Learning what learning is: how classroom discourses shape Latine immigrant children’s ideas about learning

Background Much of the existing literature examining children’s ideas about learning characterizes or describes children’s ideas but falls short of considering how children’s sociocultural contexts shape those ideas. The present study considers how the disparities in the types of classroom Discourses and experiences offered to young children from Latine immigrant families, particularly around agency and control, shape their understanding of and ideas about learning.Methods The authors ethnographically observed the classroom discourses and experiences of children from Latine immigrant families in two 1st-grade classrooms and compared those with the ideas about learning that children in each classroom shared in video-cued interviews.Findings Findings from 15 h of video-cued interviews with 20 Latine children from immigrant families in two 1st-grade classrooms in Texas demonstrated that children have expansive, nuanced, and dynamic ideas about learning. Furthermore, children both took up and disrupted the learning Discourses they encounter in their classrooms.Contribution These findings show how young Latine children from immigrant families hold ideas about learning that are shaped by their everyday classroom experiences and highlight the importance of considering issues of agency and control in determining early learning experiences.