A Collective Case Study of the Resilience of Student Teachers in the Imperial Valley

Abstract

Teacher resilience is a dynamic process shaped by personal resources, professional identities, and institutional contexts. Research largely focused on urban settings, leaving unclear how student teachers negotiate resilience in rural borderlands marked by transnational dynamics and linguistic diversity. Using Anzaldúa’s borderland methodology, this narrative inquiry examines two final-year student teachers through interviews, written reflections, and classroom observations over six months. Participants drew on community assets and developing professional identities to interpret challenges. We proposed a Revised Four-Dimensional Framework of Borderlands Student Teacher Resilience, adapted from Mansfield and colleagues’ framework, positioning resilience as co-constructed rather than fixed.