Pedagogies of Silence: Brazilian Immigrant Families Rethinking Bilingual Education Policy in Massachusetts

Background or Context: Dual language bilingual education (DLBE) is frequently promoted as an equity‑oriented model for multilingual students, yet research has shown that implementation often reproduces linguistic hierarchies and marginalizes immigrant communities. In Massachusetts, the 2017 repeal of a 15‑year English‑only ban created a rare opportunity to observe how a newly established Portuguese–English DLBE program was justified, designed, and rolled out in a district with a long history of Brazilian immigration. This context foregrounds tensions between the symbolic centering of immigrant families in policy rhetoric and the limited power they wield in everyday language policy and planning (LPP) processes. Purpose, Objective, Research Question, or Focus of Study: This study investigates how Brazilian immigrant parents experienced and interpreted the early implementation of a Portuguese–English DLBE program and how district and school personnel engaged with their perspectives. Guided by two research questions, it examines (1) the concerns, suggestions, and questions parents raised about the new program and (2) how educators and district leaders responded to these contributions. The article introduces and elaborates the concept of pedagogies of silence to theorize how parents were positioned as perpetual learners rather than co‑producers of knowledge within DLBE policy enactment. Research Design: Drawing on anthropology‑of‑education traditions, the study employs a multi‑year ethnographic design in one Massachusetts school district serving a large Brazilian population. Data include 46 semistructured interviews with parents, 56 interviews with educators and district staff, observations of 11 school and district events related to DLBE, and 12 data‑share sessions used as member checks. Data were coded inductively and deductively, with iterative memoing and matrix displays guiding the development of themes; trustworthiness was supported through prolonged engagement, systematic analytic audit trails, and repeated opportunities for participants to interrogate emerging interpretations. Conclusions: Findings show that Brazilian immigrant parents consistently expressed gratitude for DLBE while raising nuanced questions about curriculum, materials, assessment, and which children the program truly served—questions that were acknowledged yet routinely redirected or minimized by educators and leaders. These interactional patterns, theorized as pedagogies of silence, reveal a paradox in which Portuguese is elevated as a high‑status language for program branding while the epistemic status of Portuguese‑speaking parents remains low, limiting their influence over LPP decisions. The article argues that realizing DLBE’s equity potential requires moving from teacher–learner hierarchies to learner–learner partnerships: redistributing decision‑making power to immigrant families, institutionalizing structures for shared governance, and preparing educators to recognize and interrupt everyday silencing practices in meetings, orientations, and policy discussions.