Shared identities through translanguaging practices in the multilingual mariachi classroom

Literature regarding translanguaging pedagogy has grown in recent years, with several studies examining its use within the classroom as well as potential ways it can shape learner identity constructions (e.g., Sayer, 2013). Drawing on translanguaging and translanguaging pedagogy (e.g., Canagarajah, 2011; Creese & Blackledge, 2010) and the literature on teacher identities, this study uses qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews with a music teacher who self-identifies as Hispanic¹ and bilingual, observations of his classroom teaching, and descriptive field notes in order to elucidate the links between translanguaging and identity constructions in a U.S. high school classroom. Analyzing how the music instructor used translingual practices to teach Mariachi, we found he constructed shared sociocultural identities for himself and his students in a fluid languaged space. We conclude with implications for classroom practice as well as suggestions for research that may more fully capture the complex experience and identity work of linguistically, ethnically, and racially diverse teachers in multilingual K-12 classrooms.