Discourses of Immigration and the Mediating Influence of Documentary Films

There is a demographic and democratic imperative for social studies teachers to broach the issue of contemporary immigration in their classrooms. In this study, preservice social studies teachers (PSTs) viewed three documentary films that presented stories of immigration that run counter to the narrative projected by the Trump administration and often presented in mainstream media outlets. Our purpose was to analyze how social studies PSTs responded to these documentaries and how the films influenced their perceptions of current events related to immigration and refugee experiences. Overall, we found that documentary films offer an effective way to provide PSTs with counterstories about immigration that may help shape their classroom teachers’ immigration instruction.