Tempered Actions in the Face of Tempered Resistance: Practitioners' Role in Change in Support of Undocumented Students in California Community Colleges

Abstract

This study aimed to understand why and how community college practitioners act for institutional change in support of undocumented students—drawing on concepts from the tempered radicals framework. I used qualitative inquiry and exploratory interviews to understand how community college practitioners make meaning of the changes they have been involved in or have observed on campus for undocumented students. I conducted interviews with 27 participants across 16 community college institutions who were involved in supporting undocumented students. The interviews explored the nature and timeline of institutional support, how and why the practitioners began supporting undocumented students, perceptions of institutional culture, the process by which support for undocumented students was adopted and institutionalized, and the role of practitioners and allies in that change. The findings illustrate how tempered radicals were motivated to act when their social, personal, and professional identities highlighted a misalignment between their and the institution’s equity values. When practitioners had the opportunity to act in support of undocumented students, it was usually on their own or within organizational norms, contributing to continuous and fragmented change. However, episodic events also provided windows of opportunity or could present significant challenges for change. This dissertation suggests seven major components of the context for action that can show adverse or favorable contexts for change in support of undocumented students; two notable components are discourses around “serving all students” and who was deemed responsible for serving undocumented students. Adverse contexts for change were reproduced by tempered resistance, inconspicuous actions that practitioners took (or did not take) that effectively resulted in sustaining the status quo inequitable practices for undocumented students. Ultimately, this study adds to the literature on how organizational norms of community colleges can shape individual practitioner’s actions, which, in exchange, provide opportunities and constraints for future change for undocumented students.