Indigenous Latinx students and translanguaging: The possibilities and challenges of using K’iche’ in a kindergarten Spanish-English handwriting classroom

Many Indigenous Latinx students in Spanish/English dual language programs in the US speak languages that are often not valued or taken advantage of in the process of learning Spanish and English. This participatory critical (collective) autoethnography explores the possibilities of handwriting lessons as a vehicle for the incorporation of K'iche' (a Mayan language spoken in Guatemala) into the classroom. Findings reveal ways in which the activities helped to elevate the status of K'iche' in the school and make students/families feel more valued, but also ways to improve the activities so that Indigenous Latinx families have a more central role.