between family members and los policías (“the police”). Using traditional qualitative methods, the authors first identify and name all the different ways in which the children enacted their agency and demonstrated capabilities in their play, particularly the cultural capabilities that challenge deficit discourses about Latinx immigrant communities. They contextualize the children’s play using teacher interview data in which the teachers explained their thinking behind the pedagogical decisions that made this type of learning and play possible. Finally, the authors explore how the teachers’ identities and histories positioned them to engage with their students in culturally sustaining ways. It is argued that with the growing global awakening to white supremacy structures and violence, there is urgency in creating time and space to support young children’s agency and their right to practice the skills they need to contribute to their communities’ well-being and survival now and in the future.