Arriving in Texas as a recently graduated Title VII Bilingual Education Doctoral Fellow in the latter part of 1980, I was particularly eager to learn more about the history of bilingual education in the state, especially the strange career alluded to in this volume\u27s title. Before my arrival, I had worked in bilingual education in Illinois and western New York. Was the history of bilingual education in Texas stranger than in other states

Horwitz, Elaine K

English

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for 2005 Book Review: The Strange Career of Bilingual Education in Texas Elaine K. Horwitz University of Texas at Austin Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly  Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons Horwitz, Elaine K., "Book Review: The Strange Career of Bilingual Education in Texas" (2005). Great Plains Quarterly. 169. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/169 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. 276 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 2005 The Strange Career of Bilingual Education in Texas, 1936-1981. By Carlos Kevin Blanton. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2004. 204 pp. Photographs, notes, bibliography, index. $29.95. Arriving in Texas as a recently graduated Title VII Bilingual Education Doctoral Fellow in the latter part of 1980, I was particularly eager to learn more about the history of bilin-gual education in the state, especially the strange career alluded to in this volume's title. Before my arrival, I had worked in bilingual education in Illinois and western New York. Was the history of bilingual education in Texas stranger than in other states? Although I am not able to answer that question clearly, the story of bilingual educa-tion in Texas includes a curious back and forth between acceptance and segregation of the native Spanish-speaking population (Tejanos), approval and rejection of bilingualism, as well as interesting intermixes of educational phi-losophies (English-only and progressivism) and world events (WWI leading to prejudice toward German bilingual schools). There is also the historical quirk of Lyndon Baines Johnson. The Texas-born president who ultimately sup-ported the federal Bilingual Education legisla-tion was also the only U.S. president who had ever taught English as a Second Language. (His teaching performance was applauded by several of his former students in this book even though, like most teachers of the period, he administered mandated corporal punishment for speaking Spanish at school.) Bilingual education in Texas had a promis-ing start. In the early years, English and Spanish were both used for educational purposes since there was no centralized educational system. Schools were organized by local and religious entities, and each group chose its own mix of language and content. Both Spanish-speak-ers and English-speakers recognized a value to having children learn at least some of the other group's language. This approval of other languages extended to the new German and Czech immigrants who emphasized the teach-ing of their native languages in their schools. In the late 1890s, however, Direct Method English instruction became mandated for Spanish-speaking children. Content-instruc-tion in either English or Spanish gave way entirely to repetition and practice in English. Racism is clearly at least one important reason for this shift. English-only instruction allowed for the segregation of white, Spanish-speak-ing children so that they could be thoroughly Americanized. The lack of an explanation of how a relatively tolerant co-existence between English- and Spanish-speaking Texans turned to such a brutal form of racism toward vulner-able young children is my one minor complaint about this volume. (Direct Method language instruction was rejected for high school-age English-speaking children because it was per-ceived to be too harsh.) The slow return to bilingual education, including actual content instruction for Spanish-speaking children, begins in 1924 when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down an English-only law in Nebraska (Meyer v. Nebraska) similar to the Texas law. As this volume, however, notes through-out, educational bilingualism is irrelevant "unless accompanied by good teachers, proper resources, and the support of parents and the community." Texas's current school funding controversy makes clear that the history of a lack of adequate resources and appropriate curricula for Spanish-speaking children in the state has not yet been resolved. ELAINE K. HORWITZ Department of Curriculum and Instruction University of Texas at Austin 

Book Review: The Strange Career of Bilingual Education in Texas

UNL | Libraries

University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for 
2005 
Book Review: The Strange Career of Bilingual Education in Texas 
Elaine K. Horwitz 
University of Texas at Austin 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly 
 Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons 
Horwitz, Elaine K., "Book Review: The Strange Career of Bilingual Education in Texas" (2005). Great Plains 
Quarterly. 169. 
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/169 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an 
authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. 
276 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 2005 
The Strange Career of Bilingual Education in 
Texas, 1936-1981. By Carlos Kevin Blanton. 
College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 
2004. 204 pp. Photographs, notes, bibliography, 
index. $29.95. 
Arriving in Texas as a recently graduated 
Title VII Bilingual Education Doctoral Fellow 
in the latter part of 1980, I was particularly 
eager to learn more about the history of bilin-
gual education in the state, especially the 
strange career alluded to in this volume's title. 
Before my arrival, I had worked in bilingual 
education in Illinois and western New York. 
Was the history of bilingual education in Texas 
stranger than in other states? 
Although I am not able to answer that 
question clearly, the story of bilingual educa-
tion in Texas includes a curious back and forth 
between acceptance and segregation of the 
native Spanish-speaking population (Tejanos), 
approval and rejection of bilingualism, as well 
as interesting intermixes of educational phi-
losophies (English-only and progressivism) and 
world events (WWI leading to prejudice toward 
German bilingual schools). There is also the 
historical quirk of Lyndon Baines Johnson. 
The Texas-born president who ultimately sup-
ported the federal Bilingual Education legisla-
tion was also the only U.S. president who had 
ever taught English as a Second Language. 
(His teaching performance was applauded by 
several of his former students in this book even 
though, like most teachers of the period, he 
administered mandated corporal punishment 
for speaking Spanish at school.) 
Bilingual education in Texas had a promis-
ing start. In the early years, English and Spanish 
were both used for educational purposes since 
there was no centralized educational system. 
Schools were organized by local and religious 
entities, and each group chose its own mix of 
language and content. Both Spanish-speak-
ers and English-speakers recognized a value 
to having children learn at least some of the 
other group's language. This approval of other 
languages extended to the new German and 
Czech immigrants who emphasized the teach-
ing of their native languages in their schools. 
In the late 1890s, however, Direct Method 
English instruction became mandated for 
Spanish-speaking children. Content-instruc-
tion in either English or Spanish gave way 
entirely to repetition and practice in English. 
Racism is clearly at least one important reason 
for this shift. English-only instruction allowed 
for the segregation of white, Spanish-speak-
ing children so that they could be thoroughly 
Americanized. The lack of an explanation of 
how a relatively tolerant co-existence between 
English- and Spanish-speaking Texans turned 
to such a brutal form of racism toward vulner-
able young children is my one minor complaint 
about this volume. (Direct Method language 
instruction was rejected for high school-age 
English-speaking children because it was per-
ceived to be too harsh.) The slow return to 
bilingual education, including actual content 
instruction for Spanish-speaking children, 
begins in 1924 when the U.S. Supreme Court 
struck down an English-only law in Nebraska 
(Meyer v. Nebraska) similar to the Texas 
law. As this volume, however, notes through-
out, educational bilingualism is irrelevant 
"unless accompanied by good teachers, proper 
resources, and the support of parents and the 
community." Texas's current school funding 
controversy makes clear that the history of 
a lack of adequate resources and appropriate 
curricula for Spanish-speaking children in the 
state has not yet been resolved. 
ELAINE K. HORWITZ 
Department of Curriculum and Instruction 
University of Texas at Austin 


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