Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals 9781784414948

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RESEARCH ON PREPARING INSERVICE TEACHERS TO WORK EFFECTIVELY WITH EMERGENT BILINGUALS

ADVANCES IN RESEARCH ON TEACHING Series Editor: Volumes 1 11: Jere Brophy Volumes 12 24: Stefinee Pinnegar Recent Volumes: Volume 7:

Expectations in the Classroom

Volume 8:

Subject-Specific Instructional Methods and Activities

Volume 9:

Social Constructivist Teaching: Affordances and Constraints

Volume 10:

Using Video in Teacher Education

Volume 11:

Learning from Research on Teaching: Perspective, Methodology and Representation

Volume 12:

Tensions in Teacher Preparation: Accountability, Assessment, and Accreditation

Volume 13:

Narrative Inquiries into Curriculum Making in Teacher Education

Volume 14:

Places of Curriculum Making: Narrative Inquiries into Children’s Lives in Motion

Volume 15:

Adolescent Boys’ Literate Identity

Volume 16:

Narrative Inquirers in the Midst of Meaning-Making: Interpretive Acts of Teacher Educators

Volume 17:

Warrior Women: Remaking Post-Secondary Places through Relational Narrative Inquiry

Volume 18:

Emotion and School: Understanding How the Hidden Curriculum Influences Relationships, Leadership, Teaching, and Learning

Volume 19:

From Teacher Thinking to Teachers and Teaching: The Evolution of a Research Community

Volume 20:

Innovations in Science Teacher Education in the Asia Pacific

Volume 21:

Research on Preparing Preservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals

Volume 22:

International Teacher Education: Promising Pedagogies (Part A)

Volume 23:

Narrative Conceptions of Knowledge: Towards Understanding Teacher Attrition

ADVANCES IN RESEARCH ON TEACHING VOLUME 24

RESEARCH ON PREPARING INSERVICE TEACHERS TO WORK EFFECTIVELY WITH EMERGENT BILINGUALS EDITED BY

YVONNE S. FREEMAN The University of Texas at Brownsville, Brownsville, TX, USA

DAVID E. FREEMAN The University of Texas at Brownsville, Brownsville, TX, USA

United Kingdom North America India Malaysia China

Japan

Emerald Group Publishing Limited Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK First edition 2015 Copyright r 2015 Emerald Group Publishing Limited Reprints and permissions service Contact: [email protected] No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters’ suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-1-78441-494-8 ISSN: 1479-3687 (Series)

ISOQAR certified Management System, awarded to Emerald for adherence to Environmental standard ISO 14001:2004. Certificate Number 1985 ISO 14001

CONTENTS LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

vii

INTRODUCTION

ix

SECTION I: DEVELOPING TEACHERS’ UNDERSTANDINGS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICES FOR EMERGENT BILINGUALS JOINING THE TEAM: A STUDY OF UNINTENTIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Cecilia Silva, Molly Weinburgh and Kathy Horak Smith

3

THE POWER OF CULTURALLY RELEVANT TEXTS: WHAT TEACHERS LEARN ABOUT THEIR EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS Ann E. Ebe

33

PROMOTING EXPLORATORY TALK WITH EMERGENT BILINGUALS Yvonne S. Freeman and Alma D. Rodrı´guez

55

TEACHERS’ UNDERSTANDING OF PRACTICE: PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING PREVIEW/VIEW/ REVIEW IN THE DUAL LANGUAGE CLASSROOM Sandra Mercuri

81

MAINSTREAM TEACHERS IN TWO-WAY IMMERSION PROGRAMS: BECOMING CONTENT AND LANGUAGE TEACHERS Ester de Jong and Katherine Barko-Alva

v

107

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CONTENTS

FREEDOM WITHIN STRUCTURE: PRACTICES FOR TEACHER SUSTAINABILITY, EFFICACY, AND EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENT SUCCESS Dawn Wink

127

AN ART OF BEING IN BETWEEN: THE PROMISE OF HYBRID LANGUAGE PRACTICES Brendan H. O’Connor and Layne J. Crawford

149

SECTION II: ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE OF UNIVERSITY AND PUBLIC SCHOOL POLICY AND PRACTICE FOR TEACHING EMERGENT BILINGUALS RESHAPING THE MAINSTREAM EDUCATION CLIMATE THROUGH BILINGUAL-BICULTURAL EDUCATION Jason Goulah and Sonia W. Soltero

177

WHY DIDN’T ANYONE TELL ME THIS BEFORE? Susan Spezzini, Julia S. Austin and Josephine Prado

205

EMPOWERING LANGUAGE AND LEARNING WITH MUSLIM IMMIGRANT YOUTH Heather Homonoff Woodley

233

“WE ONLY TEACH IN ENGLISH”: AN EXAMINATION OF BILINGUAL-IN-NAME-ONLY CLASSROOMS Kip Austin Hinton

265

AFTERWORD

291

ABOUT THE EDITORS

301

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

303

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Julia S. Austin

University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

Katherine Barko-Alva

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

Layne J. Crawford

Vista Del Sol High School, AZ, USA

Ester de Jong

University of Florida Gainesville, FL, USA

Ann E. Ebe

Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

David E. Freeman

The University of Texas at Brownsville, Brownsville, TX, USA

Yvonne S. Freeman

The University of Texas at Brownsville, Brownsville, TX, USA

Jason Goulah

DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA

Kip Austin Hinton

University of Texas at Brownsville, Brownsville, TX, USA

Sandra Mercuri

University of Texas at Brownsville, Brownsville, TX, USA

Brendan H. O’Connor

Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

Josephine Prado

University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

Alma D. Rodrı´guez

University of Texas at Brownsville, Brownsville, Texas, USA

Cecilia Silva

Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX, USA vii

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LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

Kathy Horak Smith

Tarleton State University, Stephenville, TX, USA

Sonia W. Soltero

DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA

Susan Spezzini

University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

Molly Weinburgh

Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX, USA

Dawn Wink

Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX, USA

Joan Wink

Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM, USA

Heather Homonoff Woodley

New York University, New York, NY, USA

INTRODUCTION Teachers who are open to knowledge are the ones best suited to deliver knowledge. (Majumdar, 2014, p. 1)

This book, Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals, is the second of a two-volume set on teacher educators’ research on how to best prepare teachers for the increasing linguistic diversity in schools. We believe it represents an important step toward meeting the professional development needs of teachers in the United States who are working in schools that have large numbers of Spanish speaking students or students from a variety of ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. As the opening quote tells us, teachers who are knowledgeable are those who can best help their students succeed academically. A Teaching and Learning International Survey conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) showed that American teachers face many more challenges than teachers in other developing countries (Majumdar, 2014). They receive less helpful professional development and do not feel that their profession is valued by society. In countries where teachers are respected and are given high-quality professional learning opportunities, teachers feel empowered “to make complex decisions and solve problems easily” (p. 1). These teachers are able to connect theory and practice, and their students experience academic success. As a result of this survey, Manjumdar points out that appropriate teacher development goals should include a broadened knowledge of content tied to good pedagogy, the integration of new knowledge and skills into practice, the connection of discipline knowledge with curriculum standards, the development of research-based practices, and the achievement of measureable school achievement in a complex school environment. The chapters in this volume, written by educators from across the United States, address these different professional development goals. Each chapter describes how teacher educators are working with inservice teachers to help them to teach emergent bilinguals more effectively. The title of this book is Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals. Emergent bilinguals (EBLs) are ix

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INTRODUCTION

those students who come to school speaking languages other than English. They have been referred to using many different terms including English Language Learners (ELLs), English Learners (ELs), culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students, and, a term used in government documents, Limited English Proficient students (LEPs). An alternative term to refer to these students is emergent bilinguals, coined by Garcı´ a (Garcı´ a, 2009, 2010; Garcı´ a, Kleifgen, & Flachi, 2008). Garcı´ a has argued that this is a more appropriate way to refer to these students because it validates the language or languages students come to school speaking and acknowledges the fact that, as they learn English, they are becoming bilingual. They are not simply learning English, as the term English learner implies; they are emergent bilinguals. In fact, many of these students learning English are becoming emergent multilinguals as they already speak more than one language before beginning to learn English. In this book, authors use the term emergent bilingual as they describe their research with inservice teachers who work with emergent bilinguals in schools. The number of children of immigrants in the United States has grown from 13.5% of the total child population in 1990 to 25% today. Education Week reported that in the fall of 2014 for the first time minority students will become the numerical majority in schools in the United States. The combined population of Latinos, African-Americans, and Asian Americans are projected to represent 50.3% of the K-12 student population. This shift in the student population has not been accompanied by a corresponding shift in the teacher workforce. In the 2011 2012 school year 82% of public school teachers were non-Hispanic whites, 7% were non-Hispanic black, and 8% were Hispanic (Maxwell, 2014). The number of students in U.S. schools who are emergent bilinguals has risen from 3.5 million in 1998 to over 5 million. This represents a little over 10% of the school population overall and the percentage is much higher in some parts of the country (Bartalova & McHugh, 2010). For example, one in four children in California schools or 1.4 million are emergent bilinguals. Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, and New Jersey follow in numbers of EBLs although their total is still not as large as California alone (Pandya, Bartalova, & McHugh, 2011). The growth in numbers of emergent bilinguals in several states is perhaps the most impressive statistic and emphasizes the need for inservice professional development. States including Nevada, North Carolina, and Georgia have experienced an almost 400% growth in the last 20 years. Arkansas, Tennessee, Nebraska, South Carolina, Utah, Washington, and Alabama all

Introduction

xi

experienced 200% or more growth in this same time period (Pandya et al., 2011). Many of these students live in poverty and attend highly segregated schools where most of the students are immigrants or children of immigrants. As Education Week notes, “It is still uncommon for white students to attend schools where they represent less than 25% of the population” (Maxwell, 2014). Our own work in professional development for inservice teachers in the last two years alone has taken us to several of these states including North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and Alabama. In addition, we have worked in other states including Virginia, Mississippi, Wisconsin, and Iowa where districts have experienced a sudden growth in the number of emergent bilinguals. As we talk to and with teachers, we are impressed by the diversity of the schools and students and the similarities in the needs of the teachers. These teachers’ concerns reflect the results of the OCED survey in the challenges they face, and it is clear that they could benefit from the characteristics of ideal programs of professional development suggested by OCED. Teachers need to be valued and given quality inservice so that they can help their students succeed academically. All teachers, not only English as a Second Language (ESL) specialists, must be prepared to work with linguistically diverse students. In other words, as they teach science, social studies, science, music, and art, teachers should have background in theory and research on emergent bilinguals and the pedagogical language knowledge to teach their emergent bilinguals the content they need (Bunch, 2013). When we say that content teachers need pedagogical language knowledge, we do not mean that they should be teaching traditional grammar or that they need to teach linguistics to their students. Instead, teachers need to have the knowledge of how the academic language of their discipline works and should be prepared to help their students read, write, and discuss that content. In other words, a math teacher needs to be able to help his/her students read and interpret a word problem so that they understand what math procedures they need to solve the problems. A social studies teachers needs to help his/her students write a historical explanation explaining what factors led to the defeat of the South in the Civil War. A language arts teacher needs to help students discuss and analyze a poem. Pedagogical language knowledge is something that appropriate inservice should provide teachers with to help them meet their emergent bilingual students’ needs. That is, teacher educators need to be able to not only teach inservice teachers how to teach literacy or language arts, math, social studies, or science, but also the language their students need to talk about, read about,

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and write about these subjects. In addition, teacher educators need to help inservice teachers meet the challenges of high stakes testing, apply appropriate strategies, and appreciate and celebrate bilingualism and multilingualism. In our ever-changing, global society, emergent bilinguals should be encouraged to celebrate and develop the languages they bring to school as they learn in English. In this volume, we bring together the research of teacher educators from around the country who work with inservice teachers, preparing them to teach emergent bilinguals effectively. The chapters represent teacher educator research in schools in the states of New York, Alabama, and Florida in the East and Southeast, Illinois and Texas in the North and South Central parts of the country, and New Mexico and Arizona in the Southwest. The inservice teachers represented in the studies work in urban schools in New York City, Chicago, and Houston as well as in other cities and rural districts in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. In some cases the schools these teachers work in are multiethnic and multilingual. In Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico the student population is sometimes almost 100% Latino. Most of the teacher educators did their research with mainstream teachers who have emergent bilinguals in their classrooms. However, in some cases the inservice teachers are bilingual educators working in bilingual classrooms or in Spanish/English dual language classrooms where native English and native Spanish speaking students learn content in both Spanish and English. One researcher interviewed students, in this case Muslim students, to try to understand how teachers in schools responded to their needs. There are a variety of ways that teacher educators writing in this volume have approached their research. In all cases, they have pursued special passions and/or concerns they have related to the schooling of emergent bilinguals. The chapters are organized loosely into two sections: Developing Teachers’ Understandings of Effective Practices for Emergent Bilinguals and Analysis and Critique of University and Public School Policy and Practice for Teaching Emergent Bilinguals. All of these chapters help to inform educators about key issues related to the teaching of emergent bilinguals in linguistically diverse schools. The Afterword, written by a well-known teacher educator in the field of bilingual education, brings the two volumes together using her perspective on the importance of reflection in teaching and learning. There are seven chapters in the first section, Developing Teachers’ Understandings of Effective Practices for Emergent Bilinguals. In each

Introduction

xiii

chapter, teacher researchers discuss how they have helped teachers understand the needs of their emergent bilinguals and how these new insights might translate into better practices for their students. In the first chapter, three teacher educators, Silva, Weinburgh, and Smith, experts in the fields of bilingual/ESL, science, and math respectively, describe their seven years of research in central Texas with inservice teachers during a summer program for emergent bilinguals. Their chapter, entitled Joining the Team: A Study of Unintentional Professional Development, describes how these teacher educators collaborated to teach science units integrating math and language arts. They worked alongside district teachers, and in the process of this team teaching, the inservice teachers gained important understandings about teaching content to emergent bilinguals that they applied in their own classrooms. As the title of the chapter suggests, the authors found that working together as a team of professors provided them with important professional development as they learned important lessons about teacher education from each other. Data collected from lesson plan notes, yearly journals, personal notes, audiotapes of meetings, and in-depth interviews/discussions with all the participants led these authors to some powerful conclusions about how to organize and carry out professional development and promote teacher change. In the second chapter, The Power of Culturally Relevant Texts: What Teachers Learn about Their Emergent Bilingual Students, Ebe describes a project she carried out with inservice teachers in a graduate class in New York City. The graduate students used a cultural relevance rubric that Ebe had developed to choose a book that they shared with students in their classrooms. The teachers reported on what they learned about the choice of appropriate books, the scarcity of available appropriate texts, and, perhaps most importantly, what the use of the rubric taught them about the students themselves. The results of this qualitative research were gathered through a careful textual analysis of the student reflective essays about their experiences using the rubric as a tool as they read culturally relevant texts with their students. In the third chapter, Promoting Exploratory Talk with Emergent Bilinguals, Yvonne S. Freeman and Rodrı´ guez analyzed three projects that Spanish-English bilingual inservice teachers completed during a course in children’s literature. In the first project the teachers engaged their students in exploratory talk to connect their own experiences with the experiences of different characters in the books they read. The second project focused on the images in high quality illustrated children’s literature. The students

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INTRODUCTION

learned to “read” the pictures as well as the text. In the last project, the inservice teachers guided their students stages of creative dialogue as they read stories. The authors give examples from four teachers to illustrate what the teachers learned from engaging in these projects. They also reflect on their analysis of the projects to refine their own teaching of children’s literature. The fourth chapter of the book, Teachers’ Understanding of Practice: Planning and Implementing Preview/View/Review in the Dual Language Classroom, reports on Mercuri’s research with dual language teachers in Texas. This Preview/View/Review (PVR) structure incorporates the students’ first language to help them understand and develop English. The teachers in the study had completed a Masters’ degree in bilingual education and participated in inservice training with the researcher. Using in-depth interviews with the teachers, Mercuri investigated how the teachers had applied the Preview/View/Review structure with the students to support their English language acquisition and how effective the teachers perceived the structure to be. Through analysis of a survey and follow up interviews with a selection of teachers, Mercuri was able to make some preliminary conclusions about Preview/View/Review that will lead to further research, including how it can be implemented, what the benefits might be, and what challenges teachers face in applying this structure. Mainstream Teachers in Two-Way Immersion Programs: Becoming Content and Language Teachers is the fifth chapter in the first section of this volume. The authors, de Jong and Barko-Alva investigated how mainstream teachers who had become two-way immersion (TWI) teachers understood the academic language needs of bilingual students. In two-way immersion schools, like dual language schools, students learn content in two languages, most often Spanish and English. About half the students were native English speakers and half are native Spanish speakers. de Jong and Barko-Alva were particularly interested in whether teachers could develop language objectives for language learners in the different content areas. They hoped that teachers would see themselves as not only teachers of content but also as language teachers who could help students develop the language they needed to read, write, and talk about content in their second language. The researchers used semi-structured interviews and surveys in this qualitative study to look at how these former mainstream teachers were able to identify appropriate language objectives and implement appropriate practices with their emergent bilingual students.

Introduction

xv

In an atmosphere where teachers’ evaluations are based in part on student test scores, teachers can feel frustrated and discouraged. In her chapter, Freedom within Structure: Practices for Teacher Sustainability, Efficacy, and Emergent Bilingual Student Success, Wink describes qualitative research she conducted in a city in New Mexico. Teachers used the Goal Spiral, a structured plan that encourages teachers to incorporate personal and professional goals into their teaching. Through interviews and analysis of survey questions, Wink analyzed how teachers used the Goal Spiral to develop engaging lessons that challenged their students. This approach supported student achievement and energized the teachers. She investigated whether using the Goal Spiral and strategies they had learned during professional development would help these teachers bring authentic, joyful learning into their classrooms. The final chapter in the first section, An Art of Being in between: The Promise of Hybrid Language Practices, is a linguistic microethnography in which the authors, O’Connor and Crawford, carefully analyze a classroom transcript of teacher and emergent bilingual students’ interactions to look for hybrid language use. That is, they looked in careful detail at the ways in which the teacher and the students drew on both Spanish and English as they constructed meaning in an astronomy/oceanography class in Arizona. The implications of this analysis provide teachers of emergent bilinguals with insights about the importance of drawing on first language strengths in teaching. The second section of this volume is entitled Analysis and Critique of University and Public School Policy and Practice for Teaching Emergent Bilinguals and includes four chapters that help readers look carefully at programs and policies that can support or hinder learning for emergent bilingual students in schools. The first chapter by Goulah and Soltero, Reshaping the Mainstream Education Climate through Bilingual-Bicultural Education, is an insightful examination of the effects a graduate bilingual education program in Chicago has had on the graduate inservice teachers who completed it. This study revealed the transformed perspectives and practices of the teachers and also revealed deficiencies in the ways emergent bilinguals are being served. The researchers used critical discourse analysis of the personal narratives of 32 of their graduate students and triangulated their autoethnographic perspectives with research from literature reviews and teacher narratives in order to draw conclusions about the graduate program’s effectiveness, teacher transformations, and inadequate teacher preparation programs.

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INTRODUCTION

Spezzini and her colleagues, Austin and Prado, returned to a district in southern Alabama to evaluate a site-based certification program the university had provided in the district ten years prior to the study. The district had experienced tremendous growth in their numbers of emergent bilingual students and sought support from the university. The researchers collected surveys and conducted interviews with participants to determine how instructional practices had changed as a result of the program and to identify features of the program that were perceived as being most important to the inservice teachers’ professional growth. The title of the chapter, Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me This Before?, reflects a common response of the teachers in their program as they learned about second language acquisition and best practices for emergent bilinguals. The programs’ approach to professional development for the inservice teachers included the use of professional learning communities, reflective activities, and action research, all of which were perceived by those interviewed to be effective in promoting needed changes to meet the needs of the districts’ emergent bilingual students. Woodley’s research centers on the needs of Muslim immigrants in schools in New York City. Her chapter Empowering Language and Learning with Muslim Immigrant Youth provides readers with a view of how Muslim students need to be supported. Using interviews, observations, and intensive group interviews in English and the students’ home languages, the author found that the students realized that the school could not supply the needed linguistic and social support that they needed. Therefore, they often supported one another by translanguaging, drawing on their first languages. In addition, Woodley found that the students viewed actions on the part of some of the school community as discriminatory making them feel devalued at school. In the final chapter, “We Only Teach in English”: An Examination of Bilingual-in-Name-Only Classrooms, Hinton reports on the actual practices in schools in a large district in South Texas. Through classroom observations, interviews, and a large-scale survey, Hinton sought to answer the question, What do officially labeled bilingual classrooms actually look like in practice? The results of this extensive examination showed that because of administrative pressures and teacher practices, emergent bilingual students were receiving monolingual instruction without the legally required first language support they needed. These practices resulted in both low academic success and low graduation rates for emergent bilingual students. Hinton concludes that university education programs may need to take an active role in monitoring district practices and, if necessary, in publicizing

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lack of compliance on the part of districts. The lack of academic progress for emergent bilingual students in monolingual programs such as those in the district he studied is a call for action to educators. The Afterword, written by Joan Wink, brings together the research of teacher educators in both volumes by using reflection as a unifying theme. She proposes that reflection is focused deep thinking on a specific experience and is how we think and learn more deeply. During reflection we ask ourselves: What can I learn from this and what is my role? Wink’s afterword shows how the authors of the chapters do reflect as they do their research and through their work teach readers about the importance of the affirmation of identity for emergent bilinguals, the significant role that the development of academic language and translanguaging has in teaching and learning, and the value of bilingual education. Inservice teachers across the United States need to meet the needs of the growing emergent bilingual population. As the chapters in this book point out they need to have knowledge of the content they teach and, at the same time, need to have pedagogical language knowledge so they can apply appropriate strategies to support their students’ development of academic language in the content areas. Teachers must be able to apply new knowledge about second language acquisition and good pedagogy and integrate that into their teaching. As they develop research-based practices, their emergent bilingual students have the potential of achieving academically in a complex, multilingual, multiethnic school environment. Yvonne S. Freeman David E. Freeman Editors

REFERENCES Bartalova, J., & McHugh, M. (2010). Number and growth of students in US schools in need of English instruction. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute. Bunch, G. (2013). Pedagogical language knowledge: Preparing mainstream teachers for English learners in the new standards era. Review of Educational Research, 37(February), 298 341. Garcı´ a, O. (2009). Bilingual education in the 21st century: A global perspective. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Garcı´ a, O. (2010). Misconstructions of bilingualism in U.S. education. NYSABE News, 1(1), 2 7. Garcı´ a, O., Kleifgen, J., & Flachi, L. (2008). From English language learners to emergent bilinguals. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

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Majumdar, A. D. (2014). Survey results show teachers need more professional development. ESOL English Language Bulletin. Retrieved from http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/ content/survey-shows-teachers-need-more-professional-development/education. Accessed on July 25, 2014. Maxwell, L. (2014). U.S. school enrollment hits majority-minority milestone. Education Week. Pandya, C., Bartalova, J., & McHugh, M. (2011). Limited English proficient individuals in the United States: Numbers, share, growth, and linguistic diversity LEP data brief. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute.

SECTION I DEVELOPING TEACHERS’ UNDERSTANDINGS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICES FOR EMERGENT BILINGUALS

JOINING THE TEAM: A STUDY OF UNINTENTIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Cecilia Silva, Molly Weinburgh and Kathy Horak Smith ABSTRACT In a university/district collaboration, three college professors and authors of this chapter co-taught with four teachers over a period of seven years. This study explores the perceived changes in thought and practice of both groups as a result of providing three-week summer school programs for fifth and eighth grade emergent bilinguals. This research is grounded in qualitative methodologies of self-study and case study. We present our joint story as a self-study. Data were collected in the form of lesson plan notes, yearly journals, personal notes, audiotapes of meetings, and in-depth interviews/discussions of those involved in the bounded context. Resulting themes were situated meaning, hybrid language, and a 5R Instructional Model. A case study design is used to present the data from the four in-service teachers. Data were collected from field notes and interviews. Several themes emerged from the teacher data, all of which are components of situated meaning: professional development as sideby-side teaching and learning, recognition of and interest in curriculum

Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals Advances in Research on Teaching, Volume 24, 3 32 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3687/doi:10.1108/S1479-368720150000024002

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integration, and change in classroom practice. Findings indicate that the summer program was a meaningful avenue for professional development (PD) for both groups. However, within group similarities were stronger than across group. The experience changed the way we teach and how we develop PD for teachers. The implications for professors and K-12 teachers are discussed and suggestions for further study and PD are given. Keywords: Professional development; emergent bilinguals; academic language; sheltered English; science; mathematics

“I think a lot of teachers begin doing something, later realize that it is not effective but do not know how to get out of it.” (Jocelyn)

INTRODUCTION Jocelyn may have expressed one of the most salient ideas in her quote above as she talked about her experience as a teacher over a 15-year period. When she agreed to teach summer school with us, the authors, she had no idea that she, and the others involved, would find ways “to get out of” old habits and find new ways toward effective practice.

SITUATED CONTEXT The context is a three-week summer school program in which we had participated for seven years at the time of this study. The genesis of the experience was a call to develop an enrichment sheltered English curriculum for students enrolled in an urban district’s newcomer program. Structured as schools-within-schools, the newcomer program provided recent arrivals including immigrant as well as refugee students entering upper elementary, middle school, or high school with sheltered English instruction. Student participation in the summer program was voluntary. The district had a summer school curriculum for interrupted formal education (SIFE), Year 1 and Year 2 students. Kathy, a mathematics education professor; Molly, a science education professor; and Cecilia,

Joining the Team

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a language education professor were asked to develop Year 3 curriculum. Planning for the Year 3 began the fall prior to its implementation as we worked with the district’s Elementary English as a second language (ESL) coordinator, to identify the program’s objectives and determine the curriculum’s content building on the stance of sheltered instruction. The first two summers the mathematics, science, and language program (MSL) was conducted in an elementary school and the three of us worked sideby-side in a single classroom with one district teacher and one group of exiting newcomer students (Silva, Weinburgh, Smith, Barreto, & Gabel, 2008/2009). Since the third year of implementation, in order to serve all of the students exiting the district’s newcomer program, the summer experience was expanded to include more teachers from the district and additional students. At this point, the program relocated to the university.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT While the summer program did not set out to include professional development (PD) for us (Weinburgh, Silva, & Smith, 2014) or for the in-service teachers, it became an important unintended outcome of the experience. There is little data on formal PD programs for university professors; although self-study is becoming a way of examining individual growth for professors (Berry & Van Driel, 2013). There is, however, substantial data indicating that in-service teachers need to continue to develop new knowledge and skill in teaching. Research indicates that effective PD should involve teachers in collaborative communities, provide long-term support, and build specific content knowledge (Capps, Crawford, & Constas, 2012; Loucks-Horsley, Hewson, Love, & Stiles, 2003; Lumpe, Czerniak, Haney, & Beltyukova, 2011). Furthermore, PD for teachers working with emergent bilingual students is most helpful if it provides opportunities for teachers to collaborate and observe other successful teachers as well as engage in hands-on practices, in-class demonstrations, and personalized coaching (Caldero´n, Slavin, & Sa´nchez, 2011; Ga´ndara, Maxwell-Jolly, & Driscoll, 2005). In the same vein, Lampert (2010) suggests a practice-based approach to professional development and Lave and Wenger (Lave, 1996; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998) outline communities of practice as ways to help develop knowledge and skills.

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PURPOSE The purpose of our study is two-fold: to explore our experiences and the experiences of four teachers who co-taught the fifth and eighth grade emerging bilingual students in the MSL program. We focus on how the summers served as unintended PD for us and the teachers.

SIGNIFICANCE In the US reform documents are calling for increased communication skills in science and mathematics for all students (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, [NCTM], 2000; NRC, 2012) while experiencing a growing numbers of emerging bilingual students (Camarota, 2007; U.S. Census, 2010). Therefore, it is necessary for teacher educators and in-service teachers to know more about how to reach the needs of second language learners, especially in mathematics and science. With instructional approaches such as sheltered instruction advocating, at minimum, the integration of content and language and, at maximum, the integration of multiple contents with language, teacher educators, and in-service teachers may be ill-prepared to fully integrate science and mathematics instruction with language. Many K-12 teachers face the task of helping students develop content knowledge while acquiring language skills (Bunch, 2013). Because in-service teachers may not have taken courses in their professional preparation to equip them with the skills they need, methods for content-based language teaching have become the focus of in-service professional development. However, more research is needed on how teachers can accomplish content integration (Bunch, 2013; Lee, Quinn, & Valdes, 2013). To date, there appears to be a lack of models of cooperation between professors and teachers to build communities in which practice is co-created to improve instruction for emerging bilingual students. As education professors of mathematics, science, and language, we believe this study will inform other professors in ways that will help them think about their own professional growth and the ways they help teachers think about instruction.

METHODOLOGY The current research is grounded in qualitative methodologies, which allow the researchers to “understand some social phenomena from the

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perspectives of those involved” (Glesne, 2006, p. 4). We have chosen two stances: a self-study and a case study. As we engaged in attempts to understand our own PD and change in practice, we conducted a self-study. This methodology is useful in examining ways of understanding and articulating a knowledge of practice (Loughran, 2007) and should result in changes in the researcher (LaBoskey, 2004). The trustworthiness is strengthened by the co-construction of understanding that resulted from our on-going collaboration as researchers, the consensual nature of our work, our close ties to teachers, and the duration of the study. As we attempted to understand the change in the four teachers who worked with us, we utilized a case study. Case study is used to answer questions about a particular “bounded integrated system with interacting parts and patterns” (Glesne, 2006, p. 13). We seek to understand/interpret a case of PD by examining how the teachers within the bounded context of the summer program constructed new ideas about teaching and language acquisition. In our study, an instrumental case (Stake, 2000, p. 237) is used because we wish to provide insight into the issue of in-service teachers’ PD. We acknowledge that we were invested in the search for better understanding of what teachers learn from the summer experience in which we were co-teachers. To help reduce bias, we triangulate our interpretations not as “the simple combination of different kinds of data, but the attempt to relate them so as to counteract the threats to validity identified in each” (Berg, 1995, p. 5).

WE BECOME A TEAM Methods Research Question We examine the changes in our thought and practice as a result of teaching in a summer sheltered English program for seven years. Specifically, how participation in the program has changed the way we work with in-service teachers. Curriculum Planning Situated Planning Over the seven-year period we developed and taught three different curriculum units (Table 1). Common to these units was the integration of inquirybased science lessons and the hybrid language of science (Silva, Weinburgh, Smith, Malloy, & Marshall, 2012; Weinburgh & Silva, 2011; Weinburgh,

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Table 1. Unit Topics and Number of Years Taught. Unit Topic

Years Taught

Grade Level

Science Inquiry Question

Erosion

4

5th

How do different types of rain affect erosion patterns? • Gentle rain on dry sand • Gentle rain on wet sand • Hard rain on dry sand • Hard rain on wet sand

Wind turbines

2

5th

What is the best wind turbine design? • Number of blades • Tilt of blades • Shape of blades • Position of blades

Genetics

1

5th/8th

Who is responsible for removing the t-shirts (crime scene investigation)? • Identification of fingerprints • Identification of blood sample • Identification of shoe print • Identification of ink type • Identification of DNA

Silva, Malloy, Marshall, & Smith, 2012). Each unit began with a science question that the students investigated throughout the three-week summer session. The students conducted experiments by manipulating a different variable each day and then examined how the change affected their experimental model. We developed curriculum for each of the units during the academic year prior to its implementation. The unit was then co-taught by the district teachers and the professors during the summer. All teachers, whether elementary, middle, or university, had opportunities to teach as well as observe others teaching. At the end of each day, the team gathered to reflect and evaluate teaching and learning activities. In addition, the team discussed readings that had been identified by the various professors as appropriate in creating new understandings about teaching and learning content and academic language. Participants We (Kathy, Molly, and Cecilia) are the participants of the self-study. We selected to treat ourselves as a unit rather than three individuals because our growth has been a joint process.

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Data Collection The first year of the collaboration, in addition to teaching side-by-side, we reflected on content, language, teaching, and learning on a daily basis. During the second year we decided to engage in a series of common readings that would help us understand how to best situate language teaching within the context of inquiry instruction. Each year, the team kept records of the proposed sequence and actual sequence of teaching events, wrote personal notes/journals, recorded daily planning session, read scholarly works, attended professional conferences, and prepared manuscripts. These became the foundation for the self-study. Data Analysis Analyses in qualitative inquiry are often conducted in conjunction with the collection of data rather than after all data are recorded. Thematic analysis, a process of coding, clumping, re-coding, and re-clumping (Glesne, 2006), was used for self-study data that resulted from series of discussions over the seven-year period. As new ideas emerged, we re-read works by Chronaki and Christiansen, Cummins, Freeman and Freeman, Gee, Lemke, Lee, Bruner, and others to help us articulate our new understanding and how to use our knowledge in teacher education. Approaches such as peerdebriefings, reflexivity, and crystallization (Richardson, 2000) were used to support the credibility of the study.

Findings Our analysis resulted in the recognition that three significant changes have come about from our interdisciplinary work. First, we have developed a richer understanding of the meaning of academic language within a situated context (Gee, 2004a). Second, we extended the notion of integration to include hybrid language as posed by Lemke (2004). Third, we have developed a working instructional model that allows us to situate language teaching within inquiry instruction (Weinburgh & Silva, 2012). Expanding Academic Language Conception/Situated Meaning We entered the collaboration using a Vygostkyan (Vygotsky, 1968, 1978) perspective of learning and language. Thinking that children, under the guidance of an adult or more knowledgeable other, need to be active participants in their own learning, we sought to develop inquiry-based science

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lessons in which mathematics was used to support and extend the concepts being studied in science. Similarly, understanding that language is a tool for communication and thinking, we also sought ways to provide language support throughout each unit of study. However, our initial lesson plans show our naı¨ ve thoughts of layering content with language. While our work continues to reflect a Vygotskyan sociocultural perspective on language and learning, the work of Gee (2004a, 2004b, 2008a, 2008b) and Lemke (2004, 2005), in particular, have served to theoretically ground our current understandings of academic language. Gee’s notion that language always constructs and reflects specific socioculturally defined and meaningful contexts served to situate the language of science within the inquiry classroom. Gee’s (2004a) idea that people use specific social languages with specific people and for specific purposes resonated with us. Critical to this perspective on language is the relationship between the individual and the environment. As classroom teachers, then, we must understand that language is embodied in experiences and these experiences are the ones that help us give meaning to language. As we read and discussed Gee’s work, we were impacted by his notion of situated meaning, referring to the meaning words and phrases take in different contexts. He uses the term Discourse (“big D” Discourse) to refer to the language that is “for a distinctive culture or community of practice, such as biologists, associated with certain ways with words, deeds, and values” and includes enacting “a particular type of socially recognizable identity” (p. 17). Taking this relationship into the classroom, we see that content is only accessible through the specialized variety of its language, and in turn, it is the content that gives meaning to the specialized language. For example, we are very aware that the English word mean can be understood as an adjective (harsh) or a verb (to have a particular intent). When used in mathematics or science, it has a specialized definition (the statistical average). Interestingly, in mathematics it is taught and used as an abstract concept (e.g., random numbers added together and divided by the total numbers). When used in science, the mathematical concept of mean is often situated within a science experience (e.g., the average/mean of the reading taken over time with a voltmeter) as a way to give a more accurate measurement. The work by Gee (2004a, 2004b, 2008a, 2008b) challenged us to consider how emergent bilinguals, rather than learning language (English) in general, needed to learn the specific variety of English situated within science classroom and how to help teachers with this concept.

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Hybrid Language We extend Gee’s work on Discourse as we consider Lemke’s (2004, 2005) notion that the language of science is a unique hybrid. Lemke (2004, 2005) identifies four components of this specialized language: natural language as defined by linguists, mathematical expression, visual representation, and manual/technical actions. He stresses that natural language is not enough to express the complex and precise meaning in science. For example, we recognize that many physics problems use vectors and angles requiring precise measurement. We can look at an angle and use natural language to describe it as obtuse or acute, but we need to use mathematical expression (25°) to express the precise measurement of the angle. To express meaning in science, we also rely on the use of visuals such as graphics, photographs, figures, and tables. These visuals may condense many words to a more manageable output or provide information not available in natural language. Scientists also situate meaning through human motor activity, such as manipulating a microscope or setting up a stream table. In scientific communication these elements are not redundant one element cannot be replaced by another element instead, meaning is made when two of more of these elements are utilized together. Over the years we have moved to consider that in a sheltered environment, to make science concepts comprehensible to students, and to support their development of academic language, along with natural language, we also needed to consider ways of integrating mathematical expression, visual representation, and manual/technical actions into the strategies we taught. While teachers and peers play a significant role in scaffolding specialized languages, we now recognize that a sociocultural perspective on learning also takes into account the mediating devices that are part of the experiences that situate language meaning. In a science classroom, the devices could be a triple-beam balance, calculator, ruler, timer, pipette, or flask. Like specialized natural languages, learners internalize how to use these devices through participation with more knowledgeable others. These mediating devices, similar to teachers and peers, support learners in gaining and producing knowledge. In teaching science and mathematics, such devices are critical. Development of 5 R Instructional Model Because we are teacher educators, our focus is always on improving instruction with students. One of our initial challenges came as we considered the point at which science and language would be integrated into the lessons. Making use of a content and language integration model

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commonly used in second language learning settings in the United States, we began our collaborations by examining ways we could apply the Sheltered Instructional Observation Protocol [SIOP®] (Echevarrı´ a, Vogt, & Short, 2000) to our own context. The model has a research history across sheltered classrooms and is recognized for its focus on strategies to support comprehension and language acquisition in content classrooms, but it did not fully meet our needs. The model served well to integrate language instruction, but it presented challenges when applied to inquiry-based science and mathematics lessons. Cecilia, as many language teachers do, felt comfortable frontloading language and content objectives as well as vocabulary within a content lesson. From an inquiry-based science practice, however, Molly and Kathy saw frontloading as “giving away the punch line” prior to student engagement in an investigation. Yet, like many content teachers, Molly and Kathy had not considered ways to support language acquisition within a science or mathematics inquiry lesson. As we engaged in reading the works of others as part of our PD, we discovered that other researchers also found that teachers were uncomfortable with what appeared to them to be conflicting ways of conceptualizing instruction (Settlage, Madsen, & Rustad, 2005). Our experience, bolstered by new readings, let us to continue to question the Cartesian duality of “content” and “language.” Another significant change that has come about as the result of our collaboration has been the development of a working instructional model that would allow us to situate our growing understanding of academic Discourse and hybrid language within an inquiry science lesson. In the subsequent years, we have replaced the SIOP® model with the 5R Instructional Model as we think about lesson design. We have documented the emergence of the 5R Instructional Model for helping teachers shelter the instruction in the core academic areas (Silva, Weinburgh, & Smith, 2013; Weinburgh & Silva, 2011, 2012; Weinburgh, Silva, Smith, Groulx, & Nettles, 2014). “The principal concept of the 5R Instructional Model is that language emerges in context from the experiences that children have with natural phenomenon, builds on language they already know, and pushes them to use new academic language of scientific discourse” (Weinburgh et al., 2014; Weinburgh, Silva, & Smith, 2014). As seen in Fig. 1, the five Rs of the model are: replace, reveal, repeat, reposition, and reload. Each of the Rs are found in the language development but are also found in the development of conceptual understanding in science and mathematics. Reveal, replace, repeat, and reposition are context anchored which means they happen within a lesson as a planned or spontaneous event. Reload is context reflective which requires returning to the language or concepts the

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Science hybrid language

I N P U T

Reveal

O U T P U T

Replace Reload

Repeat

ive

Reposition

ct

le

t ex

f re

nt

Context anchored

Fig. 1.

Co

The 5R Instructional Model Has Context Anchored and Context Reflective Components and Stress Input and Output.

next day (and perhaps for many days following the initial introduction). In the 5R model, repeat is used to provide children with multiple opportunities to experience, as input and output, all of the components of the hybrid language. Repetition allows students to experience all of the components of the hybrid language in multiple contexts. Replace is used to exchange informal language with more formal academic language where appropriate. Reveal is seen when the more knowledgeable other introduces language for which the child has no informal language on which to build. Reposition is moving language into the more academic discourse. Reload is the purposeful revisiting of language and concepts to reinforce the notions presented the first time around. The 5R Instructional Model incorporates the current understanding that students, particularly emergent bilinguals, need both input and output to become proficient in language [see Weinburgh & Silva, 2012 for a full description].

EXPANDING THE TEAM Methods Research Questions In addition to our change, we wished to examine the changes in in-service teachers’ thoughts and practices as they engaged in teaching in the MSL

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program for seven years. We also wanted to investigate how engaging in a community of learners in which teachers observed one another in successful teaching affected their practice. Participants Four in-service teachers involved in the Math/Science/Language (MSL) summer school program agreed to participate in this study. All participants held an ESL certification. Teacher demographics are displayed in Table 2. A brief description of each participant (using pseudonyms) follows. Nancy had participated in the program as a junior in college while completing a 4 8 mathematics certification in a traditional four-year undergraduate education program. Upon earning her degree, she taught in a rural school district with a high number of emerging bilingual students where she was the ESL specialist for the middle school. She returned to help in the MSL program for a total of four summers. Brenda joined the MSL program for one summer as the district teacher for the 8th grade students. She currently teaches mathematics in a newcomer program in a middle school. She obtained her degree from a fouryear traditional education program. Her certification is 4 8 mathematics. Ruth completed her undergraduate and masters outside the United States prior to getting an alternative elementary certification in order to teach in a local urban district. She taught in an elementary newcomer class and worked in the MSL for four summers.

Table 2. Teacher

Teacher Demographics.

Years of Experience

Type of Classroom

Grade Level

Typical # of Students

Nancy

2

Mathematics

5

45

Brenda

9

Mathematics/ Newcomer program Newcomer program

6th/7th

70

4th/5th

15 18

All

Newcomer program

4th/5th

15 18

All

Ruth

Jocelyn

11 in the United States 8 not in the United States 15

Typical # of Emerging Bilingual (EB) Students 5 EB; 15 exited ESL program All

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Jocelyn taught in the MSL for six summers. She obtained her teacher credentials as part of a masters program in education. She teaches in an elementary newcomer class and has developed ESL curriculum for the district. Data Collection As Stake (2000) points out, case study data may be collected using in-depth interviews of those involved in the bounded context. We conducted individual interviews with the four teachers. We used a semi-structured protocol that began with “how did your experience with MSL influence your practice?” This question was followed by other universal questions focusing on knowledge and practice and unique questions in response to the teacher’s comments. Each session was audio recorded; each author wrote research notes during and after the interviews; and as authors listened to the audio, each wrote analytic notes. After analysis, we sent written follow up questions by email and/or conducted another short interview. The follow up questions helped clarify ambiguities in the original data. Data Analysis As with the self-study, an analysis was conducted in conjunction with the collection of data. The authors individually listened to the interviews and coded interesting and relevant remarks. These were then sorted into groupings that became the major themes. Denzin (1989) points out the added trustworthiness of the study when multiple investigators analyze the data.

Findings Three major themes emerged from the teacher data. These include (a) professional development in a community (side-by-side), (b) recognition of and interest in curriculum integration, and (c) change in classroom practice. Professional Development as Side-by-Side Teaching and Learning Throughout the summer and within the interviews, the teachers pointed to the summer experience as an extremely important event in terms of personal and professional growth. When asked by the district coordinator if they would participate in the MSL summer school, three teachers (Brenda, Ruth, and Jocelyn) did not think the experience would be PD but simply thought of it as teaching summer school. The fourth teacher (Nancy) did enter the summer thinking it would be a learning experience and add to her

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professional growth. Specifically referencing the discussions that took place at the end of the school day, they identified the daily teaching and learning reflections as well as the times when the team gathered to discuss selected articles/books as PD. The teachers valued the opportunity to collaborate through reflecting on daily lessons and student learning. Statements regarding this aspect of the summer program were often followed by a reflection on how, because of lack of time, they have few opportunities to engage in similar behaviors during the regular academic year. Brenda provides an example. One of the big pieces that I just walked away from here feeling … that I was just mind-blown … was to plan and collaborate with others with a decent amount of time. Never had time before to plan, implement, talk with others, reflect. I knew it was best practices but had never seen it in action. (Brenda)

Brenda also juxtaposed the satisfaction of reflecting on teaching and learning with the sense of loneliness often experienced by classroom teachers: It was extremely rewarding. I know as a teacher I always doubt myself, wonder what I could have done better. I am alone. But here, we had each other. (Brenda)

Along with the idea of teaching being a lonely practice, Ruth felt that her most significant growth as a professional came from learning to co-teach. Because we were together in a classroom, we were able to move in and out of teaching, almost completing each other’s sentences. We modeled a form of co-teaching that valued the seamless interjecting of ideas or publically asking for opinion/information as we worked with the students. This was recognized by Ruth who commented: This experience taught me how to co-teach. How with ease we planned, and with so much ease we would come in and out of being the primary teacher so that we provide what we wanted the students to learn. (Ruth)

For Jocelyn, the opportunity to co-teach supported her own PD in that it allowed her to reflect on her solo teaching practices: It [co-teaching] gives you so much insight into what you are doing and sharing ideas for specific issues with students. I mean, just having another teacher in the room. That is not something that I had any experience of, at least no memory of in my teacher prep, not that I hadn’t heard of co-teaching but nobody really did it. (Jocelyn)

The opportunities for PD were enhanced by the teachers having time to read and reflect on academic literature related to the focus of our teaching.

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The teachers viewed these side-by-side reading discussions as an opportunity to extend their own learning: That was my first experience of reading like this … going through all of these books that make you think about best practices. It was so important that we discussed, they [discussions] led to in-depth learning. (Ruth)

Ruth also considered how such a practice could be part of school-based, on-going PD program: Learning is happening with us too, we were all learning together […] I have not seen a campus where they are doing book studies like this. I wish we would. At least once a month the faculty meeting should be devoted to books study. And as teams, discuss what you have learned […]. (Ruth)

For Jocelyn, one of the more experienced teachers, the MSL served as a PD refresher. She recognized her professional growth as an opportunity to rethink her own practice. Sometimes it is different from what I practice in the classroom because you get away from things that you know you should be doing, that you know is best practices. […] But then you get the opportunity to do it like during the summer school situation, and you go, yeah, I have really gotten away from that. Or you might do a version of it, but not the degree that it should be. In that regard, it keeps me more true to the way I know is the right way; a reminder. (Jocelyn)

Curriculum Integration Given the differences in terms of teaching experience and classroom responsibilities among the teachers, the notion of curriculum integration took different but significant meanings. All four teachers, however, were impressed with the degree to which mathematics, science, and language arts were integrated into the three-week curriculum. The MSL program provided Nancy with her first experience planning and deliberating an integrated curriculum. Previously, she had only heard about it through her teacher preparation program: The integration of math, science and language was very different, while they talked about it in the teacher prep program, it was just talk. It was good to actually experience it. This was one of my earlier experiences seeing something that was talked about in the teacher prep enacted … the inquiry learning. (Nancy)

Brenda, like Nancy, was a mathematics middle school educator. Unlike Nancy, she had many years of experience integrating mathematics and language for emerging bilinguals. This type of curriculum integration was

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naturally incorporated into her classroom as a newcomer program teacher. However, for her, the MSL included a new dimension of integration: We [in newcomer schools] are always language focused but the math and science connect was very deliberate here [in the MSL program]. (Brenda) Now, I notice that my students are making the connections … almost as if they are looking for connections. (Brenda)

Ruth also reflected on the intentional planning involved in integrating the curriculum during the summer program. She noted that planning went beyond considering the development of natural language to include meaning making in a broader way: First we [MSL team] planned together and then we looked for ways to help students communicate in different ways. (Ruth)

Ruth further reflected on her own classroom. She discussed how she begins planning by first identifying a concept and then considers the natural language and mathematics the students need to communicate: Taking a concept and seeing how integrated it … The language that goes with it, the math that goes with it. (Ruth)

Nancy alluded to time as one of the challenges in integrating the curriculum. Since she did not have a common planning period with other teachers, there was not enough time to work with teachers from other disciplines. We did not have planning periods where we would be able to talk to the other teachers to see what they were doing, to see if we could integrate the different kinds of things we were doing. Occasionally I’d get to talk to the science teacher. (Nancy)

The teachers see departmentalization as one of the school structures that make integration difficult. Ruth expresses this by saying: Departments almost never communicate … they are oblivious to connecting all subjects … sometimes [teachers] they see each other in the hall and ask what they were doing. (Ruth) In math there was not a whole lot of integration that I could do just because I did not have time to talk to the other teachers and really coordinate it. (Nancy)

In spite of the structures that do not support integration, Brenda has returned to her school and has made deliberate efforts to break down constraints.

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Now that is how we start each time meeting. More deliberate. What are you teaching and what are your big vocabulary words? We try to support each other. As teachers we are talking. Making real connections. (Brenda)

Change in Classroom Practice Within the theme of how the PD changed the teachers’ classroom practice, sub-themes became apparent. These include the use of word walls, trade books, and writing in mathematics and science. Word Walls. Of particular note in terms of change in classroom practice were the teachers’ references to an increased and/or renewed understanding of language development. One strategy the four teachers adapted and used in their own classrooms was the word wall. Nancy talked about the word wall as one of the biggest impacts the MSL had on her teaching. Like many classroom teachers, she first used word walls in her classroom because her district mandated them: Biggest influence was my use of word wall, my first year of teaching I didn’t use the word walls, it was more to put the vocabulary words on the wall because it was required. After coming to the MSL experience and watching how the word wall was used more interactively with the students I definitely incorporated that more into my classroom. (Nancy) Prior to MSL … it was the words that CSCOPE [mandated curriculum] told me the students needed to know. That is what I typed up and put on the wall my first year of teaching. The second year of teaching, I would teach the lesson not give them the words up front but use the words, talk about them while doing the lesson and then at the end of class ask the students what words did we learn today and think we need to add to the word wall. I would have the ones that I knew I wanted already written out because I did them on a felt board. So they would go up and stick the word they chose to tell me about. Some of them would say words that I wouldn’t think of needing on the word wall, but they would bring them up, and I would write them up, and they would put them up. They enjoyed putting the words on the wall, gave them the extra incentive to pay attention to words we were using. (Nancy)

The value of interactive word walls and not just of words on the wall was a common thread throughout their discussions. Jocelyn reflects on the ways her word walls have changed. Making word walls more accessible and interactive is something that influenced me. I really can’t even picture exactly how my word walls looked like before. But they weren’t on pocket charts so that they [students] could actually pick them and take them to their desks and use them. And still, when I get new students I have to convince them that I really want them up there, removing those and carrying them to their desks and using them. And then they get kind of become really possessive of them, like we have

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CECILIA SILVA ET AL. seen them here [in the MSL] … it’s like “No, that is my word. You can’t write it on your journal.” […] They are where the kids can get to them and reach them … . making them interactive and really using them. Switching them out more faithfully with whatever we are teaching. (Jocelyn)

To address the needs of each of the grade levels she teaches, Brenda uses different color paper for her words walls I am big on colors … to help the students focus … sixth grade book is red so their wall is red, seventh grade is blue. By the end of the year the words surround the room, always available to students. (Brenda)

During the summer, one of the experienced teachers introduced an activity to the class that was soon adopted by the whole team. She asked the students to think carefully about the words, go to the word wall and select a word they thought everyone knew, and then justify “retiring” the word. This strategy was quickly adapted by Nancy in her classroom. Seeing that you just didn’t leave all of the words up … that you retired the words … and had a retirement home for them …. I actually started doing that with my class … so it became a personal thing for the students to say I know these words so I can take them off the wall. They definitely got excited about that. The assistant superintendent didn’t believe that I could take the words off the wall and students would remember them. I would give him some of the retired words and he would quiz them at lunch and they all knew them. I had students that wouldn’t participate in anything, but their hands would be touching the ceiling trying to get my attention so they could tell me what a word meant to go pull it off the wall and retire it. (Nancy)

Different techniques were used to determine if everyone in the room could use the word without having it visible on wall. Each technique resulted in rich discussions about the word as students argued for keeping or retiring it. At the end of class … I would ask … who can tell me a word that we can retire. If I knew it was a word that would be incorporated in an upcoming lesson I told them that we should keep it up there for a little longer … or if it was a really new word. But they would tell me which word they wanted down, tell me a definition in their own words, how they used it and everyone in the class had to agree with that. You can really tell if they are not sure then I wouldn’t take it down and would spend more time with it. Most of them would really try to show that they knew the word so that they could pull it off the wall. (Nancy)

Although Jocelyn removes the words from her word walls, she stated that words that cross science topics and even academic disciplines (Tier 2 words) tend to remain on the wall longer.

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There are things I like to keep up in the wall that I think should be up there more of the time. There might be some science process type of words that I want to keep up all of the time. More in the everyday category … maybe some of the science words in the process category. (Jocelyn)

Trade Books. A predominant feature of the summer program was having multi-level reading materials available to the students. This influenced the teachers as they saw the value for language development as well as content development as a result of having the extensive array of reading materials. Nancy found that she could incorporate trade books into many of her mathematics lessons. I definitely read students stories in the classroom and I started the year by reading The Math Curse. (Nancy)

Brenda expressed how much she loved using trade books during the summer program but how difficult she found it to actually do so during the academic year. Brenda recognizes the use of trade books as particularly relevant for her students since many did not attend elementary school in the United States. She feels that mathematics trade books are not threatening for her middle school students. As a mathematics content teacher, however, Brenda does not have access to mathematics trade books: When I am in a leadership position I would like to have a budget for content teachers to have trade books. It is expensive but I definitely see the benefit. It can tie in easily. And we are making another connection … the literature connection. (Brenda)

Even at the elementary level, where trade books are often used in social studies and science, they are not part of the mathematics curriculum. Ruth noted that by the time mathematics teachers finish guided and independent practice, there is no time to include other reading experiences, not even when engaging students in mathematics centers. As a self-contained classroom elementary teacher and a natural reader herself, Jocelyn puts great value on the use of trade books. Her classroom is full of books and she provides students many opportunities to engage in read-alouds, reading workshops, and self-selected reading. As she plans for units of instruction, she deliberately selects nonfiction books that connect to the content her students are studying. These books are not only selected because they are conceptually linked to the classroom themes, but because of her own evolving understanding of the literacy skills emerging bilingual must develop when acquiring academic language proficiency:

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CECILIA SILVA ET AL. … the biggest part of my evolving understanding of academic language is going from thinking of just vocabulary words that are academic language to the structure of the way text is put together and appreciating how much we are asking of the students to do when we do give them text […] and that is not really accessible to them at least without some skills that we have to teach separately. Understanding that there are specific skills so that they can access the nonfiction text, especially, even though I hate them, textbooks. (Jocelyn)

Jocelyn further discussed how at times she uses nonfiction literature to help her students become aware of the communicative function of visual representations in these texts, particularly when not pressed for time: With non-fiction texts […] sometimes we address other things on the page … like labels on a diagram but I have had times when I am in a hurry and forget to look at the other parts tables, charts, graphs and do not mention that they are on the page. I do a picture walk but I don’t always address them [other visual representations] the way I should. (Jocelyn)

Writing. The teachers commented on the seamless integration of writing by the students during the summer and how they began to incorporate more writing into their classroom practice. Nancy took the journal into her mathematics class but watched it change over time. The other [MSL] influence was the journals.… My first year of teaching I didn’t use them as much as I wanted to. Second year, after being involved with the summer experience, I used them for students to write and reflect on what they had done. I had math journal writing time almost every class period. I had an alarm set for eight minutes before the bell rang. They would drop anything they were doing and write about what they did that day. That definitely was influenced by this program. A lot of my students complained that they wrote more in math than they did in English. (Nancy) At the beginning journals were very formal, they would write in English … at the beginning they focused more on how much they had to write. I told them I just wanted to see their thoughts on the activity, what they learned, what questions they have. They began to write more. Focused less on how much they have to write and focused on what they had to write. By the end of the year I didn’t have a prompt. (Nancy)

Brenda uses journals in her mathematics class to prompt students to reflect on the ways they use mathematics in their everyday life: The one I do every Monday is “how did you use math this weekend.” And it is just incredible. Then I reply to them with a personal question and then a math question. When someone talked about a birthday cake and birthday candles I asked a question like “ Is the icing on the cake the same as an area?” […] One that blew me away was [student’s name] … He was talking about a triathlon race he observed. […] He drew a connection between length of stride and how many strides they did and how they did

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Joining the Team them faster. He drew a stick figure and wrote “if the length is this long, and they run this far, then they can run this fast.” (Brenda)

Journals were seen as an avenue to help content area teachers integrate across content areas: If we integrate what the science teacher is doing and if the language teacher just picks it up, now they [students] have something to write about. (Ruth)

Brenda realized her school used the journal as “notes” but reflects that the more important idea is having many opportunities to write in all subjects outweighed the idea of “one way to journal”: We have an interactive notebook, more for notes, not so much for writing back and forth, because the students take the notebooks home to do homework. What I do instead is half sheets with prompts so that I get more writing. (Brenda)

Nancy, as the least experienced teacher, found that she learned how to respond to journals by observing the more experienced members of the team. She said: Responding to the journals was really hard for me at the beginning of MSL … It was hard figuring out something constructive to say in their journals. (Nancy)

Although she still feels that her comments need work, she believes her students get better comments about their writing due to her experience with MSL.

Discussion of Both Studies The MSL summer experience resulted in professional growth for us and the teachers. Not surprising, engaging in the same summer experience resulted in different learning outcomes for the two groups. Because the experiences that shape us are so varied, it is difficult to form generalized statements regarding our development as teachers and the outcomes of specific PD (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000). However, within the context of the MSL, we believe that some powerful themes did emerge and can be used to help professors as they work with in-service teachers who are teaching emerging bilingual students. Our Growth Teacher educators, similar to classroom teachers, often work in academic silos and seldom have the opportunity to work across disciplines.

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Collaboration over the life of the MSL has been a critical component of our development as professionals. Teaching side-by-side, reflecting on practice, reading professional literature, and analyzing the data collected during the summer has led us to develop an understanding of the role of academic language within inquiry-based learning. Our new understanding of language, in turn, has influenced the way we provide PD with in-service teachers. Situated Meaning Our understanding of situated meaning has developed with our work and now plays a much larger part in how we conduct PD with teachers. Parallel to the language acquisition experiences of the emergent bilinguals with whom we were entrusted to work, the opportunity to teach and learn sideby-side also provided us with experiences to situate language (Gee, 2004a). To know the meaning of academic language, Gee reminds us, one must be able to situate its meaning in embodied experiences. Teaching side-by-side allowed us to enact and situate the particular rhetorical practices and activities specific to each one of our own academic disciplines within the classroom. In addition, the MSL provided us with the fortuitous opportunity to situate the new meanings on pedagogy and academic language acquisition that were emerging as we engaged in the professional literature that we were reading. As professors working with in-service teachers, we recognize the need to support educators as they develop a better understanding of situated meaning. Often teachers recognize vocabulary as a key component of academic language. Our work together has led us to help teachers consider the types of experiences they must provide for students in order to help them move beyond this general understanding of language and to engage in supporting the acquisition of the language of the discipline. Inquiry-based lessons, we are convinced, provide emergent bilinguals with the embodied experiences to situate the language meaning they need to succeed in schools. Our task now focuses on helping teachers concentrate on ways to help learners acquire the academic language of a specific discipline. Hybrid Language We initially came to the task with the idea of developing a sheltered unit of instruction that integrated science, mathematics, and language. As we found that the pedagogy within our disciplines did not meld as easily as we expected, we reflected on our own teaching and readings. As a result, our thought about integration became more complex. Using the hybrid

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language (natural language, mathematical expression, visual representations, and manual/technical actions) gave a different lens by which to think about integration and academic language. We see integrated lessons in a different light and try to also help teachers see them differently. For example, in the erosion unit, the students assembled the stream table (manual/technical actions) as a model of a field. They talked and wrote about the process (natural language), drew pictures of the stream table model (visual), and made notations and calculations of measurements (mathematical expression). All four components were needed in order to help the students represent and communicate their understanding of erosion in their model compared to the field it represented. As we move forward with supporting PD, we are aware of the need to be more mindful of reinforcing a broader understanding of elements of academic Discourse. In order to help teachers become aware of the concept of hybrid language, we and other PD providers must be explicit in our introduction and use of hybrid language. In discussions as we prepared for this chapter, we became aware that our growing understanding happened in the background without direct work with the teachers. Looking back, we now think that we may have never explicitly used the term hybrid language during the summer sessions; although we had long discussions about each component during the academic year and at conferences with other professionals without the teachers. 5 R Instructional Model For us, one of the most significant growths was the ability to blend features of sheltered instruction with inquiry instruction. Just as our understanding of situated meaning and hybrid language developed over time, our conceptualization of the emerging instructional model changed as we used it each year to develop lessons. As we work with in-service teachers we are much more cognizant of how and when to introduce and use academic language to support conceptual understanding within an inquiry lesson. We now use the model to stress the emergence of language within context. Teachers’ Growth Professional Development as Side-by-side Teaching and Learning. Professional development was never intended to be an outcome of the summer school, yet our experiences working with teachers echo the literature documenting collaboration as a key component of PD (Caldero´n, Slavin, & Sa´nchez, 2011; Ga´ndara et al., 2005). When teachers plan and teach-side-by-side they have the opportunity to see and learn how others approach these tasks

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and expand their own teaching repertoire. For collaborative activities to transform into PD, however, they must include opportunities to reflect on teaching and learning. In the interviews the teachers often alluded to the richness of the reflections that took place at the end of the workday in terms of their own growth and development. Because the entire three-week experience focused on helping emerging bilingual students, the four teachers were able to think deeply about this population of students and their own need to enrich their own knowledge and skills. While considered to be expert teachers in terms of their own knowledge and experience, the four teachers seldom had experienced opportunities to work side-by-side with other experts within their regular teaching assignments. Folklore/urban myths tells us that teachers are isolated within their classrooms and, perhaps, do not want others to view their practice. The teachers in this study found that co-teaching was very enriching. They observed the professors truly becoming one voice in the class as they wove the three disciplines together. Over time, the teachers joined the classroom conversation as co-teachers with equal input into the lesson planning and execution. This is consistent with Roth, Lawless, and Tobin (2000) and Roth and Tobin (2004) who point out the importance of including teachers in research as well as professors working in actual classrooms. As pointed out in the literature, short-term workshops that are generic do not have the same value as long-term PD (Loucks-Horsley et al., 2003). The teachers in our study found great value in long-term interactions that allowed for reading and discussing scholarly articles and books. All of the readings and discussion were focused on the integration of science, mathematics, and language as well as specifics for the context, allowing for a movement between theory and practice on a daily basis. With short-term PD, this scholarly component is often overlooked. Curriculum Integration In the interviews, the teachers discussed the various ways in which they integrate curriculum in their own classroom. One value of the MSL was the involvement of the teachers with the planning for integration and the enactment of integration. As one might expect, the elementary teachers in self-contained classrooms have many more opportunities to plan and teach integrated lessons. The middle-school teachers, both mathematics educators, recognize the value of integration, but find cross-discipline integration difficult. Depending on the disciplinary background of the teachers, different parts of the hybrid language (natural language, mathematical symbols,

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visual representations, and manual/technical) are more comfortable for them. For example, mathematics teachers will enter a lesson with mathematical symbols and visual representation in the forefront. Even though most of the practice of mathematics includes manual/technical, this component is invisible to many teachers. The natural language is often only seen as vocabulary. In science, the visual representations are typical and mathematical expressions are found in higher-science. Again, the natural language is often only seen as vocabulary. For language teachers, the natural language is the focus of their teaching and seldom includes other hybrid language components. From the beginning we were charged to provide opportunities for emerging bilinguals to learn content and develop academic language. When initially addressing the task, we considered the two types of integration typically found in classrooms. First, we thought about how teachers integrate two or more disciplines (e.g., science and mathematics); and secondly, how teachers integrate language (e.g., reading, writing, speaking, listening) within disciplines. Our final decision was to focus language and mathematics instruction around science inquiry units. As the MSL program developed, so did our notion of content and language integration. Over time we intentionally used the concept of hybrid language as a theoretical framework in our planning. Thus, the MSL served to provide the teachers with a venue for planning, enacting, and reflecting on curriculum integration. Although the concept of a hybrid language was important to us, we understand the complex nature of the notion and were not surprised by the teachers not focusing on it. The teachers incorporate the content standards from a curriculum stance rather than from a communications stance. As such, they integrate content without having a good understanding of the notion of how natural language, mathematical expression, visual representation, and manual/technical support conceptual understanding. Changes in Classroom Practice Word Walls. Thinking about language and the appropriate time/place to integrate the use of language was a critical component of the three-week summer program. Word walls allowed us to create a physical space to focus on vocabulary discussions. For us, the word wall served as a mechanism to reload rather than frontload concepts and vocabulary that had been first revealed within the context of a lesson. The vocabulary selections could originate from the teacher or the students as each recognized words that seemed important and necessary for conceptual understanding. Once the

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students had the opportunity to encounter new vocabulary, the teachers used the word wall to engage the students in talking about word usage, meanings, cross-curricular connections, morphemes, pronunciations, etc. Often the word wall also allowed us to help students see how in academic contexts we often replace language and concepts that appear in more informal language with vocabulary that is more precise. For example, helping students replace the expression the number on the bottom for the more precise term denominator. The teachers also recognized that word walls provide many opportunities to interact with the vocabulary. From the interviews, it became evident that the teachers developed a deeper understanding of how the word wall plays an important part in helping emerging bilinguals acquire academic language. However, they never spoke of it as a way to reload rather than frontload language. The interactive aspect varied with the need of each class. Even teachers who had used a word wall became convinced that the more interactive they could make it, the more value it had for students. Some teachers utilized strategies just as they were presented in the MSL, while others modified the strategies to accommodate their students’ needs. For example, using different colored paper on which the words were written seemed to help focus students’ interest by topic or by units. Key to this process is that rather than focusing on general word meanings, the language discussions were rooted in the embodied experiences of the inquiry lessons and allowed emergent bilinguals to explicitly participate in the rhetorical practices of the academic language community. Trade Books. Kathy and Cecilia had a long history of integrating trade books into the classroom. Therefore, during the planning, trade books became an important resource for the summer. The trade books served to develop deeper conceptual and linguistic understanding; they became a way to reveal, repeat, and reposition language and concepts. Time was allotted for read-alouds, literature circles, and sustained silent reading using the large number and variety of trade books. The teachers talked about the use of trade books and the value they thought trade books brought to academic subjects. While they all valued literature, its use was not universally adopted in all classrooms. The teacher not using literature pointed out that lack of time and resources restricted its use in the classroom. Writing. During the summer, we stressed writing as a way of constructing ideas, displaying knowledge, and reflecting on learning. Writing, like trade

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books, provided the students with the opportunity to reposition language as they began to engage with the Discourse of the science classroom. To that end, we had one journal that served many purposes for emerging bilinguals. For examples, students learned to construct a table of contents and see its value as they used it for reference throughout the program. They also wrote, drew, calculated, and taped artifacts that were used in subsequent lessons. Because the journals as we used them were free-form, the number of pages used by each students varied. Each day, the teaching team responded to the journals with comments that were designed to stretch the students’ writing and thinking about the content. The response also varied by teacher. As college professors we also find it difficult to give highly constructive feedback. The teachers were very creative in the ways they adopted the incorporation of writing into their classroom. The elementary teachers were already using many writing opportunities but the middle school teachers were not. Participating in a summer program in which writing in science and mathematics was stressed gave the teachers a model for more ways to incorporate writing across content areas. Of note is how difficult it is to respond regularly and in meaningful ways. Being a part of a team in which any one of the teachers could read aloud from a journal and ask for help in preparing an appropriate response served as a form of apprenticeship for all.

LIMITATIONS WITH RECOMMENDATIONS We highlight ways in which we have used the knowledge and products that have emerged from our interdisciplinary work with emerging bilinguals to help teachers develop a better understanding of what is involved in academic language and practices to support its development for ELLs in the classroom. Ultimately, we hope to encourage other teacher educators to engage in interdisciplinary partnerships that would help them more effectively meet the needs of future teachers who work in classrooms with English learners. We are aware that we have been able to participate in and study a unique situation for helping in-service teachers develop more effective ways of teaching emerging bilingual students. Although we strongly advocate for long-term, teacher-centered PD, we understand the constraints. Co-teaching can only be done with a limited number of teachers, unlike more traditional PD where one facilitator works with 15 25 teachers at

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a time. This PD, if thought of as such, rather than summer school for 25 90 emerging bilingual students, was costly. We are aware that our experience cannot be generalized to large-scale PD. The study investigated only four teachers who participated in a unique summer program. However, extending what we have learned to other in-service teachers is necessary. While we do not expect all classroom teachers to provide the level of curriculum integration we discuss, we do encourage them to analyze and look for opportunities where mathematics and language can more effectively help students communicate learning and understanding within the content of science.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to thank JP Morgan Chase Foundation, Fort Worth ISD, Center for Public Education, and Andrews Institute of Mathematics & Science Education for funding which made this research possible.

REFERENCES Berg, B. (1995). Qualitative research methods for the social sciences (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Berry, A., & Van Driel, J. H. (2013). Teaching about teaching science: Aims, strategies, and backgrounds of science teacher educators. Journal of Teacher Education, 64(2), 117 128. Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience and school. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Bunch, G. C. (2013). Pedagogical language knowledge: Preparing mainstream teachers for English learners in the new standards era. Review of Research in Education, 37, 298 341. doi:10.3102/0091732X12461772 Caldero´n, M., Slavin, R., & Sa´nchez, M. (2011). Effective instruction for English learners. The Future of Children, 21(1), Immigrant Children, 103 127. Camarota, S. A. (2007). Immigrants in the United States, 2007. Center for Immigration Studies. Retrieved from www.cis.org/articles/2007/back1007.htlm. Accessed on December 23, 2012. Capps, D. K., Crawford, B. A., & Constas, M. A. (2012). A review of empirical literature on inquiry professional development: Alignment with best practices and a critique of the findings. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 23, 291 318. Denzin, N. (1989). The research act (rev.ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Echevarrı´ a, J., Vogt, M. E., & Short, D. J. (2000). Making content comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP model. Boston, MA: Pearson.

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Ga´ndara, P., Maxwell-Jolly, J., & Driscoll, A. (2005). Listening to teachers of English language learners. Santa Cruz, CA: The Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED491701. Accessed on February 22, 2014. Gee, J. P. (2004a). Language in the science classroom: Academic social languages as the heart of school-based literacy. In E. W. Saul (Ed.), Crossing borders in literacy and science instruction (pp. 13 32). Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. Gee, J. P. (2004b). Literacies, identities and discourses. In M. J. Schleppegrell & M. C. Colombi (Eds.), Developing advanced literacy in first and second languages (pp. 13 32). Mahwan, NJ: Erlbaum. Gee, J. P. (2008a). A sociocultural perspective on opportunity to learn. In P. A. Moss, D. C. Pullin, J. P. Gee, E. H. Haertel, & L. J. Young (Eds.), Assessment, equity and opportunity to learn (pp. 76 108). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Gee, J. P. (2008b). What is academic language? In A. S. Rosebery & B. Waren (Eds.), Teaching science to English language learners (pp. 57 70). Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. Glesne, C. (2006). Becoming qualitative researchers. New York, NY: Pearson. LaBoskey, V. (2004). The methodology of self-study and its theoretical underpinnings. In J. Loughran, M. L. Hamilton, V. K. LaBoskey, & T. Russell (Eds.), International handbook of self-study of teaching and teacher education practices (Vol. 2, pp. 817 869). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic. Lampert, M. (2010). Learning teaching in, from, and for practice: What do we mean? Journal of Teacher Education, 61(1), 21 34. Lave, J. (1996). Teaching, as learning, in practice. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 3, 149 164. Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Lee, O., Quinn, H., & Valdes, G. (2013). Science and language for English language learners in relation to next generation science standards and with implications for common core state standards for English language arts and mathematics. Educational Researcher, 42(4), 223 233. Lemke, J. (2004). The literacies of science. In E. W. Saul (Ed.), Crossing borders in literacy and science instruction (pp. 13 32). Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. Lemke, J. (2005). Multiplying meaning. In J. R. Martin & R. Veel (Eds.), Reading science: Critical and functional perspectives on discourses of science (pp. 87 113). New York, NY: Routledge. Loucks-Horsley, S., Hewson, P. W., Love, N., & Stiles, K. E. (2003). Designing professional development for teachers of science and mathematics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Loughran, J. (2007). Research teacher education practices: Responding to the challenges, demands, and expectations of self-study. Journal of Teacher Education, 58(1), 12 20. Lumpe, A., Czerniak, C., Haney, J., & Beltyukova, S. (2011). Beliefs about teaching science: The relationship between elementary teachers’ participation in professional development and student achievement. International Journal of Science Education, 34(2), 1 14. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2000). Principles and standards for school mathematics. Reston, VA: NCTM. National Research Council [NRC]. (2012). A framework for K-12 science education. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Richardson, L. (2000). Writing: A method of inquiry. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 923 948). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

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Roth, W.-M., Lawless, D. V., & Tobin, K. (2000). Coteaching/cogenerative dialoguing as praxid of dialectic methods. Qualitative Social Research, 1(3), Art. 37. Roth, W.-M., & Tobin, K. (2004). Coteaching: From praxis to theory. Theory and practice, 10(2), 161 180. Settlage, J., Madsen, A., & Rustad, K. (2005). Inquiry science, sheltered instruction, and English language learners: Conflicting pedagogies in highly diverse classrooms. Issues in Teacher Education, 14(1), 39 57. Silva, C., Weinburgh, M. H., & Smith, K. H. (2013). Not just good science teaching: Supporting academic language development. Voices in the Middle, 20(3), 34 42. Silva, C., Weinburgh, M. H., Smith, K., Malloy, R., & Marshall, J. (2012). Toward Integration: A model of science and literacy. Childhood Education, 88(2), 91 95. Silva, C., Weinburgh, M. H., Smith, K. H., Barreto, G., & Gabel, J. (Winter, 2008/2009). Partnering to develop academic language for English language learners in mathematics and science. Childhood Education, 107 112. Stake, R. (2000). Case studies. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 435 454). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. U.S. Census. (2010). Foreign born. Retrieved from www.census.gov/populatin/foreign. Accessed on December 23, 2011. Vygotsky, L. S. (1968). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). The mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Weinburgh, M., Silva, C., & Smith, K. H. (2014). Is this a science, mathematics, or language arts lesson? Practical advice for teachers of students learning English. In D. F. Berlin & A. L. White (Eds.), Initiatives in mathematics and science education with global implications. (pp. 93 106). Columbus, OH: International Consortium for Research in Science and Mathematics Education. Weinburgh, M., Silva, S., Smith, K., Groulx, J., & Nettles, J. (2014). The intersection of inquiry-based science and language: Preparing teachers for ELL classrooms. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 25(5), 519 542. Weinburgh, M. H., & Silva, C. (2011). Integrating language and science: The 5Rs for English language learners. In D. F. Berlin & A. L. White (Eds.), Science and mathematics: International innovations, research, and practices (pp. 19 32). Columbus, OH: International Consortium for Research in Science and Mathematics Education. Weinburgh, M. H., & Silva, C. (2012). An instructional theory for English language learners: The 5R model for enhancing academic language development in inquiry-based science. In B. J. Irby, G. Brown, R. Lara-Alecio (Eds.), J. Koch (Sect. Ed.), Handbook of educational theories (pp. 293 304). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing Inc. Weinburgh, M. H., Silva, C., Malloy, R., Marshall, J., & Smith, K. (2012). A science lesson or language lesson? Using the 5Rs. Science & Children, 49(9), 72 76. Weinburgh, M. H., Silva, C., & Smith, K. H. (2014). Learning from fourth and fifth graders in a summer school for English language learners. In M. Diaz, C. Eick, & L. Diaz (Eds.), Science teacher educators as K-12 teachers: Practicing what we teach (pp. 181 194). London: Springer Publishers. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

THE POWER OF CULTURALLY RELEVANT TEXTS: WHAT TEACHERS LEARN ABOUT THEIR EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS Ann E. Ebe ABSTRACT This chapter details a cultural relevance of text project in-service K-12 teachers engage in during their graduate literacy methods class. Through this project, teachers, who work with emergent bilinguals, learn how to select culturally relevant texts using a rubric. They read their selection with a student and reflect on the experience. Four important conclusions came from an analysis of the projects teachers carried out. Teachers found that their students made connections and were more engaged when reading culturally relevant books. Participants found the rubric helpful in identifying what they should look for in a culturally relevant text. In addition, through this project, the teachers discovered that their libraries tended to lack culturally relevant literature. Finally, participant teachers learned more about their emergent bilingual students through

Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals Advances in Research on Teaching, Volume 24, 33 53 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3687/doi:10.1108/S1479-368720150000024003

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the process of finding and reading culturally relevant stories. While this project was carried out by a limited number of teachers in urban environments, it has implications for teachers of emergent bilingual students in other contexts. Keywords: Culturally relevant texts; Cultural Relevance Rubric; text selection; textual analysis

As I began to read the story I could tell this reading was going to be different from any other story I read with Adam. He was paying full attention. When I finished reading the story I looked to Adam for a reaction. He just looked at me and asked me to read it again. Carla, 5th grade teacher This book elicited more dialogue than any other book that I have read to her or with her this entire school year. Adriana, 4th grade teacher I saw a totally different side of Juan that I have never seen before. While in the past he seemed to struggle with comprehension, this opportunity had far different results. He was excited to read the story, share his own personal experiences, and discuss the character and story as a whole. Kate, middle school English teacher

These reflections were written by teachers of emergent bilingual learners (EBLs) who are working toward a graduate degree in literacy education. As an assignment for my class on literacy instruction, these elementary and secondary teachers were asked to select and read a culturally relevant story with one of their students. Many of the teachers had not considered cultural relevance as a criterion for text selection before taking this class. As illustrated by the reflections above, many of the teachers (all names are pseudonyms), revealed that this was a positive and an eye-opening experience. Research supports the importance of providing students, especially EBLs, with culturally relevant texts (Faggella-Luby, Ware, & Capozzoli, 2009; Herrera, Perez, & Escamilla, 2015; Larrotta & Yamamura, 2011; Ma’ayan, 2010). Defined as books that readers can connect to (Freeman, Freeman, & Freeman, 2003), culturally relevant books draw on students’ background knowledge and experiences. While teachers may understand the importance of using these books, they are often uncertain about how to best select culturally relevant text.

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PURPOSE Through my work with teachers and students, I developed a rubric to help define and determine cultural relevance. Studies using this instrument (Ebe, 2010, 2012; Rodrı´ guez, 2014) show that students demonstrate greater engagement, comprehension, and proficiency when reading texts they identify as being more culturally relevant. Because of these findings, I became interested in further understanding the use of this rubric in classroom settings. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore teachers’ experiences using this Cultural Relevance Rubric as a text selection tool. The guiding questions for this study include the following: (1) How does the use of the Cultural Relevance Rubric help teachers select appropriate books for their emergent bilingual students? (2) How does the use of the Cultural Relevance Rubric and reading of a culturally relevant book with an EBL inform teachers about their students and their literacy acquisition? I begin this chapter with a discussion of research that supports the importance of using culturally relevant texts with emergent bilingual learners. I then explain how I developed the Cultural Relevance Rubric for text selection. Next, I present a study I conducted in which teachers used the rubric to select culturally relevant books to read with their emergent bilingual students. I conclude with a discussion of the results and provide implications and recommendations for teachers of emergent bilinguals.

SIGNIFICANCE The achievement gap between emergent bilingual students and native English speakers across the nation presents a challenge for U.S. schools. Many EBLs develop conversational English, yet their reading comprehension skills fall below grade level (August & Shanahan, 2006; Short & Fitzsimmons, 2007). As Olsen (2010) points out, “English learners face a double challenge of learning a new language, while mastering all the same academic content as their English fluent peers” (p. iii). Because of the need for EBLs to access academic content, developing strong reading proficiency is essential. By using culturally relevant texts in their reading instruction, teachers can build on students’ background to support reading comprehension and language development.

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In many settings, reading instruction is not differentiated for emergent bilingual students. Teachers tend to use the school or district-selected reading programs with one set of readings and activities for the class. In such settings, students do not benefit from reading instruction that involves the use of authentic literature. Because of this, both teachers and students do not have opportunities to choose culturally relevant texts and do not know how to do so. In these situations, teachers do not realize the power of using culturally relevant texts with their emergent bilingual learners.

LITERATURE REVIEW In order to comprehend texts, readers weave new information into preexisting schema (Garcı´ a, 2009; Shagoury, 2010). When applied to reading, schema theory suggests that readers draw on culturally acquired knowledge to guide their comprehension of text (Gibbons, 2009). Students with better developed schemas for a text can comprehend that text more fully. Research with emergent bilinguals supports the importance of engaging these students with texts that connect to their lives. For example, in their synthesis of research reports on literacy, Faggella-Luby, Ware, and Capozzoli (2009) found that a key component to supporting the literacy development of EBLs is to provide instruction that builds on students’ background knowledge. Herrera, Perez and Escamilla (2015) explain: When CLD [Culturally and Linguistically Diverse] students can relate to the material presented, they are better able to make schematic and cognitive connections to it. These cognitive connections promote a deeper level of understanding and have been shown to increase comprehension. (p. 37)

Culturally relevant texts draw on the schema, or background knowledge, that EBLs bring to text in order to make sense of it. This claim is supported by studies with both elementary and adolescent readers. In a recent study with third grade EBLs, Ebe (2010) found that students were more successful when reading culturally relevant texts. The participants, who were from the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America, were asked to read and retell two stories from a commercial assessment kit. The two stories were identified as being at the same reading level; however, they appeared to differ in their degree of cultural relevance. The analysis of the readings and retellings produced by the third grade students revealed that readers’ comprehension was greater when reading the story they identified as being more culturally relevant.

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In a similar study conducted with middle school students, Ebe (2012) identified two stories from the students’ reading curriculum that were on the same reading level. Using the Cultural Relevance Rubric, the students determined that one story was much more culturally relevant for them than the other. An analysis of their oral reading and retellings of the two stories revealed that the emergent bilingual participants’ proficiency and reading comprehension were greater when reading the story they had identified as being more culturally relevant. In another study with adolescent emergent bilinguals, Herrero (2006) focused on how teachers could organize literacy instruction to raise the skill levels of low-achieving, language-minority students. This study involved the use of cultural literature with bilingual seventh, eighth, and ninth grade students from the Dominican Republic. The teachers involved in the study found that for the students, the “use of cultural literature and practices fostered pride, participation, commitment and success” (p. 222). This study shows that the use of culturally relevant text has benefits beyond success with reading.

Reading Engagement and Culturally Relevant Texts In addition to promoting success with reading through increased proficiency, the use of culturally relevant texts can also lead to greater reading engagement for English learners. Ma’ayan (2010) conducted a study to explore how teachers can help struggling middle school students who are silent in the classroom. Her case study of Erika, a bilingual Latina, revealed that the use of culturally relevant literature connected to students’ experiences was one key factor that would help “in conquering pervasive disengagement of students in urban schools” (p. 654). Keis (2006) writes about Libros y Familias (Books and Families), a literacy program that uses culturally relevant books for Spanish-speaking elementary students and their families. In his study of the program, Keis found that the use of these books validated the culture and life experiences of the participant readers. Because of the nature of the culturally relevant books used in the program, families could engage with the texts and become involved in the group readings and discussions. Additional studies have connected the use of culturally relevant texts and greater reader engagement. A study by Feger (2006) found that reading engagement for ninth and tenth grade ELLs increased with the use of culturally relevant books. Likewise, teachers who have used culturally relevant

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texts with their students report greater reader engagement (Rodrı´ guez, 2009; Stuart & Volk, 2002). Increased engagement is particularly important because of the relationship between reading engagement and reading achievement. According to Guthrie, Schafer, and Huang (2001), engagement is a stronger predictor of reading achievement than any other factor, including socio-economic status.

CONNECTING ELLS TO CULTURALLY RELEVANT TEXTS Guidelines for Text Selection While the positive effects of using culturally relevant texts with EBLs are prevalent in the literature, information on defining and selecting these texts is not. A review of the recent literature on text selection for EBLs reveals a variety of articles on choosing multicultural literature for use in the classroom (Harper & Brand, 2010; Louie, 2006; Wilfong, 2007; York, 2008). For example, Wilfong (2007) developed a rubric teachers can use to critically select multicultural young adult literature. Her rubric guides teachers and students toward selecting texts that respect the authority of the author and the authenticity and accuracy of the culture they depict. Critically analyzing the quality of literature that represents emergent bilingual learners is essential (Fox & Short, 2003). Multicultural literature, however, which expands students’ understandings of a variety of cultures, differs from culturally relevant texts, which connect directly to individual students’ schemas, their backgrounds, and experiences. Herrera, Perez, and Escamilla (2015) developed a checklist for teachers to use in selecting texts for their Culturally and Linguistically Diverse students (CLDs). Their checklist invites teachers to reflect on questions relating to their students and the cultural relevance of the books they read. For example, one question asks teachers to consider the linguistic proficiency of students in relation to a given text. This helpful tool for teacher use, differs from the rubric described below, which was developed for use by both teachers and students. What Makes a Text Culturally Relevant? In order to select culturally relevant texts, the question many teachers begin with is: “What makes a text culturally relevant?” Goodman (1982) found

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seven factors beyond the ethnicity of characters that help determine cultural relevance. These topics include the following: 1) Socio-cultural-economic institutions including such relations as: occupations, housing patterns, family relationships, schooling, religious, etc. 2) Setting, 3) Chronological time, 4) Age and gender of characters, 5) Language variations represented in the text, 6) Theme, moral, world view, and 7) Readers’ experience with certain kinds of texts. (p. 303)

Building on Goodman’s work, I developed a Cultural Relevance Rubric for teachers and students to use as a text selection tool (Ebe, 2010). Through my work in schools, I refined this rubric, which includes a set of questions around the factors Goodman identified (see Exhibit 1). This unique tool is the only known rubric available for involving students in determining the cultural relevance of text. Through the consideration of eight questions offering a range of possible answers, teachers and students can work together to determine how culturally relevant a text is. Possible responses to each question on

Exhibit 1.

Cultural Relevance Rubric.

Cultural Relevance Rubric 1. Are the characters in the story like you and your family? Not at all like us………………………………………………………………………..Just like us 1 2 3 4 2. Have you ever lived in or visited places like those in the story? No………………………………………………………………………………………………..Yes 1 2 3 4 3. Could this story take place this year? No………………………………………………………………………………………………..Yes 1 2 3 4 4. How close do you think the main characters are to you in age? Not close at all…………………………………………………………………………..Very close 1 2 3 4 5. Does the story have main characters who are boys (for boy readers)? Girls (for girl readers)? No………………………………………………………………………………………………..Yes 1 2 3 4 6. Do the characters talk like you and your family? No………………………………………………………………………………………………..Yes 1 2 3 4 7. How often do you read stories like this one? Never…………………………………………………………………………………………..Often 1 2 3 4 8. Have you ever had an experience like one described in this story? No………………………………………………………………………………………………..Yes 1 2 3 4

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the rubric range from a “1” indicating no connection to a “4” showing a very close connection to the particular aspect of culture.

THE STUDY This research study involved the qualitative data collection and analysis of one of the established assignments for my graduate course on literacy instruction. For this assignment, the participants, who are all in-service teachers, used the Cultural Relevance Rubric to select a book to read with one of their emergent bilingual students. After reading the story with their selected students, teachers guided the participants through the process of completing the rubric. The teachers then wrote a reflection on the experience. Setting and Participants This study was conducted at a public college in New York City. The participants included elementary and secondary teachers enrolled in a course on literacy instruction. This is one of the first classes students take in the Masters of Science in Literacy Education Program at the college. The teachers enrolled in this class worked with EBLs in urban settings and were learning about appropriate text selection for emergent bilinguals in the class. There were 25 students enrolled in the course who completed the assignment. Following the university’s institutional review board guidelines, once the semester was over and grades had been submitted, students were contacted about participating in this study. The study was explained and students were invited to participate by having their assignment included in the data analysis. All but one of the students replied to the invitation and granted his/her consent to participate so that there were 24 participants in the study. Data Generation As part of the course, students received instruction about and participated in discussions on the characteristics of text that support reading for emergent bilingual students (Freeman & Freeman, 2000; Freeman, Freeman, & Freeman, 2003). This included the use of culturally relevant books. To extend and apply their learning, students used the Cultural

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Relevance Rubric to select a picture book or short story that would be helpful in supporting the reading of one of their EB students. For this assignment, teachers described the student they would read with and the story they had selected. They also explained why they anticipated that their story would be culturally relevant for their selected EBL. Next, they read the selection with their student and then had the student complete the rubric. Rather than simply handing over the rubric to the students to read and complete on their own, teachers read the rubric items with their student and discussed where they felt the student connected with each item along the continuum of possible responses. Once the teachers completed this process, they wrote reflective essays about the experience using the following guiding questions: Was the rubric helpful for your text selection? Explain. In what ways did the reading of this text differ from other stories you have read together? Compare your anticipated level of cultural relevance with your student’s reaction to the reading. What, if anything surprised you during this process?

Data Analysis A systematic textual analysis of participants’ reflective essays was completed (Mayring, 2000). The reflective essays were read to identify the sections that addressed each of the guiding questions. Some participants chose to respond to each of the guiding questions while others wrote general reflections on the experience. Using an inductive analysis approach (Bogdan & Biklen, 2003), I assigned codes to data segments that either addressed the guiding questions or that raised important issues or ideas about the use of the rubric and culturally relevant books. Subsequently, these data segments were organized into themes. These themes emerged as I read through the coded data a second time focusing on repeated words, phrases, and ideas. Finally, the reflective essays were read a third time to identify evidence that confirmed or disconfirmed the themes that had been identified.

FINDINGS The data analysis revealed four major themes. The first was that overall, the participants found that their students made connections and were more engaged in the reading of culturally relevant books. The second finding was

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that the teachers found the rubric helpful in identifying what they should look for in a culturally relevant text. A third finding was that through this assignment, the teachers discovered that their libraries tended to lack culturally relevant literature. Finally, the fourth theme was that the participant teachers learned more about their students through the process of finding and reading culturally relevant stories with them. Below, each of these findings is further discussed.

Students Made Connections and Were More Engaged with Culturally Relevant Texts As the opening quotes for this chapter illustrate, a finding of this study was that through the use of culturally relevant texts, teachers found that their students made connections and were more engaged in the reading. Twentytwo of the 24 participants specifically wrote about their students making connections and/or being more engaged with the culturally relevant texts they read. Lana, a fourth grade teacher wrote: “I now truly understand how important culturally relevant books are. I was able to see the student connect with the topic and therefore was able to connect with the text.” Laura reflected that the experience was transformative for her student. “Reading this book to the child was a huge success. From the moment I showed her the book she was engaged. She was so excited to read the book and even talk about it afterward, which was a huge transformation.” Malory linked her student’s engagement with the text to the connections he was able to make to it. In her reflection on the reading she wrote: “He was able to find a sense of excitement, which had not been noticed before about reading, and I believe that a large part of that had to do with his ability to make connections to the text.” In her reflection, Ivana also wrote about this sense of excitement around the reading. “Jane was excited and very enthusiastic to read a book that directly related to her.” Melanie, a high school English teacher reflected on how engaged her student Marco was with the culturally relevant text she selected for him. Marco related immediately to the book’s protagonists, to their love of basketball, and to the urban setting. The book references specific places and stores with which Marco was familiar. These connections allowed him entry points to the text which he said he had not experienced before. Once hooked in, the plot carried Marco through the past two weeks on independent reading time like no book has before. For him, the experience of connecting with a text was very powerful.

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Marco’s connections to the setting in this story engaged him in such a way that he stuck with this book, building reading stamina that his teacher had not witnessed before. Like Melanie, other participants also wrote about connections their students made to specific rubric items. Jodie’s student connected with the language used in the story. She wrote: While filling out the cultural relevance rubric, I anticipated that there would be a high level of connection between Kelsey and the book, but I did not recognize quite how much of a connection she would feel. I was particularly taken aback when Kelsey answered question six, “Do the characters talk like you and your family?” Kelsey’s finger immediately jumped to the number four, and she began to elaborate without being probed. She exclaimed, “They sound just like us because they speak Spanish and English and so do we.

Nikki also wrote about her student identifying with the language used in the text. While reading this story with Student A I saw a side of him that I have not seen before. He was excited to speak to me about his family and make connections. This has a lot to do with the fact that Student A was able to see himself in Tomas. Tomas spoke Spanish at home as does Student A. This was something that is very different from other books that we have read together.

Teachers also reflected that the connections students made appeared to have positive effects on students’ reading comprehension. Karen wrote: I feel this story had high levels of cultural relevance within John’s life. Both during and after the reading John showed high levels of comprehension. He was also able to use his own background knowledge to understand the young boy’s situation and to make inferences as to why the boy did the things that he did. John’s connection to the main character was made apparent through his responses. He made a great deal of inferences as to how the boy was feeling throughout the story.

Because this story was culturally relevant for John, he was able to draw on his background knowledge, schema he had previously developed, in order to comprehend the author’s meaning. In addition, he was able to go beyond the text by making inferences based on the knowledge he brought to the text.

The Rubric Was Helpful for Understanding Cultural Relevance and Selecting These Texts While searching for a book to share with Javier, I found the Cultural Relevance Rubric helpful in refocusing my concept of ‘culturally relevant.’ In the past, I have admittedly

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ANN E. EBE picked out books that I believed would enhance my students’ understanding of their native cultures, but that were not truly culturally relevant. The rubric was helpful in my selection of the text. It made me pay closer attention to various aspects that deem a book culturally relevant to a child. If it was only me choosing the book, I do not think I would have gone into character, gender, or setting characteristics. I would have probably just focused on the story and culture that it portrayed. The cultural relevance rubric was extremely helpful in choosing a book to read with Andrea. By examining the rubric, I was able to look at each text with a more critical eye in order to discern whether she would be able to connect with the text on a personal level. Previously, I was often drawn to books with settings or topics that would relate to my students. The rubric enabled me to look more closely at family composite and even the dialogue between characters.

The participants began their reflections by considering the effectiveness of using the Cultural Relevance Rubric as a text selection tool. As the three reflections above illustrate, overall, the participants found that the use of the rubric helped them define cultural relevance and focus on text selection criteria they had not previously considered. Eight teachers specifically wrote that because of the guidance provided by the rubric, they spent time considering more than the students’ culture or ethnicity when selecting their texts. In using the rubric as a text selection tool three participants mentioned that it was difficult to find a book that matched their selected student on all eight rubric items. One teacher wrote: When picking a book for David out, I had a lot of trouble finding a book that is culturally, age, gender, and reading level appropriate. I found that it was difficult to find one book that answered all the questions.

A second teacher who works with Hispanic emergent bilingual students who were born in the United States also had difficulty when trying to find books that addressed each rubric question. She wrote: The Cultural Relevance Rubric was helpful when choosing the book, but it also made it kind of difficult. I found that it was difficult to find one book that answered all the questions. So many books at the school library are non-fiction books about cultures. The library had very few books about a young Hispanic boy and his daily life. There were many books about Mexican culture or about cultures all over the world. There were also stories about immigrant children, but none of my students are actually immigrants. There were books about famous Hispanic people, but they did not apply either.

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A third teacher also reflected on the difficulty she and the librarians she worked with had finding a book that met all of the rubric items she hoped to match to her selected student. Myself and helpful librarians spend a lot of time looking for a book that would be age appropriate, have the right setting, be current, culturally relevant, and motivating for this boy. Unfortunately I felt that the book that I ultimately settled on was lacking in quality and was not what I was looking for exactly. It did meet some of the criteria of the rubric and the student was able to relate to some aspects of the book.

The rubric served as a helpful guide for these teachers as they set out to find the perfect cultural relevance text-to-student match. While it is not expected that books would connect to readers on all eight of the rubric questions, these three teachers began to uncover the third finding of this study. Many of the teachers wrote that they simply did not have access to very many culturally relevant books from which to choose.

Few Culturally Relevant Books Available The third finding revealed from the analysis was that the teachers discovered that their libraries tended to lack culturally relevant literature. As Jacklyn wrote “Our classroom and school libraries are seriously lacking in culturally relevant books.” Beatrice echoed this sentiment when she wrote: The hardest part was actually finding a book that would fulfill my expectations. After I looked through my class library, I realized that I do not have many books that my students can really relate to. Yes, many books talk about characters that are their age and do what every other boy or girl does at that age. However, not many books included types of food, the language, or activities that are closely connected to the Hispanic culture.

Adrianne, a fourth grade teacher who works in the city’s Chinatown area wrote: Our classroom library does not have many picture books based on Chinese culture, but we do have several chapter books based in China or in America with a main character being Chinese. The chapter books are too difficult for ‘Alice’ now; however, she will get to read them eventually.

Many of the emergent bilingual students in Adrianne’s class read below grade level as they are developing both English and reading proficiency. Because of the limited number of culturally relevant books in her classroom, the books she did have did not meet the needs of the range of reader

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proficiency represented in her class. Just as many of the teachers in the study reflected, Adrianne found that she did not have enough appropriate culturally relevant texts from which to choose.

Getting to Know Students The final theme that emerged from the data analysis was that the participant teachers learned more about their students through the process of reading and discussing the culturally relevant stories with them. Teachers shared that they learned about their students’ interests, their personal lives, their home languages, and their cultural traditions. Eight teachers provided examples of this in their responses. Travis wrote about how this assignment provided an opportunity to learn more about Andre´s, a high school student from Mexico. Travis had selected a book about the World Cup that was filled with photographs and had a series of limited-text stories on the topic. Travis wrote the following about the experience: Andre´s and I had a nice time reading the story together about the World Cup. I was lucky to be able to share this experience with him last Thursday … He grew extremely excited after we read the story and wanted to talk about what he read and share the experiences he had with his brother in Mexico. He even asked to read more and when we had independent reading time he continued to read stories from the book. He brought it home to finish during the break and I am looking forward to listening to his feedback. I was more than happy to listen to his stories and share this unique experience with him; typically he can be very shy in the classroom due to his difficulty with English.

Through this reading, Travis was able to learn about Andre´s and what life with his brother was like in Mexico. The culturally relevant text Travis had selected opened this opportunity for sharing. Like Nikki’s reading with “Student A,” which was shared previously, Andre´s seemed to open up and show a different side of himself during this reading. An additional point that Nikki made in her reflection was that she also learned new things about her student’s living situation. Nikki reflected: I think that Student A really enjoyed reading a story where the main character had extended family living with them. My student explained that his grandparents live with him. It made Student A feel that his family was in some ways being represented by this book.

This conversation provided Nikki new insight into her student’s home life.

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A third teacher, Brittany, also reflected on learning more about her student’s home life through her experience reading with Emily. Emily also loved that the dad in the story taught Lily how to dive into the water. He was a patient and encouraging character who Emily was happy to discuss. One reason she liked this aspect so much is/was because, as I learned through our discussion, she lives almost full time with her father rather than her mother.

Brittany went on to write about how helpful the rubric was in finding a culturally relevant book and ended her reflection with “It was nice to get to sit down and get more one on one time with Emily. This experience helped me learn more about her.” Knowing students well is essential for helping them select culturally relevant books. In two cases, teachers involved in this study realized they had made incorrect assumptions about their students as they worked to select a text that they thought would be a good text-to-student match. It was through this assignment that they learned more about their students’ backgrounds and experiences. Alison, for example, had chosen to read Bread is for Eating (Gershator & Gershator, 1998) with Luisa, one of her Spanishspeaking third grade students. Alison chose this book because it is about bread all over the world but focuses mainly on a Latino family. The characters learn about how bread is made from the farm to the bakery to the market. There is a Spanish song that the mother repeats throughout the book. Alison anticipated that Luisa would connect with the rural pictures of a Latin American farming community and that the use of Spanish in the text would honor her home language. As they read the story together, Alison found that while Luisa was excited to find words in Spanish within the book, she didn’t offer any personal anecdotes as Alison had expected. As they discussed the story after the reading, Alison discovered that because Luisa was born and raised in New York City, she could not relate to the characters in the book’s rural setting. In her written reflection about the experience, Alison shared the following: Luisa may speak Spanish at home, but I learned through our discussions that she was born in the United States and has never been to Mexico. I had assumed that she, like my 5th graders at that same school, had been born in and/or had visited their native countries. She did not feel as though the characters were like her and did not have any experiences with agricultural life. The Cultural Relevance Rubric reminded me that even when explicitly thinking about cultural relevance, it is easy to make stereotypes and assumptions. I think I will find this rubric helpful as I get to know my students in deeper ways instead of relying on surface information about them and their lives.

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Teachers reflected on learning about their students’ home lives and also about learning more specifically about their students’ cultures and languages. Students were often eager to have an opportunity to be the culture or language experts in their classes. They were not only able to share their knowledge with classmates but were able to teach their teachers as well. Participants shared that reading culturally relevant books opened spaces for this to occur. Ashley wrote about her student, Jessica, teaching her Spanish during their reading of the story Abuela (Dorros, 1997). While reading Abuela to Jessica, I saw a spark in her eyes that was not there before. She immediately connected to the little girl in the story, Rosalba, and rambled on about how she calls her grandma abuela and how her abuela takes her to the park and for lemonade. I did not know how to say several of the Spanish words used in the story and I encouraged her to teach me how to say them correctly. Without even having to use the glossary, Jessica offered every definition and pronunciation.

Alice was another student who was eager to teach phrases in her home language. Her teacher, Chloe, wrote about how Alice became the language expert for her class, teaching everyone how to say “happy new year” in both Mandarin and Cantonese when sharing the culturally relevant book she had selected. Alice’s overall attention and ability to connect and inform gave her the confidence to want to share and read aloud this book (as best as she can) to other students in the classroom. She was not discouraged by not knowing each English word, but was able to use the photos to guide the story her way and still keep on the same story guidelines. ‘Alice’ also informed us that “Gung Hay Fat Choy” is Mandarin and “Gung See Fah Tai” is Cantonese.

Laura was also a participant who had selected a book about Chinese New Year to read with her Chinese-American student. As noted in earlier findings, Laura’s student was particularly engaged in the reading. In her reflection on the experience, Laura went on to write that her student was especially eager to share the cultural traditions she engaged in during this time of year. Usually after we read books, the student does not want to retell or talk about the characters very much. However, after reading this book she was able to retell the parts she liked the best and share her background knowledge and experiences about the topic. She explained in detail her knowledge about receiving the money in a red envelope and the meaning of the dragon dance. She also told me the reason why the children in the book receive new clothes for this occasion. It was really nice that she could teach me even more than the book about Chinese New Year. She usually does not engage in a lot of conversation but during our time together she had so much to say.

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Finally, Rebecca, a fifth grade teacher, shared how her reading of a story about president Obama (Grimes, 2008) with Brian provided her insight into his personal interests which she hadn’t known about prior to the reading. In discussing the reading with Brian afterwards not only did I find he related to the book in the way I thought he would; similar age, boy, family situations. However, I did not know that Brian had been well educated on the recent election of our 44th president, so he knew a lot about our current President and was eager to learn about him when he was his age. So, not only did he learn something new about Obama I learned that with the right book you can learn something new about your students that they will be excited to share!

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS A number of implications and recommendations can be made based on the findings described above. To begin, because the teachers in this study found that their students made connections with the culturally relevant stories and were more engaged in the reading of these texts, this study provides further support for the benefits of providing emergent bilingual readers with culturally relevant texts. The first recommendation, therefore, is for teachers to use culturally relevant texts with their emergent bilingual readers. As noted earlier in this chapter, engagement in reading is a key factor for reading success. By providing emergent bilingual students with culturally relevant texts, teachers can help their students develop reading proficiency. In order to do this, teachers must understand what makes a book culturally relevant. The teachers who participated in this study found that the Cultural Relevance Rubric was a helpful tool for identifying culturally relevant texts. A second recommendation is for teachers to use this tool as a starting point for identifying books their students may connect with. A book can be considered culturally relevant even when only some of the criteria on the rubric are met. In this study, teachers used the rubric to select a book to read and discuss with an emergent bilingual student; however, the rubric can also be used by students and teachers together or by students individually. By using and discussing the rubric a few times, teachers can help students become familiar with the rubric which they could then use on their own. If

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emergent bilingual students are familiar with the questions on the rubric, they can use these questions to guide their independent reading choices. A concern, however, that arose from this study was that classroom and even school libraries tended to lack culturally relevant books. Because of this, a third recommendation is that teachers look through their classroom and school libraries to identify culturally relevant texts for their classes. Should these materials be in short supply, obtaining these types of texts should become a priority for future book purchases. Sharing this research, which supports the importance of having culturally relevant texts with an administrator, along with a wish list of books, could be one way to begin building libraries that include culturally relevant stories. A fourth recommendation is for teachers to use culturally relevant texts to get to know their students in deeper ways. The study found that through reading selected texts and talking through the Cultural Relevance Rubric with their students, teachers were able to learn more about their emergent bilingual readers’ backgrounds. Just as this study revealed, teachers may have misconceptions about their students’ backgrounds or may not have had opportunities to get to know their students. The conversations that emerge through the use of the Culturally Relevant Rubric can help facilitate getting to know students which has many benefits including the ability to make appropriate text selections. It is important to note that different books are culturally relevant for different readers. As the study revealed, it may be difficult to identify books that are relevant for a reader for all eight areas of the rubric. However, finding books with some cultural relevance for the reader is helpful, especially for emergent bilinguals who are not only learning to read but are also learning English.

LIMITATIONS A limitation of this study is that it involved a small number (N = 24) of participants, all teaching in urban schools. A similar study could be carried out with larger numbers of teachers working in different contexts. A second limitation of the study is that the Cultural Relevance Rubric is typically used to connect students with narrative texts and emergent bilingual students need to be able to read all types of texts. This includes developing academic literacy in content areas such as science, math, and social studies.

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CONCLUSION The findings of this study provide further support for the body of research that shows culturally relevant text to engage readers. Although the rubric is used with culturally relevant narrative texts that engage students and build reading proficiency, the use of these culturally relevant texts is a good first step toward building academic literacy. As Freeman and Freeman (2009) point out: ELLs need to reach a certain level of English proficiency and reading proficiency before they can read books with grade-level content. Although teachers should teach language and content from the beginning, the kinds of texts they select must match the student’s ability levels, or else beginning ELLs may become frustrated.

As students become more proficient in their reading through reading culturally relevant books, they will build reading strategies that will help them access academic texts in all content areas. Galda (1998) describes reading as an act of transformation and uses the powerful metaphor of books as windows and mirrors. She explains that books can serve as mirrors of our lives and as windows into the lives of others. By getting to know their students and by using the Cultural Relevance Rubric, teachers can provide their emergent bilinguals with culturally relevant texts or “mirrors,” to engage their readers. Through the reading of these “mirror” texts, emergent bilingual readers experience success and build the confidence and proficiency they need in order to access the infinite views that “window” books can provide.

REFERENCES August, D., & Shanahan, T. (Eds.). (2006). Developing literacy in second-language learners: Report of the national literacy panel on language minority children and youth. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Bogdan, R. C., & Biklen, S. K. (2003). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theories and methods (4th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Education Group. Dorros, A. (1997). Abuela. New York, NY: Puffin Books. Ebe, A. (2010). Culturally relevant texts and assessment for English language learners. Reading Horizons, 50(3), 193 210. Ebe, A. (2012). Supporting the reading development of middle school English language learners through culturally relevant texts. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 28(2), 179 198. Faggella-Luby, M. N., Ware, S. M., & Capozzoli, A. (2009). Adolescent literacy-reviewing adolescent literacy reports: Key components and critical questions. Journal of Literacy Research, 41(4), 453 475.

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Feger, M. V. (2006). “I want to read”: How culturally relevant texts increase student engagement in reading. Multicultural Education, 13(3), 18 19. Fox, D. L., & Short, K. G. (Eds.). (2003). Stories matter: The complexity of cultural authenticity in literature for young people. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. Freeman, D., & Freeman, Y. (2000). Teaching reading in multilingual classrooms. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Freeman, Y., Freeman, A., & Freeman, D. (2003). Home run books: Connecting students to culturally relevant texts. NABE News. 26(3), 5 12, 28. Freeman, Y., & Freeman, D. (2009). Academic language for English language learners and struggling readers: How to help students succeed across content areas. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Galda, L. (1998). Mirrors and windows: Reading as transformation. In T. E. Raphael & K. H. Au (Eds.), Literature-based instruction: Reshaping the curriculum (pp. 1 11). Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon. Garcı´ a, O. (2009). Bilingual education in the 21st century: A global perspective. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Gershator, D., & Gershator, P. (1998). Bread is for eating. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Co. Gibbons, P. (2009). English learners academic literacy and thinking: Learning in the challenging zone. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Goodman, Y. M. (1982). Retellings of literature and the comprehension process. Theory into Practice: Children’s Literature, 21(4), 301 307. Grimes, N. (2008). Barack Obama: Son of promise, child of hope. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. Guthrie, J. T., Schafer, W. D., & Huang, C. (2001). Benefits of opportunity to read and balanced reading instruction for reading achievement and engagement: A policy analysis of state NAEP in Maryland. Journal of Educational Research, 94(3), 145 162. Harper, L., & Brand, S. (2010). More alike than different. Childhood Education, 86(4), 224 233. Herrera, S., Perez, D., & Escamilla, K. (2015). Teaching reading to English language learners: Differentiated literacies. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. Herrero, E. A. (2006). Using Dominican oral literature and discourse to support literacy learning among low-achieving students from the Dominican republic. International Journal of Bilingual Education & Bilingualism, 9(2), 219 238. Keis, R. (2006). From principle to practice: Using children’s literature to promote dialogue and facilitate the “coming to voice” in a rural Latino community. Multicultural Perspectives, 8(1), 13 19. Larrotta, C., & Yamamura, E. K. (2011). A community cultural wealth approach to Latina/ Latino parent involvement: The promise of family literacy. Adult Basic Education and Literacy Journal, 5(2), 74 83. Louie, B. (2006). Guiding principles for teaching multicultural literature. The Reading Teacher, 59(5), 438 448. Ma’ayan, H. (2010). Erika’s stories: Literacy solutions for a failing middle school student. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(8), 646 654. Mayring, P. (2000). Qualitative content analysis [28 paragraphs]. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 1(2), Art. 20. Retrieved from http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0002204

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Olsen, L. (2010). Reparable harm: Fulfilling the unkept promise of educational opportunity for California’s long term English learners. Long Beach, CA: Californians Together. Rodrı´ guez, A. (2009). Culturally relevant books: Connecting Hispanic students to the curriculum. GiST Colombian Journal of Bilingual Education, 3, 11 29. Rodrı´ guez, A. (2014). Culturally relevant books: Culturally responsive teaching in bilingual classrooms. NABE Journal of Research and Practice, 5, 1 24. Shagoury, R. (2010). Making reading meaningful. Educational leadership, 67(6), 63 67. Short, D., & Fitzsimmons, S. (2007). Double the work: Challenges and solutions to acquiring language and academic literacy for adolescent English language learners A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education. Stuart, D., & Volk, D. (2002). Collaboration in a culturally responsive literacy pedagogy: Educating teachers and Latino children. Reading, 36(3), 127 134. Wilfong, L. (2007). A mirror, a window: Assisting teachers in selecting appropriate multicultural young adult literature. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 9(1), 1 13. York, S. (2008). Culturally speaking: Booktalking authentic multicultural literature. Library Media Connection, 27(1), 16 18.

PROMOTING EXPLORATORY TALK WITH EMERGENT BILINGUALS Yvonne S. Freeman and Alma D. Rodrı´ guez ABSTRACT The authors explain their approach to teaching literatura infantil (children’s literature) in Spanish to bilingual teachers pursuing their master’s degree in bilingual education at a university in South Texas. In this SelfStudy of Teacher Education Practice (S-STEP) research, the authors investigated how teachers can transform their practice and come to value their students’ abilities to interpret literature. They engaged the teachers in projects using quality children’s literature. The projects were carried out by graduate inservice teachers teaching Spanish/English bilingual students studying at different grade levels. Some teachers taught along the Texas/Mexico border and others taught in a large metropolitan school district in central Texas. The authors used their analysis of the inservice teachers’ projects as data to inform their own practice as teacher educators. In the first project, the bilingual teachers engaged their students in exploratory talk that allowed them to bring their backgrounds and experiences into discussions of what they read. The second project challenged the teachers to consider the importance of the images

Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals Advances in Research on Teaching, Volume 24, 55 79 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3687/doi:10.1108/S1479-368720150000024004

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in high-quality illustrated children’s books. The teachers asked their students to read the images and expand their understanding of the books by considering more than the words in the texts. In the final project, the teachers guided their students through Ada’s stages of creative dialogue using children’s literature. The authors describe the projects in detail and give examples from four different teachers showing what they learned about teaching children’s literature and how they changed their perspectives about what their emergent bilingual students could do. Although only four teachers are highlighted, they are representative of students taking the course and engaging in the projects over three different semesters. Keywords: Literatura infantil; children’s literature; exploratory talk; creative dialogue; emergent bilinguals

No existe ninguna perspectiva correcta, u´nica, prefijada Gramigna (2005, p. 32) (There doesn’t exist a singular predetermined correct point of view.)

Most educators who have been involved with the teaching of reading and the teaching of children’s literature, in particular, would agree with the above quote. However, this openness to interpreting and allowing children in classrooms to explore literature is seldom a reality. It is not that teachers do not want their students to engage in the stories they read. Many teachers often have not had the opportunity to explore good literature themselves. They have seldom been exposed to the vast variety of excellent children’s literature that is available to them and their students. When teachers do find good literature, some of them do not know how to involve their students in it. Too often teachers dominate discussions following an all too traditional initiation, response, evaluation (IRE) format (Cazden, 2001). When teachers themselves can experience exploratory talk (Barnes, 1990) with their students, they see their students’ strengths and come to understand the power of good literature (Langer, 1995).

BACKGROUND The authors of this chapter were teacher educators working in South Texas with Latino/a teachers in the field of bilingual education. Some of our

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students taught in public schools on the Texas-Mexico border while others worked in a large city in central Texas. We found that our approach to teaching literatura infantil transformed the thinking and practice of the inservice teacher graduate students in our class. These bilingual teachers were excited about taking a master’s level course in literatura infantil. Many of them had not been exposed to the high-quality literature that is available in Spanish. For some, the reading instruction training that they had received had generally been very traditional, using limited texts and focusing on word identification through phonics (Freeman & Freeman, 2006, 2009; Pacheco, 1992). While teachers needed to work with their students on literal comprehension, the idea of having “grand conversations” (Peterson & Eeds, 2007) about books was not something to which many of them had been exposed. The literatura infantil course was conducted entirely in Spanish. Most of the readings for the course were in Spanish, and literature books were either written entirely in Spanish or were bilingual books. Most of the books were also culturally relevant. That is, the books connected to the students’ lives and or backgrounds in some way (Ebe, 2010, 2015; Freeman & Freeman, 2004; Rodriguez, 2009). Students responded both in writing and orally to projects and class discussions about children’s literature in Spanish during the semester-long course.

PURPOSE AND SIGNIFICANCE We had several goals for the course. First of all, we wanted to expose the bilingual teachers to a large variety of quality, culturally relevant, children’s literature in Spanish. We also wanted to involve the teachers in projects using literature with their own students to help them experience the power of literature in their teaching, connecting the research on children’s literature to classroom practice. Finally, we hoped to help the teachers transform their classroom practices and come to value their students’ ability to interpret literature. At the same time, through a careful examination of the inservice teachers’ projects we hoped to improve our own practice in teaching this course. Many states have recently adopted new standards for teaching based on the Common Core State Standards. These standards emphasize the ability to interpret literature. In addition, new forms of testing have been put in place. These tests require students to read and interpret high-quality literature. Emergent bilingual students are given only a short time to develop

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the academic competence needed to interpret literature. In many cases, as with the students in our classes, teachers are not prepared to teach students to engage with and interpret literature. For these reasons, it is important for teacher educators to prepare both preservice and inservice teachers to meet this challenge. This requires involving the teachers in reading the literature and in developing methods to teach the literature effectively. Our teachers, since they were in bilingual classes, needed to do this in both Spanish and English. For these reasons, it was important for us to reflect on our own teaching to determine how effective we were in preparing the inservice teachers in our master’s program to teach children’s literature. This study is significant because little research has been published on ways to prepare bilingual teachers to teach their students to read and interpret children’s literature. Our research questions, then, related directly to these goals. We analyzed the projects of four teachers who were representative of the teachers that took the class during a three-year period. We used data from their projects to help answer two key questions. 1. How did the involvement of graduate student inservice teachers in projects using children’s literature in Spanish help them to transform their practice? 2. What did the teachers learn about their students’ ability to interpret literature through the involvement in the projects?

APPROACH During the class students read and discussed various articles (Ada, 2003; Arizpe & Styles, 2002; Freeman & Freeman, 2007, 2009; Gramigna, 2005; Pellicer, 2011; Rodriguez, 2009), presented each week on different children’s literature written in Spanish, and engaged in three key projects. The first project was based on the article they read by Gramigna where the author explained the difference between the traditional classroom talk about books that follows the IRE (Initiation, Response, and Evaluation) pattern and exploratory talk that engages students and allows them to bring their own backgrounds and experiences to discussions about the books they read. The second project drawing on the article by Arizpe and Styles challenged the teachers to consider the importance of the images in high-quality illustrated children’s books. The project asked students to read the images and expand their understanding of the books by considering

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more than the words in the texts. The final project drew on the powerful work of author and educator Alma Flor Ada. Students read about and discussed Ada’s four phases of creative dialogue and took their students through the stages using children’s literature moving the students from talking to taking critical action (Ada, 2003; Pierce & Giles, 2008).

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY As teacher educators concerned with the quality of instruction that bilingual students receive during literacy instruction, we were convinced that our children’s literature course was critical for our bilingual masters students. We decided to focus on the responses our inservice teachers provided us through their projects to see if the projects they carried out with their students would help them transform their practice and give their own bilingual students quality experiences with literature. This in-depth look at four teachers’ responses provided us with qualitative data that allowed us to carry out S-STEP research to analyze the effectiveness of the projects we assigned (Merriam, 1998). According to Pinnegar and Hamilton (2011) and Pinnegar, Hamilton, and Fitzgerald (2010) in Self-Study of Teacher Education Practice (S-STEP) research, investigators decide on some aspect of their work that they want to focus on in order to better understand their own practice. When considering the context of a study, Pinnegar and Hamilton argue that researchers should focus on characteristics that would “shape the contour of the experience, impact the data itself, or help the reader understand what the author asserts or understands” (2011, p. 3). In our study, we hoped that the projects would shape the experiences of the teachers and show that the experiences impacted their teaching. We also hoped that the teacher responses to their involvement with the projects would support our understanding of ways to best prepare teachers to help children engage with literature. Pinnegar and Hamilton (2011) discuss the importance of S-STEP researchers reflecting on what they learn from the research process. In looking at the data and evaluating it, Pinnegar and Hamilton explain that S-STEP researchers consider for themselves: What have I learned that is significant and valuable not just for me and those engaged in my practice but that can deepen and extend the research conversation in teacher education specifically or educational research more generally. (p. 5)

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As teacher educators, we wanted to inform other teacher educators working with teachers of Spanish-speaking children about exploratory talk, the reading of images in books, and ways of extending conversations about texts through Ada’s four phases of creative dialogue. There is little published research about the teaching of children’s literature in Spanish in the United States and how teacher educators can help bilingual teachers access quality literature and use it effectively in their classrooms. In our S-STEP research, we identified the questions we were interested in exploring, gathered data from the teachers’ responses to the projects, interpreted their responses, and drew conclusions for implications for other teacher educators. In the following sections, we describe each project in detail and provide teacher responses to the projects in order to answer our two questions.

Exploratory Talk Gramigna (2005) investigated how teachers in Buenos Aires, Argentina, helped preschool children respond to texts. She found that teachers took a traditional approach as they discussed literature with their students. They evaluated students’ responses to teacher questions about books as either “correct” or “incorrect” and looked for what students remembered from the readings and what they understood about the stories. The students’ role was passive, and the teachers determined whether or not students could reproduce what they had read in their answers. Communication followed the IRE (Initiation, Response, Evaluation) pattern discussed by Cazden (2001) with very little wait time for students to produce the correct response. Gramigna encourages teachers to use exploratory talk. Through exploratory talk, students explore their own feelings, ideas, and beliefs and draw on their backgrounds to connect the books they read with their own experiences (Barnes, 1990, 2008). As students participate in discussions about culturally relevant texts, teachers encourage them to respond with different meanings and interpretations. Teachers do not look for set answers. Key to exploratory talk is that the teacher actually participates less than the students in literature discussions. The teacher is to stimulate conversation, not lead it. Typical exploratory talk questions include “What do you think about …?” “What part or character in the story did you like most?” “What do you remember?” “What else would you like to know?” “What does the story remind you of?”

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EXPLORATORY TALK PROJECT To complete the exploratory talk project, the graduate students first chose a quality literature book in Spanish to read to a group of students. As professors, we shared some books that we considered to be quality pieces and talked to the students about characteristics of texts that support reading (Freeman & Freeman, 2006, 2009). For this first project, the teachers were asked to formulate exploratory talk questions and to create an exploratory talk atmosphere by making sure the students felt comfortable to share their ideas. The teachers recorded the discussion so that they could go back to review the conversations. Each teacher was to try to have the students talk more than he or she did and to avoid questions with one correct answer. The teachers were encouraged to take time with the discussions and allow students to discuss as long as they wanted to. Cynthia, a first grade teacher, read Bajo la luna de limo´n (Fine, 1999) (Under the Lemon Moon) to her students. She chose the book because she wanted to help her students think about the themes of forgiveness and generosity. In the story, young Rosalinda sees a man stealing all the lemons on her tree, but when she learns he is selling them in the market to feed his family, she sees how her lemons can help others and she gives away her lemons and advises the man in the market to save the seeds and grow his own tree. When Cynthia encouraged her students to make personal connections and allowed them to discuss the book, she found they made interesting connections. She reported: Despue´s de haber leı´ do el cuento tuvimos una discusio´n. Mis estudiantes pudieron usar conocimientos previos y hacer conexiones personales con el texto. Cada uno de mis estudiantes compartio´ lo que a cada uno pensaba del libro. Algunos de los estudiantes decı´ an que el mensaje que el libro transmitı´ a era que es importante ayudar a otras personas tal y como Rosalinda lo hizo. (After reading the story we had a discussion. My students were able to use their previous knowledge and make personal connections with the text. Each student shared what he/she thought about the book. Some of the students said that the message that the book conveyed was that it is important to help others like Rosalinda did.) [Note: All translations are free in an attempt to better represent the intent and Spanish included is exactly as written by the authors.]

Cynthia encouraged her students to discuss the story, something that she had seldom done before with her young students, and she was encouraged

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by their enthusiastic sharing as they explored their own meanings through talk about the book. Another master’s student, Natascha, a middle school teacher, chose Friends from the Other Side/Amigos del otro lado by border poet and writer, Gloria Anzaldu´a (Anzaldu´a, 1993) to read to her middle school students. She chose the book, in part, because her students were doing an inquiry unit on immigration. This powerful story tells of Prietita, a girl who befriends Joaquı´ n, an undocumented boy who is taunted by his classmates. She also provides food and moral support for the boy and his mother. The story brings in the fear that undocumented families suffer when the migra (border patrol) comes to the neighborhood. The four middle school students Natascha read with were labeled as struggling readers and had the characteristics of long-term English learners (LTELs) as they had been in this country attending school seven or more years, appeared unengaged with school, and struggled with reading, writing, and understanding academic English (Freeman & Freeman, 2009; Olsen, 2010). The students were familiar with the topic of undocumented immigrants or knew people who were undocumented. These LTELs showed that, when their teacher encouraged exploratory talk, they were capable of analyzing and making connections with literature that were more advanced than their usual academic work. As Natascha hypothesized in her project paper: A pesar del bajo nivel acade´mico y motivacional que los nin˜os presentan en la clase regular de lectura y escritura, … al exponer a los nin˜os a estrategias del habla explorativa planteado por Gramigna, estos lograran demostrar que son capaces de comprender, interpretar y desarrollar el pensamiento crı´ tico al realizar conexiones personales e intertextuales con el cuento narrado. (In spite of the low academic and motivational level that these students showed in their regular reading and writing class … upon exposure to the exploratory talk strategies suggested by Gramigna, these students will be able to show that they were capable of understanding, interpreting, and thinking critically as they made personal and intertextual connections with the narrative.)

Because the book talks openly about undocumented characters and Natascha encouraged students to discuss their own experiences: Se abrio´ la puerta a la discusio´n y a las mu´ltiples interpretaciones sobre la denominacio´n “mojado.” Los nin˜os estuvieron de acuerdo con haber escuchado la denominacio´n antes y algunos compartieron historias de parientes y familiares que tambie´n cruzaron el rı´ o y a los que los han llamado “mojados.” Reflexionaron adema´s sobre la importancia de venir a vivir y a trabajar a los Estados Unidos como causas nobles y que valen la pena, au´n cuando la gente se burla de ellos.

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(The door was opened for discussion [on the topic of undocumented people] and for discussion of the many interpretations of the label “wet back.” The students all agreed they had heard the label before and some shared stories of relatives and close friends who also crossed the river and those people who had called them “wetbacks.” They also reflected on the importance of coming to live and work in the United States as a noble goal and worth the effort even when people ridiculed them.)

The exploratory talk that took place allowed Natascha’s students to talk about themes in the book that the main characters dealt with including friendship and conflicts with friends, inequality, economic hardships, and legal issues. Using this culturally relevant book and supporting exploratory talk allowed Natascha’s students to move beyond “la mera recuperacio´n de datos que se hayan a un nivel superficial” (the mere regurgitation of facts that are found at a superficial level) and instead encouraged her students to share “mu´ltiples inferencias e interpretaciones” (Many inferences and interpretations.) When Cynthia and Natascha encouraged exploratory talk with their students, their students were more engaged with the literature and were able to interpret what they read and understand the readings at a deeper, more personal level than they had in the past. Our analysis of the inservice teachers’ projects showed us the importance of having our own students read about exploratory talk, experiencing this kind of conversation in their graduate class as they read quality children’s literature and then trying it out with their own students.

Reading the Illustrations The research by Arizpe and Styles (2002) formed the basis for the second project the teachers engaged in. Arizpe and Styles reported on a study carried out in seven schools in and around London. They interviewed students at different grade levels, preschool through 6th grade, about select books that had been read to them in their classrooms. The researchers selected books by illustrator authors like Anthony Browne because the illustrations in the books were especially interesting and added to written texts. Arizpe and Styles explain that readers of illustrated books need to develop visual literacy and learn to read the illustrations and see their connections to the texts and their importance in communicating the stories. They observe that most adults have lost the ability to read the illustrations and often ignore or devalue the importance of illustrations in literature (Arizpe & Styles, 2003).

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In their research study, Arizpe and Styles investigated how children interpret images in illustrated books, how they connect images to the written text, and what the implications of how children read images in texts have for the teaching of reading. Using Antony Browne’s Zoolo´gico (Zoo) (Browne, 1993b) and El tu´nel (The Tunnel) (Browne, 1993a), the researchers asked the children questions about the cover illustrations and what those illustrations told them about what would happen in the story. Then, the authors asked children to talk about their favorite illustrations and asked them how they read the pictures and how they understood that the words and pictures went together. They also had the children comment on facial expressions, gestures, colors, and lines in the illustrations and asked them about the perspectives of the illustrations. In a second set of interviews, they asked questions that were a bit deeper such as, “ Por que´ crees que el autor/ilustrador quiere hacernos ver las cosas de esta manera?” (Why do you think the author/illustrator wants us to see things in this way?) “ Te hace leer el libro de una manera distinta?” (Does it make you read the book differently?) “ Que´ pasa por tu cabeza cuando ves una imagen?” (What goes through your head when you see an illustration?) “ Sucede lo mismo que cuando ves un programa en la televisio´n o una pelı´cula o juegas en la computadora?” (Is it different from when you watch a TV program, or a movie or play on the computer?) (Arizpe & Styles, 2002, p. 22). In our graduate class, the bilingual teachers read and discussed the Arizpe and Styles article. Then, we asked the teachers to choose a wellillustrated children’s book and encouraged them to use one of the many Browne books translated into Spanish or to talk to us about their book choice in order to be sure that they chose illustrated books that included interesting illustrations, illustrations that could be read. For this project, teachers were to choose at least four students, preferably of different ages, read the book with the children, and ask questions like those suggested by Arizpe and Styles. This experience, like that with the Gramigna project, produced consistent positive responses from their bilingual students. Laura, a fourth grade teacher, chose to use El tu´nel for her project. El tu´nel is the story of two siblings who do not get along. In the story, the illustrations show that the sister is sad when the brother is mean to her and ignores her. One day the brother crawls into a dark tunnel and his sister, afraid to follow him, stays behind, but her brother does not return. Finally, she crawls through the tunnel and enters an illustrated magical and frightening world of wild beasts lurking and hidden in gnarled trees. None of these frightening apparitions are explicitly discussed in the text nor do the ?

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words express the strong emotions the sister feels, but her feelings are powerfully illustrated throughout the book. Thus, the reader must read the illustrations as well as the words to understand the story well. Laura read El tu´nel to three different groups of students. The first group consisted of 16 seven- and eight-year-old second graders, the second group had 18 10- and 11-year-old fourth graders. There were both boys and girls in these groups. Laura also read the book to a five-year-old kindergarten boy. Laura hypothesized that the interview with the five-year-old would not give her the same depth of analysis as that of the group discussions, “Los estudiantes entrevistados en grupo sera´n capaces de construir una interpretacio´n ma´s completa del libro en comparacio´n del estudiante entrevistado de manera individual.” (The students interviewed in groups will be able to develop a more complete interpretation than the student interviewed alone.) However, the five-year-old read the illustrations with more care and drew some interesting conclusions that the older students did not seem to notice or discuss. For example, at one point the brother crawls into his sister’s room at night wearing a wolf’s mask. The detailed illustrations include a witch’s cape and a hat hanging on a closet that is covered in tree bark, a picture of little Red Riding Hood meeting the wolf hanging on the wall, and a tail and a pair of feet coming out from under the bed. Laura explained that the kindergarten student “hace inferencias sobre la imagen en lugar de describirla.” (makes inferences based on the illustration instead of describing it.) El nin˜o tiene una mascara y la nin˜a esta´ asustada leyendo un libro por eso tiene a un mun˜eco con ella cerca de la cobija …. El nin˜o quiere que ella piense que es un monstruo o el lobo porque ella es la caperucita. (The boy (the brother) has a mask on and the girl is frightened reading a book and for that reason, she has a doll with her near her blanket …. The boy (brother) wants her to think there is a monster or a wolf there because she is Little Red Riding Hood.)

In her paper Laura wrote that this kindergartner showed how observant he was by adding, “Observo que las luces esta´n prendidas afuera y hay como unos zapatos de alguien que a lo mejor esta´ debajo de una cama.” (I notice that the lights are on outside (the room) and that maybe there is someone under the bed because there are shoes there.) Once the brother enters the tunnel, his sister is faced with the dilemma of whether or not to follow. Both the second graders and the kindergartener read the sister’s facial expressions and made comments about how

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sad and frightened the sister was. Laura wrote that in discussions, the students made comments like “La boca de la nin˜a se ve para abajo y los ojos se le esta´n como cerrando.” (The girl’s mouth is turned downward and her eyes look like they are closing.) The younger children could also imagine what the sister felt about going into the tunnel herself. “… ella no quiere entrar, le da miedo porque piensa que van a haber brujas, duendes y cosas malas.” (… she doesn’t want to enter, she is afraid because she thinks there will be witches, goblins, and evil things.) The older students were able to take their interpretations to a deeper level focusing on the characters’ feelings as they discussed the illustrations showing the brother entering the tunnel and the next page where the sister’s face is shown as she tries to decide what to do. Laura wrote that one of her fourth grade students commented, “Es como si te dejaran en medio de un lugar en donde no conoces a nadie pero adema´s no hay nadie contigo.” (It’s as if you would be left in the middle of a place where you don’t know anyone and in addition there is no one with you.) Laura added that another student expressed similar sentiments, “Como si la u´nica persona en que confı´as te fallara y te abandonara.” (It’s like the only person that you trust might fail you and abandon you.) Laura observed that: todos los estudiantes de todas las edades fueron capaces de hacer conexiones basadas en sus sentimientos y experiencias previas sobre la tristeza. Todos fueron capaces de explicar porque Rosa estaba triste. Los nin˜os de segundo y kinder se concentraron en observar los rasgos faciales de la nin˜a …. Mientras los nin˜os de cuarto se concentraron en los posibles sentimientos por los que la protagonista podrı´ a estar atravesando. (all students of all ages were able to make connections based on their feelings and prior experiences with sadness. All of them were able to explain why Rosa was sad. The second graders and the kindergarten student focused on observing the facial expressions of the girl … While fourth graders focused on the possible feelings through which the protagonist could be going.)

After the sister enters the tunnel, the text tells the reader that the sister is thinking about wolves, giants, and witches and wants to turn back, but she must find her brother. The next three pages have no words at all, and the story is carried by the illustrations. Laura reported that the students used the illustrations to make intertextual ties as they compared the experience the girl had in the woods on the other side of the tunnel with Little Red Riding Hood and her frightening experiences in the woods. She explained that the second graders told her that “la nin˜a se convirtio´ en la caperucita roja cuando entro al tu´nel.” (the girl became Little Red Riding Hood when she entered into the tunnel.), and the fourth graders commented “que se

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trataba de la historia de la caperucita roja porque ahı´ tambie´n salı´a un lobo.” (that it was like the story of Little Red Riding Hood because a wolf also was there.) In addition, Laura reported that several individual children noticed other beasts in the illustrations, illustrations that proved that the sister’s expectations of finding cosas malas (bad things) on the other side of the tunnel were realized. “El a´rbol tiene un oso pero tambie´n sus brazos se parecen a los ojos de un bu´ho. A lo mejor el oso parece que esta´ como agarrando a los ojos del bu´ho para comerselo.” (The tree (in the illustration) has a bear but his arms look like the eyes of an owl. Probably the bear is like grabbing the eyes of the owl to eat it up.) Laura explained that another student, in the discussion about the trees in the same illustration, added, “Arriba hay tambie´n como la piel de un leo´n que a lo mejor el oso ya se comio´. Tambie´n hay un lobo y la nin˜a esta´ corriendo porque la asusto´ el lobo para comersela.” (On top there is also a lion’s fur that the bear probably ate. There is also a wolf there and the girl is running because she is afraid the wolf will eat her.) Laura realized that all of this interpretation of the illustrations showed the children’s ability to construct critical meaning from illustrations, meanings the written text never included. Cynthia also read El tu´nel to all her first grade students, and then individually to a kindergartener, two second graders, and a third grader. Initially, the children made interesting comments about the book’s cover which shows the sister entering the tunnel leaving her illustrated fairy tale book open to a picture of a witch threatening a princess. Cynthia described how students at different levels responded. el estudiante de Tercer Grado estaba usando su imaginacio´n diciendo que la nin˜a habı´ a hecho algo y que ella estaba escapando. Los estudiantes de Primero y Kı´ nder se fijaron ma´s en los detalles que veı´ an en la portada. (the third grade student was using his imagination saying that the girl had done something and had to escape. The first grade and kindergarten students focused more on the details that they saw on the cover.)

In her project paper, Cynthia explained that several of her first grade students said, “Ella esta´ leyendo algo de brujas.” (She is reading something about witches.), and the kindergartener she interviewed told her that there was a book on the ground with a page about a queen and a witch. Several of the children’s observations were centered on the bedroom scene. Cynthia commented, “A mis estudiantes les gusto´ mucho esta ilustracio´n ya que esta´ llena de detalles.” (My students liked this illustration a lot because it is full of details.) Cynthia’s third grader noted that the shadow

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of the brother with the mask looked like a wolf and told his teacher “El hermano querı´a asustar a su hermana.” (The brother wanted to scare his sister.) A second grader explained, “La nin˜a no se puede dormir porque ella tiene miedo a la oscuridad.” (The girl can’t sleep because she is afraid of the dark.) The first grader noticed the picture of Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf hanging on the wall and told Cynthia, “Y tambie´n ahı´ esta´ la capa de caperucita roja colgando” (And also there is Red Riding Hood’s cape hanging there!) Like Laura’s students, the children Cynthia interviewed noticed there was a monster under the bed because they could see the feet sticking out. Cynthia’s students also noticed the sister’s expressions once her brother entered the tunnel. She wrote that one student told her, “La nin˜a esta´ triste porque piensa que su hermano ya no va a regresar despue´s de haberse metido al tu´nel.” (The girl is sad because she thinks her brother will not return after he went into the tunnel.) One of her first graders explained, “La nin˜a le da miedo el tu´nel porque hay brujas y duendes.” (The girl is afraid of the tunnel because there are witches and goblins.) Cynthia summarized what the students noticed in the illustrations. Los estudiantes hablaron sobre la expresio´n que tenı´ a la nin˜a. Tambie´n unos estudiantes dijeron que la nin˜a se siente sola, triste, y con miedo porque piensa que al entrar al tu´nel va a ver cosas malas ahı´ . (Students talked about the girl’s facial expression. Also, some students said the girl felt lonely, sad, and afraid because she thinks once she enters the tunnel, she will see bad things there.)

Once the sister went through the tunnel and entered the forest, the children made the same intertextual connections as Laura’s students did. Cynthia’s first graders told her, “Ahı´ esta´ el lobo en el a´rbol como en el cuento de Caperucita Roja.” (There is the wolf in the tree like the story of Little Red Riding Hood.) The first graders told their teacher that the story was like Little Red Riding Hood because the girl had a red hood in the forest and there was a wolf there. Cynthia’s questions to her students about the importance of the illustrations, revealed to her the importance of providing students with quality, illustrated books. The third grader she interviewed told her that if there had not been illustrations, it would have been hard to understand the story. Several of her first graders said the illustrations helped them understand the story and that they wouldn’t have liked the story without illustrations. Another Anthony Browne book that also had a scary forest illustrated was chosen by Krishtel, a third grade teacher. This book entitled, En el

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bosque (Browne, 2004) (In the Forest) brings in fairy tales as the main character walks through the woods to take a cake to his sick grandmother. Told in the first person, the boy in the story meets Hansel and Gretel, Goldilocks, Jack and the Beanstalk, and even finds a red cape that he puts on as he journeys to grandmother’s house. Krishtel read the book individually with a 5-, 8-, and 10-year-old and then also read it to her whole third grade class. She asked the children a variety of questions to encourage discussion including asking if they had noticed anything strange about the walk in the woods. All of the children seemed to understand that the boy in the story was a kind of male Little Red Riding Hood. However, it was the older children who were more easily able to “hacer conexiones intertextuales con cuentos tales como Caperucita Roja, La Cenicienta, Ricitos de Oro y los Tres Osos, entre otros, sin mayor dificultad.” (make intertextual ties with stories like Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Goldilocks, and the Three Bears among others without difficulty.) On the other hand, Krishtel found that the younger children noticed details in the illustrations including pages where the trees were shaped like bears or the ear of a wolf appeared. They commented on the color in the illustrations, “los nin˜os menores relacionaron las tonalidades de las ilustraciones con sentimientos y emociones, con realidad y fantası´a durante todo el libro.” (the younger children connected the tones of the illustrations with the feelings and emotions and with reality and fantasy throughout the book.) Krishtel concluded that “los nin˜os ma´s pequen˜os prestan mayor atencio´n a los detalles visuales de un libro ilustrado, mientras que los nin˜os ma´s grandes los perciben de manera ma´s generalizada o los ignoran.” (The younger children pay more attention to the visual details of an illustrated book while the older students only notice them globally or ignore them.) This finding that younger children tend to notice the details of the illustrations more is consistent with what Arizpe and Styles found when they did their research. One last example from the Arizpe and Styles project comes from Natascha who interviewed a group of 15-year-olds and another of 12-yearolds. She also interviewed a six-year-old and a five-year-old individually. She used another Anthony Browne book, El libro de los cerdos (Browne, 1991) (Piggybook) for her investigation. This story tells of the Piggott family consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Piggott and their two sons. Mr. Piggott and his sons do nothing around the house while Mrs. Piggott is a working mother and also does all the household chores. One day, tired of the drudgery and lack of appreciation from her family, she leaves the men alone with the note, “You are pigs.” After the mother leaves, this illustrated

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book shows the father and sons literally turning into pigs. Their home becomes a pigsty without the work the mother usually did. Natascha explained in her project paper that the younger students she interviewed, like Krishtel’s younger students, noticed many of Browne’s details in the illustrations: los nin˜os ma´s pequen˜os realizaron observaciones interesantes, pudieron ver detalles en las ima´genes, como la cantidad de cerdos camuflados entre los objetos y las sombras, descubrieron que en una de las ima´genes la sombra del sen˜or de la Cerda es la de un cerdo, y entre risas comentaron que en verdad no era hombre, sino que era cerdo porque aunque no se viese como tal, actuaba como uno. (the younger children made interesting observations, they could see details in the images, like the large number of pigs hidden among the objects and in the shadows, they discovered that in one of the images the shadow of Mr. Piggott is that of a pig, laughing they commented that, in truth, he was not a man, but a pig because although he didn’t look like one, he acted like one.)

Natascha’s younger students also made an intertextual tie. In this case, they connected the book to The Three Little Pigs. They noticed some wolves hidden within the illustrations and commented that the story was like The Three Little Pigs but, at the same time, the story was different. Natascha’s older students came to deeper conclusions and could make personal connections. Natascha noted that “Los nin˜os mas grandes lograron hacer conexiones personales de manera casi inmediata.” (The older children were able to establish personal connections almost immediately). One boy commented, “Mi mama´ tambie´n hace todo.” (My mother also does all the work.) In discussion with her students, Natascha noted the sophistication of their responses, “… sintieron empatı´a por la protagonista del cuento y descubrieron el cambio radical de su rol en la familia al comienzo, donde la veı´an como a una ‘nin˜a’ y el final cuando la vieron ‘hermosa’.” (They felt empathy for the protagonist of the story and noticed the radical change in her role in the family from the beginning where she appeared to look like a little girl to the end where they saw her as looking beautiful.) Natascha was impressed with the way both age groups were able to use the illustrations and to interpret the moral of the story. She wrote in her project, … “ambos grupos llegaron a las mismas conclusiones, lograron comprender la tema´tica del cuento e hicieron interpretaciones profundas y muy acertadas.” (both groups came to the same conclusions, were able to understand the story’s theme and made profound interpretations that were right on the mark.) Our analyses of the inservice teachers’ projects showed that the teachers understood the importance of helping their students read the illustrations

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as well as the text in children’s literature. By reading and discussing Arizpe and Styles’ article, analyzing the illustrations in children’s literature in class, and then completing the project, the inservice teachers confirmed that older and younger students differ in the way they attend to illustrations and that influences how they respond to children’s literature.

Taking Literature through Ada’s Four Phases of Creative Dialogue Alma Flor Ada is known for her children’s literature books published in English and Spanish and bilingually. Our students read her book, A Magical Encounter: Latino Children’s Literature in the Classroom (Ada, 2003) in which she proposes a model for teaching children’s literature she developed referred to as creative dialogue. She suggests that teachers use quality literature and lead children through four phases to help them delve deeper and deeper into the books they read. In the descriptive phase, the teacher asks questions to see if students understood the story. A teacher might ask questions about El tu´nel like “What did the sister in the story like to do? What did her brother like to do?” Or “Who went into the tunnel first?” The next phase is the interpretive phase. In this phase teachers are encouraged to allow students to share personal reflections and emotions. So teachers might ask, “What part of the story did you like best?” Or “How did you feel when the sister entered the tunnel?” In the critical/multicultural/antibias phase questions teachers ask are meant to help students explore their prejudices, opinions, and ideas. For El tu´nel teachers might ask “Should boys try to frighten or tease girls?” and El libro de los cerdos might bring up a discussion about whether housework is women’s work or should be shared. The final stage that Ada proposes is the creative/transformative phase. In this phase, teachers and students explore together what they might do to improve situations that exist in society or in their community. After reading El tu´nel and discussing how the boys sometimes tease the girls or how some students call others names because they are different, students could develop classroom rules to reduce or eliminate teasing and name-calling. Students reading El libro de los cerdos might talk about women’s rights and equality and plan to make changes in their own homes or community. In other words, students do not only discuss the literature in this final stage but move toward some type of action. We asked the inservice teachers to choose an appropriate book and take students through the four phases of creative dialogue with the book. The

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teachers were to do this with at least three children but could also do it with a whole class. We recommended that the teachers choose older students, from third to eighth grade, so that they could guide students through all four phases. Krishtel chose the book described earlier, Friends from the other side: Amigos del otro lado (Anzaldu´a, 1993). She decided to use the book with her eight- and nine-year-old third graders because she believed it was relevant to them and their experiences. In her questions during the descriptive phase, it was clear to Krishtel that her students understood the story. Krishtel explained that the students had a good understanding of the undocumented boy in the story, Joaquı´ n. los nin˜os compararon y contrastaron al personaje de Joaquı´ n con otros nin˜os, ya que resaltaron cualidades sobre su apariencia fı´ sica y su origen. (the children compared and contrasted the character Joaquı´ n with other children (in the story), they highlighted characteristics of his physical appearance and his origin.)

The students could connect with this story in the next stage, the interpretive stage. Krishtel explained that her students “sabı´an acerca de los padecimientos y sacrificios relacionados con la inmigracio´n, ya que sus familiares o quiza´s ellos mismos lo han experimentado.” (knew about the suffering and sacrifices related to immigration because their family members and maybe themselves had experienced it.) When Krishtel asked her students if they had been bullied by others like Joaquı´ n was, Krishtel noted, “Los nin˜os pudieron hacer conexiones personales con sus vivencias al recordar instancias donde ellos mismos fueron vı´ctimas de la crueldad de otros nin˜os.” (The children were able to make personal connections with their lived experiences by remembering instances when they were victims of the cruelty of other children.) In the critical/multicultural/antibias phase, Krishtel asked the students if all prisoners were bad because in the story Joaquı´ n and his mother were afraid of being taken to jail. Krishtel explained: Muchos de los alumnos relataron historias acerca de parientes y amigos que han estado presos por diferentes motivos. Ellos pudieron darse cuenta de que la percepcio´n acerca de los presos cambia cuando alguien lo ha experimentado de cerca. (Many students told stories of relatives and friends that have been in jail for different reasons. They realized that the perception of the incarcerated changes when someone has experienced it close hand.)

In the final creative/transformative stage, students came up with alternatives to imprisonment such as the following: “intentar cambiar las leyes o

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recolectar dinero para obtener su libertad …” (try to change the law or collect money to get them free …) In the final stage the students also discussed with their teacher how to handle situations of bullying. Krishtel wrote in her project that the students had several specific suggestions: “Decirle a un adulto … a un maestro … un policı´a … decirles que paren … no tener miedo, interponerse” (Tell an adult … a teacher … a policeman … tell them to stop … don’t be afraid, step up.) As students discussed the book and Krishtel led them through the four phases of creative dialogue, the students moved from simply telling her what happened in the story to making personal connections with the characters, evaluating the events, and then suggesting some plan of action that one might take to change the situation. Cynthia chose three fifth grade girls for her Ada project. She read Francisco Jimenez’, La mariposa, (Jime´nez, 1998) to her students. In La mariposa, Jimenez tells about his experiences attending school for the first time in the United States without knowing how to speak English. When he first gets to school, the teacher places Francisco in the back of the room next to a jar with a caterpillar. As the story unfolds and Francisco struggles with both English and the class bully, both Francisco and the caterpillar are transformed. In the end, Francisco’s teacher awards his art work and Francisco makes peace with his tormentor. During the descriptive phase, the three students, all with personal experiences of not knowing English, explained that Francisco was different because he did not speak English and that he wanted to speak English in order to communicate. The interpretive phase brought out clearly how the students connected personally with the book. When Cynthia asked if they had ever felt like Francisco or experienced something like what Francisco experienced, one girl talked about her experience entering prekindergarten not speaking English and how difficult it was for her to learn English. Another girl commented that she didn’t want to go to school when she started school without knowing English. The third girl had just come from Mexico the year before, and, although she spoke some English, Cynthia explained that “no entendı´a todo lo que su maestra le decı´a, y que fue difı´cil para ella adaptarse al cambio.” (she didn’t understand everything the teacher said, and it was hard for her to get used to the change.) When asked how their experiences compared with Francisco’s, all three girls told how their parents, like Francisco’s, wanted to come to this country for a better life. Cynthia wrote that in discussion with the three girls during the critical/ multicultural/antibias phase, they discussed whose voices were heard and

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whose were ignored in this story. The girls understood that Francisco’s parents had no status or power and also noted that “la voz de Francisco era ignorada porque la maestra no sabı´a espan˜ol y no se podı´an comunicar con ella. Y el idioma de e´l no era valorado.” (Francisco’s voice was ignored because the teacher did not know Spanish and he could not communicate with her. His language was not valued.) This led to a discussion of the importance of maintaining one’s home language even when one is learning English. They also discussed how some new immigrants are treated by their classmates. The girl who had arrived just the year before talked about how her classmates ignored her at first because she was an immigrant. In the creative/transformative phase, the students discussed what they could do if a new immigrant student was being mistreated. They talked about how they would try to welcome the new student and encourage others to do the same. When Cynthia asked the students to tell her what they learned from this story, one of the girls explained that it is important to accept people from different countries and value their language. Another student showed her comprehension of the story by explaining that just as the caterpillar went through stages to become a butterfly, Francisco needed to also go through stages as he was learning English. She added that learning a new language takes time. Our analyses of their projects showed us that Ada’s four phases of creative dialogue helped the inservice teachers structure students’ exploratory talk. The teachers were able to lead their students through all four phases, and this process increased the students’ ability to interpret children’s literature.

Findings Throughout the literatura infantil course, the inservice teachers in our classes read and shared many pieces of children’s literature in Spanish, and this exposure was important as many of the teachers had no idea how much quality literature was available in Spanish. However, it was the implementation of the three projects that helped the teachers understand how to use the literature with their emergent bilingual students. In our S-STEP research, we looked carefully at the responses of four teachers to three projects that they implemented in their schools with students. Through those responses, we were able to answer our two questions.

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1. How did the involvement of graduate student inservice teachers in projects using children’s literature in Spanish help them to transform their practice? 2. What did the teachers learn about their students’ ability to interpret literature through the involvement in the projects?

THE PROJECTS TRANSFORMED PRACTICE In the three projects, the teachers practiced supporting exploratory talk, helping their students read the illustrations, and taking them through the four phases of creative dialogue in reading literature. As they carried out the projects they found that they had a more meaningful discussion with their students. As they planned for and implemented all three of the projects, they came to realize the importance of choosing quality, culturally relevant texts to read with their students to promote meaningful discussion. In the first project, the teachers also learned how to ask the kinds of openended, evaluative questions that encouraged exploratory talk. In the second project where they encouraged students to read the illustrations, teachers discovered new ways to help students comprehend texts. The third project allowed teachers to see how they could move through the four phases of creative dialogue with students to help them interpret stories at a deeper level and to lead students to actually connect what they learned in the process to possible positive action. Through the three projects, the teachers came to understand the literature at different levels themselves and to see how they could facilitate discussions of literature with their students in ways they had not been able to do in the past. They no longer looked for literal answers to questions but sought to encourage their students to think, analyze, make personal connections, make intertextual ties, and even move toward positive actions.

TEACHERS LEARNED ABOUT STUDENTS’ ABILITY TO INTERPRET TEXTS All four of the teachers found that their students were able to engage with texts in ways that they had not thought of before taking the course. The students made personal connections with the stories that they read and

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discussed. Often, the teachers were surprised at how often the students made intertextual ties between the book they were reading and other books. Teachers were also surprised at what the children noticed in the illustrations when they were encouraged to look at them carefully and read the images. The teachers reported that the younger children noticed details in the images that older readers and adults often miss. None of the teachers in the study had ever considered asking students to move beyond critical analysis to asking what kinds of actions they could take to improve on situations they encountered in the stories and in their lives. Yet, the students were able to make specific suggestions for action when they went through the four phases of creative dialogue.

IMPLICATIONS This study was carried out in Spanish with bilingual students. The authors would encourage other teacher educators working with bilingual inservice teachers to engage in projects like these that support the use of quality children’s literature in Spanish. Inservice teachers often are not aware of the children’s literature in Spanish that is available, and it is important to expose teachers to quality texts in Spanish. However, these suggestions also apply broadly to teacher educators working with all teachers, not only bilingual teachers. Specifically, teacher educators can have their students read about exploratory talk, reading images in children’s literature, and using Ada’s four phases of creative dialogue, participate during class in these activities, and then apply what they have learned with their own students. As we read over the reports our inservice teachers wrote after completing each project, we concluded that the teachers had understood the key concepts we were teaching and could also apply these concepts with their students. In addition, by completing the projects, the teachers began to view their own students differently and to realize that their students could engage in deep conversations about quality children’s literature.

LIMITATIONS A key limitation of this study is the small number of teacher projects that were analyzed. In addition, in further study, it would be important for the

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investigators to observe teachers as they implement the projects, record and analyze discussions, and to interview students and collect artifacts from them to analyze. Our preliminary conclusions call for these types of indepth studies in the future.

CONCLUSION We conclude with the words of two of the teachers highlighted in this chapter, Krishtel and Natascha. Krishtel’s response gives us a partial answer to our first question: How did the involvement of graduate student inservice teachers in projects using children’s literature in Spanish help them to transform their practice? Es indispensable que los docentes modifiquemos nuestra ensen˜anza de lectura y apoyemos la implementacio´n de este tipo de actividades en el aula. Yo por mi parte, me siento afortunada de agregar estas herramientas a mi repertorio de estrategias dida´cticas y no dudare´ en continuar emplea´ndolas, ya que los resultados y el aprovechamiento evidenciado por parte de los alumnos las respalda. (It is indispensable that as teachers we modify our teaching of reading and we support the implementation of these types of activities in our classrooms. For my part, I feel fortunate to have added these tools to my repertoire of teaching strategies and I don’t doubt that I will continue to use them, now that the results and the benefits shown to my students support (using) them.)

Natascha explained clearly how her students have benefited from exploratory talk and the projects that she implemented with children’s literature. Her words summarize what her students learned, the depth of their learning, and the impact that these reading experiences can have on students’ lives. Natascha helps us answer our second question: What did the teachers learn about their students’ ability to interpret literature through the involvement in the projects? … lograron comprender que la lectura creativa va ma´s alla´ de poder leer sonidos impresos en un cuento. Tiene el gran poder de desarrollar una visio´n crı´ tica, ya que los lectores se sienten involucrados plenamente con las situaciones y los personajes, logran hacer asociaciones personales basa´ndose en sus propias experiencias y conocimientos del mundo, logrando ası´ convertirse en inevitables protagonistas y autores de sus propias historias de vida, y logran reflexionar sobre temas de importancia moral, cultural y social capaces de transformar sus vidas. (They were able to understand that creative reading goes beyond being able to read sounds printed in a story. It (creative reading) has the power of developing a critical eye because it allows readers to feel completely involved in the situations and the

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Jime´nez, F. (1998). La mariposa. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Langer, J. (1995). Envisioning literature: Literacy understanding and literature instruction. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Olsen, L. (2010). Reparable harm: Fulfilling the unkept promise of educational opportunity for California’s long term English learners. Long Beach, CA: Californians Together. Pacheco, M. (1992). La metodologı´a de ensen˜anza de la lecto-escritura: Una experiencia de lectura activa en el aula. Caracas: Cooperativa Laboratorio Educativo. Pellicer, C. (2011). Arropar a los nin˜os con poesı´ a. Vago´n Literario, 1(7), 10 11. Peterson, R., & Eeds, M. A. (2007). Grand conversations: Literature groups in action. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc. Pierce, K. M., & Giles, C. (2008). From exploratory talk to critical conversations. In N. Mercer & S. Hodgkinson (Eds.), Exploring talk in school (pp. 37 55). London: Sage. Pinnegar, S., & Hamilton, M. L. (2011). Self study inquiry practices. In S. Schonmann (Ed.), Key concepts in theatre/drama education (pp. 345 350). New York, NY: Springer. Pinnegar, S., Hamilton, M. L., & Fitzgerald, L. (2010). Guidance in being and becoming self-study of practice researchers. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the eighth international conference on self-studies of teacher education practices: Navigating the public and the private: Negotiating the diverse landscapes of teacher education. Herstmonceaux Castle, UK. Rodriguez, A. (2009). Culturally relevant books: Connecting Hispanic students to the curriculum. GiST Colombian Journal of Bilingual Education, 3, 11 29.

TEACHERS’ UNDERSTANDING OF PRACTICE: PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING PREVIEW/VIEW/ REVIEW IN THE DUAL LANGUAGE CLASSROOM Sandra Mercuri ABSTRACT In consideration of the needs of the growing numbers of Spanish-speaking emergent bilingual students in U.S. classrooms who are learning English as a new language, this study explores the teachers’ understanding of instructional practice using a specific pedagogical framework designed for emergent bilingual classroom contexts called Preview/View/Review (P/V/R). A constructivist and a translanguaging lens informed the theoretical framework for this study. One set of qualitative data from interviews was collected from a random sample of teachers who participated in a Master’s program in bilingual education in a border university in South Texas. Interview questions focused on the teachers’ reflections on the planning for and the implementation of the pedagogical structure P/V/R in their dual language contexts. Three findings arose from the

Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals Advances in Research on Teaching, Volume 24, 81 106 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3687/doi:10.1108/S1479-368720150000024007

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data: (a) participants demonstrated an understanding of planning for and implementation of the P/V/R structure as a scaffold to build background knowledge of new concepts in the different disciplines; (b) the P/V/R structure has the potential to facilitate cross-linguistic transfer and the potential to be implemented as a form of translanguaging pedagogy; and (c) the implementation of a well-planned P/V/R structure enhances students’ engagement with the learning in two languages. One identifiable limitation of the study is the small size of the sample. In addition, classroom observations of the implementation of the structure are needed to mitigate the possible over-reporting of P/V/R as a good practice on the part of the teachers. Insights from this study inform teacher educators in teacher preparation programs who are preparing teachers for working with emergent bilingual learners and the professional development of all teachers, including those who teach in bilingual school contexts. Keywords: Scaffolding content learning; metalinguistic awareness; cross-linguistic transfer; building background knowledge; translanguaging

Marı´ a is a certified, elementary bilingual English and Spanish-speaking teacher whose third grade Central Texas dual language classroom includes 20 energetic eight- and nine-year-old bilingual students. Two-thirds are native Spanish speakers and one-third are monolingual English speakers. Looking around the classroom, one sees class pets, including a fish, two turtles and a crawfish, a rich assortment of good children’s literature in both languages for free voluntary reading, several computers, a smart board close to the rug area, and several areas for students to work comfortably. Four tables are placed at the center of the classroom where most of the learning and group work happens. Earlier in the day, when teaching Spanish language arts, Marı´ a read from a book in Spanish, Los a´rboles [Trees] (Juliver Zamarren˜o, 2009) about the age of trees. Marı´ a’s reading serves a dual instructional purpose. First, she uses the book in Spanish as a Preview to build native Spanish-speaking students’ background knowledge about a science concept they will be discussing in their second language, English, during science time and secondly, she supports the teaching of language arts through visualization, a pedagogical strategy for learning to read. The same day, during the science class, Marı´ a and her students engage in a hands-on activity observing slices of tree trunk and discussing the age of the tree in English. As students discuss, the teacher fills in a concentric circle graphic organizer on the board.

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S5: The rings are big … wide or small because of the amount of water … T: Let’s see … Jose, explain once again this idea to us … think about the relationship between water and the size of the rings? S1: It depends on how much water the trees drink … when they have a lot of water the rings are big, and if they do not have water they are small. T: Fine, then … the size of the rings depends on the amount of water that they will absorb per year. Here we will replace how much water for quantity of water to write like the scientists do. Do you agree? S4: YES T: What do we call the rainless season? S7: (Silence) T: Remember what we read earlier today. The informational text told us that the rainy season and the season of d … affects the growth of the trees. S8: Oh … the drought T: Ok … the drought season affects the growth of the trees … What do you think about it? […] During the drought season, will the rings become thinner or wider? S3: Thinner … smaller because they did not drink too much water … T: Ok, then ….I will write [ ] the sentence in blue and with red the word thinner because it is the word that we have been discussing.

In the above vignette, Marı´ a engages her emergent bilingual students in a complex range of activities for developing their English language skills by building upon their home language, Spanish. Using the home language also supports the acquisition of essential science content area knowledge. I open this chapter using Marı´ a’s classroom to set the background and context of my study. I borrow the term emergent bilinguals (EBLs) from Garcia, Kleifgen, and Falchi (2008) who explain that “English language learners are in fact emergent bilinguals. That is, through acquiring English, these children become bilingual, able to continue to function in their home language as well as in English, their new language and that of school” (p. 6).

PURPOSE AND SIGNIFICANCE Research on teachers’ understanding of practice is well documented. According to Dall’Alba and Sandberg (2006), teachers’ practices are shaped by the nature of their personal, educational, and professional experiences which in turn influence their conceptions of their discipline’s

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pedagogical knowledge. In today’s educational context, teachers’ practice is also influenced by a standards-driven educational system (Walqui, 2011). During this age of academic accountability both at the state and national levels, the growing number of students who speak a language other than English present a challenge to educators across the country. Teachers are faced with the difficult task of helping these students develop the academic language needed for school success while learning grade-level-specific content connected to district and state standards (Mercuri, 2009). In order to address the linguistic needs of this growing population of emergent bilingual students, many school districts have implemented dual language programs to provide students identified as second language learners of English and native English speakers the opportunity to develop biliteracy skills as they learn academic content in two languages (Hamayan, Genesee, & Cloud, 2013; Howard, Sugarman, & Christian, 2003). In dual language classrooms, all students are emergent bilinguals because they are all learning in another language as well as in their first language. Based on the student population, these programs are called one-way of two-way dual language programs. In one-way programs, all students are native speakers of the minority language, for example, Spanish. In two-way programs, approximately half of the students are native speakers of the minority language and approximately half of the students are native speakers of English. In addition, and based on time allocation and literacy practices, dual language programs could be 50/50 or 90/10. In 50/50 programs students received 50% of the instruction in each language. However, in 90/10 models all students learn to read first in the minority language, and English is gradually introduced beginning with 10% in grades K and 1st up to 50% in grade fifth (Freeman, Freeman, & Mercuri, 2005; Howard, Sugarman, Christian, Lindholm-Leary, & Rogers, 2007). Dual language programs have the goal of preparing bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural students for the linguistic complexities and demands of our global society. While these goals are worthy, putting them into practice is difficult, especially because so much emphasis is given to test results. Even when teachers know what the best approach for teaching EBLs is, they find themselves following ineffective practices in an attempt to prepare students for tests they are not ready to take (Garcı´ a & Kleifgen, 2010). The key to long-term success in school for all students is to develop high levels of literacy and proficiency in using academic language (Freeman & Freeman, 2009). For emergent bilinguals trying to develop literacy in a language other than their native language, this process is especially challenging. Language learning is a complex, nonlinear process that is affected by many

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interrelated factors and involves higher order thinking skills that enable students to evaluate, analyze, and synthesize ideas from different sources (Reyes, 2012). In the dual language classroom, second language learners of English need to learn how to navigate complex social and cognitive interactions in English to accomplish listening, speaking, reading, and writing tasks (Beeman & Urow, 2012; Peregoy & Boyle, 2008). Research shows that when the first language (L1) is used as a way for EBLs to negotiate meaning about the content in another language, it facilitates the development of both content knowledge and language proficiency (Goldenberg, 2008). Keeping the needs of the growing numbers of Spanish-speaking emergent bilingual students in U.S. classrooms in mind, the purpose of this study is to explore teachers’ reflection on their planning and implementation of a specific pedagogical structure: Preview/View/Review (P/V/R). This structure requires the use of the primary language of the EBLs and English as a tool for teaching and learning. The significance of this preliminary study is more for improvement of practice than for educational policy. Since students in dual language and bilingual settings are expected to be able to use both languages, orally and in writing, across the content areas for academic purposes, their teachers need to have a deep understanding of second language acquisition processes and instructional tools for literacy and bi-literacy development. The implementation of a well-planned P/V/R structure as a pedagogical tool could support students in navigating the curriculum across languages, facilitate the acquisition of academic language, and enhance comprehension of content learned.

Preview/View/Review as a Pedagogical Structure The P/V/R three-step structure (Freeman & Freeman, 2009; Herrell & Jordan, 2008; Young & Hadaway, 2006) provides a pedagogical framework for teaching students content concepts that build upon their primary language strengths and supporting the development of their linguistics repertoires. The P/V/R structure draws on the first language and teaches academic content to all EBLs. In the first step, key concepts are introduced in the students’ L1. In the second step, once concepts are understood in L1, students work with those concepts in their second language. During this process, teachers use a number of techniques to make instruction comprehensible. In the third step, students review the concepts in L1 to clarify,

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summarize, and ask questions. The purpose of using the P/V/R structure is twofold: (1) to facilitate content learning and (2) to provide support for language transfer. When well-planned, the structure facilitates the bridging for content understanding by connecting, not repeating, the concepts across the three parts of the structure and, as a result, avoiding concurrent translation. In addition, since both languages are used across all three components, it facilitates linguistic transfer from L1 to L2 with a final review in L1 for checking for understanding and clarification purposes. Each step of the PVR structure provides different activities. Freeman and Johnson (2005) define an activity as an “interplay among the actions of participants that creates a meta-level of activity that is a language class in itself” (p. 75). They also describe the activity as having tools such as visuals, texts, and physical objects and as representing actions that teachers and students do. The selection of these tools and actions are based on what teachers know from coursework and from students’ feedback and how they use that knowledge to inform practice. This operational definition of an activity is representative of the activities teachers plan for each component of the P/V/R structure. Well-planned PVR structure activities also use tools and actions depending on the purpose of the lesson. The P/V/R structure uses two languages to support EBLs development of language and content across content areas. The use of this structure aims at schema building or the development of clusters of interconnected concepts to establish the connection between and across ideas. In other words, students are able to comprehend what the underlying concepts are because the information has been presented in both their first and second languages and through different activities woven though the three components of the structure. Insights from this study could inform teacher educators in teacher preparation programs who are preparing teachers for working with emergent bilingual learners and support the professional development of inservice teachers working with EBLs including those who teach in bilingual school contexts. The questions that framed this qualitative study with inservice teachers are the following: (1) In what ways do participating teachers demonstrate an understanding of planning for P/V/R? (2) In what ways do participating teachers understand the implementation of P/V/R as a tool for language and content development of emergent bilinguals?

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PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING Participants in the study were graduates of a bilingual Master’s program offered in a border university in South Texas. Participants attended the program between 2010 and 2014 and previously worked or were currently working in one of the three types of dual language program: 50/50 oneway, 50/50 two-way, and 90/10. In addition, all participants had studied about and then applied the P/V/R structure as a pedagogical tool in their instruction. Selection of participants was based on nonprobability sampling where individuals were selected because they were available, convenient, and represented some characteristic the researcher wanted to investigate (Creswell, 2005). Out of the 10 randomly selected participants for the interviews, seven (7) were Hispanics and three (3) were Anglo; one (1) was male and the other nine (9) females. All participants were bilingual with different degrees of language proficiency. To assure confidentiality teacher’s names were changed to letters A K.

LITERATURE REVIEW There is general agreement in the literature on second language acquisition that the teaching of English and academic content to emergent bilingual students is a complex process. The literature review that follows lays out the theory and research that supports this study. It is organized around two key lenses: a constructivist lens grounded in scaffolding students’ learning and in the use of the first language as a type of scaffold and a translanguishing lens that explains translanguiging pedagogy as an instructional practice which supports students’ use of metalanguage and the development of metalinguistic awareness.

Constructivist Lens According to Walqui (2006) and Gibbons (2009), the key to teaching emergent bilingual students is the constructivist view of scaffolding students’ language acquisition in combination with content learning. Tobin (2000, 2009) defines constructivism as a way of thinking about how students can learn best depending on the situational context of the learning event, how others can mediate learning for students, and how the activities or tasks

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provided by the teacher help students acquire the necessary knowledge shaped by their own experiences. Constructivist teachers should take into consideration what students know and can do, how students negotiate meaning as they interact with others and with artifacts, and how students demonstrate their conceptual knowledge of the subject and receive effective and timely feedback (Erikson, 2007). Thus, making connections, both personal and academic, to students’ background knowledge are key to facilitate students’ acquisition of both language and content (Egbert & Ernst-Slavit, 2010). A constructivist learning environment with scaffolded instruction and teacher support that is organized around interdisciplinary units of inquiry helps EBLs construct knowledge (Diaz-Rico, 2013; Mercuri & Ebe, 2011). This type of integrated curriculum follows Bunch, Kibler, and Pimentel’s (2012) concept of macro scaffolding, the integration of language and content within and across lessons and units, and micro scaffolding, the integration of strategies to make the input comprehensible in everyday teaching based on tasks that require the use of all four language domains. In addition, access to comprehensible input and challenging instructional design supported by multiple scaffolds (Krashen, 1992) shape the ways in which EBLs learn and process second language acquisition. Gibbons (2009) and Rea and Mercuri (2006) describe several characteristics of scaffolds: • The classroom scaffold is temporary and is a strategy that supports EBL’s understanding of grade level concepts or skills. • Scaffolds enable EBL’s to know how to do something. By using scaffolds students, “learn new vocabulary understand new concepts and use new skills as they progress through the curriculum with full participation” (Rea & Mercuri, 2006, p. xiv) • What students can do with the support of the scaffold, they will be able to do on their own and apply their new knowledge to a different task demonstrating higher order thinking ability, content learning, and language development.

Translanguaging Lens A second aspect of second language acquisition highlighted in the literature is the language transfer skills of emergent bilinguals from first language to their second language (L2). Students who have developed academic knowledge in L1 and need to learn to read, write, listen, and speak in L2 are able

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to transfer those skills from L1 to L2 drawing on a common underlying proficiency (Cummins, 2008; Freeman & Freeman, 2009). Students with high levels of literacy in their L1 have a significant academic advantage over their peers who have limited academic proficiency in any language. According to Cummins (1981) both English and Spanish operate through the same central processing system; therefore, students can draw upon knowledge acquired in L1 to develop academic proficiency in both their first and second languages. Accessing knowledge in the first language facilitates learning the content presented in the target language, thereby supporting the acquisition of the new language and cognitive development. Garcı´ a (2009) observes that the language practices of today’s bilinguals are multiple and constantly adjust to the multilingual aspects of the communicative event. This dynamic conceptualization of bilingualism goes beyond the notion of two separate languages, suggesting that the language practices of all bilinguals are complex, interrelated, and nonlinear. The dynamic linguistic practices of bilinguals are enacted in translanguaging (Celic & Seltzer, 2012; Garcı´ a, 2012; Garcı´ a, Flores, & Woodley, 2012) or “the ways in which bilingual students and teachers engage in complex discursive practices that include, at times, the home language practices of students in order to ‘make sense’ of teaching and learning, to communicate and appropriate subject knowledge, and to develop academic language practices” (Garcı´ a, 2014, p. 112). Thus, through well-developed lessons, teachers provide opportunities for EBLs to translanguage (Celic & Seltzer, 2012) that is, to use their complex discursive practices and linguistic repertoires to learn and perform school tasks as they discuss, read, and write. Beeman and Urow (2012) support this idea of translanguaging as they describe the importance of supporting students as they make connections between language and content through the active use of the two languages, an instructional space they call the bridge. They suggest that teachers provide students with opportunities to access their L1 as a resource for learning through bilingual strategies and scaffolded instruction. The researchers problematize monolingual strategies for teaching EBLs’ content and promoting their language development. When only the second language is used for instruction, students cannot draw on the first language knowledge to support their learning. Furthermore, research by Escamilla et al. (2014) suggests that teachers working with EBLs in different teaching contexts, and especially in dual language programs, should create opportunities for students to develop an awareness of the cross-linguistic similarities and differences between the two languages of instruction drawing on their linguistic repertoires as they

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negotiate meaning through meaningful, engaging, and language-rich cooperative activities (Garcı´ a, 2009; Hamayan et al., 2013). Cummins (2005) supports this claim and discusses the implications of the Interdependence Hypothesis for classroom practice “If students in bilingual/immersion programs spontaneously focus on similarities and differences in their two or three languages, then they are likely to benefit from systematic encouragement by the teacher to focus on language and develop their language awareness.” (p. 8). In their research on biliteracy development Escamilla et al. (2014), introduce the concept of metalanguage. Metalanguage, as defined by Escamilla and her colleagues, is “thinking and talking, and, in the case of biliteracy, understanding the relationship between and within languages (p. 67).” This research emphasizes providing students opportunities to compare and contrast the two languages of instruction through well-thought out metalinguistic awareness activities and to apply its particular features more accurately as they use each language in all four domains (Cummins et al., 2005; Koda & Zehler, 2008; Sneddon, 2008). This metalinguistic awareness across and within languages is the ability to make cross-language connections (Naqvi, Thorne, McKeough, & Pfitscher, 2010) which enhances biliteracy development. Teachers, then, should provide those “well-thought out metalinguistic awareness activities” suggested by the researchers above to support their emergent bilingual students’ biliteracy development. Goldenberg (2008) notes that when teaching concept-skills such as decoding, phonological awareness, reading comprehension strategies, and vocabulary, teachers should offer targeted instruction that “points out both what does and does not transfer from their home language to English” (p. 15). In other words, teachers should be aware of the differences across the languages as they teach reading so they can help students draw on what they know in their first language.

METHODOLOGY This preliminary study is informed by the case study research tradition. Qualitative case studies are prevalent throughout the field of education because of their emphasis on the teaching and learning context and the opportunities this tradition offers in the interpretation of a complex set of data. Yin (2003) defines a case study as “an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context” (p. 13).

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While Yin defines a case study in terms of the research process, Stake (1995) defines it in terms of its end product, the case. He describes a case study as “an intensive, holistic description and analysis of a phenomenon or social unit” (p. 65) and as “instrumental” as it explores the understanding of a phenomenon. In this study, the P/V/R structure is considered the case. Data Collection An invitation to participate in the research was sent via email to potential participants from a pool of 83 graduates from a Master’s in Bilingual Education program from a university in South Texas. One set of qualitative data from interviews was collected from a random sample of teachers who agreed to participate in the study. Interview questions focused on the use of the P/V/R structure as a teaching strategy and were collected during early spring of the school year (January and February). Of the 63 respondents to the initial email a random sampling was done and 10 participants were selected to conduct a phone interview. I designed a set of questions for an in-depth interview with the 10 randomly selected participants for the study (Rubin & Rubin, 2004; Willis, 2004). In-depth interviewing allowed for the exploration of participants’ understanding of practice in reference to the planning for and implementation of the P/V/R structure as a teaching tool for language and content development of their EBLs. Data Analysis Interview data were transcribed. For reliability purposes, I conducted a member check (Creswell, 2012) by sending transcripts of the interviews to the interviewees for comments and feedback. Two researchers worked independently from each other, followed by cross-checking of analyses to assure reliability of the findings. Interview data were analyzed following the steps of interpretational analysis (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 1999; Merrian, 1998). First, the database for each interview was created. Second, data were divided into meaningful chunks of information and were sorted into thematic groupings. Third, using a constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Merrian, 1998) broad categories were constructed from the interview data. These coding categories were used to explain in what ways participants articulated their understanding of their own practice with respect to the planning for, and implementation of the P/V/R structure. Table 1 shows the categories used to analyze interview data.

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Table 1.

Coding Categories.

Planning for P/V/R Scaffolded integration

Implementing P/V/R Challenges of planning

Facilitating language transfer

Scaffolding content learning

Students’ engagement through P/V/R

FINDINGS The findings of this exploratory study are organized around the two broad categories of planning for and implementation of P/V/R. Excerpts from participants’ responses to the interview questions are presented and discussed to exemplify the findings. These categories also helped to answer the research questions. (1) In what ways do participating teachers demonstrate an understanding of planning for P/V/R? (2) In what ways do participating teachers understand the implementation of P/V/R as a tool for language and content development of emergent bilinguals?

Planning as Key for Lesson Delivery Data from teachers’ interviews reveal that thoughtful planning facilitates instructional delivery and fosters students’ learning. In this section, three ideas that arose from the data are discussed: (a) purpose for planning P/V/R, (b) a constructivist approach to plan for the structure, and (c) the challenges teachers face in planning for P/V/R at different grade levels. Purpose for Planning P/V/R Teachers showed they understood the purpose of P/V/R as twofold: a bridge to understanding and building on previous concepts without repetition. As Teacher A explained Through my planning I want my students to understand and make connections between the 2 languages during the view lesson. In addition, when we do the review of concepts learned, it allows me to clarify misunderstandings or to plan for re-teaching.

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Planning for the use of the first language provided important support for students. Most of the teachers interviewed clearly stated that the structure allows students to make connections across concepts and languages which, in turn, facilitates learning. Teacher K stated: P/V/R helps students become familiar with concepts, and review them. In addition, it provides time to help struggling learners “review” important units of study and further develop their language abilities.

Furthermore, participants demonstrated an understanding of the importance of not repeating the same activity across languages to avoid concurrent translation. They articulated through examples from their planned lessons that the goal of planning for P/V/R is to facilitate a cognitive bridge between understandable and new information in the target language. In addition, thoughtful planning of P/V/R helps teachers avoid repetition of information as they build from previous concepts to new concepts woven across the three components of the structure. Teacher H explained: Review activities can be the presentation of a project to share understanding, an exit ticket, a reflection, a question/answer session. For example, if the lesson is on natural resources, students could participate in a short readers theater about natural resources. Students can work in groups to write a short story told from a tree’s perspective during writers workshop and read it during the review part of the structure or show their learning with a thinking map and present it to their peers. Even though they are not being taught the same concept twice, they hear and see the words discussed in both languages and make those connections across languages and concepts or content areas. It shows how today’s lesson is an extension of yesterday’s lesson.

A Constructivist Approach to Planning for P/V/R Interview data revealed participants’ constructivist perspective in the planning of the P/V/R structure. A theoretical underpinning of this structure is the concept of teacher mediation in the construction of knowledge through the use of specific strategies. For example Bunch et al. (2012) consider this perspective as micro scaffolding or the purposeful integration of strategies to make the input comprehensible in everyday teaching. Teacher F explained how scaffolding provided by P/V/R helped students make important connections: It is important to frontload, scaffold our instruction so that EBLs are able to make better connections and go deeper in their understanding. Like I mentioned before, P/V/R allows the teacher to scaffold new concepts, particularly if the student has no background knowledge of the topic.

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As supported by researchers including Mercuri and Ebe (2011), Freeman and Freeman (2002) and, more recently, Bunch et al. (2012). Bunch et al. promote curricular integration, skilled practitioners, both team-teachers and self-contained teachers have been able to integrate the PV/R structure across the curriculum. Teacher F describes her integrated planning process with P/V/R: I try where possible to integrate subjects. That helps me introduce a topic in one subject area and then continue with more detail during the View in the L2 class. The Review takes about 5 min after the class and helps me confirm understanding or clarify questions.

In all dual language teaching contexts, 90/10, 50/50, one-way, and twoway programs, participants in the study have been creative in the ways they plan for the structure to facilitate language and content development in different content areas across grade levels. The example from teacher A below is an example of the application of the structure across disciplines and show how she also includes the standards from the Texas state TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills): We look at the TEKS we are to cover with our grade level and decide how we can arrange Language Arts, Social Studies and Math TEKS to tie into our Science units. All Science content is previewed during LA as meaningful lessons.

A revealing aspect of the implementation of the strategy is that it seems to support students at different proficiency levels in the continuum of language development. The constant communication between team-teachers who share the responsibility for instruction of the same group of students and the team planning are key to provide the support for content and language development of all students in both languages across classrooms. The following comments from teacher E provides a Math/Science standpoint: I am fortunate to work closely with my partner teacher. We plan every week and I have seen the fruits of PVR. We also have two new arrivals and 2 students from the mainstream classes join the previews. I understand how important it is to discuss the lesson and vocabulary with my partner. I “briefly” discuss what the students will learn in their L2 that particular day;

In sum, purposeful planning facilitates the delivery of instructional events aligned with a standards-based curriculum. Thoughtful planning also allows teachers to target students’ higher order thinking skills. In addition, it creates opportunities for the selection of appropriate biliteracy practices and resources to build background knowledge and facilitate language

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transfer. This seems to happen through P/V/R across grade levels and programs as teacher J explains: I look at how I can integrate the science into my language arts block when applicable. If not, I work with my partner teacher to plan the appropriate lesson to implement in the 10 15 minutes I have for preview or review during my class time. My partner and I discuss what we are teaching and then pick out books or questions that we discuss with our kids based on the topic being taught. We brainstorm ideas, or books that we can share. It’s effective when both teachers collaborate and plan so that both can target students’ needs.

Challenges of Planning Throughout the interview data multiple references to the challenges of planning for the P/V/R structure were made by participants. There were two salient challenges mentioned by all interviewees: (a) lack of time for both planning the structure and (b) lack of Spanish resources to supplement the content areas through any of the component of the structure. Time. Of the two challenges, and based on interview data, time seemed to be of the most concern for all participants regardless of the type of program and grade level. Although it was a challenge, teachers also found that it was important to plan for the PV/R structure as teacher E describes: Over the course of the last few months, the planning has become a little easier to manage. It is something that requires additional time and finding resources. One challenge is in regards to time both the time required to plan and prepare, and the time to fit PVR into a schedule with school days being what they are interruptions, changes, etc. PVR time has sometimes been shortened or skipped.

Also, teacher C explained: Having to find videos for 5th grade material becomes a very difficult and time consuming event sometimes

Even though participants discussed the lack of time to plan the structure they also agreed on the importance of its instructional use. Teacher C explains its demands and benefits: While it is more of a teacher’s time spent doing this, planning and taking more time from other subjects but is worth it academically.

And teacher K sums up the challenges and benefits: For us it has been a big challenge to meet, share ideas and prepare the P/V/R lesson plan. I think is more work for teachers but is good that we see the difference now with the L2 for LA and Math.

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Lack of Resources in Spanish. In addition to time as a challenge, participants explained that Spanish materials are scarce. The lack of materials makes their planning for the structure somewhat difficult and timeconsuming. Several teachers mentioned this challenge. Teacher A said: Finding Spanish material for Preview and Review can be difficult, especially supporting materials besides books such as visuals and other literacy resources.

and teacher K added: Sometimes it’s hard because the Reading/Language Arts teacher has to translate a lot of resources. It would helpful to have more bilingual resources.

From the data there is a clear tension between the time and effort it requires to plan for the P/V/R structure and the effectiveness that teachers see in its implementation. Overall, most teachers agreed that it is worth the time and effort to plan the structure in their daily instruction. The following section reports findings related to the second research question. Implementing P/V/R as a Tool for Learning Language and Content Most of the participants interviewed mentioned the importance of using the P/V/R structure as a tool for language development and content learning. In addition, interviewed teachers reflected on the importance of scaffolding instruction to support the acquisition of knowledge in the different content areas. Finally, teachers agreed in that using the P/V/R structure facilitates students’ engagement with the task and fosters academic learning. Language Development and Language Transfer Several of the teachers interviewed reported that the structure supports the transfer of content vocabulary and content learning. The references they made to cross-linguistic transfer could be organized in three categories: (a) the transfer of vocabulary across languages through different language domains; (b) the identification and use of cognates; and (c) the application of new vocabulary to literacy tasks. Vocabulary Acquisition in the Content Areas. Three teachers mentioned vocabulary acquisition in general through the use of P/VR. Teacher B talked about planning around vocabulary: After team planning we discuss about how we will present the topic for the week. We focus on the mayor vocabulary words for Math and Science so they can transfer across languages.

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In addition, teacher H mentioned how P/V/R supports language transfer specifically: PVR also increases their vocabulary, assists in making connections and transferring knowledge between the two languages.

In addition, teacher G and teacher D commented that students acquire new vocabulary through listening and speaking: When the students listen to the lesson in L1 first, they will be more familiar with the new terms, vocabulary, and the topic. The preview/view/ review structure lends itself well to reinforcing oral vocabulary which at times is complex.

Cognates. Several participants explained the importance of using P/V/R for cross-linguistic transfer through the identification and use of cognates. This practice aligns with the idea that if teachers use their students’ L1 as a resource for language and content learning, the P/V/R structure could facilitate students’ achievement in their L2. Three teachers (teachers D, H, and E) discussed vocabulary acquisition through the structure. First, teacher D explained: It exposed them to the vocabulary and definitions and at the same time they learned the many cognates associated with these words.

This was reinforced by teacher H’s comment: It helps students build a stronger foundation in their native language through the use of cognates and recalling prior knowledge helping students transfer linguistic skills to L2.

In addition, teacher E stated: Students learn and build the content vocabulary in their native language and can easily relate certain vocabulary in English due to cognates.

Literacy Tasks. A few participants discussed literacy events associated with the P/V/R structure as a scaffold to facilitate language transfer. The CREDE report (Genesee, Lindholm-Leary, Saunders, & Christian, 2006), The National Literacy Panel (August & Shanahan, 2006), and research by Goldenberg (Goldenberg, 2008) suggest that literacy skills and knowledge transfer across languages. Teacher J commented: Writing in their morning journals what they learned or viewed the previous day brings in lots of vocabulary as well.

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Teacher B also believed that P/V/R supported vocabulary development: I believe that (P/V/R) needs to be integrated in the reading or writing components so the students understand the vocabulary.

From the data it is evident that all participants understand the possible impact that the P/V/R structure could have on students’ content learning and language transfer. It is also apparent that the level of cross-linguistic transfer that participants see possible by using this strategy is mainly at the lexical level. Content Learning through Scaffolded Instruction When analyzing participants’ responses in regard to the implementation of each part of the Preview, View, and Review structure, teachers were able to explain each component separately including scaffolding activities and scaffolding strategies to use in each part to facilitate students’ content learning (Freeman & Johnson, 2005; Rea & Mercuri, 2006; Walqui, 2007). Teacher J describes each part of P/V/R. First preview and introduce vocabulary and process of concept, for example books, Brain Pop in Spanish, etc. In the view section the lesson is taught by experiments, the use of manipulatives, and assignments. The review will often have a problem to solve reviewing steps, processes and vocabulary in the native language.

Participants’ responses provide evidence of their understanding about the impact the structure could have on students’ development of content learning They also explained the purpose of using the first language as a contextualization scaffolds to support students’ active participation in content areas classes. Teacher B explained that: P/V/R is like a door that is opened to a new concept in their native language. After having done preview, we can scaffold upon that with the language of instruction.

Her explanation is also supported by teacher H’s comment: Visuals and other strategies used during the Preview help to set them up for success and make learning of new concepts more meaningful when they go to their academic language content subject.

Teacher C also explained the importance of using scaffolds to support students’ co-construction of knowledge with teacher support: I use something interesting to activate student’s prior knowledge and to get student’s attention during the preview. The view is the actual modeling/lesson. The review occurs after students have been exposed to all of the material. Because connections have been made to the real world and prior experiences, students are better prepared to receive

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the new content. On other occasions, I use anchor charts or short videos. In addition, and after viewing the lesson with my partner teacher, I make sure I review important vocabulary words, and concepts or procedures they have learned trying to clarify or extend their understandings.

Examples from the data also reveal that the effective planning and implementation of the P/V/R structure fosters higher student engagement with the task. When students are engaged, they develop both language and content. Student Engagement with Learning through P/V/R It was important for the study to provide insights not only on participants’ perceptions on their ability to plan for and implement the P/V/R structure but also to record their perceptions on how students reacted to each of the components of P/V/R. The level of student engagement reported by participants in this study could be associated with the use of the students’ L1, which makes content comprehensible, builds background knowledge, and facilitates their active participation during second language instructional time. Data show that an effective P/V/R structure presents well-developed activities across content areas and languages. It also shows the interconnectedness between each part of the structure, which in return facilitates students’ engagement with learning as exemplified by Teacher A’s response: The activity that I think worked really good was when we were doing the preview for Uncle Sam. We talked about money and students colored and cut some dollars bills. They took the money for the View in Social Studies and they were talking about Uncle Sam and how he collected money according to the family income and the number of people who live in the house. At the end of the activity students gave some money away and they understood what Uncle Sam will use that money for.

Teacher F commented not only on engagement but also on the fact that both groups, native Spanish speakers and native English speakers benefitted from the structure. It has been great. They are more engaged and vocabulary is expanding, they retain a lot more and actually remember. We are targeting both groups of language learners!

Interview data show that the teacher participants were mindful in their planning of activities that facilitate engagement with learning through the P/V/R. Teacher D explained: PVR provides students with the opportunity to connect with background knowledge they may have in their native language; and, it also gives them the time to discuss/share in their native language their thoughts, ideas, and questions. We need to keep in mind

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that ESL students are learning two things at once; language and content so activities should be engaging.

The analysis of the findings of this preliminary study on teachers’ reflection provides insights to the potential positive effects of the thoughtful planning for and implementation of P/V/R as a tool for teaching and learning for EBLs. The following section provides a summary of the findings for each research question.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS FOR EACH RESEARCH QUESTION This exploratory study provides insights into the use and potential benefits of using P/V/R as an instructional tool. Summary of Findings for Research Question 1 In what ways do participants demonstrate understanding of planning for preview/view/ review?

Data from the interviews revealed that participants demonstrated an understanding of planning for P/V/R structure as a tool to facilitate content learning and language development in both languages across different disciplines. Findings showed that teachers used a constructivist approach for planning with a clear integration of strategies across disciplines through the units planned. They took into consideration what students knew and were able do as they planned Preview, View, or Review with their partner teachers or individually. The planning focused on bridging for understanding across languages and concepts and building on previous knowledge without repetition. The activities designed for each component of the structure provided opportunities for students to negotiate meaning as they worked collaborative with other students and the teacher. Summary of Findings for Research Question 2 In what ways do participants understand the implementation of P/V/R as a tool for language and content development of emergent bilinguals?

Findings reveal that the P/V/R structure has the potential to facilitate crosslinguistic transfer. Multiple examples exist in the data that demonstrate how the use of vocabulary facilitates the transfer of content concepts across

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languages. It shows that students can negotiate meaning across languages by using their knowledge of content academic vocabulary and cognates. This ability to transfer concepts from L1 to L2 puts Krashen’s theory (1992) of comprehensible input and Cummins (2007) Interdependence Hypothesis into practice. According to Krashen (1992), students learn language and content when they receive comprehensible input. By using the students’ first language during the Preview or Review part of the structure, teachers support students’ understanding of content. The interconnectedness of the ideas through the different activities and languages provides opportunities for content and language transfer. Furthermore, the strategies teachers’ used as scaffolds in all three components of the P/V/R structure facilitated students’ engagement with learning. Likewise, activities described in the interview data show that making connections to students’ background knowledge is key to facilitate students’ acquisition of both, language and content, in each lesson The use of this structure seems to facilitate schema building as clusters of interconnected concepts and establishes the connection that exists between and across ideas. In addition, it helps students gain perspective with regard to where ideas fit in the larger scheme of things. In sum, data reveal that all teachers interviewed demonstrated a clear understanding of how to plan for and implement the structure, the purpose and implications of its implementation, and the level of students’ engagement with leaning through its use. The following section presents a discussion on implications and recommendations for school administrators, professional developers, teachers and teacher educators regarding planning and implementation of the P/V/R structure.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS There are several implications of this preliminary exploratory study. The following section sums up implications for planning and for implementation as well as presents a series of recommendations.

Implications Since EBLs need support in developing academic literacy, planning seems to be an important step in providing the support needed by EBLs. Effective

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teachers could provide support through a well-planned P/V/R structure used as a tool for content learning and language development. Moreover, if teachers plan these well-thought-out activities for each part of the P/V/R structure they could also facilitate students’ engagement with the content they are learning and the task they need to accomplish. Similarly, teachers’ deep understanding of the P/V/R structure seems to be key in the delivery of well-planned P/V/R activities with the goal to facilitate the transfer of academic vocabulary of the content areas, including cognates and literacy skills. Furthermore, if teachers use multiple scaffolds in the delivery of each component of the P/V/R structure, they provide EBLs better access to the curriculum, support their full participation in all class activities, and foster EBLs’ content and language development through engaged learning. Below a set of recommendations for district administrators, professional developers, teachers, teacher educators, and researchers is provided.

Recommendations The following recommendations are suggested for maximizing the pedagogical advantages of using PVR to facilitate EBLs’ second language acquisition and academic language proficiency in the content areas: (1) Districts should provide teachers with time to plan the structure since time seems to be a challenge. (2) Districts should be flexible in the schedules for teachers who are implementing the P/V/R structure. These teachers cannot follow the same schedule that monolingual mainstream teachers follow. Their schedule should allow them to manipulate their time in order to fit all three components of P/V/R in their daily schedule. (3) Teachers should be offered professional development on (1) models of effective P/V/R exemplar mini-lessons including time to plan with other teachers in the same grade level and (2) aspects of cross-linguistic transfer besides vocabulary development. (4) Teachers should receive professional development on how to plan and implement activities that foster cross-linguistic transfer using P/V/R. The effective implementation of P/V/R could facilitate cross-linguistic analysis by identifying similarities and differences between the two languages used for instruction enhancing students’ metalinguistic awareness and fostering language development.

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(5) Teacher educators should further explore the potential of this structure as a form of translanguiging pedagogy (Garcı´ a, 2014) since the structure allows for the flexible use of EBLs’ language practices to help them understand new concepts and develop the academic discourses of the classroom building on their strengths. (6) Based on the existing research on translanguiging as a pedagogical practice (Garcı´ a, 2012, 2014; Garcı´ a et al., 2012), future research should continue to look into the re-conceptualization of P/V/R as one technique for building transglossic spaces (Celic & Seltzer, 2012; Garcı´ a, 2012, 2014). This is important for dual language programs in particular EBL so that EBLs develop dynamic bilingualism and a bi-directional biliteracy proficiency (Reyes, 2012). (7) Teachers’ action research should also be encouraged so that teachers can observe and reflect upon how this dynamic bilingualism and the creation of transglossic spaces is created in classrooms.

LIMITATIONS This exploratory qualitative research has some identifiable limitations. The sample size was small. In order to make the results generalizable, it would need to include a larger number of dual language educators implementing the P/V/R structure on regular basis. In addition, observations of teachers implementing the different parts of the structure and follow-up interviews are needed. Furthermore, observation of students’ response to the implementation of the structure should also be included. For this preliminary study, interview questions in regard to their planning for and implementation of the structure may have over-reported good practices. While open-ended interview questions were used to mitigate this bias, follow-up observations could also minimize the effects of this type of bias by corroborating teachers’ responses to their classroom implementation of the P/V/R structure.

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Bunch, G. C., Kibler, A., & Pimentel, S. (2012). Realizing opportunities for English learners in the common core English language arts and disciplinary literacy standards. Paper presented at the Understanding Language Conference at Stanford University, Stanford, CA. Celic, C., & Seltzer, K. (2012). Translanguaging: A CUNY-NYSIEB guide for educators. New York, NY: The Graduate Center, The City University of New York. Creswell, J. W. (2005). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. Cummins, J. (1981). Bilingualism and minority language children. Ontario: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Cummins, J. (2005). Teaching for cross-language transfer in dual language education: possibilities and pitfalls. TESOL symposium on dual language education: teaching and learning two languages in the EFL setting. Symposium conducted at Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey. Cummins, J. (2007). Promoting literacy in multilingual contexts. The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/ research/cummins.pdf Cummins, J. (2008). Teaching for transfer: Challenging the two solitudes assumption in bilingual education. In J. Cummins & N. H. Homberger (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Springer Science. Cummins, J., Bismilla, V., Chow, P., Cohen, S., Giampapa, F., Leoni, L., … Sastri, P. (2005) Affirming identity in multilingual classrooms. Educational Leadership, 63(1), 38–43. Dall’Alba, G., & Sandberg, J. (2006). Unveiling professional development: A critical review of stage models. Review of Educational Research, 76(3), 383 412. Diaz-Rico, L. (2013). Strategies for teaching English learners (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. Egbert, J., & Ernst-Slavit, G. (2010). Access to academics: Planning instruction for K-12 classrooms with ELLs. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Erikson, L. (2007). Concept-based curriculum and instruction for the thinking classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Escamilla, K., Hopewell, S., Butvilofsky, S., Sparrow, W., Soltero-Gonza´lez, L., Ruı´ zFigueroa, & Escamilla, M. (2014). Biliteracy from the start. Literacy squared in action. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Publishing. Freeman, D., & Freeman, Y. (2002). Closing the achievement gap. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Freeman, D., & Freeman, Y. (2009). Effective reading instruction for English language learners. In Z. Han & N. Anderson (Eds.), Second language reading research and instruction: Crossing the boundaries (pp. 102 116). Ann Arbor, MI: Michigan University Press. Freeman, D., & Johnson, K. (2005). Toward linking teacher knowledge and student learning. In D. Tedick (Ed.), Second language teacher education. International perspectives (pp. 73 95). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Freeman, Y., Freeman, D., & Mercuri, S. (2005). Dual language essentials for teachers and administrators. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Gall, J., Gall, M., & Borg, W. (1999). Applying educational research. A practical guide. New York, NY: Longman.

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MAINSTREAM TEACHERS IN TWOWAY IMMERSION PROGRAMS: BECOMING CONTENT AND LANGUAGE TEACHERS Ester de Jong and Katherine Barko-Alva ABSTRACT Teachers’ ability to identify and link content and language objectives is an important skill. This chapter explores how two-way immersion (TWI) teachers with a mainstream educator negotiated the shift to becoming a language-focused TWI teacher. We argue that it cannot automatically be assumed that these teachers have the knowledge and skills to attend to language issues. Specifically, our study examined how TWI teachers in three schools defined academic language and how they integrated language development into their practice through the use of language objectives. Our qualitative study features a constructivist framework using a thematic analysis of our data, which consisted of individual interviews and surveys with the teachers. Our analysis shows diverse interpretations of academic language and increased awareness of the role of language in their teaching and experienced benefits of making language objectives explicit, as teachers participated in professional development.

Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals Advances in Research on Teaching, Volume 24, 107 126 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3687/doi:10.1108/S1479-368720150000024005

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Selecting and designing specific language-supporting activities, however, continued to be a challenge. We conclude that professional development needs to consider teachers’ different understandings and awareness of the role of language in the classroom. We also note that taking on the role of a language teacher may require a significant shift in assumptions about teaching and learning for teachers with mainstream teacher preparation and experiences and may depend on instructional context. Keywords: Two-way immersion; mainstream teachers; teacher preparation; language objectives; content-based language teaching

INTRODUCTION We asked Daisy (pseudonym), a workshop and research project participant, what the term language objectives meant to her. In her first interview, she responded as follows, “Language objectives would almost be like the same thing as our learning schedules, what are our objectives for what we are teaching.” Later in the school year, we followed up and asked her whether she sets language objectives in addition to content objectives. Daisy said, “Well, (…) we are tying in the vocabulary as well as the objective for science … the vocabulary is like mountain, bolder, rock, sand, and soil.”

In this chapter, we argue that professional development for dual language teachers needs to consider the needs of teachers whose primary experiences prior to teaching in a two-way immersion (TWI) program have been as mainstream teachers. Daisy’s example shows that these teachers’ awareness of the role of language in school may be different from that of specialist bilingual or English as second language teachers. When they have worked primarily with native speakers, mainstream teachers may not have developed an awareness or understanding of language demands in the classroom when they begin to work with emergent bilinguals in the context of a TWI program.

PURPOSE The purpose of this chapter is to show how TWI teachers with a mainstream educator background, who were engaged in professional development activities related to academic language development, negotiated the shift from teaching in the mainstream to a TWI classroom setting. The

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chapter first briefly outlines the role of content and language integration in second language teaching and more specifically in TWI programs. We then analyze data collected in the context of professional development to illustrate the challenges that mainstream teachers may encounter as they try to embrace a language teacher identity. We conclude with recommendations for dual language teacher preparation.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS When teachers choose to become bilingual or English as a second language (ESL) teachers and pursue this career formally through teacher preparation, they are socialized into prioritizing language and cultural diversity in their thinking about teaching. They understand how language and cultural differences can be a barrier to learning and know they must mediate this diversity (de Jong & Harper, 2005). However, not all TWI teachers have been socialized through this framework. While formal data on TWI teachers and their backgrounds have not been collected, anecdotally it is reported that minority or partner language teachers in TWI programs are sometimes prepared as foreign language teachers in the United States or, more frequently, they were mainstream teachers in their own countries. Similarly, due to district/school realities, English language TWI teachers are frequently mainstream teachers recruited from within the school or the district. Although they are dedicated teachers, they have not always received formal preparation to teach emergent bilinguals within a dual language program context. There is a growing research body on mainstream teachers and their preparation and attitudes toward working with English language learners (e.g., de Jong, Harper, & Coady, 2013; Lucas, 2011). However, there is little known research on the experiences of mainstream teachers in TWI programs and how they might need to negotiate the shift from teaching in a mainstream classroom to TWI classroom setting. The research on mainstream teachers suggests that some may be unwilling to make adjustments to their instructional practices in response to the presence of emergent bilingual learners (Reeves, 2004; Walker, Shafer, & Iiams, 2004). They may be misinformed about second language acquisition and these misconceptions may result in frustration or unrealistic expectations for their students (Pettit, 2011). If teachers make accommodations for their English learners, it appears that sheltering instruction through comprehensible input

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strategies is more likely to occur than specific linguistically relevant or targeted instruction (Coady, de Jong, & Harper, 2011; de Jong & Harper, 2008; Lucas & Grinberg, 2008). The research leaves us with an important question regarding how mainstream teachers, who now find themselves in a professional environment (i.e., a TWI program) where the integration of language and content and identification of language objectives is expected, respond to this shift. The purpose of our research was to examine this question in the context of professional development for TWI teachers in three schools in one school district. Specifically, we explored the following two research questions: (1) How do TWI teachers with a mainstream preparation background define academic language? (2) How do they integrate language development into their practice through the use of language objectives?

SIGNIFICANCE The integration of language and content is increasingly recognized as key to the academic success of emergent bilinguals in school. Teachers’ ability to identify and link content and language objectives is therefore an important skill to develop. While language teachers are typically trained in this area, mainstream teachers are generally not given this opportunity. It cannot automatically be assumed that, when mainstream teachers become TWI teachers, they have the knowledge and skills to attend to language issues. This research helps us understand some of the challenges that these teachers might encounter, whether they teach in English or the partner language.

TWO-WAY IMMERSION PROGRAM CONTEXT The research on two-way immersion programs draws from effective bilingual education for minority language speakers and effective foreign language teaching for majority language speakers (Cloud, Hamayan, & Genesee, 2000; Freeman, Freeman, & Mercuri, 2005; Howard, Sugarman, Christian, Lindholm-Leary, & Rogers, 2007; Lindholm-Leary, 2001). A two-way immersion (TWI) program is a dual language education program that uses two languages for instruction with the purpose of developing

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bilingualism and biliteracy and high levels of academic achievement in both languages. TWI programs enroll a balanced number of majority language and minority language speakers. Most programs in the United States include Spanish as the minority partner language, but other languages are also used as languages of instruction, such as Mandarin Chinese, Korean, and French. The TWI directory maintained by the Center for Applied Linguistics estimates over 400 TWI programs nationwide, up from 250+ programs in 2000. The two most common models are the 90:10 model and the 50:05 model (Lindholm-Leary, 2001). In the 90:10 model, 90% of instruction is initially through the minority language and 10% in English, with a gradual increase in instructional time in English. In the 50:50 model, 50% of instruction is conducted in each language for the duration of the program. In the United States, TWI is unique because of the dual enrollment of fluent speakers of both languages, English and a partner language. In many programs, a twoteacher model is implemented, that is, one teacher teaches exclusively in English and the other teacher in the partner language. Both teachers share the same group of students (Howard & Sugarman, 2007). In some models, one teacher teaches in both languages and functions as a dual language model. The latter situation sometimes occurs when the TWI group size has become too small due to attrition to warrant two classrooms. In other cases, this model may be chosen when there are not a sufficient number of teachers proficient in the partner language.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Our study took place with teachers in three Spanish/English TWI programs in one school district. The schools in which the programs are housed have a high enrollment of low-income students. Seventy percent of all students in school A, 46% in School B, and 61% in School C are eligible for free and reduced lunch. The first two TWI programs started in 2009 with the support of Title III funds. Both programs are strands within their schools. That is, some of the students in the school are in a TWI program, in a strand, and others are not. These two schools have added one grade level to the program each year. Both had incorporated TWI from kindergarten to 5th grade by 2013 2014, the time of the study. In the fall 2013, the third school in the study added a strand with two grade levels, kindergarten and first grade. The students who have fluency in the partner language in all

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three schools are Spanish/English speakers with diverse language abilities in English and Spanish. Each school implements a 50:50 TWI model. The students spend the morning in one language and the afternoon in the partner language. Teachers switch the morning and afternoon groups every two weeks to ensure equal exposure to both languages. At most grade levels, there are two teachers, one who teaches in Spanish and the other who teaches in English. Due to attrition, however, two grade levels in one of the schools have one teacher who teaches in both languages (4th and 5th grade). There are 29 teachers in the dual language programs in these three schools. Their teaching experience ranges between 4 and 25 years. The teachers have different second language teaching preparation: four teachers completed a degree in bilingual education or ESL and two became certified by passing the state test. Florida has a requirement that teaches who work with emergent bilinguals must obtain an ESOL endorsement. At the time of the study, 4 5 teachers were still taking in-service course work to meet this requirement. The remainder of the teachers had completed their in-service course work for the endorsement. By and large, however, the teachers have had very little professional development related to bilingual education or TWI prior to teaching in the TWI program.

LITERATURE REVIEW Content and Language Teaching Teaching grammatical structures and vocabulary discretely and in isolation is no longer the norm in K-12 second language teaching. Although a focus on form continues to be relevant, language educators today emphasize the importance of contextualizing grammar and vocabulary instruction for both academic and social communicative purposes. Both content-based language teaching and the consideration of emergent bilinguals within mainstream content classrooms challenge teachers to simultaneously consider linguistic and content demands (Bigelow, Ranney, & Dahlman, 2006). Regardless of the specific implementation model, integrating language into content areas requires that teachers purposefully create opportunities for language. Bilingual educators have been aware of differences in the ways we use language in and outside of school for many years. Cummins’ classic

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distinction between Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) noted the specialized ways that language and literacy are used in the classroom, different from outside the classroom (Cummins, 1979, 1981). Although the distinction has been criticized by several scholars (e.g., MacSwan & Rolstad, 2000), the understanding that the use of language in school makes both different and specific language demands on K-12 emergent bilinguals is now a commonly accepted notion (Anstrom et al., 2010). The knowledge that students need access to “the vocabulary, language structures, and cognitive language necessary to perform well in school” (Herrera & Murray, 2011, p. 285) has had a significant impact on teaching practices for students for whom English is an additional language. Most recently, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have drawn attention to the specialized use of language within specific content areas (Van Lier & Walqui, 2012). For example, in math, the authors of the CCSS comment on the needs of English language learners. Instruction should include a focus on “mathematical discourse” and “academic language” because these are important for ELLs. Although it is critical that students who are learning English have opportunities to communicate mathematically, this is not primarily a matter of learning vocabulary. Students learn to participate in mathematical reasoning, not by learning vocabulary, but by making conjectures, presenting explanations, and/or constructing arguments. (Common Core Standards Initiative, 2014, p. 2)

The above-mentioned developments highlight academic language, and literacy as an important goal for all learners, including ELLs. In short, integrating language and content has become all but axiomatic in the field of second language teaching in the United States (Bigelow et al., 2006).

Supporting Content and Language Teaching There is a gap between knowing the language and the ability to use language to learn and acquire new knowledge. Valde´s (2004) observed that students who attended traditional second language classes with a focus on form and grammatical rules often were not adequately prepared to meet the language demands in the content classes in which they were expected to participate. In her study, she showed that limited access to opportunities to develop academic language proficiency was as an important explanatory variable for the underachievement of emergent bilinguals.

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Swain (1995) coined the term “comprehensible output” to emphasize that mere access to comprehensible language input was insufficient for second language learners in schools. Teachers also need to create opportunities for students to use the language productively, negotiating their communicative intent with others both orally and in writing. This goal can be achieved, for instance, through cooperative learning activities (Slavin, 1994). Activities that purposefully bring students together and provide targeted tasks that encourage students to collaborate and talk facilitates oral language production. Simple collaborative structures (i.e., where working and talking together is encouraged or permitted but optional), however, may not always effectively promote students’ academic language development. Saunders and O’Brien (2006) suggest that classroom activities, where students who are in the process of acquiring language proficiency simply work alongside of those who are already proficient in the target language, do not necessarily produce positive results for the former. In order to support language development, teachers need to consider the design of the task, preparation for language proficient students so that they are able to promote the language development of those students who are yet to be proficient, and the language proficiency level of those students who are in the process of acquiring proficiency (see also Gibbons, 2002). Cooperative learning, graphic organizers, visuals, and the implementation of thematic units where students can explore content while using their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills across the two languages are common strategies recommended for TWI classrooms (Freeman et al., 2005; Howard et al., 2007).

Linguistic Challenges in Teaching Language and Content The integration of language and content also requires that teachers pay explicit attention to the linguistic features of the content areas and scaffold social and academic language development (Echevarrı´ a, Vogt, & Short, 2013; Met, 1994). Various scholars have identified potential areas of difficulty for second language learners in the content areas, including ambiguous vocabulary, grammatical constructions, discourse features as well as cultural differences (e.g., Carrasquillo & Rodriguez, 1996; Crandall, 1995). Others approach discipline-based language use through the framework of register or genre, highlighting discourse features and grammatical choices that characterize language use within, for example, math (Cuevas, 2005;

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Stein, 2007) or science (Bruna, Vann, & Escudero, 2007). Understanding the requirements of the content area register fosters opportunities for emergent bilinguals to access content area knowledge (Slater & Mohan, 2010).

Language Objectives Lyster (2007) and Gibbons (2002) stress the importance of developing a linguistic syllabus that is derived from and guides content instruction. A linguistic syllabus includes identifying specific language objectives that allow students to have access to the academic language needed to participate in the lesson plan activities. Language objectives are specific learning objectives related to the language demands of the lesson and may include skills, language functions and language structures, grammar, and vocabulary. Setting language objectives as an integral part of teaching helps both to teach and mediate the academic language needed so that students can access content and participate in the lesson (Clancy & Hruska, 2005; Echevarrı´ a et al., 2013). Language and content objectives should be visible in the classroom as well as accessible, so that they can be discussed with students (Echevarrı´ a et al., 2013). Designing lessons that explicitly include language objectives requires teachers to identify and manipulate the forms, mechanics, and uses of language and promotes teachers’ understanding on how language works (Fillmore & Snow, 2002; Lucas & Grinberg, 2008). In this study, we worked with teachers to help them understand the importance of developing both language and content and helped them understand how to create language objectives to help emergent bilinguals’ access academic contents. With the increased realization of the need for emergent bilinguals to better access content in K-12 teaching came developments within the field of ESL and foreign language teaching that supported the shift from grammarfocused instruction to contextualized language teaching. Content-based language teaching emerged as a more effective approach to engage students in more motivating and meaningful language learning (for overviews, see Kaufman & Crandall, 2005; Snow, Met, & Genesee, 1989; Stoller, 2004; Swain, 1996). Given the context of teaching in TWI programs, it is not surprising that integrating language and content is an integral feature of these programs. Since every classroom has first and second language speakers of the target language, simultaneously sheltering content instruction and scaffolding for language development and language use is a necessary ingredient for effective instruction in TWI programs.

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METHODOLOGY Data Sources Our qualitative study features a constructivist framework (Grbich, 2007). Constructivism is based on the tenet that knowledge is constructed from experience (Almala, 2005). Reality is constructed by the individual while undergoing the learning process. As our participants engaged in the learning process, we documented their experiences seeking to gain an insight on how TWI teachers with a mainstream educator background, who were engaged in professional development activities related to academic language development, negotiated the shift from teaching in a mainstream to TWI classroom setting. For this study, we used various data sources collected at different time intervals including interview data, survey data, and classroom observations. We also took field notes during our 10 professional development workshops: six for K-4 teachers in 2012 2013 and three full-day workshops for K-5 teachers in Fall 2013. The 2012 2013 workshops focused on the following topics: (1) making connections between the two languages, (2) language objectives and academic language, (3) using small group work to support language objectives, and (4) vocabulary planning. In the Fall 2013, the adaptation of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol for TWI programs (TWIOP, Howard, Sugarman, & Coburn, 2006) was presented in a series of three full-day workshops. The components of the TWIOP addressed in the Fall were preparation, background knowledge, and vocabulary and lesson delivery with a focus on comprehensible input and peer interaction. In addition, we participated in a lesson plan study session that took place in grade cluster groups (K-2; 3 5) and by language of instruction (four lesson plan studies total). The mainstream teachers in our study participated in these different experiences. For our study, we conducted semi-structured interviews (Bernard, 1988) with eight K-2 teachers focusing on academic language and academic language teaching strategies (Fall, 2011) to better understand how teachers viewed these terms. We also surveyed 21 out of the 29 TWI teachers. The first survey was designed as a series of open-ended questions that focused on how teachers chose their language objectives and whether or not their language objectives supported academic language instruction. Teachers were asked to identify the language function and form within their language objectives (Survey I, Fall, 2012). The second survey was administered at the end of a series of four workshops focusing on academic language and was designed as an evaluation of the workshops (Survey II, Spring, 2013). More

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specifically, this survey explored if teachers’ understandings related to academic language, use of language objectives in their instruction, and the design their instruction to support academic language development had changed.

DATA ANALYSIS For our semi-structured interviews, we identified excerpts where teachers discussed academic language, academic language development, and language objectives and analyzed these excerpts thematically (Boyatzis, 1998). We used our reflective notes during the lesson study and workshops as secondary sources and analyzed these also thematically with a focus on the teachers’ interactions around language objectives and activities they indicated they had designed to support their language objectives. Finally, the evaluative survey was analyzed by calculating simple percentages of how the teachers had rated items related to language objectives before and after the workshops. As we were helping teachers understand language objectives, we focused on language functions and sentence frames. We also emphasized cooperative learning as an important tool to provide students with opportunities to use academic language.

FINDINGS Our thematic analysis suggests that building language awareness as well as integrating language and content is part of a broader professional identity development. There are two parts to this story. The first part describes how teachers first conceptualized academic language, and how they perceived it, for the most part, as vocabulary teaching. The second part focuses on the practice of identifying language objectives and organizing the classroom to support those objectives. What Is Academic Language? The concept of academic language and its development was quite unfamiliar to the teachers. When asked directly, it was not an easy task for the teachers to describe academic language. As one teacher explained, “When you asked it before, I mean, I never really thought of the term academic language before.” When prompted, teachers without ESL/bilingual education

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certification emphasized conceptual and vocabulary teaching as the core dimensions of academic language in the classroom. During the interviews, the teachers stressed that academic language was related to content learning. Teachers are responsible for making sure students were interested in the content and could participate. As one teacher explained How I academically would want to teach to these children in a way they could understand and see growth academically in them through the years how what are the ways and the way I would teach to them so I know that they understand what I saying to them and I am giving them the best that I can give them for them to academically progress.

As we prompted teachers for a more language-oriented dimension of academic language, they turned to the importance of vocabulary as part of the language of content. Well, I tried to put a lot of words around the room like vocabulary when we read a book you know I have these charts back here I copy the cover and then we pull out the words that are important.

For most of the TWI teachers, academic language was linked to content: the language they teach. They considered the term in terms of cognitive thinking and ways that they could make content accessible. When prompted to think about linguistic dimensions of academic language, teaching vocabulary emerged as the dominant dimension of academic language.

Language Development through Language Objectives Like the term “academic language proficiency,” the emphasis on language objectives was new to the teachers. They had not been asked previously to write the language objectives for students to see and to communicate them explicitly to them. Our workshops helped them consider different academic language functions (explaining, expressing cause and effect, comparing) and the different ways that those functions are carried out linguistically. Reporting back at the workshops about their experiences, the teachers noted that the inclusion of language objectives positively affected their practices. In the workshops as well as on Survey I, teachers said that implementing language objectives enabled them to better focus their lesson plan while teaching language. They pointed out that using language objectives made them more aware of what they needed to actually teach the students in terms of the language. One teacher noted that, when she gives her students a frame, “they can understand the story so much better by that language that

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they are able to use”. When talking about “frames,” this teacher references the sentence frames used to support language objectives. These sentence structures and signal words or phrases help emphasize what (academic) language students are expected to use (Zwiers, 2008). During the workshops, teachers engaged in various activities and received multiple resources that provided example of language functions and frames in English and Spanish (e.g., Dual Language Education of New Mexico, 2013). An interesting contrast occurred between the mainstream English teachers and the teachers teaching in Spanish. For teachers using English as the language of instruction in their classroom, the implementation and scaffolding of sentence frames was at times seen as unnecessary. In the workshops they often reported that they saw writing language objectives as a cumbersome additional step, despite the noted benefits. It was harder for them to see the language that needed to be taught explicitly. For those using Spanish as the language of instruction, the use of sentence frames created opportunities for academic Spanish language production for both English and Spanishspeaking students. When asked about what they found most helpful during our professional development workshops, Spanish-language teachers pointed out in the final survey: “How to introduce academic language and language objectives. How to help student learn what we want or expect by helping them with the language to be used” (response final survey 2013).

Incorporating Language Objectives In our professional development workshops during SY 2012 2013 and Fall 2014, we focused on teachers’ understanding and implementation of language objectives and academic language. Our goal was for teachers to identify, develop, and teach academic language based on language objectives. In addition, we paid closed attention to how teachers were able to cultivate language objectives during small group tasks by understanding the use of functions and vocabulary planning. Our second survey during May 2013 confirmed teachers’ increased comfort, awareness, and familiarity with integrating language objectives. The results show that before our series of workshops, teachers scored an average of 3.3 (i.e., rated themselves as moderately able) on a five-point Likert scale across all items related to language objectives. In particular, teachers initially rated themselves lower on the following items: “language objectives are important to support academic language development” (M = 2.6), “I am able to identify and write language objectives and content

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objectives” (M = 2.8); “I am able to identify language functions and structures while writing my language objectives” (M = 2.9); “I can distinguish between a language function and a language structure (M = 2.8).” After the professional development, teachers rated themselves much higher with a mean score of M = 4.65 overall. On the items they had initially ranked themselves the lowest, they now rated themselves at M = 3.8; M = 3.6; M = 3.6, and M = 3.5, respectively. Incorporating language objectives systematically into their teaching on a daily basis continues to be challenging for some teachers. For instance, during the lesson study workshops in the Fall of 2013, we observed that identifying a language objective that matched the content activities language demands was still not easy. Once identified, it proved challenging to design activities to specifically support the language objectives during the implementation of the lesson plan. Although teachers identified the language objectives during the planning stage and discussed the importance of teaching vocabulary and modeling the language structures needed for the group activities, the latter was often skipped during the actual teaching of the lesson. This phenomenon made us aware of the importance of paying explicit attention to how small group or partner work can and need to be structured to support language objectives. Our survey data showed that, on average, the TWI teachers had moderate to good awareness of the importance of cooperative learning to support language development as a result of our first year PD (Survey II; 3.6 prior to 2nd year workshops; 4.2 after workshops; maximum = 5.0). Common cooperative structures like thinkpair-share, Numbered Heads together, and jigsaw activities were shared as examples of practice at the workshops (Kagan, 1989). When cooperative structures are an integral part of the TWI classroom, TWI teachers need to also consider how the activity elicits or encourages student to use certain language structures. This allows cooperative learning to support and scaffold not only conceptual learning but also language development. In short, teachers were aware and capable of identifying language objectives as illustrated by our survey results, but language considerations for implementation appeared to still be an add-on step for them rather than a given in practice.

DISCUSSION Our work highlights the importance of acknowledging that not all teachers come to a TWI program prepared to teach content with a language focus.

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When existing mainstream teachers in the school or district or from other countries are hired to work in the program, professional development needs to consider their professional, cultural, and linguistic background. In this section, we discuss the lessons learned in our study. The first lesson we learned was that professional development needs to take into consideration teachers’ initial stance toward academic language and their understanding of the role of language in school. Our teachers’ understanding differed somewhat from notions of academic language as they have been put forth in the literature. Our teachers conceptualized academic language more as part of general learning (cognition) rather than a discipline-specific register. This conceptualization of academic language as “the way teachers teach content” stresses the cognitive dimension rather than the linguistic dimension of learning. Moreover, when prompted, teachers without ESL/bilingual certification stressed vocabulary as the main language dimension of their teaching. These foci stand in contrast to common frameworks on academic language proposed by Scarcella (2003) and through systemic functional linguistics (see Bailey, 2007; Brisk, 2012; Gebhard & Willett, 2008; Schleppegrell, 2004; Shin, 2009; Slater & Mohan, 2010; Walker, 2010) which emphasize the linguistic features that characterize the language of school at the word, sentence, and discourse level (Anstrom et al., 2010). We argue that the cognitive stance is reflective of a mainstream teacher orientation that does not yet include awareness of language as a medium of instruction. As TWI teachers, these mainstream teachers need to learn to look at language, not just through language (de Jong & Harper, 2005). They also need to see that academic language use and hence language development goes well beyond vocabulary teaching. Understanding the importance and relevance of language objectives for teaching in TWI context appeared easier for the Spanish-language teachers. We think this is because they needed to negotiate a wide range of proficiency levels, including monolingual English students with low levels of productive Spanish. The teachers therefore saw more directly how language was a barrier for these students and recognized the need to mediate it. The teachers could see immediately how the scaffolding provided by the sentence frames that were linked to the language objectives made a significant impact on the students’ ability to use Spanish (Walqui & van Lier, 2010). More guidance as to how language objectives can be differentiated for different proficiency levels across the two languages is needed. Finally, we argue that a shift in classroom instructional practices that align with the effective integration of language and content may move

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through phases. We wonder if becoming less teacher centered in the classroom and observing the impact of peer interaction on student engagement and learning may be an important first step for mainstream-oriented teachers to embark in the journey of becoming content and language teachers. We surmise that this initial shift to increase peer interaction creates the potential to then consider what kind of language students could be encouraged to use. Learning to use cooperative learning allowed for a transitional period that built the confidence to then structure students’ language use in more precise ways. The latter, of course, is key for all students to successfully develop the linguistic tools they need to succeed in schools.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATORS Based on our study and our experiences, we want to highlight the following implications for teacher education and professional development. • Finding #1: Teachers’ conceptualizations differ from professional literature Professional development and teacher preparation needs to take into consideration different understandings and awareness of the role of language in the classroom. As pointed out in our findings, teachers’ understandings of the various aspects of language development play an important role in a TWI classroom. We cannot assume that all TWI teachers have been socialized professionally into a language teaching framework. Teachers need to develop an understanding of language demands in the different content areas. They need to be able to analyze these demands in order to integrate language and content development in their lesson plans. • Finding #2: The relevance of language objectives may be perceived differently across languages Professional development for TWI teachers needs to take into consideration the differentiated contexts of teaching and learning across the two languages (de Jong & Howard, 2009). It is more likely that students have more access to English outside of school than to Spanish this context supports English language and literacy development differently than Spanish language and literacy development. The integration of language and content across all subject areas will foster opportunities for targeting

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language instruction (i.e., implementing language objectives) and creating effective spaces for students’ language production. • Finding #3: Peer interaction and language use Embracing the role of language teacher requires the application of a language lens to instruction. This affects not only the identification of language objectives but also a re-examination of practices (such as cooperative learning) from a language development perspective. Implementing cooperative learning activities may facilitate greater awareness of the role of language in the classroom. Once opportunities for language production have been created, teachers can examine language targets. Professional development activities and teacher education needs to provide teachers with opportunities to reflect on their role as language and content teachers and provide them with the skills to design instructional activities that effectively integrate language and content learning.

LIMITATIONS Our study has several limitations. First, observations across teachers should be conducted over an extended period of time. Analyzing a limited set of participants allowed us to go in-depth into their understandings; however, a larger pool of participants could offer a broader picture in our efforts to understand the shift mainstream teachers experience while becoming language and content teachers. Second, our data collection process should have been approached more systematically so its methodology could be replicated for future research. We relied primarily on our field notes and surveys of the workshops. Other data collection tools would have strengthened our ability to document the workshop experiences and their impact on teachers’ practices.

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Pettit, S. (2011). Teachers’ beliefs about English language learners in the mainstream classroom: A review of the literature. International Multilingual Research, 5, 123 147. Reeves, J. (2004). “Like everybody else”: Equalizing educational opportunity for English language learners, TESOL Quarterly, 38, 43 66. Saunders, W., & O’Brien, G. (2006). Oral language. In F. Genesee, K. Lindholm-Leary, W. Saunders, & D. Christian (Eds.), Educating English language learners: A synthesis of research evidence (pp. 14 63). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Scarcella, R. (2003). Academic English: A conceptual framework. Technical report 2003-1. University of California Linguistic Minority Research Institute. Schleppegrell, M. J. (2004). The language of schooling. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Shin, S. (2009). Negotiating grammatical choices: Academic language learning by secondary ESL students. Science Direct, 37, 391 402. Slater, T., & Mohan, B. (2010). Cooperation between science teachers and ESL teachers: A register perspective. Theory into Practice, 49, 91 98. Slavin, R. (1994). Cooperative learning: Theory, research and practice (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Snow, M. A., Met, M., & Genesee, F. (1989). A conceptual framework for the integration of language and content in second/foreign language instruction. TESOL Quarterly, 23(2), 201 217. Stein, C. (2007). Promoting mathematical discourse in the classroom. Mathematics Teacher, 101(4), 285 289. Stoller, F. L. (2004). Content-based instruction: Perspectives on curriculum planning. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 24, 261 283. Swain, M. (1995). Three functions of output in second language learning. In G. Cook & B. Seidlhofer (Eds.), Principle and practice in applied linguistics: Studies in honor of H. G. Widdowson (pp. 125 144). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Swain, M. (1996). Integrating language and content in immersion classrooms: Research perspectives. Canadian Modern Language Review, 4, 529 548. Valde´s, G. (2004). Between support and marginalization: The development of academic language in linguistic minority children. Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 7(2 & 3), 102 125. Van Lier, L., & Walqui, A. (2012). Language and the common core state standards. Understanding language. Stanford University School of Education. Retrieved from http://ell.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/academic-papers/04Van%20Lier%20Walqui% 20Language%20and%20CCSS%20FINAL.pdf Walker, A., Shafer, J., & Iiams, M. (2004). “Not in my classroom”: Teacher attitudes towards English language learners in the mainstream classroom. NABE Journal of Research and Practice, 2(1), 130 160. Walker, E. (2010). A systemic functional contribution to planning academic genre teaching in a bilingual education context. Language Awareness, 19(2), 73 87. Walqui, A., & van Lier, L. (2010). Scaffolding the academic success of adolescent English language learners: A pedagogy of promise. San Francisco, CA: WestEd. Zwiers, J. (2008). Building academic language: Essential practices for content classrooms grades 5 12. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

FREEDOM WITHIN STRUCTURE: PRACTICES FOR TEACHER SUSTAINABILITY, EFFICACY, AND EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENT SUCCESS Dawn Wink ABSTRACT This chapter explores those things that hinder the implementation of effective practices of teachers working with emergent bilinguals within the educational and political landscape of ever increasing educational reform efforts. The focus is on strategies for transforming elements of these teachers’ experiences into effective and sustainable practices. Research was conducted in bilingual and immersion elementary classrooms (Spanish-English) in public schools in a city in the southwestern United States. The research question that guided the study was How can the Goal Spiral a structured plan designed for teachers to incorporate personal and professional goals into their daily teaching change teachers’ views of their teaching and simultaneously meet the needs of emergent bilingual students Research was conducted using a mixed

Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals Advances in Research on Teaching, Volume 24, 127 148 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3687/doi:10.1108/S1479-368720150000024006

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methods study of interviews and an analysis of teachers’ responses to research survey questions. Research focused on pedagogical practices, as well as teachers’ energy and professional well-being and their effects on emergent bilingual students. Implications for teacher education programs and mentoring of in-service bilingual teachers were identified and discussed. Keywords: Goal spiral; reflective cycle; sustainable practice; strategies for engagement

INTRODUCTION I just had a meeting with my principal to go over learning targets. We now have to train our students to say, “The learning target for this lesson is X. I will know I know it when (Insert measurable objective, i.e. data/score).” I had to ask, “What about the organic process of learning that goes on between teacher and students in a lesson that is not measurable by a robotic learning target?” It is that connection between teacher and student that is immeasurable. I used to think I could just retreat into my room with my students and make a little bubble. Educational leadership is what it is precisely because they lose sight of the student (even in the name of helping the student). It becomes about power, advancement, policies, not about people. The human element is lost. Raquel, 3rd grade Bilingual Teacher

In the rising tide of an overwhelming amount of testing, glorification of standardized achievement data, and the lack of quality teaching time that accompany these, in-service bilingual teachers express frustration and disillusionment with education and with themselves for the lack of effective practices they feel they are able to bring to their students. This chapter explores practical and effective practices that bilingual teachers can weave into the daily course of their teaching. These practices can strengthen and inspire teachers, serving to improve the learning of their emergent bilingual students. The field of bilingual education risks a continued loss of effective, caring, pedagogically sound teachers if current trends persist. When educators continue to feel a disconnect between their authentic teaching selves and the educational practices and policies that they are forced to engage in, they feel demeaned and powerless to help their students. This is what Palmer refers to as “a divided life” (2009, p. 4). Conversely, increased authentic engagement, relevant to students’ and teachers’ own lives, can lead to an increase in both teachers’ and students’ joint creation of an undivided life.

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PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to find and define specific ways for teachers to teach authentically and support academic success for emergent bilinguals within the structure of current reform efforts that include standardized testing and prescribed curriculum. Teachers who participated in this study identified the combination of standardized testing and controlled curriculum as the key factors having the greatest impact on their professional practices, their efficacy in instruction, and subsequently on the overall success of their bilingual emergent students. Their descriptions of their experiences articulate Palmer’s (2009) description of “a divided life.” This study examined the following question: (1) How can the Goal Spiral, a method to increase instructional relevancy, change teachers’ views of their teaching and help them meet the needs of emergent bilingual students? The purpose of this research was to inform and support teachers in their profession by providing quality instruction to bilingual emergent students within the context of the specifically identified educational reform areas: standardized testing and scripted or controlled curriculum.

SIGNIFICANCE Education in the United States finds itself at a crossroads of meeting the needs of an ever increasing numbers of emergent bilingual students (Ballantyne, Sanderman, & Levy, 2008) and a shortage of bilingual teachers. (American Association for Employment in Education, 2008). One in four public school students in the United States now speaks a language other than English at home, and the number of emergent bilingual and immigrant children in U.S. schools continues to grow daily (Nieto, 2013). Bilingual teachers face the challenge of educating emergent bilinguals in the context of high stakes test. Teachers often become discouraged because they need to help students develop the academic English they need to succeed academically and pass tests that are designed for native English speakers. This research is significant because it studies the effect of an approach to working with inservice bilingual teachers designed to help them meet these challenges.

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SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS This investigation took place within a school district in a large city in the southwestern United States. The schools reflect the complex nature of the regions’ history and contemporary cultural, social, and political dynamics (Wink, 2009) with tensions evidenced between different groups (Go´mez, 2007). This school district encompasses dramatic socio-economic differences with extremely wealthy families living alongside others in stifling poverty. These realities cause tensions and create the classroom contexts of the teachers and emergent bilinguals. Public schools in the district have over a 50% dropout rate from high school. The teachers selected for this study were intentionally selected for their dedication to working with emergent bilinguals and the field of bilingual education, their diversity of background experiences, and their diversity of school settings. These teachers work in different schools, each with its own demographics, and socio-cultural and academic culture. The purpose of selecting these teachers was to provide a range of experiences and perspective. Each teacher selected had demonstrated expertise and dedication to critical thought and dialogue in formal and informal settings through years of teaching and coursework. All teachers selected had been observed in their classrooms multiple times over several years. The teachers selected mirror the demographics of the students in bilingual education programs: Anglo, northern New Mexican Hispanic, and Mexican immigrant. All names used are pseudonyms. A short description of each teacher follows: • Raquel Georges was an ESL instructor in Costa Rica for 20 years. She has taught Spanish at the college and high school levels in the United States and has spent the past five years as a fourth grade teacher in a dual language program. • Manuel Villafuerte has taught for two years in a second grade bilingual program. Prior to this, he taught for two years in Spain. He previously taught Spanish literature but now is pursuing graduate work in bilingual education because he believes that he can “make a greater difference.” • Magdalena Martinez has been a first grade dual language teacher for four years. A native of Ciudad Jua´rez, Mexico, Magdalena chose bilingual education because she felt a kinship for students and parents that, like her, “are trying to find their way in a country much different from her own.”

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• Polly Smith has been teaching elementary school for nearly 20 years. She moved from an English-only classroom to a bilingual classroom six years ago because of her desire to work with emergent bilingual students. She has a special passion for literacy. Due to the varying number of years in the teaching profession, diversity of teaching experiences in the United States and internationally, and distinct school environments, student demographics, and administrations, these teachers represent different experiences and perspectives. They also reflect a range of experiences with standardized testing, prescribed curriculum, and years in the profession.

LITERATURE REVIEW Multiple factors influence academic success for emergent bilinguals. This literature review examines (1) effects of cultural context on student learning and (2) approaches and strategies for emergent bilinguals’ success.

Cultural Context The effects of cultural context, specifically whether students’ heritage language and culture are embraced or denied, have a profound impact on the academic success of emergent bilinguals. Nieto (2013) explored the influence of societal, educational, and ideological contexts of schools on teachers and students. Her research revealed that teachers’ lack of personal or professional experience with diversity often created miscommunication, mistrust, and discomfort between teachers and students (Nieto, 2013, p. 17). Nieto concluded her study by observing, “Holding students’ social and academic backgrounds constant, the researchers found that teachers in high-poverty schools with lower-achieving students often underestimated their students’ abilities (Nieto, 2013, p. 15).” Similarly, a 2010 national MetLife survey revealed that highly satisfied teachers, the majority of whom worked in affluent schools, held strong beliefs in their students’ success and equally strong beliefs in their own ability to help their students succeed. However, teachers in low-income schools with students of diverse backgrounds did not believe their students could succeed or that they could help them succeed. Similar findings were reflected in Ready and Wright’s (2011) research focusing on the connections between

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students’ socio-economic and demographic backgrounds and teacher expectations for success. Research conducted by Skutnabb-Kangas (1987) explored the correlations between cultural context, teachers’ perceptions, and student achievement. This research revealed that the underestimation of students’ abilities is a problem in schools around the world. Skutnabb-Kangas investigated why Finnish school children could emigrate anywhere in the world and succeed academically, except Sweden. Her research suggests that the determining factor is teachers’ perceptions and assumptions. Finland was a colony of Sweden for nearly 800 years. Through her study, Skutnabb-Kangas discovered that teacher’s perception of Finnish children often reflected the characteristics of colonizer and colonized, with teachers’ perceptions and expectations marginalizing Finnish students. The marginalization experienced by Finnish heritage students by Swedish teachers resulted in the selffulfilling prophecy of diminished academic success for these students. Skutnnab-Kangas (2000) commented, “Often an individual or a group has been forced, by punitive, remunerative, or ideological means, to internalize other more powerful groups’ exo-definitions of who this individual or group is, for instance that it is a tribe speaking a dialect, instead of a nation or a people speaking a language” (p. 160). This internalization may also explain Hispanic students’ lack of academic success. While the number of Hispanic students attending schools has increased exponentially in recent years, Hispanic students continue to have a high dropout rate (Stetser & Stillwell, 2014). I conducted research centered on the question of why Spanish-dominant students in a pedagogically sound dual immersion language program routinely did less well academically than their English-dominant peers (Wink, 1998) and concluded that the Spanish-speaking students had internalized negative expectations for themselves and that this was the deciding factor for the lack of academic success experienced by Hispanic students as a group in this dual immersion program.

Approaches and Strategies for Emergent Bilinguals’ Success What does it mean to be a teacher today, when students are more diverse in language, culture, race, and social class than ever before? What does it take to thrive, when the demands of teaching have never been greater? (Nieto, 2013, p. xiii). These questions reflect themes that emerge through the work of Nieto (2013), hooks (1994), Palmer (2009), Noddings (2005),

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and Skutnabb-Kangas (1987) who suggest that the roles of hope, joy, resilience, and respect can be present in grounded, sound pedagogical practices. Pedagogy influences the academic success of emergent bilinguals. Sandretto’s work (Sandretto & Klenner, 2011) around critical pedagogy and Foucault’s (1984) “ethics of the care of the self” (p. 352) provide insight. In Foucault’s view, the care of the self does not occur in isolation, but is “a true social practice” (Foucault, 1988, p. 51), which takes place within the wider social context. Sandretto argues that educators should use Foucault’s ideas to reflect on their own philosophies and bring their practices into alignment with their philosophy. Nieto (2013) interviewed 22 teachers of diverse backgrounds and school settings in search of common themes found within effective and culturally responsive teaching. Common themes that emerged through these interviews focused on the importance of teaching with a social justice perspective, considering the moral dimensions of teaching, advocating for students, and challenging what has been accepted. Based on the findings of this research, Nieto perceives teaching as an ethical act in which teachers’ honoring of students’ identities and belief in their future success play a primary role. Pedagogy and practices found effective for bilingual emergent student success are consistent with a number of research findings (Collier & Thomas, 2004; Crawford, 2004; Cummins, 2001; Freeman & Freeman, 2009; Krashen, 1982). Inherent to students’ academic success are a consistent use of instructional practices that engage students in meaningful and relevant ways with the content, their peers, and the teacher (Johnson, 2011). These instructional practices also create opportunities for respect and recognition of each student. As teachers and students engage meaningfully with the content and one another, the threat of unfounded negative assumptions, and their impact on students, is diminished. Padro´n, Waxman, and Rivera (1999) found that culturally responsive teaching, cooperative learning, and substantive conversations enrich instruction and can dramatically improve the academic success of Hispanic students.

THE GOAL SPIRAL Students learn effectively when they engage with relevant content in meaningful ways. Often, this is most effective through social interaction, based in language, thought, and critical reflection. Vygotsky’s theory of the Zone

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of Proximal Development (ZPD) (Wink & Putney, 2002) enriches learning in authentic ways for emergent bilinguals. Daniels and Zemelman (2004) have demonstrated the efficacy of this approach compared with simply reading from text. The Goal Spiral shown in Fig. 1 (Wink & Wink, 2004) is a structured guide to creating lesson plans based in content, meaning, and relevancy. The Goal Spiral scaffolds the creation of an individual plan for authentic teaching and learning for teachers and students. In this study, each teacher responded individually to specific exercises using the Spiral. The plan provided by the Goal Cycle is divided into four main segments: first, identification of personal goals for teaching and learning; second, prioritization of actions working toward goals deemed most important; third, application of these ideas in the classroom; and fourth, a completion of the original goal set. This plan leads from goal identification toward concise actions to accomplish the goal. Teachers individually responded to the following prompts in creating their plans using the Goal Cycle: (1) Identification: What are my goals? How do I envision the teaching and learning environment for my classroom? On a blank sheet of paper, teachers clustered ideas around the teaching and learning experience

Identification Quest #1: What are my goals?

Individual Goals Emerge from following Quest 1, 2, 3

Prioritization Quest #2: What brings me joy?

Application Quest #3: How can these joys enrich my teaching?

Fig. 1.

Goal Spiral. Source: Taken from Wink and Wink (2004).

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they wanted to create for themselves and their emergent bilingual students. This intuitive exercise was not bound by the realities of their school but based on their ideas of what drew them to education and the ideal learning environment they hoped to create for their students. (2) Prioritization: What brings me joy? What am I passionate about? What activities, colors, experiences, textures, sounds, experiences, scents, ideas bring me joy? In response to these prompts, teachers did a Quickwrite listing their joys and passions. These did not have to have anything overtly to do with school or education. The intention of this step was to reconnect teachers with authentic joys and passions. Joys included by the teachers included wildflowers, colors, textures, sunsets, blue doors, and many others. (3) Application: How can these joys enrich my teaching? How can I do this in a pragmatic way? In this step, teachers focused on two main ways to bring these authentic passions into the classroom: (a) to make time and (b) to bring joyful activities into the class. Teachers focused first on the first of these steps, making time. Teachers reviewed their lists and decided on three joys to include in their teaching within the following month and committed to these specifics in writing. Next, teachers listed these joys in a column next to a list of the curriculum they would be teaching in the next month. Teachers selected one element of the curriculum and wrote this in the middle of a blank piece of paper. Around that one content area, teachers then placed their selected joys. In the third ring surrounding the joys, teachers clustered connections between their own joys and the prescribed curriculum they were required to teach (e.g., passion for wildflowers led to study of native plants, traditional medicinal uses of plants, and edible plants.) These discovered correlations provided the content for the upcoming month. (4) Completion: Implementation of individual goals from steps 1, 2, 3. Teachers received a blank curriculum schedule and planned their next month (or several months) curriculum based on their responses to the Goal Spiral. Each teacher moved through the whole of the process to create an individual plan on how to bring authentic teaching and learning into their classroom for themselves and their emergent bilinguals. Teachers implemented their plan and kept notes on their experiences as a teacher and the effects of these experiences on their students. In addition to the Goal Spiral, teachers received instruction for strategies designed to be highly interactive and student-centered. The inclusion of

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Table 1. Teaching Strategies. Activity/Strategy Pass the paper

Mingle/cocktail

Conversation line

Conversation circle

Pair/share turn and talk Teaching with stones

Description Pairs or small groups of students pass paper with their ideas around in a circle related to chosen topic, each person writes at their turn, all in group help brainstorm. Students receive strips of paper with specific topics selected by the teacher and use these as they talk with several people in the class about topic. Students line up shoulder-to-shoulder in two lines facing each other. The teacher poses prompts for students to discuss with the person in front of them. When teacher brings that discussion to a close, students in one line shift one person over, so they are now standing in front of a new partner. Teacher poses another question or prompt for discussion. This continues through several prompts, each with students talking with a new partner. Similar to conversation line, except students in circles, rather than lines. One group of students stands in a circle with backs toward each other, facing outward. Another group of students stands in an outer circle, each facing a student in the inner circle. Teacher poses a question to discuss with their partner. With each new topic, one of the circles shifts in one direction, so that each student now has a new partner. This continues through several prompts, each with students talking with a new partner. Literally, turn and talk with your partner about content area. Well known and tremendously underutilized in classes. Teacher brings bags of stones or glass beads to class. Can be used to engage students with content and one another in a variety of ways.

these strategies was determined by the degree of engagement with the content and with peers for emergent bilinguals structured by the activity. The strategies were based on research that demonstrates emergent bilinguals achieve academically when content is grounded in a low-affective filter setting and a context that promotes high levels of student engagement with content and peers (Collier & Thomas, 2004; Crawford, 2004; Cummins, 2001; Freeman & Freeman, 2009; Krashen, 1982). The teachers involved in this study read about the strategies listed in Table 1.

METHODOLOGY A mixed methods framework (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004) framed this qualitative research study. Interviews and analysis of teachers’ responses to

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survey questions were approached with the guiding principles of a practitioner researcher (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Interviews with the teachers and the creation and collection of survey questions were approached with several assumptions and expectations. First among these was an assumption of collaboration among participants in the study. Practitioners were encouraged to theorize their own work. The boundaries between inquiry and practice were assumed to be blurred and dynamic (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009). Especially important within this methodology was the understanding by all involved regarding the supportive nature of this research. Teachers were encouraged to explore this educational terrain together in community, rather than in hierarchy, encouraging voices traditionally marginalized in education. This approach is consistent with Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) view of practitioner inquiry: With practitioner inquiry, the larger project is not making schools into communities so test scores will go up and classroom practices will be more standardized. The larger project is about generating deeper understandings of how students learn from the perspective of those who do the work. The larger project is about enhancing educators’ sense of social responsibility and social action in the service of a democratic society. (p. 58)

In addition to a questionnaire and interviews, teachers recorded their use of specific strategies and documented their effects on instruction and student reactions. I studied this documentation for common themes surrounding specific strategies and holistic influences on students, student success, and teacher sustainability. I met with the teachers for coffee or in their classrooms to talk about their lived experiences in their bilingual classrooms. I took notes during the interviews in the form of anecdotal records. Data Collection Menken, Kleyn, and Chae’s (2012) work reflects the holistic nature of informal interviews and how the subsequent interpretation of the content informs to improve the quality of the educational experience. A grounded approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) guided the data collection and analysis of this study. Consistent themes reflected in the data were identified with a series of codes. Collection of ethnographic data in the form of interviews and response to survey questions was ongoing through the study. Specific themes were coded throughout data collection.

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Data collection took place over the course of six months through informal interviews. Teachers completed questionnaires based on their experiences in their schools and classrooms. After the completion of the questionnaires, teachers received the Goal Spiral (Wink & Wink, 2004) and used it to holistically plan. Teachers incorporated the strategies into their overall plan and then took notes on the effects of the strategies.

Data Analysis The research data was analyzed in different ways. After each conversation session with the teachers, research notes were reviewed to look for common themes of that day’s conversation. The emergent themes were identified and emails were sent to the teachers identifying the themes and asking teachers if there were any significant ideas or themes they felt that had been missed in the review of interview notes. As the conversations and anecdotal records continued, the notes were color-coded. Teachers also kept notes on their experiences with the strategies. These notes were then color-coded according to theme. Teachers submitted the questionnaires, which were analyzed by how responses fell into common themes or introduced new areas for study. Dominant themes emerged and served to guide the decision about which areas to pursue in subsequent conversations. Teachers then individually focused on the ideas and plans that emerged from their work with the Goal Spiral. After teaching the plans that came from the Goal Spiral, each teacher individually reflected on the efficacy of their plans through the Reflective Cycle (Kolb, 1984; Wink, 2011). The Reflective Cycle provided the structure for teachers to reflect in-depth on the effects of the Goal Spiral on their teaching and on emergent bilinguals’ learning. Teachers kept notes on these effects. As teachers implemented their plans created by using the Goal Spiral, they reflected on their experiences through each stage of the Reflective Cycle describe, analyze, interpret/appraise, and act/transform. Fig. 2 shows the Reflective Cycle. The Reflective Cycle • Describe: Teachers described their experiences through conversation and writing. • Analyze: Teachers analyzed how different aspects of the Goal Spiral affected their teaching and their students’ learning.

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Action Plan

Describe

Experience Interpret

Fig. 2.

Analyze

Reflective Cycle. Source: Wink (2011).

• Interpret/Appraise: Teachers interpreted and appraised how implementation of different aspects Goal Spiral affected their teaching and emergent bilinguals’ learning. • Act/Transform: Teachers developed individual plans to act and transform their teaching and emergent bilinguals’ learning. Teachers wrote about each stage of their implementation of the Goal Spiral and kept notes on the effects on emergent bilinguals. The final stage of the Reflective Cycle was to create an action plan. Teachers took these action plans and implemented what was most effective in their classrooms. Teachers shared their experiences during informal interviews. The reflective nature of this data analysis (Brookfield, 1995) supported the potential for success for emergent bilinguals. Based on the teachers’ written responses from the questionnaires and anecdotal records, teachers took notes on their experiences with the Goal Spiral and Reflective Cycle, and the teachers and the author entered the analysis stage together. Anecdotal records were kept and transcribed in order to identify themes.

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FINDINGS The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of the use of the Goal Spiral and a set of strategies designed to increase emergent bilingual academic success through providing their teachers with specific methods to bring authentic teaching and learning into the classroom. Teachers responded to their experiences with the Goal Spiral and how these changed their views of their teaching and simultaneously met the needs of emergent bilingual students. Based on teachers’ responses to the questionnaires, their comments during the informal interviews, and their notes regarding their experiences with the Goal Spiral and Reflective Cycle the following findings emerged: Teachers reported the Goal Spiral was effective in providing tools to negotiate the difficult elements of teaching and strengthened their ability to create an effective learning environment for emergent bilinguals, even within restrictive school settings. They concluded that (1) the Goal Spiral was effective in helping them better serve emergent bilinguals through authentic and joyful learning. (2) highly interactive strategies encouraged emergent bilinguals toward academic success as students created relevance, thought critically, and worked in collaboration to bring joy and rigor (Freire, 1994) into the classroom for teachers and students. Teachers reported the Goal Spiral improved the learning environment for emergent bilinguals. The authentic, guided, and reflective nature of the Goal Spiral created opportunities to teach authentically, even within a prescribed environment. Teachers reported higher levels of student engagement, and teacher authenticity resulted in increased relevancy, sustainability, and energy in the classroom. Teachers’ responses to the questionnaire, conversations in information interviews, and experiences after with the Goal Spiral and Reflective Cycle resulted in an increased sense of connection with their students and the content. As Magdalena commented: En el salo´n de clase, creaba actividades que me mostraran a quien estaba ensen˜ando, es decir, trataba de buscar actividades de escritura donde los alumnos expresaran suen˜os, experiencias o gustos y eso me centraba de nuevo para saber que no estaba ensen˜ando a una institucio´n sino a seres humanos. Las lecturas en voz alta eran otro recurso de gran valor para esos dı´ as donde mi a´nimo decaı´ a. (“In the classroom, I created activities that demonstrated to me who I was teaching, which is to say, I tried to find writing exercises in which students expressed their dreams, experiences, or tastes and this centered me anew that I was not teaching an institution, but rather human beings. Reading

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aloud was another resource of huge importance on those days in which my spirits waned.”)

Through their experiences with the Goal Spiral and Reflective Cycle, teachers reported that they found freedom to teach from the authentic self. This led to their creation of meaningful and content-rich learning opportunities for emergent bilinguals. Manuel described this experience: Travel is one of my passions. I refined this Study Abroad unit by incorporating my excitement for exploring language, literature and culture into an interactive and technologically integrated experience for my students. Our conversations were led by my own passion for discovery. It was beautiful to hear the thoughtful, interesting, and sometimes hilarious contributions of each child to our packing list. The energy and interest levels are high and I’m looking forward to integrating each one of our destinations into the whole day’s curriculum.

As this quote shows, using the Goal Spiral and Reflective Cycle helped teachers find joy in their teaching as they used strategies to engage their students in the lessons they taught.

Pedagogy That Engages Students The Goal Spiral and Reflective Cycle helped teachers identify strategies, which improved the learning experience for emergent bilinguals. Manuel wrote: My favorite strategy has most certainly been Teaching with Stones. Not only do my students love the opportunity to express their individual ideas and learning, but the interactivity of the technique allows students to engage with one another, and it allows me as an instructor to assess comprehension and understanding of key concepts. Emotionally and professionally, this technique has also opened a door of communication between my students and I that was previously not fully open. Teaching with Stones allows for a wide variety of implementations, which promotes honesty and sharing within the group, often resulting in student willingness to share much more personal and introspective reflections than the usual manner of group discussion.

Teachers found that the Goals Spiral and Reflective Cycle helped them implement the consistent use of instructional strategies that structured emergent bilinguals’ exploration of content and critical thinking. Emergent bilinguals collaborated with peers, which increased their academic learning, communication, and relationships with one another.

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Joy in Teaching Teachers referred to the beneficial effects on emergent bilinguals’ learning. The students experienced the joy of learning, and teachers experienced joy in their teaching as the result of using the Goal Spiral and the Reflective Cycle Manuel wrote: Joys have been seeing the progress that my students have made ….Retrospectively, the struggle in achieving this has been great, but it has made me ever more vigilant in my expectations. The joy on the face of a student who has reached an academic milestone, or who continues to make marked improvement is astounding. It’s the culmination of the little achievements, which build to greatness that bring me insurmountable joy.

The experience of joy while teaching and with ones’ students is inextricably linked to teacher sustainability and efficacy, as well as the educational experience of emergent bilingual. Magdalena expressed her experience with this joy as: Los ojos de los nin˜os confiando en mı´ cuando me contaban sus historias familiares y sus suen˜os. Sabı´ an que yo los escuchaba y que para mi sus historias eran importantes. (The eyes of the children confiding in me when they told me of their family histories and of their dreams. They knew that I listened to them and their history was important to me.)

The data showed evidence that when students and teachers encounter highquality content, through rigorous and often joyful means, student success and teacher efficacy increase.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATORS Teachers found that using the Goal Spiral and Reflective Cycle increased emergent bilinguals learning and lifted even prescribed curriculum to new levels of critical thought and relevancy. Recommendations drawn from the findings of this study indicate that the integration of authentic interaction, collaboration, community, and joy are key factors in success for emergent bilinguals and for professional sustainability. Two key suggestions emerge to support the learning of emergent bilinguals: (1) Teachers educators can support teachers through frequent and sustained use of the Goal Spiral and Reflective Cycle. Teachers reported

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their use of the Goal Spiral and Reflective Cycle brought authenticity and renewed excitement into their teaching and into the learning of their emergent bilingual students. Teachers found that the Goal Spiral’s structure helped them integrate their own areas of expertise and passion into the content and expanded the learning of the emergent bilinguals in their classes. The Reflective Cycle provided the structure for teachers to identify which content and strategies of the plan created from their Goal Spiral were effective for their emergent bilinguals and which were not. This structured reflection on what was effective and what was not encouraged teachers to expand on their teaching strengths and decrease content or teaching weaknesses. Teacher educators’ guidance in how to use the Goal Spiral and Reflective Cycle can provide teachers with effective means to improve their teaching and increase their enjoyment of teaching. These both serve to improve the quality of education received by their emergent bilingual students. (2) Teacher educators can use the Goal Spiral and Reflective Cycle to help teachers compose engaged, intellectually rigorous lessons through the use of specific structures. Teachers reported that the structured guidance of the Goal Spiral and Reflective Cycle expanded and deepened the rigor and relevancy of their planning and teaching, even when working with prescribed curriculum. The expansive aspect of the prompts within the Goal Spiral can open teachers’ understandings of how to enrich their teaching with additional content and ideas. The focused stages of the Reflective Cycle help teachers to identify which content and strategies were effective and which were not. Teachers report that the combination of this expansive content, and focused reflection on efficacy increased the intellectual rigor and engagement of their lessons and the learning of their emergent bilinguals in their classes. Teacher educators’ guidance in how to use the Goal Spiral and Reflective cycle to create lesson plans and for critical self-reflection supports the learning of emergent bilinguals.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The most significant limitation of this study was the limited number of teachers involved. Similar studies should be conducted with more teachers so that the findings could be generalized to a broader range of teachers and

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emergent bilingual students. Another limitation of the study is the limited geographic range of teachers and students represented in this study. With all teachers living and teaching in a single town, a broader sample of teachers living and teaching in different geographic locations would have added to the perspectives and findings of this research.

CONCLUSIONS How Did This Self-Study Inform Me as a Teacher Educator? Teachers shared their stories and as they processed their experiences through the reflective cycle. Baldwin (2005) comments, “The art of storycatching focuses our abilities to heal ourselves and change the world around us through the stories we share (Baldwin, 2005, p. 32).” Teachers returned to their classrooms with deepened insights, understandings, and ideas. Teachers’ willingness to share their stories with other listening professionals deepened my understandings as a teacher educator. The research revealed that when they brought their authentic self to the classroom by using the Goal Spiral and Reflective Cycle, this increased student engagement. This authenticity and increased student engagement made it possible to work within a prescribed curriculum in a way that honored professional expertise. Nieto expresses a similar finding in her research, “Given the current context in which many teachers work, it might be hard for them to believe that they hold tremendous power, in fact wield more power over the lives and learning of children than almost anyone or anything else (Nieto, 2013, p. 13).” The Goal Spiral and Reflective Cycle can help teachers and emergent bilinguals experience freedom within structure, feel engaged, and experience a sense of connection between themselves and the content. Teacher educators and teachers must experience sustained episodes of joy in learning.

REFERENCES American Association for Employment in Education. (2008). Educator supply and demand research. Columbus, OH: American Association for Employment in Education. Baldwin, C. (2005). Storycatcher: Making sense of our lives through the power and practice of story. Novato, CA: New World Library.

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Ballantyne, K., Sanderman, A., & Levy, J. (2008). Educating English language learners: Building teacher capacity. Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition. Retrieved from http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/practice/mainstream_ teachers.htm Brookfield, S. (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (2009). Inquiry as stance: Practitioner research for the next generation. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Collier, V., & Thomas, W. (2004). The astounding effectiveness of dual language education for all (Vol. 2, 1 Winter 2004). Flagstaff, AZ: NABE Journal of Research and Practice. Crawford, J. (2004). Educating English learners: Language diversity in the classroom (5th ed.). Ontario, CA: Bilingual Education Services Inc. Cummins, J. (2001). Negotiating identities: Education for empowerment in a diverse society (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: California Association for Bilingual Education. Daniels, H., & Zemelman, S. (2004). Subjects matter: Every teacher’s guide to content-area reading. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Foucault, M. (1984). Truth and power. In P. Rabinow (Ed.), The Foucault reader (pp. 51 75). New York, NY: Pantheon Books. Foucault, M. (1988). The ethic of care for the self as a practice of freedom (J. D. Gauthier, trans.). In J. Bernaurer & D. Rasmussen (Eds.), The final Foucault (pp. 1–2). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Freeman, D., & Freeman, Y. (2009). Academic language for English language learners and struggling readers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Freire, P. (1994). The pedagogy of hope: Reliving pedagogy of the oppressed. New York, NY: Continuum Publishing Group. Go´mez, L. (2007). Manifest destinies: The making of the Mexican American race. New York, NY: New York University Press. hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. New York, NY: Routledge. Johnson, L. (2011). Teaching outside the box: How to grab your students by their brains (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Johnson, R., & Onwuegbuzie, A. (2004). Mixed methods research: A research paradigm whose time has come. Educational Researcher, October 2004 33(7), 14 26. Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon Press. Menken, K., Kleyn, T., & Chae, N. (2012). Spotlight on long term English language learners: Characteristics and prior schooling experiences of an invisible population. International Multilingual Research Journal, 6, 121 142. Nieto, S. (2013). Finding joy in teaching students of diverse backgrounds: Culturally responsive and socially just practices in U.S. classrooms. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Noddings, N. (2005). The challenge to care in schools (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Padro´n, Y., Waxman, H., & Rivera, H. (1999). Hispanic students: Obstacles and avenues to improved academic achievement. Houston, TX: Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence (CREDE). Palmer, P. (2009). A hidden wholeness: The journey toward an undivided life. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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Ready, D. D., & Wright, D. L. (2011). Accuracy and inaccuracy in teachers’ perceptions of young children’s cognitive abilities: The role of child background and classroom context. American Educational Research Journal, 48(2), 335 360. Sandretto, S., & Klenner, S. (2011). Planting seeds: Embedding critical literacy into your classroom programme. Wellington: NZCER Press. Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (1987). Bilingualism or not: The education of minorities. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Skutnnab-Kangas, T. (2000). Linguistic genocide in education or worldwide diversity and human rights? Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Stetser, M., & Stillwell, R. (2014). Public high school four-year on-time graduation rates and event dropout rates: School years 2010–11 and 2011–12. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Wink, D. (1998). Primary language Spanish-speaking student success in a dual immersion program. Master’s thesis, California State University/Sacramento. Wink, D. (2009). Raven’s time: Critical literacy in the American Southwest. Nottingham, United Kingdom. Critical Literacy: Theories and Practices, 3, 2. Wink, J. (2011). Critical pedagogy: Notes from the real world (4th ed.). New York, NY: Allyn & Bacon. Wink, J., & Putney, L. (2002). A vision of Vygotsky. New York, NY: Allyn and Bacon. Wink, J., & Wink, D. (2004). Teaching passionately: What’s love got to do with it? New York, NY: Allyn & Bacon.

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APPENDIX Questionnaire Teachers responded to specific questions related to their own educational experiences and the results of their integration of specific strategies and their plan for practical passion. Each teacher received and completed the following questionnaire: 1. Please write a brief biography of your years in education how many years, how many in bilingual education, and why bilingual education. What do you love about being a teacher in bilingual education? Anything else you feel like sharing. 2. What have been your experiences in teaching regarding the educational and political landscape of bilingual education? How has this been consistent or changed through the years? What other lenses of educational experience do you bring with you to the field and classroom of bilingual education? 3. What have been some of your greatest joys within bilingual education and the landscape of contemporary bilingual education? 4. What have been some of your greatest challenges and frustrations within bilingual education and the contemporary landscape of education? 5. A pronounced trend in standardized testing and prescribed curriculum has increased in recent years. What have been your educational, political, and emotional experiences around these changes? 6. When you find yourself discouraged and/or exhausted, where does this usually seem to stem from within education? When you feel frustrated or discouraged, where does this usually stem from in education? What do you do to cope with these frustrations/stresses? 7. Any other thoughts you’d like to share about any of this or anything else? 8. You’ve tried several of the strategies in “Teaching: Freedom Within Structure and Teaching with Stones.” Which strategies have you tried? What was your experience with these strategies? How did the students respond? How did you feel the content was addressed? How did you feel emotionally and professionally after? Please feel free to elaborate on any of this. 9. Please read the attached piece, “Teaching Passionately with Action,” the final chapter of the book, Teaching Passionately: What’s Love Got to Do with It? This is a somehow opposite approach to creating lessons

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and curriculum units than many other curriculum designs. Please do the steps as you read, so that by the time you finish reading, you have a concrete plan in your hand that you can try with your students in your classroom. Please give some elements of this a whirl and share with me what you did, how it went pedagogically and energetically, and how did you feel? 10. Thinking about this combination of engaged strategies, where students bring their real lives, opinions, and energy to an interactive lesson, how did this go? Do you feel this also addresses some of the identified aims of prescribed curriculum and standardized tests? 11. Please feel free to share any other thoughts, experiences, and musings around these ideas and strategies.

AN ART OF BEING IN BETWEEN: THE PROMISE OF HYBRID LANGUAGE PRACTICES Brendan H. O’Connor and Layne J. Crawford ABSTRACT While bilinguals frequently mix languages in everyday conversation, these hybrid language practices have often been viewed from a deficit perspective, particularly in classroom contexts. However, an emerging literature documents the complexity of hybrid language practices and their usefulness as an academic and social resource for bilingual students. This chapter examines hybrid language practices among English- and Spanishspeaking high school students in an astronomy/oceanography classroom in southern Arizona. Microethnography, or fine-grained analysis of video recordings from long-term ethnographic observation, is used to reveal what bilingual students accomplished with hybrid language practices in the classroom and to outline implications for teachers who want to engage their students’ hybrid repertoires. Specifically, the analyses reveal that careful attention to hybrid language practices can provide teachers with insights into students’ academic learning across linguistic codes, their use of language mixing for particular functions, and their beliefs about language and identity. The research is necessarily limited in scope because

Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals Advances in Research on Teaching, Volume 24, 149 173 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3687/doi:10.1108/S1479-368720150000024008

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such in-depth analysis can only be done with a very small amount of data. Nevertheless, the findings affirm that hybrid language practices can enrich classroom discourse, academic learning, and social interaction for emergent bilinguals. The chapter highlights a teacher’s story in order to offer practical guidance to other teachers who seek to capitalize on the promise of hybrid language practices in their own classrooms. Keywords: Hybrid language practices; microethnography; linguistic repertoires; language mixing

INTRODUCTION: ENCOUNTERING HYBRID LANGUAGE PRACTICES The public high school where Layne teaches science in an urban area of southern Arizona is a dynamic place where different cultures, languages, and belief systems converge. Layne’s students have a range of abilities in numerous languages but most speak Spanish and English. Recently, a student named Edgar arrived in her astronomy class from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, with no English background. In Layne’s view, the only options for communication were for her to use her very limited Spanish or to arrange for Edgar to have partners who were proficient in both languages. Layne reflected that she was supposed to be Edgar’s teacher, to help him learn what he needed to know, but that she was not enough. She felt that she did not possess what Edgar needed in order to succeed, and experienced a sense of desperation and panic due to her feeling of being linguistically limited as a teacher. Therefore, Layne chose to seek support from Edgar’s classmates. Choosing the right language brokers (Orellana, 2009), or linguistic and cultural mediators, for Edgar was not a simple task. His seat partners had to be proficient enough in English to comprehend high school science content quickly and also had to be able to translate and teach the material to Edgar in Spanish. After some reflection, Layne decided to pair up Edgar with Juan and Fidencio. Juan was a student who received high scores in all subjects, was a skilled writer, and was comfortable speaking Spanish, his first language (L1), and English, his second language (L2). While Fidencio did not appear to Layne to be as proficient as Juan in either academic English or academic Spanish, he contributed to the conversation and translation of lessons, which took place mostly, though not exclusively, in Spanish.

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One day, in Layne’s astronomy class, the three boys were engaged in the educational task at hand, playing a matching game to learn how stars are classified by temperature and color into different spectral classes. Meanwhile, they interwove their own life stories and discussion of everyday events with the classwork, just like every other group of students in any given high school. However, as they did so, they did not simply mix stories and content but mixed languages as well. In their Spanish conversation, Layne heard English words and expressions like “practice,” “I don’t know,” and “orange.” Fidencio was telling Juan and Edgar that he had basketball practice after school but chose to put the word “practice” in English, for some reason. Another student, Diego, had asked Fidencio in Spanish what was happening next in class, to which Fidencio replied in English, “I don’t know.” Then, as the students were discussing which spectral class matched with which color of star, the boys used the color name in English that is, “orange” instead of “ananaranjado” and “blue” instead of “azu´l.” Layne was curious as to why the boys had said “orange” and “blue” instead of the corresponding words in Spanish; when she asked the boys, they replied, “It’s a vocab word.” Layne began to realize that students do not blend languages arbitrarily but to achieve a purpose. The boys in this scenario had specific reasons for using words in English rather than Spanish, despite the fact that most of the conversation was in Spanish. In this instance, the purpose was to use color terms not as mere descriptors, but as astronomy vocabulary words connected to particular classes of stars. In this context, “blue” and “orange” functioned not just as color terms but as items of academic English since the English words had been learned in connection with the scientific topic the boys were discussing. While Juan and Fidencio intentionally created a linguistic environment where Edgar could participate, they also created one that fit their world, which is not limited either to Spanish or English. Between the space of academic English and the space of conversational Spanish, Layne reflected, the boys had created a “linguistic third space” (Flores & Garcı´ a, 2013) where they were able to draw on both codes as need and opportunity dictated.

PURPOSE AND SIGNIFICANCE As Layne listened to her students, she realized that their linguistic world was different from that taught as standard in her university teacher

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preparation courses. Most approaches to teaching emergent bilinguals are premised on what Cummins (2000, 2007) calls the “two solitudes” assumption: that is, the assumption that languages can or should be kept separate in language education. Even approaches that recognize the value of first language support for emergent bilinguals generally take for granted that there is a time and a place for the first and second language. However, Layne’s experience suggests that we have much to learn, as teachers and teacher educators, from the ways that students seamlessly integrate both languages into their lives and interactions. Promoting separate bilingualism may be useful to achieve certain pedagogical goals, but insisting on keeping languages separate can blind teachers to the creative potential of students’ flexible bilingualism, or their innovative use of multiple linguistic codes and registers to navigate an intercultural world (Creese et al., 2011). The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate what teachers have to gain from paying close attention to students’ hybrid, or blended, use of their linguistic repertoires. The concept of linguistic repertoire originated with the sociolinguists Gumperz and Hymes (1972) and has come to refer to “all those means that people know how to use and why while they communicate” (Blommaert & Backus, 2011, p. 3, italics in original). Teachers of emergent bilinguals, like Layne, are well aware that their students mix languages. However, our view of hybrid language practices in this chapter is not limited to the alternation between two language codes but aims to capture the nature of these practices as “a systematic, strategic, affiliative, and sense-making process among those who share the code” (Gutie´rrez, Baquedano-Lo´pez, Alvarez, & Chiu, 1999, p. 88). In other words, as in the previous example with Edgar, Juan, and Fidencio, the boys were not simply alternating between English and Spanish but were using both languages as part of an integrated sense-making process. Furthermore, this process incorporated multiple repertoires within the two codes, such as academic English terms to describe stars, alongside informal Spanish talk about basketball practice. As Layne discovered, the students’ use of various repertoires in the context of hybrid language practices provided a window into their lives and community. This study engages the following overarching research question: How can students’ hybrid language practices provide a useful starting point for teachers who want to engage these students’ life experience and diverse linguistic repertoires in the classroom?

We find de Certeau’s (1984) concept of tactics appropriate for describing how emergent bilinguals mix languages to pursue schooling on their own

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terms and craft identities that do not fit neatly into one cultural category or another. Tactics, according to de Certeau, are creative practices that take advantage of circumstances but “do not obey the law of the place” (1984, p. 29). “Sly as a fox and twice as quick” (de Certeau, 1984, p. 29), students who find themselves constrained by dominant language ideologies, policies, or expectations develop innovative ways of using language that serve their own purposes, if not the teacher’s or school’s, necessarily. Students may be subjected to restrictive state-level language policies, especially in a place like Arizona (see Arias & Faltis, 2012), or classroom environments where hybrid language use is not valued. Nevertheless, de Certeau (1984) reminds us, even when people have limited options, they “make do” (p. 30) within oppressive situations and introduce elements of unpredictability and creativity: Without leaving the place where he (sic) has no choice but to live and which lays down its law for him, he establishes within it a degree of plurality and creativity. By an art of being in between, he draws unexpected results from his situation (p. 30, italics in original).

Just so, students’ hybrid language practices defy the law of language education as “two solitudes” (Cummins, 2000, 2007) and speak back to language attitudes that stigmatize and devalue language mixing. At the same time, their “art[s] of being in between” (de Certeau, 1984, p. 30) open our eyes as teachers and researchers to the challenges of academic and social identity facing emergent bilinguals, as well as to the tremendous potential embodied in students’ diverse linguistic repertoires. As Layne reflected on the interaction above, she remarked, “The students can’t just be in English or Spanish because they don’t live their lives in one language or the other.” Our task in this chapter is to describe what teachers can learn from emergent bilinguals’ hybrid tactics and to suggest what impact it might have on classroom practice. Specifically, we describe how hybrid language practices can support learning, serve different functions in teacher-student and peer interaction, and shape students’ identities. As inservice teachers encounter increasing numbers of emergent bilinguals, they may be surprised to find that such practices, which are often dismissed as inappropriate for an academic setting, can be a valuable resource for understanding bilingual students’ needs and perspectives.

SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, AND DATA COLLECTION The data in this chapter are from an ethnographic study conducted by the first author, Brendan, a university-based teacher educator, in the second

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author’s, Layne’s, astronomy/oceanography classroom at Vista Del Sol (VDS), a Title I (lower-income) public high school in southern Arizona with an 85% Hispanic/Latino student population, in 2010 2011. All names are pseudonyms, except Brendan’s and Layne’s. The broader research project examined how a second year White teacher, Layne, and mostly Mexican-American students negotiated issues of identity and difference in classroom interaction, with a particular focus on implications for science learning and science learner identity. The study was conducted at a time when the Arizona state government was pursuing a number of antiimmigrant and anti-Spanish measures, and issues of linguistic and racial identity surfaced frequently in interactions both related and unrelated to science learning. Student participants (n = 53) from grades 10 to 12 were recruited from two astronomy/oceanography class periods; some students participated for the entire year, while some were present for only the fall or spring semester, depending on their schedules. A variety of data was collected, including field notes from participant observation in the classroom and elsewhere in the school, interviews with selected students (n = 16), samples of student work, and Layne’s journal entries. Most of the data analyzed in this chapter come from video recordings of classroom interaction from early November 2010 to early May 2011. Video data collection sampled a range of participation frameworks, activities, and topics. To keep the amount of data manageable, one or two lessons from each academic unit were recorded, resulting in a video corpus of about 20 hours. The corpus was viewed and logged in its entirety after the study’s conclusion, but even while the study was ongoing, Brendan regularly reviewed incidents of particular interest or just watched the day’s footage without knowing what would happen, using insights from video to guide further data collection and to identify themes for analysis.

LITERATURE REVIEW Hybrid language practices have most often been stigmatized and viewed from a deficit perspective in education. It has sometimes been assumed that mixing languages prevents children from developing full competence in either language; thus, hybrid language practices have been proposed as evidence of semilingualism (MacSwan, 2000), a state in which children have imperfectly developed grammatical abilities in both or all of their languages.

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While no empirical evidence for semilingualism exists, it has persisted as a powerful ideology for example, in the talk of teachers who hold that emergent bilinguals “don’t have any language.” Similarly, popular but unscientific understandings, or folk theories, of language mixing contend that it functions only or primarily as crutching, or relying on one language to fill in gaps in vocabulary or knowledge in the other. Zentella (1997) found these attitudes to be prevalent even among adults who regularly mixed languages themselves. Many community members in Zentella’s (1997) study of a Spanish-English speaking Puerto Rican neighborhood in the New York city believed that children used codeswitching or language mixing as a crutch when they were at a loss for words. However, when Zentella actually examined the evidence, she discovered that codeswitching functioned as crutching in only a small fraction of switches; it was much more common that a child knew the word in both languages but had chosen to switch for some other reason as with the students in the introduction to this chapter. Freeman and Freeman (2011) provide a list of possible reasons that bilinguals may codeswitch (p. 147). More recently, in contrast to the prevailing deficit-based view, educational linguists have begun to explore the promise and potential in students’ hybrid language practices and to encourage teachers to do the same. In this emerging literature, many authors have borrowed Garcı´ a’s (2009) elaboration of the concept of translanguaging to express emergent bilingual students’ “flexible use of their linguistic resources to make meaning of their lives and their complex worlds” (Garcı´ a, 2012, p. 1). Garcı´ a is careful to distinguish codeswitching as “simply going from language code to another” (p. 1) from the strategic use of translanguaging to draw on multiple linguistic repertoires for a variety of purposes. Here, we prefer the umbrella term hybrid language practices (Gutie´rrez et al., 1999) to describe both momentary switches from one code to another as well as the more pervasive, dynamic behaviors Garcı´ a refers to as translanguaging. Some researchers (e.g., Makoni & Pennycook, 2007) go further, arguing that bilinguals’ flexible language behavior should make us question the boundaries between languages, and even the existence of separate languages, since it can be impossible to distinguish where one language ends and another begins in practice. We acknowledge the challenge that translanguaging poses to traditional definitions of language, but to engage fully with these scholars’ arguments is beyond the scope of this chapter. Researchers have started to focus on the usefulness of hybrid language practices for academic learning and cultural mediation. Studies of classroom interaction show that “language mixing is not just an issue of

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comprehension and a means of mediating academic content, but also serves an important function for identity performance” (Sayer, 2012, p. 76) and, frequently, hybrid language practices serve both functions at the same time. In discussing Gujarati/English mixing at a school in the United Kingdom, Creese and Blackledge (2010) argue that translanguaging worked to “keep [academic] task[s] moving forward” (p. 110) but also helped students to explore and understand the sociolinguistic relationship between the two codes that is, when it was appropriate or useful to use one, the other, or both. In San Antonio, Texas, and the Midwest United States, respectively, Sayer (2012) and Dorner and Layton (2014) document how language mixing was used by teachers and students to scaffold literacy tasks in students’ L2. At the same time, Sayer found that language mixing also played an important role in classroom talk about political realities that affect bilingual and immigrant families, while Dorner and Layton discovered that it gave students opportunities to explore the connection between language use and personal identity. Likewise, in a study of multilingual peer “coteachers” in a high school writing workshop, Martin-Beltra´n (2014) asserts that translanguaging expanded students’ learning opportunities and allowed students to develop and demonstrate emerging multilingual competence. Other scholars point to hybrid language practices as a way in which students and teachers may voice “counter-hegemonic language ideologies” (Martı´ nez, 2013, p. 282) or nonmainstream beliefs about language and culture. In this view, language mixing can be a powerful form of “ideological contestation” (Martı´ nez, 2013, p. 285) of taking issue with dominant views of hybrid language practices as broken or incomplete that offers opportunities for students and teachers to experiment with new kinds of group identities. As Flores and Garcı´ a (2013) affirm, transcending linguistic boundaries can allow teachers and students to transcend national boundaries and develop more complex understandings of sociopolitical challenges facing immigrant students and families.

METHODOLOGY AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY This research is situated broadly within the framework of linguistic ethnography (Rampton, 2007), a scholarly tradition that combines the strengths of ethnography long-term fieldwork in a community, with the goal of cultural description and fine-grained linguistic analysis. This tradition

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traces its roots to the ethnography of communication pioneered by Hymes (1964), who held that we must take the community of language users, rather than linguistic form itself, as the primary frame of reference for research on language and social life. Linguistic ethnographers engage in ethnography to provide a holistic perspective that “opens linguistics up” while using linguistic analysis to “tie ethnography down” (Rampton, 2007, p. 596) that is, to anchor conclusions about cultural meanings in observable elements of linguistic practice. More specifically, we use a methodology called microethnography to explore students’ hybrid language use and point out its significance to the wider ethnographic picture of the research site, as well as its potential relevance to teachers of emergent bilinguals in other classrooms and schools. Microethnography, which is closely associated with the work of Erickson (2011), relies on close analysis of video from classrooms or other institutional settings and “[focuses] on the discovery of locally situated meaning in local social action” (p. 185). In other words, microethnography is concerned with how cultural meaning is built from moment to moment in individual interactions among participants; from this perspective, “[v]ideo analysis is a useful way to flesh out the details of social interaction” because “[s]ocial life simply flies by too quickly to rely on the naked eye” (Smardon, 2004, p. 24). The microethnographic approach seeks to present classroom life as it occurs, “warts and all” (Erickson, 2011, p. 182), and proceeds from the understanding that teachers and students make sense of each other’s actions in real time (Garcez, 2008, p. 257), constantly confronting sources of tension and gaps in understanding as they do so. Our microethnographic accounts make use of the “ethnographically informed analysis of talk and action” (Cekaite, 2012, p. 649) to demonstrate how linguistic and cultural meaning emerge in sequence for the teacher and students in the study (Streeck & Mehus, 2005, p. 382). That is, sequential analysis of classroom discourse who said what and when, and how other participants responded or carried on with the activity is used along with insights from the researcher’s immersion in the setting to flesh out a detailed picture of the work that hybrid language practices did in the astronomy/oceanography classroom. During and after data collection, inductive analysis of field notes, student interviews, and video logs was used to identify emergent themes and select strips of naturally occurring interaction for closer analysis (Strauss & Corbin, 1994). In linguistic ethnography, researchers view data “with openness to discovery of the way native speakers perceive and structure their communicative experiences” (Saville-Troike, 1997, p. 126). Thus, the themes that emerged from preliminary analysis focused on significant

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communicative events and patterns of social interaction in the classroom. One such theme had to do with instances of language mixing that prompted responses from the teacher or peers or redirected classroom discourse in some way. Once all interactional events fitting this description had been identified in the data, particularly rich or suggestive examples were selected for discourse analysis. Classroom discourse analysis (Rymes, 2009) allowed us to explore how Layne and the students made sense of each others’ actions and utterances in real time and to portray the multifaceted nature of hybrid language practices with an adequate level of detail. In the following sections, we present microethnographic analyses of three excerpts of classroom discourse from the Vista Del Sol study. These strips of interaction were chosen because each illuminates a different dimension of hybrid language practices and suggests different reasons teachers might benefit from paying attention to or even participating in such practices. The titles of the sub-headings express the key insight from each piece of analysis, which we hope will become clear through the analyses themselves. Overall, the analyses reveal that careful attention to hybrid language practices can provide teachers with insights into students’ academic learning across linguistic codes, their use of language mixing for particular functions, and their beliefs about language and identity. The obvious limitation of microethnographic research is that such indepth analysis can only be done with a very small amount of data. Microethnographers do not aim to produce strictly generalizable findings (Streeck & Mehus, 2005) but to give detailed accounts of the way particular interactions unfolded in order to generate insights that can be applied naturalistically (Dyson & Genishi, 2005) to other contexts. We certainly do not claim that these three analyses capture the full extent of what students can accomplish with hybrid language use. Rather, we offer them as examples of what teachers can learn from looking carefully at hybrid language practices in the classroom.

ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS: WHAT ARE HYBRID LANGUAGE PRACTICES GOOD FOR? (1) Students’ preference for one language or another can facilitate curricular connections with support from teachers As the following interaction began, Layne was helping a group of four oceanography students (Viviana, Abraham, Andrea, and Manuel) with a

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rock identification lab. Each table of students had been given three rocks and had to use a chart with information about different rocks and rock types to identify the rocks through deductive reasoning. The “big picture” objective of the lab was for the students to connect the observable features of rocks, including visible crystals, layering, and reactivity to acid, to the geological processes of volcanism, sedimentation, and metamorphism. In lines 1 and 2, Layne is explaining what the students should do if they are unable to identify a particular rock when Viviana interrupts to comment on a rock she was scrutinizing (see the appendix for transcription conventions): 1 Layne: 2 3 Viviana: 4 5 Abraham: 6 7 8 Layne: 9 Viviana: 10 Andrea: 11 12 Abraham: 13 Layne: 14 15 Viviana: 16 Brendan: 17 Layne: 18 22 Layne: 23 24 25 26 27 Brendan: 28 29 Layne: 30 (April 4, 2011)

so it can be unknown like if you think “I don’t want it to be a conglomerate” you can say = =it looks like it’s oxidada (0.5) what rust? (1.2) that’s rust = =say that one again? ((looking at Layne)) o xi da da = =oxidated? (0.3) like [rust [o:h like rust yeah (2.4) yeah. look. all right [(here) [is that what that is is it iron? I didn’t look at it very carefully ((takes rock from Viviana)) (1.9) ((three lines omitted)) I think I think it’s quartzsite which is um metamorpho:sed. (0.8) red oxidated sandstone so [I believe yes [oh wow (0.9) go Viviana (1.6) ((Viviana starts dancing))

In almost no time at all, Layne goes from geology expert to Spanish novice. Viviana’s codeswitch in line 3 initiates a sequence in which Layne tries to figure out the meaning of oxidada. Here, we find it appropriate to call oxidada a codeswitch, rather than an example of translanguaging,

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because it is the only Spanish word in an interaction that is otherwise conducted entirely in English. As opposed to the kinds of translanguaging interactions described by Garcı´ a (2012), in which both languages are used flexibly and consistently, it is the unexpected nature of oxidada, as a single, conspicuous switch in an all-English interaction, that produces so much commentary from the participants (lines 5 30). Abraham, Viviana, and Andrea try three different scaffolding strategies to make the Spanish content accessible to Layne. First, Abraham offers an English translation (line 5), and, getting no response, repeats it (7). Then, Layne asks Viviana to “say that one again,” and Viviana repeats the Spanish word, segmenting it into syllables for Layne’s benefit and looking directly at her in a teacherly way: “o xi da da” (9). Andrea jumps onto the end of Viviana’s turn, proposing a different English translation; instead of the word for oxidada in everyday English usage (‘rust(y)’ as Abraham translated it), she offers a literal translation: “oxidated?” (10). Andrea may be hoping that this will help Layne make the connection more readily since she still has not displayed understanding. In line 12, Abraham begins to repeat his original translation, when Layne reenters the conversation, using “oh” and echoing “like rust” (13) to confirm that she has finally understood. It takes Layne a relatively long time to puzzle out oxidada about six seconds, to be exact despite the students’ efforts to clue her in. Already, we see hybrid language practices contributing to classroom discourse in significant ways: here, a simple codeswitch is a tactic (de Certeau, 1984, p. 29) that allows students to practice strategies for scaffolding content in the teacher’s L2 and makes it possible for students to take over the expert role temporarily from the teacher. But what motivated Viviana’s codeswitch in the first place? When Brendan replayed this interaction for Viviana during a data session, an opportunity for participants to view and comment on video data, she speculated that she might have used oxidada instead of “rusty,” though she knew both words, simply because “it’s more interesting.” Similarly, Martı´ nez (2013) notes that his student participants said they sometimes mixed languages because they just preferred the way a word or phrase sounded in one language or the other. Some students at Vista Del Sol had similar attitudes. For example, a student named Laura, who was much more comfortable in English than Spanish, said she still switched languages because some things were “better said” in Spanish: “I say certain words in Spanish because [other students] relate to it, like … they don’t understand if I say it in English or they do understand but it’s just better said that way [i.e., in Spanish]” (January 31, 2011). When pressed for a specific example, Laura reluctantly referred to

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“a bad [Spanish] word, like if they’re joking around, like you tell ‘em to stop and then they’ll stop it right away,” and agreed that it did not have the same effect in English. In other words, a word might have the same literal meaning in English and Spanish but might not produce the same result when uttered in English as opposed to Spanish. Laura had apparently learned from experience that certain forms of strong language only had the desired effect in Spanish at the high school. Thus, Viviana may have incorporated oxidada into her hybrid utterance because she just liked the way it sounded in Spanish or considered the Spanish word more interesting than “rusty.” The question, however, is not just why she mixed languages but what happened next. In line 17, Layne admits that she was unprepared for Viviana’s question and takes the rock from Viviana to examine it. The way Layne renders her judgment of the rock (22 26) suggests that she is consciously bridging from geology back to Spanish: “I think it’s quartzsite which is … metamorpho:sed … red oxidated sandstone.” If we look at this interaction more closely, through our microethnographic lens, we see that the unpredictable appearance of the Spanish word gives Layne an opportunity to expand on the planned-for content of the lab activity. Rather than simply telling the students that the rock is quartzsite, or helping them match the rock to its name, oxidada prompts Layne to describe the metamorphic process, involving the oxidation of sandstone, that formed the rock. Taking Viviana’s remark as a point of departure, one interesting thing about oxidada, unlike “rusty,” is that the Spanish word commonly used to describe the appearance of a rusty object also expresses the chemical reaction that makes objects look that way: oxidation. Oxidated in English belongs to scientific discourse, but in Spanish oxidada, depending on the context, could be translated either as “oxidated” or just plain “rusty.” To sum up, our first analysis shows that a student’s mere preference for a word in one language or the other can enrich curricular content and provide an opportunity to introduce unplanned-for curricular connections. Viviana’s contribution, and Layne’s response to it, is a clear example of how teachers and students can collaborate in the third space made possible by hybrid language practices (Gutie´rrez et al., 1999). (2) Off-task and on-task hybrid language play can exist side-by-side, and teachers’ acceptance of both demonstrates respect for students’ ways of speaking The following interaction occurred during an oceanography class activity designed to familiarize students with scientific journal articles. Layne had decided to expose students to articles from authentic scientific journals

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in the hope that they would be better prepared for college-level science classes. She recognized that the content of the articles would be extremely difficult for students to read and understand, so she gave each table of students three different journal articles and asked the students to compare and contrast the formatting and organization of the articles without actually reading them. The small groups had to make lists of similarities and differences in how the articles were formatted and structured and then were asked to share their lists in whole-class discussion. This activity could be seen as a form of socialization, or training through interaction, to use scientific discourse in English or at least to recognize features of scientific discourse. On the day of the activity, the camera was left running by a table where Manuel, Viviana, and Jessica were seated. Viviana appointed herself the unofficial leader of the group and took the lead in looking through the three articles with some help from Manuel. Meanwhile, Jessica, the designated writer, recorded the other students’ observations. Since it took Jessica awhile to write down each observation, Viviana and Manuel settled into a rhythm of being on task until they had located a new similarity or difference, chatting with each other off-task while Jessica wrote, and returning to the task at hand once she had finished. All three students were proficient in English and Spanish and used both languages in the classroom on a daily basis; throughout this class period, they fluidly translanguaged in discussing both academic and nonacademic topics. Just before the transcript begins, Viviana has dictated a piece of information in English and Spanish to Jessica. There is a brief pause as Jessica begins to write, and then Viviana flicks a piece of paper at Manuel, prompting the following reaction: 1 Viviana: 2 Manuel: 3 Viviana: 4 5 Manuel: 6 Viviana: 7 8 9

((throws paper at Manuel)) parangaricutirimı´ cuaro paranguaricuvitparanguricutirimı´ cuaro parangaricuti (.) rimı´ (.) cuaro paranguricutirimı´ ? (.) guau ((wow)) (y lo) de ustedes empieza en la primera pa´gina ((yours begins on the first page)) y el mı´ o empieza hasta la segunda ((and mine [doesn’t] begin until the second)) (1.7)

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“Parangaricutirimı´ cuaro” is a trabajalenguas or a tongue twister. The word comes from the indigenous Pure´pecha name for a volcano and nearby town, now called San Juan Parangaricutiro, in the Mexican state of Michoaca´n. Manuel uses it to challenge Viviana and to socialize her, teasingly, into a particular expert use of Spanish. After Viviana’s first halting attempts (lines 3 4), Manuel pronounces the tongue twister more slowly in line 5, breaking it into three parts for her benefit. Viviana makes one more effort (6) before giving up and turning back to the journal articles, in Spanish, to note another difference for Jessica to write down (7 8). Why should any of this matter to teachers? For one, it shows that hybrid language practices can serve multiple purposes within the same interaction: Manuel switches to a complex form of Spanish language play to tease Viviana and, perhaps, just to have fun with language. Then, Viviana continues using Spanish to scaffold the challenging academic task of interacting with scientific journal articles in English. This echoes Richardson Bruna’s (2009) findings in a study of language play among Mexican newcomer science students at a Midwestern high school. Richardson Bruna argues that emergent bilinguals draw on their hybrid language competencies both for sense-making and “at-ease making” (p. 172) that is, both to make sense of academic content in on-task ways and to put themselves and each other at ease. Even playful tactics may be “structurally resonant” (Richardson Bruna, 2009, p. 171) in the sense that they tell us something about students’ engagement with the wider social context for the interaction. For example, we might consider whether Viviana and Manuel’s Spanish language play might be, in part, a response to their encounter with a professional scientific register of English, with which they had been struggling audibly just minutes earlier. From this perspective, off-task language play can be seen as an art of being in between, a way for students to feel at ease while crossing over into the unfamiliar world of scientific discourse in English, even as they use their first language for support in academic tasks. What happens next in this interaction, however, sheds light on a different reason that hybrid language practices should matter to teachers:

8 Viviana: 9 10 11

y el mı´ o empieza hasta la segunda ((and mine [doesn’t] begin until the second)) (1.7) ((Viviana looks at Layne, who has walked over to the table)) (1.1)

164 12 Layne: 13 Viviana: 14 Layne: 15 Viviana: 16 Layne: 17 Viviana: 18 Layne: 19 Viviana: 20 Layne: 21 22 23 Viviana: 24 Layne: 25 Viviana:

BRENDAN H. O’CONNOR AND LAYNE J. CRAWFORD I’m tryin to understand what you’re saying oh no you’re fine [well it’s [I’m just like we discuss it in Spa[[nish [[no that’s- you can totally do that oh ((looks down at paper)) I’m not- I’m just likey’know ’cause I’m tryin to like up my Spanish? so I’m like can I te:ll what you’re saying hu:hm I can pick out parts but (.) not always ((to tablemates)) la mı´ a en cada pa´gina tiene una foto grandotota ((mine on every page has a huge photo))

(March 4, 2011)

The interaction takes a different turn as Layne walks over to the table and overhears the students speaking Spanish. Viviana seems unsure of what Layne is implying with “I’m tryin to understand what you’re saying” (line 12) and reassures her that the students were on task: “We discuss it in Spanish” (17). Layne responds in a supportive way, telling Viviana, “You can totally do that” (18) and explaining that she (Layne) was listening to the students as part of her efforts to improve her own Spanish (21), not because she was concerned about their use of the language. Layne’s utterance in line 12 could have been interpreted as a sign of language paranoia (Haviland, 2003) suspicion that the students are up to no good in Spanish but is reframed as an occasion for Layne to show deference (Rymes, 2011) and respect for students’ seamless use of both languages in the classroom. Many students recognized and appreciated Layne’s interest in Spanish and support for hybrid language use. For some students, these qualities spoke volumes about her as a teacher. In an interview, a student named Alex commented: It makes me happy that people like her wanna know Spanish. Knowing the fact that she’s from over there, like, wherever she’s from … (and) she wants to understand Spanish and know the language … It makes me like think about her like she- I don’t wanna sound racist, like mean or anything. ((deep in-breath)) Like she’s … not like like other white people … that gives us hard times. Like she- she- she’s not racist … She cares … Like other white teachers like here at school, like you- you ask ’em if they wanna know Spanish, they wanna learn Spanish, (and then) they’re like, “No. Why would I need that?” (December 8, 2010)

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In other words, giving students space to use both languages as they see fit, and even allowing for the coexistence of on- and off-task hybrid language practices, can help teachers communicate respect for students’ diverse ways of speaking and build stronger relationships with bilingual students. And so, in line 25, when Viviana shifts back into Spanish for purposes of sensemaking making a comment about photos in the article she is reviewing she does so in a conspicuously playful way, using grandotota (“really really big”) where she might have used grandota (“really big”) or just grande (“big”). In fact, grandotota is such a flashy word, so to speak, that Viviana made fun of herself for saying it when she watched the video later. Viviana’s final move lends additional support to the idea that Layne’s classroom is a safe space for “at-ease making” (Richardson Bruna, 2009, p. 172) not just sense-making through hybrid language practices. (3) Hybrid language practices provide valuable opportunities for talk about language and identity in classroom contexts Finally, hybrid language practices can give teachers a window into the issues of language and identity that shape bilingual/emergent bilingual students’ experiences in and out of school. Following Fairclough, Dorner and Layton (2014) suggest that, for emergent bilinguals, different “ways of representing” are always connected to different “ways of being” (Fairclough, 2011, as cited in Dorner & Layton, 2014, p. 27). This is true whether these ways of being reflect students’ actual identities and life experiences, others’ identities and experiences, or potential identities and experiences connected to students’ learning of the second language. For this reason, talk about language is a rich resource for investigating how students connect language to various identities and forms of experience or ways of being. Rymes (2014) argues that metacommentaries students’ comments on, or evaluations of, language-in-use are particularly useful for understanding students’ assumptions about the relationship of language and identity. Our final microethnographic analysis focuses on one student’s metacommentary on her own hybrid language use and others’ responses to it. This interaction took place near the end of the fall semester as the astronomy students were studying for their final exam or, just as likely, socializing with their neighbors. It began when Laura, whom we mentioned earlier, tried to get Robert and Nadi’s attention in an unexpected way. Although the transcription is somewhat sketchy because the classroom was noisy and the camera was on the other side of the room from the students involved, the crucial utterances can be heard clearly on the video.

166 1 Laura: 2 3 4 5 Nadi: 6 Laura: 7 8 9 10 Nadi: 11 Laura: 12 Nadi: 13 Laura: 14 Robert: 15 Laura: 16 Laura: 17 Robert?: (December 13, 2010)

BRENDAN H. O’CONNOR AND LAYNE J. CRAWFORD hey (0.8) hey gu¨ey ((Robert and Nadi turn)) ((laughing)) huhhuh both of you [guys looked [(xxx) gu¨ey ((to Laura, smiling)) (I wouldn’t xxx say) gu¨ey just (someone like calling), “gu¨ey ((harsh whispery voice)) hey gu¨ey” (1.4) is it hard to speak Spanish? ((Robert looks to Nadi, who has earphones on)) what? is it hard to speak Spanish?= ((Robert is shaking his head)) =no. I wish I (had Spanish) (xxx) Spanish you (can’t speak) Spanish? (xxx speaks Spanish xxx) speaks nothing but Spanish (xxx) ((3.7 inaudible)) maybe it’s cause I have bad memory well. you gotta use it.

In calling out “hey gu¨ey!” to the boys, Laura was doing something out of character; otherwise, there would have been no joke, and she would not have laughed at the boys for turning around (in line 4: “Huhhuh both of you guys looked!”). It was unexpected for Laura to use the Spanish word gu¨ey, sometimes translated as “dude,” for two reasons: first, as the rest of the interaction suggests, she did not consider herself a proficient Spanish speaker and did not use Spanish to communicate with peers, except in special situations. Second, while both men and women can and do say gu¨ey, the word is most strongly associated with young Mexican men so much so, in fact, that its near-constant use in their interactions became the basis for a humorous Spanish-language beer commercial (Bucholtz, 2009, pp. 160 162). Thus, Laura’s use of gu¨ey can be considered an example of language crossing (Rampton, 1995), or using a feature of language that would not be assumed to go along with her identity as an English-dominant Mexican-American woman. What is interesting about this moment of hybridity, however, is not just Laura’s use of the word, but, as in the other interactions, what follows from it. Laura first laughs at the boys for falling for the joke turning around and seeing her, instead of someone who would be expected to say gu¨ey. However, Nadi turns the tables on Laura (5): it is impossible to hear

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exactly what he says, but it is clear that he is speaking Spanish to Laura, ending his utterance with gu¨ey, and that he knows she cannot understand or respond to him. Laura’s crossing has given her classmate a chance to tease her about her inability to participate fully in a Spanish conversation. Laura goes on to comment on the strangeness of her use of the word in lines 6 7, growling “hey gu¨ey!” with harsh, masculine voice quality, as if to point out the social distance between her and the kind of person who would be more likely to say gu¨ey. Then, in lines 9 17, the conversation takes another unexpected turn, as Laura reflects on her lack of Spanish proficiency and her desire to speak Spanish. She asks Nadi if it is hard to speak Spanish (9, 11), muses aloud to Robert that she wishes she spoke Spanish (13), alludes to someone presumably, someone close to her who “speaks nothing but Spanish” (15), and, finally, speculates that she has failed to acquire Spanish because she has a “bad memory” (16). Robert counters that it may be because she has not “use[d] it” (17). Laura’s language crossing may have begun as a joke, but it morphs into a serious opportunity for her to consider why she can say gu¨ey, but not much else, in Spanish. It also allows her to engage her classmates in conversation about the reasons someone might or might not become a proficient speaker of Spanish and to articulate language ideologies, or beliefs, about the connection between particular language forms (gu¨ey) and language users. It is perhaps more difficult to envision how teachers might use this knowledge, as opposed to the insights from the first two strips of interaction. However, as Rymes (2011) reminds us, we can be so eager for information that is directly applicable to classroom practice that we forget to listen to what students are telling us. It is sometimes necessary to defer to students’ perspectives on the world and to pursue a deeper understanding of the connections between language use and identity, as here, before seeking to intervene in students’ discursive practice. At the very least, considering interactions such as this one would inform a teacher’s sense of how efforts to encourage hybrid language practices might be seen and taken up very differently by different students, since the students in this classroom are positioned in such diverse ways with respect to Spanish and English. A teacher confronted with Laura, Nadi, and Robert’s conversation and the other examples in this chapter would have to acknowledge the diversity of ways of representing and ways of being among these students. The teacher would also need to recognize the potential of hybrid language practices to transform interactions, relationships, and learning in powerfully creative ways for students as different as Viviana, Manuel, Laura, and Nadi.

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PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: CULTIVATING LINGUISTIC COMMUNITY We return to Layne’s personal story, with which we began this chapter, to offer some practical guidance to teachers who want to explore the promise of hybrid language practices in their own classrooms. While Layne longs to support hybrid language practices in her classroom, she sometimes struggles to understand her students because her own understanding of Spanish is limited. However, by understanding how their linguistic tactics work in particular situations, she better understands how her students think and learn, which helps her make better pedagogical decisions. She also comes to know them better as people their lived experience in particular cultural worlds which makes it possible for her to build stronger relationships with them. Based on our research findings, we recommend the following steps for teachers, like Layne, who seek to capitalize on the potential of students’ language mixing: (1) Create classroom language communities to give students opportunities for hybrid language use To encourage students to use a variety of linguistic repertoires in classroom conversations, one of the main changes Layne has made to her classroom is to experiment with building mini “language communities.” She has rearranged students so that emergent bilinguals have a few students around who are proficient speakers of the students’ L1, Spanish, and their L2, English. Since the tables in her classroom seat four students, she has also tried to include a student whose L1 is English and has a good deal of Spanish exposure but a low level of fluency, like Laura in the example above. The language communities allow for L1 support but also encourage L2 development and language mixing as the students must use their L2 to talk to some of the other students at their table. As a result of this experiment, Layne has found that translanguaging does not just operate in one direction but becomes a fluid back-and-forth among all the students with varying degrees of proficiency in both languages. More proficient English speakers do scaffold academic work for English learners, but the Spanish-dominant students also try to teach Spanish phrases to Englishdominant students and gradually build up their peers’ Spanish ability. In this way, the language communities mimic the students’ worlds outside of school.

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(2) Document and analyze students’ language behavior informally In order to further her understanding of emergent bilinguals’ use of both languages, Layne has decided to dedicate more class time to discussion, whether as part of a daily routine like bellwork, the task students are supposed to complete as soon as they arrive in class, or by assigning projects where discussion is a fundamental part of the project. Then, as the discussion occurs, she intentionally listens and writes down what she hears the students saying, to the best of her ability. Sometimes she asks the students right away why they chose to mix languages, asking, “Why did you use that word?”; sometimes, she returns later and asks them what they were thinking when they started speaking English instead of Spanish, for example. Listening is a fundamental strategy for every educator, and Layne has come to believe it is even more important for teachers of emergent bilinguals especially teachers who do not speak the students’ L1. An additional advantage of documenting and analyzing students’ language behavior is that it helps Layne add new elements to her own developing Spanish repertoire. In this way, she grows in her confidence and willingness to take risks by using her second language to connect with students. (3) Position yourself as a learner and communicate respect for hybrid language practices As we have suggested, carefully observing students’ language behavior is not just a useful strategy for understanding how language mixing functions in the classroom. It can also be a powerful way of learning from students by deferring to their linguistic and cultural expertise (Rymes, 2011). By listening and asking questions, we humanize ourselves as teachers, putting aside our expert status and letting students be the experts on language and culture for the time being. This exposure and vulnerability allows for mutual transformation (Moll, Amanti, Neff, & Gonza´lez, 1992) in how language is used and valued within the classroom. In addition, it can also transform teacher-student relationships: as Layne’s students see her attempting to understand how they mix languages and as they observe her novice attempts to speak Spanish, they experience her longing to know their language and culture. This contributes to making Layne’s classroom a “safe house” (Pratt, 1991, p. 40), an academic environment characterized by “high degrees of trust, shared understandings, [and] temporary protection from legacies of oppression,” linguistic and otherwise. Not everyone in Layne’s classroom is a proficient speaker of English and Spanish, and some students add other languages to the mix; nevertheless, all members of

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the classroom community are safe to learn, play, and even make mistakes through hybrid language practices.

CONCLUSION Hybrid language practices, far from being evidence of linguistic deficit, are better understood as “an art of being in between” (de Certeau, 1984, p. 30), a set of indispensable tactics for bridging different ways of knowing and being. While hybrid language tactics have often been devalued and stigmatized in the past, we hope our research makes clear that teachers have much to gain from paying attention to what, exactly, students are doing when they mix languages. Furthermore, we have tried to convey the richness and complexity of these practices. Students’ language mixing is hybrid not just in the sense that they switch from one language to another but also in the sense that they draw on a range of registers and speech styles or repertoires within each language as they do so. In the three analyses, we documented students’ use of everyday Spanish terms that bridged to academic English (oxidada), a tongue twister (parangaricutirimı´cuaro), and Mexican slang terms of address (gu¨ey). When subjected to close analysis, these fleeting hybrid moves, which might have seemed insignificant at first glance, yielded valuable insights into students’ academic learning, use of language mixing for particular functions, and beliefs about language and identity. Undoubtedly, choosing different examples of translanguaging would have resulted in different insights. Still, we have sought to persuade teachers of emergent bilinguals that they stand to benefit greatly from becoming more careful observers of students’ language behavior, and we encourage teachers to think carefully about how to capitalize on the creative promise of hybrid language practices in the classroom.

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MacSwan, J. (2000). The threshold hypothesis, semilingualism, and other contributions to a deficit view of linguistic minorities. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 22(1), 3 45. Makoni, S., & Pennycook, A. (2007). Disinventing and reconstituting languages. In S. Makoni & A. Pennycook (Eds.), Disinventing and reconstituting languages (pp. 1 41). Tonawanda, NY: Multilingual Matters. Martin-Beltra´n, M. (2014). “What do you want to say?” How adolescents use translanguaging to expand learning opportunities. International Multilingual Research Journal, 8(3), 208 230. Martı´ nez, R. (2013). Reading the world in Spanglish: Hybrid language practices and ideological contestation in a sixth-grade English language arts classroom. Linguistics and Education, 24, 276 288. Moll, L., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonza´lez, N. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory into Practice, 31(2), 132 141. Orellana, M. (2009). Translating childhoods: Immigrant youth, language, and culture. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Pratt, M. L. (1991). Arts of the contact zone. Profession, 33 40. Rampton, B. (1995). Language crossing and the problematisation of ethnicity and socialization. Pragmatics, 5(4), 485 513. Rampton, B. (2007). Neo-Hymesian linguistic ethnography in the United Kingdom. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 11(5), 584 607. Richardson Bruna, K. (2009). “You’re magmatic now”: Language play, linguistic biliteracy, and the science crossing of adolescent Mexican newcomer youth. In K. Richardson Bruna & K. Gomez (Eds.), The work of language in multicultural classrooms: Talking science, writing science (pp. 167 189). New York, NY: Routledge. Rymes, B. (2009). Classroom discourse analysis: A tool for critical reflection. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton. Rymes, B. (2011). Deference, denial, and beyond: A repertoire approach to mass media and schooling. Review of Research in Education, 35, 208 238. Rymes, B. (2014). Marking communicative repertoire through metacommentary. In A. Blackledge & A. Creese (Eds.), Heteroglossia as practice and pedagogy (pp. 301 316). New York, NY: Springer. Saville-Troike, M. (1997). The ethnographic analysis of communicative events. In N. Coupland & A. Jaworski (Eds.), Sociolinguistics: A reader and coursebook (pp. 126 144). New York, NY: Palgrave. Sayer, P. (2012). Translanguaging, TexMex, and bilingual pedagogy: Emergent bilinguals learning through the vernacular. TESOL Quarterly, 47(1), 63 88. Smardon, R. (2004). Where the action is: The microsociological turn in educational research. [Review of the books Talk and social theory: Ecologies of speaking and listening in everyday life, by Frederick Erickson, and Interaction ritual chains, by Randall Collins]. Educational Researcher, 34(1), 20 25. Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1994). Grounded theory methodology: An overview. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 273 285). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Streeck, J., & Mehus, S. (2005). Microethnography: The study of practices. In K. Fitch & R. Sanders (Eds.), Handbook of language and social interaction (pp. 381 404). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Zentella, A. C. (1997). Growing up bilingual. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

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APPENDIX: TRANSCRIPTION CONVENTIONS underline (single parentheses) ((double parentheses)) xxx [ or [[ italics : = ? . (1.5) (.) “”

emphasis/careful articulation self-interruption speech which is unclear or in doubt transcriber’s comment/English translation unintelligible speech overlapping speech Spanish word/utterance lengthened vowel/sound latching speech (one speaker ‘jumping on’ the end of another’s turn) rising intonation falling intonation pause (of 1.5 seconds) brief pause reported speech

SECTION II ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE OF UNIVERSITY AND PUBLIC SCHOOL POLICY AND PRACTICE FOR TEACHING EMERGENT BILINGUALS

RESHAPING THE MAINSTREAM EDUCATION CLIMATE THROUGH BILINGUAL-BICULTURAL EDUCATION Jason Goulah and Sonia W. Soltero ABSTRACT This chapter examines in-service teachers’ transformed perspectives and practices for educating emergent bilinguals resulting from graduate study in a bilingual education graduate program in Chicago. This examination is contextualized in consideration of emergent bilinguals relative to the changing face of P-12 classrooms and gaps in teacher education. Findings from autoethnographic and discourse analytic inquiry suggest that teacher preparation in bilingual education (1) prepared and empowered in-service teachers to meet the academic, social, and cultural-linguistic needs of emergent bilinguals in their classrooms and (2) fostered a conscious inner transformation in in-service teachers that resulted in new ways and purposes of interacting with emergent bilingual students, their families, and colleagues. Findings also suggest that although there is institutional progress in meeting emergent bilinguals’ needs, it is incremental and insufficient. There are three major deficiencies: (1) new and

Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals Advances in Research on Teaching, Volume 24, 177 203 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3687/doi:10.1108/S1479-368720150000024009

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increased teacher education standards lack the required specialized coursework in the education of emergent bilinguals; (2) teacher preparation of emergent bilinguals is inadequate; and (3) teacher preparation programs resist requiring specialized coursework in teaching emergent bilinguals. Keywords: Bilingual education teacher preparation; transformed teacher perspectives; mainstream teacher preparation and emergent bilinguals; advocacy and language learners; teacher educator ideological shift

The widespread assumption is that teaching ELLs is a matter of pedagogical adaptations that can easily be incorporated into a mainstream teacher’s existing repertoire of instructional strategies for a diverse classroom. Teaching ELLs is considered a matter of applying “just good teaching” practices developed for native English speakers …/… as schools are confronted with increasing numbers of linguistically and culturally diverse learners, a “just good teaching” approach will simply not be good enough. It encourages a generic approach to teaching that fails to account for two of the most important learner variables affecting ELLs’ school success their linguistic and cultural diversity. de Jong and Harper (2005, p. 102, p. 118)

INTRODUCTION The number of students in the United States from non-English speaking backgrounds has dramatically increased. While the P-12 education sector has made inroads in addressing the needs of emergent bilinguals (better known as English language learners or ELLs), teacher education programs in higher education have been slow in responding in preparing all teachers to work with this linguistically diverse population. Higher accountability policies and more rigorous standards-based mandates have also intensified the need to re-evaluate existing teacher preparation curriculum and redesign programs to reflect the linguistically diverse student population. General education teachers are now accountable for emergent bilinguals’ compliance with new and more rigorous learning standards, such as Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards, which were designed for native English-speaking students. In addition, new

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teacher evaluation procedures across the United States are increasingly based on student growth and achievement. General education teachers are now formally accountable for the content learning of emergent bilinguals in their classrooms. New performance tests, such as edTPA, have raised the stakes in evaluating the preparation of teacher candidates to work with diverse students, including emergent bilinguals.

Purpose In this chapter, we examine the preparation of teachers to meet the needs of emergent bilinguals in the current education climate by considering (1) the changing face of P-12 classrooms and (2) gaps in teacher preparation. Through autoethnography and discourse analysis of in-service teachergraduates’ narratives, we examine in-service teachers’ transformed perspectives and practices for educating emergent bilinguals that have resulted from studies in a bilingual education graduate program in Chicago. We sought to answer the following research questions: (1) Does formal teacher preparation in bilingual education empower and prepare candidates to meet emergent bilingual students’ academic, social, and cultural-linguistic needs and, if so, (2) Does such empowerment and preparation work to reshape the current education climate at local and individual levels? Data analyses suggest three main findings: first, teacher preparation in bilingual education empowered and equipped these in-service teachers to meet the academic, social, and cultural-linguistic needs of emergent bilinguals in their classrooms. Second, in-service teacher-graduates articulate a conscious inner transformation resulting from their studies in bilingual education. Moreover, this transformation resulted in new ways and purposes of interacting with emergent bilingual students, their families, and colleagues. Third, although there is institutional progress in meeting emergent bilinguals’ needs, it is incremental and insufficient. There are three major deficiencies: (1) new and increased teacher education standards lack required specialized coursework in the education of emergent bilinguals; (2) teacher preparation on emergent bilinguals is inadequate; and (3) teacher preparation programs resist requiring specialized coursework in teaching emergent bilinguals. This study is significant because literature is lacking on in-service teachers’ perspectives of the efficacy of formal teacher preparation in bilingual education, particularly in light of changing standards for teachers and students in P-12 settings.

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THE CURRENT EDUCATION CLIMATE: A LITERATURE REVIEW Changing Face of P-12 Classrooms We are kidding ourselves thinking that we will have all white students with similar backgrounds and experiences in our classroom. Those days are over. We have to face the fact that all of us will have language learners in our classrooms, and we have to be better prepared to give them a quality education. Jackie, Inservice Teacher-Graduate

It comes as no surprise that the student population in today’s classrooms is increasingly diverse. Texas, California, and New Mexico are already majority-minority states. Illinois, for example, is about to become majorityminority with a total minority public school enrollment of 49.4%, less than a percentage point from a majority, with Latinos leading the increase (Illinois School Report Card, 2013). These demographic shifts are reshaping P-12 schools and challenging educators to rethink how instruction, curriculum, and assessment are conceptualized to accommodate diverse student populations. Emergent bilinguals in P-12 classrooms have increased by 60% in the last decade compared with 7% growth of the general student population. In 2013, emergent bilinguals made up 10.7% of the student population, with 5.3 million enrolled in K-12 schools. The percentage of emergent bilinguals in public schools was higher in 2010 2011 than in 2009 2010 in just over half of the states (28 states). By 2020, estimates indicate that half of all public school students will have non-English speaking backgrounds (National Center for Education Statistics, 2013). The reality is that general education teachers are now much more likely to have emergent bilinguals in their classrooms, yet they continue to have limited knowledge and understanding of how to best meet their academic, linguistic, and sociocultural needs (Gonza´lez & Soltero, 2011; Jones, Buzick, & Turkan, 2013; Wiley, Garcia, Danzig, & Stigler, 2013). To complicate matters, emergent bilinguals’ enrollment has increased significantly in states where the majority of students spoke only English. This growth has ranged from 135% in North Carolina to 610% in South Carolina. The top 10 states with the largest growth in emergent bilinguals are mostly in the Southeastern states: South Carolina, Kentucky, Nevada, Delaware, Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Virginia, and North Carolina (National Center for Education Statistics, 2013). Suburban and

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rural areas also continue to experience greater increases of recently immigrated populations, creating unique regional challenges in addressing the educational needs of school age emergent bilinguals. Even though there are over 150 languages spoken by school-age emergent bilinguals, Spanish has the highest number of speakers (77.2%) followed by Chinese (3.8%), Vietnamese (2.7%), and French/Haitian Creole (2.1%) (Migration Policy Institute, 2011). Latino-origin emergent bilinguals represent almost half of all Latino students in schools. Emergent bilinguals are the most vulnerable group of P-12 students because they have the highest risk for poor academic and future life outcomes. Factors such as poverty, lack of English proficiency, and limited access to social support systems place Latino children at a higher risk of academic underachievement than other groups (Sua´rez-Orozco, Sua´rez-Orozco, & Todorova, 2008). Further, Slama (2014) asserts that emergent bilinguals are exited (reclassified as English proficient) into mainstream classrooms on average three years after entering school or in second grade; “however, the odds that a non-Spanish-speaking EL was reclassified were nearly twice that of their Spanish-speaking EL classmates after controlling for income” (p. 220). Slama adds that despite their reclassification, a large percentage experienced later academic difficulties and 22% were retained in grade. In 2011, the achievement gap between native English speakers and emergent bilinguals was 36 points in 4th grade and 44 points in 8th grade. At the 4th grade level, the achievement gap was not measurably different from that in any year since 2002. At the 8th grade level, the achievement gap between native English speakers and emergent bilinguals in reading scores was 3 points smaller in 2011 than in 2009 (47 points) but not measurably different from the achievement gap in 2002 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2013). Samson and Collins (2012) argue that this gap widens over time and “could be exacerbated by teachers who do not know how to focus on and support ELLs in their oral and academic language development in the later grades” (p. 7).

Gaps in Teacher Preparation Given the lack of experience with the education of ELLs by most teacher educators and the time that it takes to build substantial knowledge among them, it would be irresponsible to rely on an infusion strategy that requires distributing specialized knowledge and practices for ELL education across the faculty. Lucas, Villegas, and Gonzalez (2008, p. 370)

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The rapid growth of linguistically diverse students has not been matched by sufficient growth in general education teachers’ knowledge of how best to educate this population (Hutchinson, 2013; Samson & Collins, 2012). This is particularly relevant in regards to increased standards, such as Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards, and the ways mainstream teachers envision their pedagogy about emergent bilinguals (Bunch, 2013; Lee, Quinn, & Valde´s, 2013; Martinello, 2008). Teachers themselves often realize gaps in their preparation regarding emergent bilinguals only after they enter their own classrooms (Batt, 2008). While the student population becomes increasingly diverse, the teaching workforce continues to be predominantly White (84%) and female (84%) (Feistritzer, 2011). This teacher demographic reality is reflected in the in-service teacher-graduates of this study. The disconnect between teacher and student experiences and backgrounds can be bridged through teacher preparation that fosters culturally and linguistically responsive, relevant, and sustaining pedagogy (Bunch, 2013; Ladson-Billings, 2014; Paris & Alim, 2014). Garcia, Arias, Harris, and Serna (2010) suggest that “addressing the linguistically and culturally diverse populations calls for a deeper understanding of the interaction of a student’s language and culture and the prevailing school language and culture” (p. 136). For this to happen, teacher educators need to increase their knowledge of emergent bilingual education. While faculty in teacher preparation programs have made strides in integrating issues related to cultural diversity in teacher preparation curricula, aspects specifically related to linguistic diversity continue to be largely absent (de Jong & Harper, 2005). Little attention has been given to the knowledge and skills that general education teachers require to provide effective instruction to emergent bilinguals. For example, Menken (2013) advocates for a necessary perspectival and practical shift to content teachers as language teachers and language teachers as literacy teachers, particularly in the case of immigrant students with interrupted formal schooling and long-term English learners at the secondary level. Also, Ikeda (1991 2014) stresses the importance of teachers’ inner development in response to students’ otherness. Research that identifies what educators need to know and do to effectively teach emergent bilinguals has not been incorporated into teacher preparation programs (Lucas et al., 2008; Palmer & Martı´ nez, 2013). For example, Samson and Collins (2012) reason that while elementary school teacher candidates are typically required to take courses in child development, core content areas, language arts, behavior management, and special education, few are required to do coursework on the pedagogy of teaching emergent

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bilinguals. In 2012, only five states required specific coursework on emergent bilinguals (Arizona, California, Florida, Pennsylvania, and New York), 17 states made general reference to linguistically diverse students, and 15 states had no requirements at all. In Pennsylvania, a recent policy change requires all teacher candidates to complete three credits of coursework about emergent bilinguals. Teachers cannot adequately teach emergent bilinguals without specific required coursework that speaks to their unique learning needs. Samson and Collins also point to the absence in teacher certification state exams for testing candidate’s knowledge related to emergent bilinguals. All teachers should have knowledge about and experiences with second language learners. It is not enough to integrate partial and often superficial information into existing teacher licensure courses, as de Jong and Harper’s (2005) epigraph opening this chapter asserts. de Oliviera and Athanases (2007) concur, insisting that teacher preparation programs must include faculty who have expertise, experience, and research in the area of emergent bilingual education. Harper and de Jong (2009) lament that in the wake of recent educational reforms ESL teachers’ expertise has been supplanted by general, “good teaching practices,” which fail to meet the specific needs of emergent bilinguals. Gaps in teachers’ knowledge about emergent bilinguals can cause irreparable damage (Hutchinson, 2013; Walker, Shafer, & Iiams, 2004). Lack of understanding of second language acquisition may create negative stereotypes and low expectations toward emergent bilinguals; may result in unnecessary grade retention or misplacement of students; may increase rote and memorization instruction and learning; and most troubling, may generate resentment toward emergent bilinguals for lowering the school and teacher test scores. Teachers’ quality and effectiveness is associated with high expectations, positive attitudes, rapport, empathy, commitment and advocacy for meeting the needs of emergent bilinguals and their families. Transformative teacher preparation improves teachers’ qualifications not only on content knowledge but also most importantly on their attitudes, leadership skills, and intercultural sensitivity and competency for increasing their effectiveness (Gonza´lez & Soltero, 2011). de Jong and Harper (2005) maintain that understanding the social, psychological, and political foundations and implications of learning English as a second language in the United States will prepare teachers to be responsive to the ways emergent bilinguals function in school. They argue that “without taking into consideration the sociocultural and sociopolitical pressures that may lead to different acculturation patterns, mainstream

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teachers may assume that the process of acculturation is linear and simply a matter of choice” (p. 114). Palmer and Martı´ nez (2013) likewise advocate for “developing materials for teachers that reflect both current theoretical understandings of language practices in bilingual communities and a more critically contextualized understanding of the power dynamics that operate in bilingual classroom contexts” (p. 269). They assert that fostering in-depth understandings of and practices for emergent bilinguals “implies an ideological shift for educators and teacher educators in the United States” (p. 269).

THE STUDY We sought to understand whether our graduate program in bilingualbicultural education (1) empowered and prepared in-service teachers to meet emergent bilinguals’ academic, social, and cultural-linguistic needs and, therefore, (2) whether it worked to reshape the current educational climate at local and individual levels. These questions guided this study.

Method We use autoethnography as the method of inquiry (Ellingson & Ellis, 2008; Ellis & Bochner, 2000) for its historical role in illustrating “that those with power are frequently least aware of or least willing to acknowledge its existence as well as their role in maintaining inequitable social and cultural capital that leads to student marginalization” (Romo, 2005, p. 195; see also Hughes, Pennington, & Makris, 2012, p. 212). Autoethnography opens a venue for marginalized voices (Hayano, 1979; Hughes et al., 2012). We contend that bilingual education remains marginalized within teacher preparation, education policy, and school curriculum and practice. At the same time, autoethnography meets empirical research standards delimited by the American Education Research Association (Hughes et al., 2012) and “allows for a rich vein of anecdotal information about schools, identity development, mentoring, and activism that traditional quantitative or ethnographic methodologies can miss” (Romo, 2005, p. 194; see also Ellis & Bochner, 2000). Teacher educators regularly use autoethnography to study their practice with teacher candidates (Pennington, 2007) because it provides readers a glimpse into the “totality” of experience (Romo, 2005).

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More specifically, we employ evocative autoethnography, which uses experience and personal narrative to open dialogue and evoke emotional and material responses, particularly relative to one’s own organization (Sambrook, Stewart, & Roberts, 2008). Our organization is the field of teacher preparation in the current education climate and, therefore, the particular role of bilingual education for all pre- and in-service teachers. By using an autoethnographic approach, we seek to critique political, sociocultural, and educational norms (Clough, 2000; Denzin, 2000), and to contribute to social transformation that moves education policy-makers, colleges of education, teacher educators, teachers, and school administrators into action that appropriately meets the academic and sociocultural needs of emergent bilinguals (Bochner, 2000).

Data Collection, Participants, and Analysis We triangulated autoethnographic perspectives with analysis of extant research (aforementioned review) and teachers’ narratives. We solicited personal narratives from 32 graduates of the Bilingual-Bicultural Education graduate program who currently work as teachers in Chicago and the surrounding areas. The participants were very diverse representing different ethnic backgrounds that included Asian, Latino, and White; diverse language backgrounds that included monolingual English speakers as well as bilinguals in Spanish, Korean, Japanese, and French; varied disciplines and grade spans that included elementary, secondary, and adult education in bilingual education, foreign language education, ESL math, social studies, and special education; and varied types of school settings that included public, private, charter, and Catholic schools. We invited them to share personal perspectives about how, if at all, the program informed their teaching philosophy and practice about emergent bilinguals. We received narrative responses through email (McDonough & Brandenburg, 2012; Nguyen, 2007). We conducted critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 1992; Rogers, 2004) of the narrative responses using a recursive two-stage process. First, we individually read all responses, annotating our respective initial impressions related to content and thematic analysis (Boyatzis, 1998; Creswell, 1997). Second, we analyzed inductively, noting repeated patterns and emergent themes, then deductively by considering emergent themes relative to the research questions and pertinent research (Boyatzis, 1998). We then condensed repeated themes across participants, which developed

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into a narrative (Emerson, Fretz, & Shaw, 1995) illustrating answers to our research questions in terms of students’ experiences and perspectives alongside our own. The use of our personal perspectives, or “interpretive commentary” (Davis, 1995), combined with in-service teacher graduates’ narratives not only provided triangulation and strengthened credibility, transferability, and dependability (Mackey & Gass, 2005) but it also offered a more “holistic cultural portrait of the social group that incorporates both the views of the actors in the group (emic) and the researcher’s (etic) interpretation” (Creswell, 1997, p. 60).

Setting This study took place in Chicago, Illinois. According to Bilingual Education Programs and English Language Learners in Illinois: SY 2011 Statistical Report, there are more than 197,000 emergent bilinguals (labeled as ELLs) in Illinois. This represents almost 10% of the state’s over-all student population. Just 16 years ago, emergent bilinguals were at about 100,000; thus during this time, the emergent bilingual population has nearly doubled and these numbers have likely increased over the past three years. Of the top 15 school districts with emergent bilinguals in Illinois, 14 are within the six counties that surround Chicago and represent over 61% (or 120,840 people) of the state’s total emergent bilingual population. In SY 2011, the grade level distribution was as follows: 8.9% of emergent bilinguals were in PK, 55.6% were in grades K-3, 17.9% were in grades 4 6, another 7.7% were in the upper grades 7 8, and 9.8% were in high school. According to Bilingual Education Programs and English Language Learners in Illinois: SY 2011 Statistical Report, 67, 354 emergent bilinguals were in Cook County, the location of Chicago Public Schools. Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is the third largest, but most segregated, school district in the United States. Fifty percent of its students have a grade point average below 2.0 on a 4.0 scale. Before becoming President Obama’s Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan served as Chief Executive Officer of CPS and spearheaded Renaissance 2010, the educational plan endorsed by for-profit companies to close 80 CPS schools and create 100 charter schools. This model morphed into the Obama Administration’s Race to the Top initiative, which uses economic incentives to pressure states into aligning their education systems with a one-size-fits-all, sameness-as-fairness model of aggressive testing, accountability, and privatization. Most recently, this

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same model drives the Obama administration’s plan for teacher preparation, which also regrettably includes no explicit consideration of emergent bilinguals (The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, 2014). Since Duncan’s departure as CEO, CPS has shuttered even more schools. Closures reached a crescendo in 2013 with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel closing 53 schools in one year, mostly in poor and minority neighborhoods. The closures not only disrupt community-based learning but they also force many students and parents to commute daily across dangerous gang lines through police-protected “safe passage routes,” further enflaming tensions in a city plagued with the nation’s most homicides. The year before, the Chicago Teachers Union made international headlines with a strike that closed schools for seven days as teachers and the district negotiated, among other things, working conditions and student testing. In March 2014, The Chicago Tribune reported that teachers in some 74 CPS schools have refused to administer the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) in protest against the district’s excessive testing (Ahmed-Ullah & Black, 2014). Although CPS has threatened disciplinary measures (including permanent dismissal), the teachers are emboldened by support from students’ parents and are instead using testing time to teach. The ISAT normally carries high stakes in Chicago but is being phased out; it is however required by state law and is used to determine compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind law. This is the backdrop against which candidates enter the Bilingual-Bicultural Education Program.

The Bilingual-Bicultural Education Program The Bilingual-Bicultural Education (BBE) Program was established in 2001 to provide pre- and in-service teachers graduate-level coursework and practical fieldwork explicitly in bilingual education (BE) and English as a second language education (ESL). It was the first master’s program in Illinois and much of the Midwest that was entirely dedicated to emergent bilinguals. The BBE program offers a comprehensive examination of the linguistic, academic, social, political, and cultural needs of emergent bilinguals by addressing first, second, and heritage language acquisition and bilingual/ESL educational theory, research, policy, and practice. The foundation of the program rests on the sociopolitical, linguistic, and cultural implications of approaches to language education and language policies.

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The program offers two concentrations for state endorsement, BE and/or ESL. Students with a concentration in BE must show proficiency in stateapproved second language at the time of application for state endorsement in bilingual education. Students with a concentration in ESL are not required to show proficiency in a second language. The BBE program core courses: • Prepare educators who understand and implement a wide range of learning strategies and assessments that are academically rigorous, pedagogically sound, and culturally responsive. • Consider the sociopolitical implications of various approaches to language education and language policies. • Examine the relationship of language, culture, and identity within social, educational, and political contexts. • Understand the processes involved in first and second language acquisition and language and literacy development. • Develop collegiality and collaboration among educators, programs, and schools that support activism, education, and social change of traditionally underserved students, families, and communities. Since the BBE program’s inception, other similar targeted programs have been developed in Illinois and the surrounding states. In 2014, the BBE program expanded to include undergraduate minors in BE and/or ESL, which result in state endorsements and/or a university certificate in teaching ESL and/or EFL.

FINDINGS Data analyses suggest multiple emergent themes, but here we focus on three in the interest of reshaping the mainstream education climate: first, in-service teacher-graduates assert their studies in bilingual education prepared and empowered them to meet emergent bilinguals’ academic, social, and cultural-linguistic needs. Second, in-service teacher-graduates articulated a conscious inner transformation resulting from their studies in bilingual education. Moreover, this transformation resulted in new ways and purposes of interacting with emergent bilingual students, their families, and colleagues. Third, although there is institutional progress in meeting emergent bilinguals’ needs, it is incremental and insufficient.

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Theme 1: Bilingual-Bicultural Education Prepares and Empowers In-service Teacher-Graduates to Meet Emergent Bilinguals’ Needs I am currently in a situation where my BBE knowledge has proved invaluable. Evelyn, Inservice Teacher-Graduate You [the BBE program] changed my life and the lives of my students more than you know. Lisa, Inservice Teacher-Graduate

The first theme that emerged from the in-service teacher-graduates’ narratives is that the BBE program prepared and empowered them to meet the academic, social, and cultural-linguistic needs of emergent bilinguals in their classrooms. In particular, in-service teacher-graduates noted the program’s value not only in advocating for emergent bilinguals but also in providing knowledge and skills to help emergent bilinguals achieve in the current context of rigorous national and state standards. For example, Evelyn, whose quote opens this section, added: I teach at an elementary school where 99% of the population is on free or reduced lunch and over half are ELLs. In addition, an administrator also informed me this past week that 80% of the school (grades K-4) do not know how to read ….In order to reach my students who at nine years old cannot read, I have drawn on my BBE courses of effective teaching practices for ELLs, from literacy to assessment. However, what has proved the most valuable are the class discussions on how to maneuver through the increased pressure to teach to national and state standards. I see so many teachers around me giving into the pressures, even at the elementary level where the foundations of education are being laid, of “teaching to the test.” In the midst of a time that can arguably be defined as the end of education, the BBE program calls for good teaching practice within what is mandated, in turn creating students that will be life-long learners.

Another in-service teacher-graduate, Erica, asserted that the “The Bilingual Bicultural Education program has greatly influenced my practice as an educator.” As a general education math teacher, Erica teaches general education students, special education students, and a diverse group of emergent bilinguals. She stated that, “through the BBE program, I have learned how to integrate my students’ cultural diversity and interests into my classroom, which has allowed me to be able to create a classroom environment which embraces diversity.” Specifically, Erica indicated the emergent bilinguals in her classes are refugees and immigrants of various proficiency levels, and many of them have interrupted schooling, creating for Erica the difficult situation Menken (2013) asserts only appropriate, specialized teacher preparation can mitigate. Erica admits, “It is a challenge

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to meet the needs of each student in a diverse classroom while implementing state standards” but adds: The BBE program has helped me to find ways to challenge each student while still providing necessary support. It helped me learn how to scaffold all students’ learning in order to engage each student where they are in their learning process as well as challenge each student to learn more. It also helped me to understand that equity of student learning experiences does not have to be equal, but through scaffolded learning experiences all students can learn to the best of their potential.

Likewise, Lisa, another in-service teacher-graduate who had five years’ experience in teaching blended special education when entering the BBE program, indicated that she enrolled because “The vast majority of my students came from Spanish-speaking households. I returned to school for my master’s in bilingual-bicultural education because I knew my students needed a teacher who had a strong knowledge of how to best educate ELLs.” After five years’ experience, many in-service teachers have already established their basic approach to lesson planning and instruction; however, Lisa indicated that the BBE program re-developed her entire approach to curriculum and instruction and interacting with parents and the community to best meet the needs of both monolingual and emergent bilingual students, with and without special needs: As an educator, I became more critical of my practices and started asking more questions such as “Is this meaningful?” and “How can I make sure all students understand this?” I thought more about the way I presented content the language I used, how I could adapt lessons to make it accessible to all learners, the literature I selected, the content we covered. I wanted to make sure that my students’ languages and backgrounds were included in the curriculum. I knew it was important that I did this through creating culturally responsive relationships with their families. I suppose you could say I came to critically analyze my teaching strategies and also started to build stronger ties between home and school. Additionally, I find myself less susceptible to settling into the “easy way out” and more dedicated to “the best way in.”

Lisa’s narrative indicates the BBE program’s success in fostering the type of culturally and linguistically responsive, relevant, and sustaining pedagogy advocated by Bunch (2013), Ladson-Billings (2014), and Paris and Alim (2014). Moreover, Evelyn, Erica, and Lisa all articulate the BBE program’s influence in fostering a very real resilience in the face of difficult teaching circumstances. Whereas much recent research on “grit” for success focuses on students’ resilience (Goodwin & Miller, 2013), Evelyn, Erica, and Lisa suggest an equally necessary teacher grit in the shared mission of fostering emergent bilingual student achievement. This is an area that warrants further research.

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Yet another in-service teacher-graduate, Candice, indicated the BBE program prepared her with “life-changing” pedagogy to “dive in” to teaching emergent bilinguals: I was able to dive into the theories that are the basis for effective second language acquisition. Teaching full-time while obtaining my master’s was quite difficult, but it was so helpful in that I could directly apply what I was learning in the classroom right away. Of all the theories, routines and strategies that I learned in the BBE program, the idea that was “life-changing” for me was the importance of authentic language experiences. The routine of giving my students daily opportunities to authentically practice speaking, listening, reading and writing has improved their language skills so much more drastically than any other pedagogical approach ….It is the lesson that I continue to promote to the teachers at my school who have received little or no EL theory in their teacher preparation courses.

The skills Candice referenced are similar to those Menken (2013) and others highlight in teaching emergent bilinguals. Furthermore, like Lisa above and others excerpted herein, Candice indicated the BBE program’s influence in her becoming an engaged advocate for emergent bilinguals: “In addition to learning to utilize authentic learning experiences, one of the most important lessons I learned during my time in the program was the importance of advocating for my English learners.” Such advocacy is a major component missing from current education models that lack an explicit, specialized focus on emergent bilinguals (de Oliviera & Athanases, 2007). In addition, Candice noted that her advocacy not only has helped emergent bilinguals, or “ELs,” in her school, but she has also come to be viewed and valued as a leader in the school community: [ELs] are often so marginalized within the school setting and their learning needs are not understood or acted upon. I have had to advocate for my ELs so much throughout my career. I have supported them while working with my administration and staff regarding the importance of native language support, proper text books and materials, providing more professional development to staff and countless other ways. The information I learned in the BBE program has given me the confidence to speak up regarding so many issues that influence our ELs and I am now considered to be the EL expert in my school and also in my charter school district.

Erica, the in-service math teacher mentioned above, also noted the BBE program’s impact in fostering her advocacy, outreach, and recognition in the school community as a teacher leader: In addition to improving my classroom teaching skills, the program has helped me to increase community and parent connections within the ESL program. My school was not engaging many of our ELL families or utilizing community resources that currently serve the ELL community. In order to capitalize on parent and community resources,

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I was able to implement an ESL Leadership team at my school. The goal of the team is to build a stronger support system for all ELLs in the school, educate teachers on best practices for ELLs, as well as create a stronger connection with community partners. The BBE program has transformed my views as a classroom teacher in realizing that the best way to support ELLs is to educate the staff that works with them. I am better at providing a comprehensive learning environment because of the education that I received, which influences all of my students in a positive way.

Thus, we see in the above in-service teachers’ narratives a perceived and real empowerment and practical knowledge derived from formal teacher preparation in bilingual education to meet emergent bilinguals’ academic, social, and cultural-linguistic needs. This empowerment and practical knowledge manifested for these teachers in their own instruction, but it also manifested in ways they noticed lacking in their colleagues without similar teacher preparation in bilingual education. Finally, such empowerment and practical knowledge manifested in these teachers’ taking leadership roles in their schools and districts to address emergent bilinguals’ needs. In all of these ways, in-service teachers indicated they were reshaping the current educational climate in local and individual ways. Theme 2: In-service Teacher-Graduates’ Conscious Inner Transformations and Transformed Interactions with Emergent Bilinguals The BBE program changed my life and shaped my mind. Alexa, Inservice Teacher-Graduate

A second and related theme is in-service teacher-graduates’ articulation of a conscious inner transformation from their studies in bilingual education. Furthermore, this seemingly unintended transformation is one that informs how and toward what end they interact with emergent bilingual students, their families, and colleagues. For example, in discussing her aforementioned resilience, Lisa suggests that it lies in “becoming” through reflective practice as a human being not just as a teacher: As a person I became much more open-minded. Instead of becoming frustrated with students or families or individuals because of “typical behaviors” that didn’t mesh with what my experience, I started asking questions Why are these behaviors beneficial to this particular culture? How are their values different than mine? What do I do that contradicts their experiences? How can we find a common ground? I also became a stronger advocate [for emergent bilinguals] and more politically active. I became involved in many organizations and started going to events that support human, immigration, and education rights. As a language learner myself I became more aware of how I best learn a language and learned how to apply my experiences to my interactions with others who are learning English.

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Lisa’s excerpt above realizes Makiguchi (1981 1988) and Ikeda’s (1991 2014) shared view that truly human becoming is the font of education for “value creation.” Makiguchi and Ikeda’s ideas have become increasingly applied to language education (Goulah, 2012, 2013; Goulah & Gebert, 2009) and are discussed in practice in the BBE program. They maintain that education for becoming “fully human” in the richest sense requires teachers to engage intentionally in a type of relational, embodied, and situated learning that leads to their own growth, as well as to the growth of students. Such conscious transformation of the self, then, necessarily depends on the other. This is the dialogic transformation of self and other that Holquist (2004) calls Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of “dialogism,” or what Thayer-Bacon (2003), who draws on Ikeda, calls “relational ‘(e)pistemologies.’” Ikeda (2010) juxtaposes such learning with current education models that result in a one-sided (student only) development of “skilled beasts” equipped at best with decontextualized knowledge and no wisdom. Other in-service teacher-graduates also explicitly reference Makiguchi and Ikeda, among other thinkers, in describing their own relational transformations through interactions with emergent bilinguals. Moreover, they characterize such transformations in terms of a humanizing paradigm and epistemology. For example, one in-service teacher-graduate, Victor, who had been teaching in CPS for seven years when entering the BBE program, indicated that he enrolled as a teacher dedicated to behaviorism and sought only easy-toimplement recipes. However, through his graduate studies in bilingual education he dramatically changed his paradigm and pedagogy: I came to the BBE program expecting that my professors would tell me what to do. In other words, I wanted to be told what the necessary knowledge is and expected professors would transmit it to me, just as I tried to transfer knowledge from my head to my students’ heads. I wanted to become a more effective and efficient transmitter of knowledge. During my 1st year in BBE, I started to realize that my paradigm was terribly misguided. Reading and discussing Vygotsky, Bakhtin, Makiguchi, Ikeda, Gee, LippiGreen, Cummins and others helped me understand what it means to know language, know myself and know my students.

He concludes that this transformation is the result of his studies in bilingual education: Once I redefined what it means to know something, I also redefined what it means for me to know what my students know …. It is difficult to explain everything I learned in the BBE program. Without BBE, I would be teaching the same way and still be having the same problems. Without BBE, I would have never thought about what it means to

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know something or someone. I hope other teachers have the same type of genuinely transformative experience as I had.

Another in-service teacher-graduate, Omar, also addressed the transformative power of studies in bilingual education for self and other, citing many of the same educational philosophers as Victor: Transformative education has been the subject of much spilled ink as educators and educational researchers grapple with new ways to redefine old paradigms. In my classes in the BBE program ….I was exposed to writers and thinkers like Dewey, Bakhtin, Vygotsky, Makiguchi, Gee, Delpit, and Lippi-Green that helped transform the way I order my professional priorities. These writers talk about education almost tangentially: it’s the human relationships and social interactions that truly transform you.

Like Lisa, Victor, and Omar, another in-service teacher-graduate, Maria, also noted the BBE program’s impact on her transformed views of education, language, self, and other: Throughout my time in the BBE program I have definitely seen that my perspective on education has changed. Before I was fixated on the idea that as a teacher my role was to teach the material that students were expected to learn. The BBE program allowed me to see that I can make that happen, but it also opened my eyes to a new form of teaching, a transformative way, by which I can help students see that they are capable of making a difference in the world.

Like Victor, Maria also developed a deeper understanding of language, identity, and education, stating: “I have also found myself to value language at a much deeper level than before. I have found that language is deeply connected to our students and their lives; I now realize the importance of preserving students’ home language and culture for maintaining their identity.” Such perspectival shifts by Maria and Victor demonstrate those advocated by Garcia et al. (2010). Furthermore, and anticipating Behizadeh’s (2014) article influenced by Chimamanda Adichie’s 2009 Ted Talks speech “The Danger of the Single Story,” Maria concludes, “From my studies in bilingual-bicultural education, I know that as a teacher I want to ensure that I include all students’ cultures and not fixate on teaching a ‘one story view,’ but instead teach my students to see the world in a ‘multi-story view.’” The above in-service teachers’ narratives demonstrate that, for them, formal teacher preparation in bilingual education fostered transformed perspectives about the meaning and role of language not only for their students’ identities but also for their own. Furthermore, this new and seemingly unintended understanding resulted in a deep inner transformation that manifested in a newfound resilience and new ways and purposes

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of engaging emergent bilinguals. Such engagement, then, led to further inner transformation and renewed forms of engagement. This type of continual, bidirectional growth is lacking in the literature on teachers and emergent bilinguals and warrants further study. Theme 3: Insufficient Incremental Institutional Progress: The Need for Required, Specialized Coursework In my undergraduate education program, anything to do with ELLs was discussed for a few minutes and always as an aside with comments from my professors like “and don’t forget to make modifications for ELLs” or “these strategies also work for kids that don’t know English.” Trina, Inservice Teacher-Graduate

The third emergent theme is that although there is institutional progress in meeting emergent bilinguals’ needs, it is incremental and insufficient. This deficiency exists both in Illinois and in our own college of education. Furthermore, this insufficiency exists at multiple levels that cohere into a sustained inadequacy in teacher preparation and emergent bilinguals’ academic failure and relegation to protracted, institutionalized monolingualism. In 2009, Illinois became the first state to mandate that public schools with preschool offer bilingual education to young emergent bilinguals (Malone, 2010; Soltero, 2011). In 2012, Governor Pat Quinn signed HB3819, a law purportedly designed to strengthen bilingual education in Illinois. The law authorizes the Illinois Advisory Council on Bilingual Education to study and make recommendations on the state of bilingual education in Illinois as well as the role of parents of students whose first language is not English (Governor’s Office Press Release, 2012). Admittedly, bilingual early childhood education at both the state level and within our college of education has improved; teacher candidates in this program seem prepared to meet students’ needs. However, HB-3819 belies the current reality of teacher education about emergent bilinguals in other disciplines. Neither Illinois nor our college of education requires preservice teachers to have coursework or clinical hours in teaching emergent bilinguals. By comparison, every teacher education program in our college requires a special education course, which is designed and taught by faculty with expertise and experience in special education. The lack of an equivalent course on emergent bilinguals has resulted in most preservice teacher candidates graduating with no information, little information, or misinformation about emergent bilinguals’ needs. Trina’s quote opening this section illustrates such an approach (de Jong & Harper, 2005).

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Other in-service teacher-graduates also lamented the lack of attention to emergent bilinguals in their teacher licensure programs. For example, Annette indicated the following: From the different readings from multiple BBE classes, it seems as though the more the teacher is familiar with educational linguistics, the better the teacher can help understand the background, culture, etc. of ELL students, which in turn would help motivate and build confidence for the students. Unfortunately, as a licensed teacher myself, I have not received this type of course from my previous [teacher preparation], and if I had known more about how ELL students learn, it would have helped tremendously for the ELL students I had in my classroom …. Personally, I feel as though all universities should enforce this type of course for students wanting to become teachers.

In our college of education, the lack of at least one required course on emergent bilinguals has also created a discursive void filled by teacher educators who lump emergent bilinguals by making statements such as: “in our teacher preparation courses we address the needs of ELLs, drug users, and the poor” or “how to address the handicap of not knowing English.” If such unintentional but pejorative views are not countered with substantive coursework from specialist faculty, teachers may appropriate them and further marginalize emergent bilinguals in their classrooms (Hutchinson, 2013; Walker et al., 2004). In 2013, the Illinois State Board of Education’s (ISBE) revised Illinois Professional Teacher Standards (Illinois Professional Teaching Standards [IPTS], 2013) went into effect. For the first time, IPTS require teacher candidates explicitly to possess knowledge of and skills to teach emergent bilinguals (labeled as ELLs). However, problems remain. There are over 150 indicators for the nine standards in IPTS 2013, but ELLs are mentioned only three times, twice parenthetically. The IPTS 2013 refer to ELLs in Standard 1 Teaching Diverse Students, Standard 6 Reading, Writing and Oral Communication, and Standard 8 Collaborative Relationships. For example, in Standard 1 they are lumped in the following manner as a form of diversity: “race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, special education, gifted, English language learners (ELL), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity” (Illinois Professional Teaching Standards, 2013, p. 1), and this may be the cause of the aforementioned teacher educators’ similar lumping. Emergent bilinguals’ inclusion in IPTS 2013 is indeed progress; however, it remains insufficient because ISBE does not mandate at least one course for all preservice teacher candidates that is designed and taught by faculty specializing in bilingual education. Therefore, colleges of education may

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address these standards however they like, whether by specialized faculty or not, or in specialized classes or not. In our own college of education, this scenario plays out in two ways. On one hand, some programs, if reluctantly, now require a course on emergent bilinguals that is designed and taught by specialist faculty. On the other hand, the imposition of IPTS 2013 has resulted in many other programs trying to embed modules on emergent bilinguals into existing courses. One example is noteworthy. BBE faculty collaborated with faculty in physical education to develop a course on physical education for ELLs. Such a course is particularly necessary in Chicago as physical education is the most failed course in the CPS school with the largest population of emergent bilinguals. Teachers at this CPS school and others specifically requested teacher preparation in such a course. Nevertheless, the physical education faculty was instead advised by colleagues to address emergent bilinguals’ needs in a general course on literacy instruction for native English-speaking students. It cannot be overstated that such an approach is exactly what de Jong and Harper (2005), de Oliviera and Athanases (2007), Lucas et al. (2008), Palmer and Martı´ nez (2013), Samson and Collins (2012), and many others warn against if meeting emergent bilinguals’ needs and properly preparing teachers are goals. The notion that the theory, research, policy, and practice of second language and bilingual education can be embedded in existing general education courses and be taught by faculty without expertise and experience in the field is problematic and concerning. When a faculty is required or elected to teach topics that are outside their field of expertise, the likelihood of disseminating incomplete and incorrect information is very high. Moreover, it is impossible to cover the breadth and depth of second language and bilingual education by embedding this content in general education courses. An additional problem with embedding emergent bilingual topics in general education courses is that some content of existing courses would have to be eliminated to make room for this new content, which is likely then to be relegated to one class session of the existing course or covered superficially across course sessions. These incorrect assumptions point to the lack of understanding that the fields of bilingual education and English as a second language are complex academic disciplines. Teacher preparation programs must address the current demographic realities of P-12 schools and recognize that it is no longer the sole responsibility of the “specialists” (bilingual and English as a second language teachers) to educate emergent bilinguals (Soltero, 2011). Erica, the aforementioned in-service (math) teacher-graduate who now also leads

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development teams about emergent bilinguals in her school, asserts: “More teachers need to be aware of the obstacles that ELLs face and ways to help them succeed.” Likewise, another in-service teacher-graduate, Sofia, contends: I think [the BBE program] should definitely be the foundation of all education programs in the U.S. because of the great diversity of students in the schools. I think teachers need to be made more aware of this how it is our duty as teachers to ensure that all of our students get the support they need and make sure students see relevance between lessons and their personal lives.

In the current climate of accountability and high stakes, there is a real urgency for all teachers and school leaders to have the necessary knowledge of the linguistic, academic, policy, and programmatic factors that lead to effective learning opportunities for emergent bilinguals (Soltero, 2011; Wiley et al., 2013). Colleges of education must respond by requiring specialized coursework for teachers and administrators, taught by specialized faculty, to meet the needs of diverse student populations and their families. Failure to do so shortchanges emergent bilingual students and their teachers. Batt (2008) indicates the alternative: “the cycle of unpreparedness will continue, and the schools and their administrators will be left with the costly and logistically difficult recourse of providing professional development to overcome deficiency in skills needed by in-service educators to help ELLs succeed academically” (p. 41).

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Pre-service and in-service teacher preparation programs should redesign the curriculum to ensure that all teachers are prepared to work effectively with emergent bilinguals. Infusing topics about emergent bilinguals in existing courses taught by nonexperts in the field would leave serious gaps in the knowledge about emergent bilinguals. This study, as well as current literature discussed in this chapter, point to the need for specialized coursework taught by those with expertise in bilingual and ESL education. Specialized coursework coupled with field experiences with emergent bilinguals under the supervision of bilingual and ESL teachers would best situate all teachers to work with this population of students. We further recommend that these types of requirements related to emergent bilinguals be included in administrator and counselor preparation programs.

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The inclusion of such coursework can be a result of mandated state policy (such as Florida and New York) or voluntary university-based decisions (such as the case of our own university). While government policies that dictate curriculum to teacher preparation programs are not popular, policies that officially recognize the need to include emergent bilinguals in the preparation of general education teachers and administrators is necessary because this student population has been historically marginalized in education. Beyond foundational emergent bilingual courses, we also recommend specific coursework for pre-service and in-service teachers that offer a platform for their own professional growth and inner transformation. Such transformation has implications for teacher resilience, and so we recommend further studies on teacher resilience as a result of formal studies in bilingual education.

LIMITATIONS This study is limited by a lack of extensive classroom observations of, and semistructured interviews with, the participating in-service teachergraduates. It is likewise limited by a lack of documentary, observational, and interview data from emergent bilingual students in the participating inservice teacher-graduates’ classes. Such data would further triangulation (Mackey & Gass, 2005). We plan to collect such data in the future.

CONCLUSION The reality for teachers across the United States is that most will have emergent bilinguals in their classrooms. Reshaping the mainstream education climate through the inclusion of bilingual education coursework in both pre-service and in-service programs is a viable option to better prepare teachers to meet the needs of all their students. Including compulsory coursework about emergent bilinguals taught by faculty that have expertise about and experience with second language learners in teacher preparation programs can result in positive outcomes for teachers and emergent bilinguals alike. This foundational knowledge can situate teacher-preparation graduates to be more successful with this population of students and be better prepared to contextualize mandated learning standards and

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standardized testing for emergent bilinguals, have deeper understanding about emergent bilinguals that result in improved communication with linguistically diverse families as well as increased family/parental participation, have the necessary knowledge to advocate for linguistically and culturally appropriate instruction and testing, resulting in better academic performance for their students, and contextualize emergent bilingual students’ progress in their own teacher evaluations. For emergent bilinguals to achieve higher levels of educational attainment, their teachers must have increased foundational understandings of their linguistic, sociocultural, and sociopolitical contexts. In-service university programs such as the one analyzed in this study provide a vehicle “to break away from adverse relationships and negative beliefs and [allow] for the creation of learning environments that are informed by both participatory action and critical reflection” (Gonza´lez & Soltero, 2011, p. 277).

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WHY DIDN’T ANYONE TELL ME THIS BEFORE? Susan Spezzini, Julia S. Austin and Josephine Prado ABSTRACT During a site-based certification program in a large county school district in the southeastern United States, 14 educators took 7 graduate courses on teaching emergent bilinguals. These educators made a shift in their practices and perceived a corresponding shift in their teaching efficacy. Ten years after the onset of this program, researchers returned to the site and conducted a mixed-methods study. The first purpose of this study was to explore educators’ perceptions regarding instructional practices for teaching emergent bilinguals after a decade had passed. The second purpose was to identify course features perceived by educators as having been most instrumental in fostering a long-term transformation in their teaching practices. Data were collected from a survey and interviews with the 14 educators (13 teachers and a program specialist) who had completed this certification program. Results indicated changes in their teaching methods and interactions with parents as well as heightened confidence for taking on leadership roles. Study participants identified professional learning communities, cyclical reflective activities, and action research projects as the course features that had been instrumental in transforming their practices for working with emergent bilinguals.

Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals Advances in Research on Teaching, Volume 24, 205 232 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3687/doi:10.1108/S1479-368720150000024010

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Findings suggest that this site-based certification program was a catalyst for generating individual change that continued beyond program completion. By exploring this decade-long transformation, the current study provides implications for designing and implementing graduate certification courses that prepare in-service teachers to work effectively with emergent bilinguals. Keywords: Teacher transformation; professional learning communities; reflective practices; action research; teachers of emergent bilingual students

INTRODUCTION Why didn’t my professors tell me …? • How diverse my classes would be even though I’m teaching in a rural school district? • The Silent Period is what most emergent bilinguals experience when they first begin learning English? • How harmful it is to tell families of emergent bilinguals to speak only English at home? • That I do not have to speak the language of my emergent bilinguals to support their home language? These questions were voiced by classroom teachers taking courses in a graduate-level certification program for teaching emergent bilingual students. Though certified in elementary or secondary education, these teachers had been unprepared for serving emergent bilinguals. To bridge this pedagogy gap, they enrolled in graduate courses. As teachers began adjusting their practices, they witnessed emergent bilinguals making greater progress. Encouraged by their new knowledge and skills, but still frustrated that their initial training had not prepared them for teaching emergent bilinguals, these teachers would ask: “Why didn’t anyone tell me this before?” In the 1990s, many southeastern U.S. states received an influx of immigrant families from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia (Sua´rezOrozco, Sua´rez-Orozco, & Todorova, 2008). As their children began entering schools, the percentage of emergent bilinguals increased dramatically. For example, emergent bilingual enrollment increased 368% from 1991 to 2001 in Alabama, the site of this study (Mikow-Porto et al., 2004). Unprepared in their initial teacher preparation for the teaching of emergent

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bilinguals, classroom teachers struggled to provide appropriate instruction. An urgent pedagogical need surfaced in many school districts such as Gulf County that served one of the fastest growing counties in Alabama. In response to this need, the Central Research University, located at a distance of 275 miles, provided Gulf County with a site-based graduate-level certification program. In September 2001, Central Research University received Title VII funding from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs for the university’s New Teacher for New Students (NTNS) program. In collaboration with the Alabama State Department of Education, this university identified school districts with large emergent bilingual populations and a corresponding need for teachers certified in English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Alabama’s certification for teachers of emergent bilinguals. Gulf County was among two school districts invited to join NTNS during its first year; numerous districts across the state joined the next two years. Gulf County’s new ESOL program specialist enthusiastically embraced this site-based certification program and its purpose, that of preparing teachers for working effectively with emergent bilinguals to support their language acquisition and academic achievement. Ten years after initiating the ESOL certification program, university researchers returned to Gulf County to examine the perceptions of program participants regarding possible transformations in their teaching practices. In this chapter, we report findings on the transformation of teaching practices among Gulf County educators 10 years after the onset of their site-based certification program. We start by framing the purpose and significance of this study. Next, we describe the certification program, setting, and participants. Following a brief literature review, we define the study’s conceptual framework, outline its methodology, explain the results, and report findings. We conclude by identifying practical implications and offering recommendations.

PURPOSE To better understand how Gulf County educators teach emergent bilingual students and how these educators perceive their site-based certification program, we posed two questions: (1) How do Gulf County educators perceive their instructional practices for teaching emergent bilinguals 10 years after the onset of a site-based certification program?

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(2) Based on the perceptions of Gulf County educators, which features of this certification program had been instrumental in fostering the transformation of their instructional practices for teaching emergent bilinguals?

SIGNIFICANCE This study addresses a gap in the literature regarding the long-term transformation of teacher practices for working effectively with emergent bilingual students (de Jong & Harper, 2005; Lucas, Villegas, & FreedsonGonzalez, 2008). By examining educators’ perceptions 10 years after the onset of a graduate-level certification program, the current study identifies program features that led to transformations continuing after the program ended. Study findings suggest that an in-service site-based teacher certification program can promote long-term transformation of practices in working effectively with emergent bilinguals.

SITE-BASED CERTIFICATION PROGRAM The site-based certification program and the corresponding study took place in the Gulf County school district, situated 275 miles south of Central Research University, the state’s largest research university. As the only public school district in a county of over 2,000 square miles, Gulf County serves a wide variety of students, ranging from rural to suburban and from high to low socioeconomic status. Life in this long, rectangular-shaped county varies greatly between its rural north end, an agricultural area that produces corn, potatoes, and soybeans, and its more affluent south end, a coastal area famous for beaches, art, and tourism. This county’s geographic and economic diversity propelled it into becoming one of the fastest growing counties in the state. Correspondingly, the district also experienced rapid growth especially among emergent bilingual students whose parents sought employment in the growing agriculture and tourism industries. This surge began shortly before Gulf County was invited to participate in NTNS. Gulf County’s student body grew from 22,544 students at 40 schools in 2001, at the onset of the graduate-level certification program, to 28,042 students at 45 schools in 2011, when the data for this study were collected. From 2001 to 2011, the Gulf County district experienced a 24% increase in student

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population. During this same time period, its emergent bilingual population experienced a 285% increase, having grown from 180 to 693. By having joined this Title VII project in 2001, the district was poised to better serve its ever increasing influx of emergent bilinguals. When participating in the ESOL certification program, the 14 Gulf County educators in this study held the following positions: seven were content teachers, five were ESOL aides, one was an ESOL teacher, and one was the ESOL program specialist. Ten years later, when participating in this study, 13 were ESOL teachers and 1 was the ESOL program specialist. To meet the needs of Gulf County, the university faculty and project directors designed a distance-delivery certification program. Through NTNS, project participants received tuition support for seven graduate courses and earned ESOL certification. Each course provided three graduate units of credit. Though delivered face-to-face, these courses were supported by the university online learning management system, Blackboard, for assignment submission, discussion boards, and grade tracking. Of the seven courses provided by the project, four adhered to the CLASSIC model Critically Reflective, Lifelong, Advocacy for Second Language Learners Site-Specific, Innovation, and Cross-cultural Competency (Murry & Herrera, 1999) and, as such, were delivered at Gulf County sites through professional learning communities (PLC). The CLASSIC model is an ESOL certification program at Kansas State University designed to provide certification courses through site-based PLCs to teachers in school districts located at a distance from the university. Our project personnel collaborated with Murry and Herrera to learn about the CLASSIC model and then adapt it for the needs of content teachers throughout the state of Alabama. The other three project courses were delivered at the university in weeklong institutes. The site-based PLC courses took place in fall or spring, and the university-based institute courses took place in summer. Table 1 outlines the chronological distribution of the four PLC courses and the three institute courses. As is illustrated in Table 1, professional learning communities were an essential part of this certification program. During the first class session of the initial course, participants were divided into learning communities of three to five members based primarily on their geographic proximity to one another. The membership of these communities usually remained constant throughout the program. This consistency allowed participants to form strong cohorts and build supportive professional networks within their school district and, in some cases, within a given school.

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Table 1.

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Distribution and Delivery Format of the Certification Courses.

Semester

Delivery Format

1st spring

Weekly PLC sessions at Gulf County sites One week summer institute at the university One week summer institute at the university Weekly PLC sessions at Gulf County sites Weekly PLC sessions at Gulf County sites One week summer institute at the university Weekly PLC sessions at Gulf County sites

1st summer

1st fall 2nd spring 2nd summer 2nd fall

Courses Required for ESOL Certification Second language acquisition Teaching in a multicultural society Special topics in ESOL: programs and policies Methods and materials for teaching ESOL Teaching ESOL through reading and writing Grammar for ESOL teachers ESOL internship

Each PLC-delivered course began with a full-class session led by university instructors who commuted to Gulf County. After this initial class session, participants met weekly in their professional learning communities. During each PLC session, participants followed a program-developed protocol and submitted group and individual assignments electronically to their course instructors. Each course ended with a closing session, again led by the university instructor, during which participants presented their course projects. The final PLC course prepared participants for their internship with emergent bilingual students. The other three courses were delivered during weeklong summer institutes on the university campus. These campus-based courses were attended by graduate students from school districts throughout the state participating in this university’s grant programs as well as by graduate students not associated with any grant project. The majority of the 70 90 students in each summer institute course were in-service teachers. These campus-based courses provided a venue for hosting guest speakers, experts in the field, and also allowed Gulf County participants an extended opportunity for working face-to-face with their university instructors and with educators from other school districts. While they were deepening their understanding of the needs of emergent bilinguals, learning about different models for working effectively with these students, and becoming familiar with the university, participants were also forming professional networks with colleagues from across the state.

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Other important features of this certification program were cyclical reflective activities and action research projects. Reflective practices were integrated throughout the certification courses taken by Gulf County educators. These reflective assignments varied from reading responses of required course materials to an extensive reflective exercise in the multicultural education course that required deep, critical reflection of underlying beliefs and the actions that are influenced by those beliefs. Each time their professional learning communities met, the educators reflected on how well the group achieved the targeted learning objectives and on how effectively each member of the group participated. After each major activity or speaker in the summer-intensive courses, individuals reflected on questions about what they learned or how they would apply what they learned. In two courses, reflection journal assignments encouraged individual participants to reflect critically on assumptions, biases, and beliefs about an event or a behavior. By working through these structured reflection cycles, participants were refining their critical analysis skills and working toward becoming highly reflective practitioners. Action research was an integral part of the graduate-level certification program provided to the Gulf County educators. Most courses required an action research project through which participants acquired the tools and the impetus for identifying authentic issues related to the emergent bilinguals in their classrooms and schools. Framed within action research’s process of inquiry and aligned with its key principles of building relationships, improving communication, increasing participation, and including relevant individuals, the action research assignments provided participants with an opportunity to search for practical solutions to real problems (Stringer, 2014). During their ESOL certification program, participants explored solutions through action research projects such as the following: • Would 6th grade social studies emergent bilinguals learn better if the textbooks, learning activities, and standardized tests were accommodated to meet their instructional needs? • What effect do interactive dialogue journals have on five 3rd grade emergent bilinguals’ willingness to communicate with the teacher? • What factors negatively affect the ability of emergent bilinguals to successfully complete homework assignments? • What are the habits of emergent bilinguals in after-school activities? What are their perceptions in regard to their own after-school activities? • How will tailored instructional support assist an emergent bilingual in overcoming his/her targeted pronunciation difficulties?

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The project findings or outcomes were tangibles that participants shared with colleagues and administrators, often starting important conversations about improving instruction of emergent bilinguals and solving schoolwide problems. As they progressed through the certification program, participants transitioned from feeling uncertain and a bit overwhelmed by the research process to feeling confident and empowered as teacher researchers.

LITERATURE REVIEW Across the country, states vary greatly in their certification requirements for teaching emergent bilinguals. Some states require courses, some do not. State exams for initial certification do not necessarily assess teacher candidates on the unique needs of emergent bilinguals. Likewise, there are inconsistencies in teacher preparation programs from state to state. In a few states, teacher preparation programs include specific courses related to emergent bilinguals, but many programs do not have any course requirements. Topics related to emergent bilinguals can be interwoven into existing courses; however, Samson and Collins (2012) found that teacher candidates continue to be unprepared to fully support emergent bilinguals in areas of oral language development, academic language, and cultural diversity. In an initial response to this growing need, schools throughout the southeastern United States and schools with high immigrant populations in other areas of the country provided professional development to in-service teachers, especially to those who had not been trained during their initial preparation (Ballantyne, Sanderman, & Levy, 2008; Field, 2008). To close this pedagogical gap among many in-service teachers, research suggests that the most successful professional development includes one or more of the following: action research, reflective practice, and professional learning communities. Each is effective (Dı´ az-Maggioli, 2004), but when all three of these features are interwoven through courses in a site-based certification program, enhanced learning can lead to collaborative mentoring (Spezzini, Austin, Abbott, & Littleton, 2009) and one-on-one professional development (Spezzini & Austin, 2011). Insights to the combined effectiveness of these three features can be gleaned by examining each feature separately.

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Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) By working collaboratively in professional learning communities, teachers can reap many benefits such as broadening their skill set, raising their selfefficacy, and becoming more aware of their colleagues’ work (Daly, Moolenaar, Bolivar, & Burke, 2009). Though professional learning communities can take many forms, they usually involve “a community of educators who are sharing and critically reflecting on their practices in order to enhance the learning of students and teachers, thereby supporting school development” (Sleegers, den Brok, Verbiest, Moolenaar, & Daly, 2013, p. 120). The composition of professional learning communities can range from nationwide participants within a professional organization to gradelevel teachers within a given school (DuFour, 2004). School-based professional learning communities can affect professional learning and change at both the individual level and the school or district level (Daly et al., 2009). Professional learning communities can be identified as having three layers (Sleegers et al., 2013): personal, interpersonal, and organizational. In the personal layer, each participant interacts individually with the knowledge and ideas shared in the group. This layer has two dimensions: active and reflective construction of knowledge, which are the skills and experiences brought by each individual to the professional learning community, and currency, which is each individual’s ability to apply newly gained knowledge to authentic contexts. The second is the interpersonal layer, which represents interactions among individuals who, by sharing a common purpose, collaborate to achieve their goal. This layer, which is the one most commonly discussed in the literature, has three dimensions: shared values and vision, collective learning, and shared practices. The third is the organizational layer, which contextualizes the school setting in its broadest capacity and “refers to the organizational structures that create and maintain sustainable organizational processes for individual and collective learning improvement” (p. 121). This layer also has three dimensions: stimulating and participative leadership, relationships and climate, and finally, resources, structures, and systems. The interconnectedness of these layers and their respective dimensions are relevant to this study.

Reflective Practices Every lesson taught is an opportunity for the teacher to gain a deeper understanding into the process of teaching and learning. Teacher education

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programs usually promote the exploration of one’s own teaching through reflective practice that is guided by cyclical reflective activities (Dı´ azMaggioli, 2004). Reflective practice for professional development differs from the traditional model of the expert instructor transmitting new knowledge to the passive recipient of the professional development seminar. In contrast, a reflective practice model positions the instructor as facilitator who supports learners as they construct their own understandings (Osterman & Kottkamp, 2004). When developing a reflective practice, Del Carlo, Hinkhouse, and Isbell (2010) note two perspectives. The reflection-in-practice perspective involves awareness during the lesson so that while teaching, the individual is analyzing the area of focus. Alternately, the reflection-on-practice perspective occurs after the lesson is over. In developing reflective practices, both perspectives offer insights and can be used to complement the other, but tools are needed to structure the exploration process. Within reflective practice, there are several ways to examine one’s own teaching, such as journal writing, observation, audio and video recording, lesson reports, conferencing with a supervisor, and action research (Gebhard & Oprandy, 1999; Richards & Lockhart, 1996). Although many of these are used in teacher education programs and the workplace, the most relevant for this study is action research. Here, the teacher-asresearcher paradigm leads practicing teachers to examine teaching and learning issues within their own classrooms.

Action Research Action research is a systematic method to understand difficulties found within social interactions and contexts (Burns, 2005; Riel, 2010). As such, action research is used within many different disciplines and has existed in some form since the 1940s. Almost 50 years later, scholars in the field of language teaching (Nunan, 1989; van Lier, 1988) turned to action research as a method to develop the idea of teacher-as-researcher in response to the teacher’s emerging role as reflective practitioner. Grounded within qualitative inquiry and reflective practices, action research provides language teachers with a systematic approach to address a variety of goals. Those goals include addressing a specific teaching or learning situation in the classroom, studying curriculum changes, and leading a group of colleagues in professional development (Burns, 2005). Not only do the goals in action research give the teacher flexibility, but

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the process is also fairly fluid in that it involves continuous problem-solving through a series of iterative stages (Riel, 2010). To resolve authentic problems happening in schools and in classrooms, the teacher-as-researcher proceeds through a series of self-reflective stages developed by Kemmis and McTaggert (1982), which includes a plan, an action, observation, and reflection. There are many components to these four main stages; however, they partly entail identifying the problem, gathering information, analyzing data, taking action based on the data, and evaluating results that occurred from actions taken. It is the action that promotes teachers to shift their practices (Del Carlo et al., 2010; Ferrance, 2000; Kemmis, McTaggert, & Nixon, 2014; Stringer, 2014). Yet, in order to benefit from action research, teachers must first believe they are practitioner-researchers so that they will initiate the process. Integrating action research into graduate certification programs familiarizes in-service teachers with the idea and allows them to practice the action research process within a structured environment, the college course, and with the guidance of the course instructor.

METHODOLOGY In this section, we describe the theoretical framework, research design, study instruments, data collection, and data analysis procedure for the current study.

Theoretical Framework Phenomenology provides the theoretical framework for our study. From a phenomenological approach, we have examined the lived experiences of individuals who have shared the same phenomena or experiences. These lived experiences can also be conscious experiences ranging from passive (perceiving) to active (teaching). These are conscious experiences because these individuals have lived through them and performed them (Creswell, 2007; McPhail, 1995; Smith, 2013). Central to the phenomenological understanding of consciousness is the human ability to make meaning of a given experience or phenomenon. The importance of meaning and making meaning cannot be underestimated. Accessing consciousness incorporates more than what the five senses can

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reveal; individual engagement of consciousness includes emotion, thought, action, perception, memory, and imagination to create a complex web of possibilities for understanding a lived experience. In this way, phenomenology seeks to eliminate the duality of the subjective and objective perspective. Because the focus is on the individual’s reality and her process of making meaning, the cultural world of the individual must be considered. Culture is built through the lived experiences of individuals. As such, the cultural system affects those lived experiences, creating a dynamic and symbiotic relationship from which individuals make meaning from their daily lives (McPhail, 1995).

Research Design This is a retrospective study of 14 Gulf County educators who participated in data gathering activities from February 2011 to July 2012. These educators reflected on their teaching practices with emergent bilinguals and how these practices had changed over the 10 years since their participation in a site-based certification program. They also reflected on features in their graduate courses that had been most instrumental for promoting a subsequent transformation in their teaching practices. The perceptions of these educators emerged from a larger mixed-methods study. This larger study consisted of interviews with several stakeholder groups and a teacher survey. For the purpose of this chapter, we only used data from the larger study that were collected directly from these 14 educators. This included quantitative data (survey) and qualitative data (interviews and an openended survey question). We took a phenomenological approach for framing the current study (Moustakas, 1994; Polkinghorne, 1989) in an effort to explore commonalities in the experiences of these 14 educators during and after their certification program.

Study Instruments Study instruments included a researcher-designed survey and three interview scripts. All study instruments were approved in November 2010 by the university’s Institutional Review Board. The survey contained 30 items 28 that elicited Likert-scale responses, 1 that elicited marking 3 of 8 options, and 1 that elicited an open-ended response. Items 1 17 dealt with learning objectives from the certification

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program; Items 18 27 dealt with learning groups; and Items 28 30 dealt with program features. For the purpose of this chapter, we examined responses to Items 29 and 30. Item 29 was as follows: From among the course features listed below, please circle the three features that you feel were the most instrumental in helping you to become the teacher that you are today. Next to each of these three features, briefly explain why this specific feature had such an empowering effect. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)

reading extensively listening to guest speakers learning content while working in learning groups [PLCs] designing and implementing action research projects presenting our group’s action research project to the class doing reflective activities (reading reactions, reflection journals, group discussions, etc.) (g) attending the summer institute courses at the university (h) being observed while teaching SIOP lessons as part of the internship course (i) other ______________

Item 30 was the survey’s only open-ended question: What do you feel are the most significant effects on you as a teacher from your participation in the site-based ESOL certification program? The larger study contained a separate interview script for each type of interview: focus group interviews, face-to-face interviews, and telephone interviews. The interview questions were adapted from scripts used for annual and final grant project evaluations. For the purpose of this chapter, we used interview data from the focus group interviews with 13 ESOL teachers and also from the individual interviews (face-to-face and by telephone) with the ESOL program specialist. All 14 of these participants had completed the site-based certification program. The remaining data, which were generated from the other 28 survey questions and from telephone interviews with other stakeholders, will be analyzed in a forthcoming publication. Data Collection The data for the current study were collected in three stages. The initial stage took place in February 2011 and consisted of two parts. First, the evaluator of the New Teachers for New Students project administered the survey to 13 ESOL teachers. Second, this same evaluator conducted a faceto-face interview with the county’s ESOL program specialist. This program specialist did not participate in the survey because it focused primarily on

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teachers and classroom practices. All 14 of these educators were completers of the site-based certification program that had been implemented in their school district by the Central Research University 10 years prior to data collection. The next stage of data collection took place in April 2012 at a central Gulf County location. At this time, the same evaluator conducted three focus group interviews with the 13 teachers who had completed the survey. Each focus group had 3 5 interviewees and each interview lasted for 45 60 minutes. Interviewees received release time to participate. The final stage of data collection took place in July 2012. The same project evaluator conducted a telephone interview with the ESOL program specialist. All five interviews (an initial face-to-face interview with the program specialist, three focus group interviews with teachers, and a concluding telephone interview with the specialist) were recorded using conventional recording equipment and transcribed into Microsoft Word for analysis.

Data Analysis Procedure Initial data analysis took place concurrently with, or immediately following, each of the three data collection stages. As such, the initial data analysis was ongoing during the 18-month data collection period. For the analysis of quantitative data, which stemmed solely from one item on the survey, we calculated the percent of responses to each of the eight choices provided in that survey question. For the analysis of qualitative data, which stemmed from five interviews and an open-ended survey question, we followed a combination of general qualitative techniques prescribed by Patton (2002) as well as data analysis steps found within phenomenological studies (Moustakas, 1994). Within a week of having conducted each interview, the evaluator prepared a written description of the event, transcribed the recording, wrote a preliminary interpretation of the results, and shared all materials electronically with the authors. Following each data collection stage and the sharing of materials, the authors and evaluator would meet to identify and discuss emerging themes. After data collection had been concluded, the authors and evaluator reread all of the study materials. They selected significant statements from the interview transcripts from which researchers could glean insights into experiences, instructional practices, and transformations and, in turn, develop themes. The analysis of the qualitative data adhered to our study’s phenomenological approach

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(Moustakas, 1994; Polkinghorne, 1989) and served to interpret participants’ perceptions about their experiences. Strategic moments in the data analysis phase of this study occurred when preparing preliminary findings to present at conferences.

FINDINGS Here, we report findings from the survey, focus group interviews, and individual interviews. First, we present the participants’ responses to Items 29 and 30 on the survey. Then, we present their responses during the focus group interviews and individual interviews. We end this section by discussing these findings with respect to each research question.

Survey When responding to Item 29 on the survey, participants selected the three features from their graduate courses that they felt had been the most instrumental in helping them to become the type of teacher they were at the time of data collection. Eight course features were listed: reading extensively, listening to guest speakers, learning content while working in learning groups (professional learning communities), designing and implementing action research projects, presenting the groups’ action research projects to the class, doing reflective activities (reading reactions, reflection journals, group discussions, etc.), attending the summer institute courses at the university, and being observed while teaching SIOP lessons as part of the internship course. Table 2 provides the number of respondents who selected each course feature as among the three most instrumental, along with their reasons for having selected that feature. Of the 13 participants who responded to the survey, 7 (54%) selected professional learning communities and doing reflective activities as highly instrumental course features. They felt that the professional learning communities promoted collaboration and group member support and that these communities were essential in forming relationships on which to build an effective program for emergent bilinguals. They also felt that by constantly doing reflective activities as coursework, they had established a professional habit of self-assessment described by one teacher as a “constant evaluation of my ideas and perceptions.” Of these 13 respondents,

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Most Instrumental Course Features as Perceived by Participants.

Course Features

Respondents (N = 13)

Reasons for Having Selected This Feature

Learning course content in PLCs

7

Doing reflective activities

7

Attending summer institutes at the university

6

Listening to guest speakers

6

Doing action research projects

5

Being observed teaching SIOP

3

Reading extensively

3

Giving class presentations

2

• Promoted collaboration and group member support • Relationships formed were “essential” to building an effective program for emergent bilinguals • Self-assessment: “constant evaluation of participants’ ideas and perceptions” • Offered a focused learning experience • Opportunities to collaborate and network with colleagues from across the state • Fresh perspectives; inspiring • Shared “valuable field experience” with emergent bilinguals and families • After 10 years of teaching, action research continued to be important • Valued immediate feedback from the observer • Extensive reading matched individual learning style • (No clear reason)

6 (46%) selected attending campus-based summer institutes and listening to guest speakers as highly instrumental course features. Finally, 5 of these 13 respondents (38%) felt that doing the action research projects was highly instrumental in making them into the teachers they had become. All 13 participants responded to the survey’s open-ended question, Item 30, and wrote what they felt had been the most significant effects on them as teachers based on their participation in the certification program. Their responses provided additional insights to this site-based program. Four themes emerged: collaboration, enhanced self-efficacy, increased career options, and new instructional practices. Based on their responses, these participants have continued using knowledge learned during the certification program and have also continued sharing this information with administrators, classroom teachers, and other ESOL teachers. Their responses suggest that the professional networks formed during the certification program continue to be an important resource for them: “We still share a lot with each other. I think that is important.”

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Focus Group Interviews During the focus group interviews, the interviewer explored participants’ perceptions about their experiences in the certification program with respect to the following: (1) memorable things about the program; (2) apprehensions on beginning the program; (3) professional impacts on them; and (4) impacts on the school district. Table 3 provides responses to these topics. During their focus group interviews, all participants explained how they continued to use knowledge from the certification program on a daily basis such as when planning lessons, delivering instruction, collaborating with colleagues, and working with parents. They reported applying pedagogical knowledge from this program, and they recognized that new ways of thinking about instruction had informed their instructional practice. For example, one teacher commented that “the certification program helped me see what I didn’t know.” Table 3. Results from the Focus Group Interviews. Question Topics

Responses

Memorable things about the program

Resources Knowledge learned Course delivery model Instructors and the quality of instruction Relationships established Summer institutes (especially guest speakers)

Apprehensions about beginning the program

Change in career focus Lack of experience, not knowing what to expect Intense work and volume of workload Already had a master’s degree Working in groups with people they didn’t know

Professional impacts on participants

Changes in methods Changes in perspectives Changes in ways to work with parents Confidence in ability Changes in ways to work with ESOL colleagues, content teachers, administrators, counselors

Impacts on the school district

Awareness of issues related to emergent bilinguals Improved communication Improved relationships with emergent bilingual families Improved instruction for emergent bilinguals

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With raised awareness and newly gained understanding of second language acquisition, several participants explained the need of explicitly teaching academic language to emergent bilinguals. One teacher commented The big thing for me is that I think differently about academic language. Just about everything these students accomplish is through the development of academic language. I know what stories they are reading in their classroom so I tell their teachers that the students may have trouble with this word; it is a multi-meaning word.

All participants agreed that the certification program had made a positive impact on their abilities to work with emergent bilingual families. One teacher recalled a guest speaker’s presentation on the importance of understanding family dynamics from a multicultural perspective. She said I think the major thing I came away from listening to her was I have got to make an effort to get to know these children and their families. [Today] I still have parents that will call and talk about a question here and a question there and I haven’t taught their kid in three or four years …. That [speaker] encouraged me to get to know the families.

Most participants agreed that the course delivery model generally fit their lifestyle. This distance model, which consisted of site-based professional learning communities and summer institute courses at the university, had allowed them to continue working while taking graduate courses. Course materials were available online, and local professional learning communities provided support and encouragement. After 10 years, some groups still collaborate and share ideas. These professional learning communities offered leadership opportunities and provided insight into professional learning teams that have gained popularity through district and state initiatives. The following comments addressed overall perceptions of this course delivery model: The opportunity to do online study and to work in small groups in the school …. Because of the way the learning groups were set up, even though it wasn’t the same learning group every semester, there was always the same model …. We knew what our objectives were. We knew what we had to do and we just got together and did it. It worked out well. It was good leadership for the program. It was an excellent model.

The summer institutes made a lasting impression. During these institutes, a given course would meet daily for one week, Monday Friday, 9:00 5:00. Although participants acknowledged the academic rigor as well as the hardship of leaving home and family, they reflected very positively about their experiences. They enjoyed engaging in various learning opportunities outside of the classroom, such as cultural activities and field trips

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to the Civil Rights Institute. The following quote captured the general perception of the summer institute: The summer institutes were powerful for me. When you are right there in the middle with everybody else who is going through [the same thing], it meant a lot for us to be there at that time.

Relationship building was foundational for participants who remembered that this certification project provided ample opportunities to develop lasting professional relationships with colleagues, university staff, and experts on emergent bilinguals. For example, one guest speaker immediately connected with participants, establishing a congenial working relationship that generated a series of professional development presentations spanning many years. Hired by Gulf County on an ongoing basis, this consultant has deepened an understanding about emergent bilinguals among all Gulf County employees. Equally important was how this certification program created an opportunity for participants to connect with colleagues and establish lasting relationships. One teacher stated, “We are always feeding off each other. We three work at the same school. We still work together as a team.” Through their responses, all participants indicated enhanced self-efficacy through heightened confidence in their abilities as educators, their knowledge of issues related to emergent bilinguals, and their transformation for becoming a trusted resource for matters related to emergent bilinguals. They specifically appreciated their deeper understanding of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP; Echevarrı´ a, Vogt, & Short, 2004) and their raised awareness of multicultural issues. One teacher reported, “The certification program gave me the skills to work effectively with [emergent bilingual] students.” This program also provided these participants with increased career options. After obtaining ESOL certification and perceiving increased selfefficacy when working with emergent bilinguals, 12 participants transitioned from their earlier positions as content teachers or ESOL aides and became ESOL teachers. One of these participants commented: “I would not be an ESOL teacher today if it had not been for the certification project. It empowered me to get my ESOL certification and become a better educator.”

Individual Interviews Data from individual interviews with the ESOL program specialist served to triangulate data obtained from other sources. Through an initial

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face-to-face interview and a final telephone interview, the ESOL program specialist shared her personal and professional transformation, perceptions of the site-based certification program, and experiences as a graduate student. The program specialist recalled having immediately applied new knowledge gained in the program. Remembering the impact from her first course, she described the following: I remember that first class was … second language acquisition. I still say to this day that out of all the classes I have taken in my career that is probably the one I really like the most. I still use it all the time …. I would read about things I didn’t know but really needed to know. For instance, we were telling parents to speak English at home. I remember that when I read that [it was not correct], it was like, I’ve been telling these parents to speak English at home and telling teachers to tell the parents and that’s the opposite of what we should be telling them!

Interest in providing training on emergent bilinguals for content teachers was also reflected in the individual interviews with the ESOL program specialist. She indicated a desire for curricular changes particularly with a new professional development component for general educators to learn the concepts of SIOP. She also explained, “We are doing a lot of inclusion. We have sheltered algebra at the high school, sheltered world and American history. We have Spanish for native speakers, heritage language classes.” Having implemented SIOP to teach emergent bilinguals, ESOL teachers placed high value on using sheltered approaches to facilitate learning. The program specialist would like to see more ESOLcertified classroom teachers not only in Gulf County but also around the state so that sheltered instruction could be available to all emergent bilinguals.

Findings Corresponding to the Research Questions We examined the findings that would correspond to our study’s research questions: (1) How do Gulf County educators perceive their instructional practices for teaching emergent bilinguals 10 years after the onset of a sitebased teacher certification program? and (2) Based on the perceptions of Gulf County educators, which features of this certification program had been instrumental in fostering the transformation of their instructional practices for teaching emergent bilinguals? Multiple data sources were used to establish findings for each research question.

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(1) Educators’ perceptions of instructional practices for teaching emergent bilinguals The first question was answered through findings gleaned from the survey, focus group interviews, and individual interviews. Participants perceived that they were still using effective instructional practices with emergent bilinguals 10 years after the onset of the site-based certification program. Based on the training they had received in this program and on their experiences teaching emergent bilinguals, they had been sharing their knowledge with colleagues and were now assuming roles as teacher leaders within their own schools and across the district. The individual transformations that had begun during the site-based certification program were not only evident after a full decade but these transformations also had become an ongoing process that continued to evolve. (2) Educators’ perceptions of features from the certification program that were instrumental in fostering the transformation of instructional practices for teaching emergent bilinguals The second question was also answered through findings from the survey, focus group interviews, and individual interviews. Participants identified several features from the certification program that had been instrumental in making them the type of teacher they were at the time of the study. They felt that the transformation in their teaching practices for working effectively with emergent bilinguals had resulted primarily from the following course features: professional learning communities, cyclical reflective activities, summer institutes with guest speakers, and action research projects.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS The site-based certification program was instrumental not only in transforming teaching practices among the 14 participating educators but also in developing Gulf County’s instructional program for emergent bilinguals. As the district’s emergent bilingual population grew during the following decade so did its instructional program. The number of certified ESOL teachers increased from 3 in 2001 to 17 in 2011, and the case load per ESOL teacher decreased from 60 students to 41. This reduction in the case load was a direct result of these teachers’ advocacy for emergent bilingual

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students and the district’s commitment to better serving these students. Findings revealed powerful insights into the transformations triggered by this site-based certification program. In reflecting on the various ways the certification program transformed their professional practices over the 10 years since program onset, participants reported changes in their instructional practices for teaching emergent bilinguals and for interacting with parents, in their perspectives on other languages and cultures, and in their increased confidence in their own abilities. With more ESOL teachers actively taking leadership roles combined with an ever increasing student population, Gulf County has focused on improving instruction for emergent bilinguals.

Transforming Instructional Practices The impact of this certification project was significant: participants learned about effective instructional practices related to emergent bilinguals and shared their newly gained knowledge with colleagues and the ESOL program specialist gained critical knowledge about emergent bilinguals and their families that informed her leadership. This idea was succinctly summarized by a teacher: “I think the certification program totally improved the quality of teaching [for emergent bilinguals]. I do think we are making progress because our yearly workshops [provided by Gulf County] have been building on each other, and as we train a few [content teachers], then they can go out and reach more.” With increased numbers and consistent collaboration with content teachers, ESOL teachers in Gulf County have gained recognition and status. Equally important to creating conditions that would foster continued transformation of teacher practices were the reflective activities interwoven throughout the teacher certification courses. As tools that can make the familiar strange, reflective practices provide opportunities to uncover unspoken assumptions and view routine activities from a fresh perspective (Gebhard & Oprandy, 1999; Osterman & Kottkamp, 2004; Richards & Lockhart, 1996).

Transforming Perspectives about Other Languages and Cultures Through their studies in the certification program, participants developed empathy and internalized a deep understanding of cultural differences. This

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made a profound impact on their professional practices. One teacher summarized how this certification program was instrumental in transforming her perspectives about other languages and cultures: I have lived all my life in [the southeastern United States] and I didn’t have a clue about other cultures. I had no idea we had so many different immigrant populations and how hard the process is and what all it entails. Once you get here, the culture shock. That might seem insignificant, but to me it was really eye-opening. It helps me to empathize with others. I had ESOL students in my class before but had no idea what that meant.

Transforming Confidence in Their Own Abilities Through reflective practices learned in the site-based certification program, such as action research, participants developed habits of critically reflecting on their professional practice and becoming more self-directed learners. Respondents stated that, after 10 years, the action research projects from their certification program continued to be important to their teaching practices. Looking beyond the classroom, reflective practices prompted participants to raise awareness within the school district that more teachers were needed who are trained in teaching emergent bilinguals. District-wide awareness was also raised that all teachers would benefit from ongoing professional development that promoted effective instructional practices for emergent bilingual students. Overall, the site-based certification program boosted participants’ level of confidence in their abilities to work with emergent bilingual students and families, as well as with their non-ESOL colleagues. These certification courses empowered participants to transform their instructional practices for emergent bilinguals. One participant said, “Everything we learned, I instantly got to apply. The information was invaluable. As I got more knowledge, I got more confident.” The ESOL program specialist believed that the site-based certification program had prepared teachers to become teacher leaders and to actively engage in professional learning teams. Completing the certification program gave teachers the needed skills for working on problem-solving teams, which transferred to their schools as they were included on teams to provide support to emergent bilinguals who were struggling academically. Across the district, an ESOL teacher and a classroom teacher become a team to bring effective instruction to emergent bilinguals in the district. The ESOL program specialist further explained

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I think they are teacher leaders. Their title is ESOL resource teacher. They are first and foremost a teacher. They teach ESOL in their schools; they are practicing teachers but they are also more than that because they are a resource for the school and the [other] teachers … . We were problem-solving teams in our [certification program] cohorts to begin with. We were working together, coming up with solutions, and doing action research projects.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATORS The findings from this study suggest practical implications for training in-service participants to work effectively with emergent bilingual students. Through professional learning communities, cyclical reflective activities, and action research projects, this site-based certification program offered a viable approach for transforming the teaching practices of in-service teachers. Based on how this certification program had served as a catalyst for ongoing teacher transformation, we offer the following recommendations. We strongly encourage other teacher educators to incorporate professional learning communities when building or rebuilding their graduate courses with the goal of training in-service teachers to work with emergent bilingual students. As shown through this study, professional learning communities can play a crucial role in the effectiveness of a graduate-level certification program with respect to building confidence and skills among in-service teachers for working with emergent bilinguals. Moreover, while learning state-of-the-art pedagogy and acquiring problem-solving skills, PLC members build lasting professional relationships that will nurture their pedagogical transformation beyond the life of a given program. We also encourage fellow teacher educators to infuse cyclical reflective activities into their certification courses for in-service teachers. In this study, reflective activities took place in the participants’ site-based professional learning communities as well as in courses delivered during on-campus summer institutes. When these participants practiced reflection in an ongoing cyclical manner throughout their courses, it became a habit that they carried over to their daily professional activities. As shown by this study, these participants continued to use reflective practices for an entire decade after program onset. And, finally, we encourage teacher educators to incorporate action research into their certification courses for the training of in-service teachers. Action research provides teachers with opportunities for peer collaboration,

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independent problem-solving, and professional networking. As suggested by the findings in this study, action research empowered these participants to become creative problem solvers within their own classrooms and, as such, paved a path for the sustained transformation of their teaching practices. The practical implications and recommendations from our study are similar to those from earlier studies that recommended professional learning communities, reflective practice, and action research for promoting professional development (Dı´ az-Maggioli, 2004; Spezzini & Austin, 2011). Based on our findings, we suggest that all three of these features be interwoven throughout the graduate courses within a single certification program. We also recommend that other teacher educators accept the challenge of offering this type of program to in-service teachers located at a distance from their respective college campuses.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY Although this study took place in a large district with rural and suburban schools and with multiple socioeconomic levels, its district-specific setting and limited number of participants are limitations with conclusions that are not generalizable. Care must be taken in attempting to apply findings from the current study directly to other settings. Another limitation is data that included memories over a 10-year span that implies influences from multiple sources. Hence, any connections between the site-based certification program initiated in 2001 and participant perceptions collected in 2011 2012 should not be seen as causal. Nonetheless, such limitations are tempered by the fact that findings from the current study closely corroborate with those from an earlier study which had taken place in a large county school district located 30 miles from the same university (Spezzini et al., 2009). Moreover, conclusions in the current study were based on only certain data from a much larger study; findings from the remaining data will be provided elsewhere. Notwithstanding, a need exists to replicate similar studies in other settings.

CONCLUSION By participating in a site-based certification program, 14 Gulf County educators transformed their practices for teaching emergent bilingual students.

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As this student population grew, so did these educators. During the decade following program onset, all 14 assumed an ESOL position. In their respective roles, they were teaching emergent bilingual students and also mentoring other teachers and administrators about issues concerning emergent bilinguals. Through their own transformations, these teachers were positioned to become teacher leaders and assume integral roles for providing ongoing professional development to content teachers, particularly at schools with high numbers of emergent bilinguals. As such, these 14 educators have been able to help other teachers who might be heard asking: “Why didn’t anyone tell me this before?”

ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors thank Gulf County educators for having served as study participants and Dr. Richard Littleton for having served as a program evaluator.

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EMPOWERING LANGUAGE AND LEARNING WITH MUSLIM IMMIGRANT YOUTH Heather Homonoff Woodley ABSTRACT This chapter builds on theories of culturally responsive teaching and translanguaging pedagogies to explore teaching strategies that linguistically, culturally, and educationally empower Muslim immigrant emergent bilinguals in the classroom. These students are often speakers of less commonly used languages, not shared with other adults in the school, thus teachers and school leaders often do not know how to use home languages as teaching tools. This study sought to find practical solutions by going straight to the source the students themselves. Through a one-year qualitative arts-based study, 15 recently arrived Muslim immigrants provided information about their language use and meaningmaking of school experiences. Using interview, observation, and studentcreated artifacts, data were collected during after-school sessions that also included intensive group discussion and peer interviews in home languages. It was found that these students are facilitating and regulating their own bilingual and multilingual educations through cultural communities of practice. However, it was also found that these students

Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals Advances in Research on Teaching, Volume 24, 233 263 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3687/doi:10.1108/S1479-368720150000024011

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perceived messages from the larger school community as discriminatory, thereby negatively impacting feelings of belonging and value in a school setting. One classroom where students and their languages were valued is profiled in this chapter offering practical ways teachers can engage learning through all languages, especially minority languages, regardless of a teacher’s own linguistic abilities. This chapter offers transferable ideas that may be adapted to diverse classrooms with similar student populations and needs. It is understood that classroom contexts differ based on resources, students’ home language literacy, and curricular demands. Keywords: Translanguaging; emergent bilinguals; Muslim students; immigrant students; language minority students

INTRODUCTION Chaimae did not hesitate in speaking out. At the age of 16, she spoke out to her parents about becoming a teacher and not going into the medical field after graduation. She spoke out in class when her curriculum “didn’t say anything else about Muslims except for terrorism,” as she put it. She spoke out to her principal about unfair treatment of Muslim students who were still required to attend lunch in the cafeteria and climb four flights of stairs during Ramadan. She spoke out in Arabic to help translate and guide new immigrant students from diverse Arab countries navigating the new world of high school and New York. And Chaimae spoke out when asked what she thought teachers should know about her experiences as an Arab, Muslim in a predominately Latino newcomer high school. She spoke about community and friendship, bonds of religion, language and minority status, and students helping each other when teachers did not or could not. Chaimae shared stories about her use of her home language as a learning tool, how she would “think in Darija [Moroccan Arabic], write in it to myself or talk to myself” thereby drawing on what she knew to learn new skills and content and added that “it felt good to help the new kid from Yemen with my Arabic.” Then the tone in Chaimae’s voice changed as she shared a different side to Global High School. She repeated the word “discrimination” as she recounted stories of interactions with other students and teachers. According to Chaimae, there were two kinds of students in Global

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High School: “the Spanish kids” and “us.” Who was this “us”? This was the 10% of Global High School students who did not speak Spanish but did speak any combination of English, Bengali, Arabic, Fulani, Kotokoli, Wolof, and French, and all identifying as Muslim. This was a group referred to by the school community, and themselves, as “the other kids,” although it is unclear who started this label. Chaimae referred to “the other kids” as her “family” in school. She recounted challenging interactions with Spanish-speaking students and teachers, as the central focus of experience wavered between language and religion. One story focused on her personal experiences with a teacher and as a hijab-wearer: This teacher asked me if my rights were taken away because I was wearing the headscarf. I didn’t care, but then she went crazy, she told me Islam, is taking away my right. This is my choice and my right. I wear it so when I help someone, they know a Muslim helped them. So people know who I am, and what I am, and not to mess with me. This teacher, she was racist to the Muslim students.

Another episode of Chaimae’s school experience focused on teachers being “racist to our language,” as she explained a daily lesson in history class: The teacher, she explains it in Spanish, so the kids get it, they learn more. They get it so good when this teacher she gives it in Spanish. But then what do we get? Maybe a friend to talk to, but not always. You have to share everyone’s language. Maybe we learn this history in our country but we don’t know we learned it because we don’t know how it’s said in our language. It’s just racist to let the Spanish kids take Spanish classes and have all the teachers know their language.

Thus is the duality of Global High School, where students, such as Chaimae, experience familial ties and collaborative learning support with classmates who share a common religion and status as minority language speakers, while at the same time, experience discrimination based on their language and religious identities. In her quest to speak out, Chaimae chose to take her negative experience and create positive change. She shaped her future plans around teaching for the explicit purpose of creating, as she said, “a school where students are really respected.” When questioned about how to make this possible, her answer was simple: “Put me in charge.” But why? “Because I know what it is like to think you know nothing, that you have no one to help, and to still learn.” This is the root of this chapter. Explore what students are already doing in the classroom, how they use their home languages for learning, and what they need from curriculum and schools. Although Chaimae is now a freshman in college on her way to a degree in Early

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Childhood Education, her words and experiences here with others have the power to shape future classrooms even before she steps into one as a teacher.

QUESTIONS Through bilingual and TESOL classroom teaching, teacher education courses, and educational research, I found that many schools have engaging and empowering Spanish-bilingual staff and resources for the dominant Latino population. This is a valuable step in the education of emergent bilinguals. The increased use of Spanish bilingualism in teaching and learning and culturally relevant teaching for Latinos offer a powerful foundation for Latino students. However, in the teachers’ lounge, the student-teaching seminars, and during professional development sessions, voices of “the other kids?” are often left out. How can teachers use the valuable lessons of Spanish/English bilingual education and apply them to linguistic and religious minority students who may not share the language and culture of the adults in the school? At times, these students have a classmate who speaks a common language, the home language, or an additional, colonial language. Other times, there is no one in the class, and rarely an adult in the school, who speaks a student’s home language. In addition, there is a lack of bilingual resources for these students, including bilingual dictionaries, texts, and teachercreated materials. Belonging to a religious minority adds an additional dimension of educational understanding and relationships beyond language difference for these students. This intersection of language and religion was explored in this study in the context of bilingual and multilingual education for immigrant students, adding a new conversation to the field as this population is growing all across the United States. These questions, posed by teachers, of “the other kids” led to the central question in this study: How do linguistic and religious minority emergent bilinguals make meaning of their learning, languages, and relationships in a newcomer high school? There were two subquestions that relate to this overarching question: (1) How do the students understand messages about themselves that are constructed and articulated in school? (2) How do the students translanguage throughout the school day?

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It was the purpose of this research to gain the perspectives of immigrant students who have different linguistic and religious identities from the Spanish-speaking majority. This study sought to understand the students’ meaning-making of their learning processes, educational ideologies, and understandings of themselves and others so that other students, teachers, and school leaders can help to meet all students’ needs. An additional purpose was to provide these students an opportunity for exploration and expression of their personal experiences, languages, and learning in a supportive and empowering space so that they would feel empowered in this process. This research is not simply about them but for them and by them.

SIGNIFICANCE In 2009, 32% of the 1.4 million residents of the Bronx were foreign born, up from 29% in 2000. Almost 56% of Bronx residents spoke a language other than English at home. Looking more closely at this multilingualism, 82% of them speak Spanish, and overall, 45.2% of the total population of the borough speaks Spanish at home (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009). This diversity is reflected in recent data of emergent bilinguals, also referred to as English Language Learners (ELLs) in the public schools with the growth of speakers of lesser-used minority languages representing countries throughout the Middle East, North and West Africa, and South Asia. Because of these demographics, it is important to consider how these students experience education in predominately English- or Spanishspeaking classrooms, and interact with other immigrant and language communities who make the Bronx their home. The ethnolinguistic complexity of the Bronx beyond the Latino population made it an important space to explore, as emergent bilingual populations are growing and diversifying in schools throughout the United States in ways that mirror what is happening in the Bronx. Because the populations within this study have small concentrations of same-home-language classmates and schoolmates, bilingual education programs are not an option within the school or even within the city. Although the students who participated in my study are not in educational programs officially designated as bilingual, there is still a presence of bilingualism and even multilingualism. Latino students often speak Spanish among themselves in classrooms, and teachers often use Spanish orally and even in handouts, all of which are valuable tools for learning and translanguaging.

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The linguistic minority students in this study are engaging in language education in a unique way, different from that of their Spanish-speaking classmates. Although there is much literature on how language minority immigrants are acquiring English in schools, there is no available literature on what happens to students who are from very small language groups and who may be the only speakers of their home language in a classroom. While practices for them have rarely been studied, this research now seeks to gain valuable teaching strategies and lessons for teacher education. Research shows the academic, linguistic, and social-emotional benefits of bilingualism in education for Spanish-speaking students (Cummins, 2000; Garcı´ a, 2009; Ladson-Billings, 1994; Nieto & Bode, 2008; Valenzuela, 1999). Students thrive in schools where bilingual materials, resources, and translanguaging or use of home language in learning, takes place (Garcı´ a, 2009) and where students’ cultures and languages are reflected in class content, pedagogy, and materials. However, this study looks at what happens in schools that do not embrace all languages and diversities within it These questions in this study arose from teachers’ inquiries because of the challenges they faced and lack of answers they had about working with ethnic and religious minority students. As a researcher, I discovered young people’s often silenced stories. This led me to draw specifically from students’ points of view using different data to learn from them. Beyond interviewing them, students created various artistic pieces discussing the projects in their home languages. Therefore, art and home language use gave students other ways to express themselves. Learning from students is an important framework of this research, considering the students the experts in their lives. Students took a central role in question asking, creating, and responding through languages and arts.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Global High School is a newcomer high school in the Bronx, and I was there originally to explore languaging in the Spanish-English bilingual education classes, unique in the high school context. Here, about 90% of the student population has a home language of Spanish, with the remaining 10% of the student speakers of Bengali, Arabic, French, and/or an African language including Fulani, Wolof, and Kotokoli. As I visited classes and spoke with students and teachers, I noticed a group of students, daily after-school, setting up social shop in the hallways, plopping down their

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backpacks to save spots, helping each other with homework and talking about their days. These students did not speak Spanish, but it was with them that I was able to communicate in Arabic and French. And so I asked them why they were there. They explained to me that they attend after-school classes but not until 4:30 pm and that their last official class of the day ended at 3:00pm. These students found themselves with an hour to wait, so they sat in the hallway together, moving between students speaking English, French, Arabic, Fulani, Kotokoli, and Bengali. It was this community, created in the hallways, that the participants of this study were drawn from. While this hallway community may be unique to Global High School, this population of students is not unique to this school and is a common linguistic profile of ESL programs and emergent bilingual students throughout, and beyond, the New York city. As mentioned above, it is important to recognize religion as an additional difference between the students in this study and their majority Spanishspeaking classmates. Islam differentiates these students, and most of the female participants were various levels of hijab wearers, creating a visible differentiation as well as a cultural one. The social context of post-9/11 has played a critical role in the experiences of Muslim students in schools, situated as the designated Other (Sarroub, 2005; Sirin & Fine, 2008). This study takes into consideration how religion, as well as language, marks off the study participants. In Global High School, about two-thirds of Spanish-speakers are from the Dominican Republic. The remaining one-third of Spanish-speakers are from a variety of countries, including Puerto Rico, Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Honduras, and El Salvador. The remaining 10% of the student population who does not speak Spanish are from a variety of countries as well. Over half, about 20 out of 30, is from Bangladesh or Guinea. They all share common characteristics as religious minorities and non-Spanishspeakers but represent various grades, genders, languages, ethnic, and national backgrounds. Table 1 illustrates the diversity of participants in this study. Programming options for students in Global High School include a small Spanish-English dual language bilingual program. This serves about 40 students in the school who have been chosen for participation based on strong academics, Spanish literacy, and family interest. The remaining students, including the majority of Spanish-speakers, and also the language minority speakers, are educated through English content classes and ESL classes.

M

M F F M F M

F

F F F M F F

Abdulrahman Arietou Ananna Ayi Bintouya Boubacar

Chaimae

Fatou Fatoumata Froudaous Jahed Jamilatou Koudiratou

20 16 18 15 17 16

17

16 15 18 16 15 19

17

12 10 12 10 11 11

11

11 10 11 10 10 12

10

Gender Age Grade

Abdoul

January 2012 Name

Ivory Coast (Abidjan) Guinea (Conakry) Togo (Lome) Bangladesh (Sylhet) Guinea (Conakry) Togo (Lome)

Morocco (Fez)

Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou) Guinea (Conakry) Togo (Lome) Bangladesh (Dhaka) Togo (Lome) Guinea (Conakry) Guinea (Conakry)

Home Country (City)

Table 1.

Mo`ore´, French

Mo`ore´, Dioula, Chameo, French Fulani, French, French, Kotokoli, Ewe Bengali, Hindi French, Mina Fulani, French Fulani, Mandinka, Sousou, French Arabic Darija French, Bambara, Djola Fulani, French Kotokoli, French Bengali Fulani, French Kotokoli, French Bambara, Djola Fulani Kotokoli Bengali Fulani Kotokoli

Arabic/Darija

Fulani Kotolkoi, French Bengali French, Mina Fulani Fulani

Languages Spoken at Home

Languages before Learning English

Study Participants.

March 4, 2008 Fall 2010 April 12, 2010 August 2010 June 26, 2009 April 12, 2010

Spring 2009

2008 September 2011 January 17, 2011 June 2010 June 2010 June 2010

2010

Moved to the United States (NYC)

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The vast majority of adults in Global High School are bilingual. Twenty-three out of 25 teachers are bilingual in English and Spanish. The principal, two assistant principals, all main office staff, the guidance counselor, the parent coordinator and support staff including class aides, custodians, and cafeteria staff are all bilingual in English and Spanish. Although teachers do not speak home languages beyond Spanish, students in Global High School are not prevented from speaking their home languages. Teachers do not demand “English-only” in the classroom. Although other languages are not promoted, the school is a safe place for multilingual interactions.

LITERATURE REVIEW Power and Immigrant Students This study is grounded in theories connecting language, gender, race, and religion to power and identity in education. This concept of power is central in Critical Race Theory (CRT), especially in considering the way in which immigrant students from West Africa, South Asia, and the Arab world are racialized within the American context. This also frames the central positioning of student voices, narratives, and artwork as meaningful and valid empirical data to inform educational change. In the framework of CRT, counter-storytelling (Delgado, 2000), or counter-story (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002), defined as telling stories of those on the margins of society, is viewed as valuable for exploring and challenging narratives of privilege. Immigrant students, specifically emergent bilinguals, experience similar oppression based on structural inequalities within American society that seep into school environments, pointing to policies within schools that detract from students’ linguistic and cultural practices and identities (Cummins, 1994; Valenzuela, 1999). Norton (1995) posits a theory of additional language acquisition that integrates the learner and the context of the learning while questioning how power relations within the social world impact social interactions between learners and target language speakers. Rather than conceptualizing emergent bilinguals’ motivation, Norton (1995, 2000) reconceptualizes what is commonly thought of as motivation in learning to be the investment of emergent bilinguals in learning English. Therefore, students’ investment in

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an additional language is “also an investment in their own social identity” (Garcı´ a & Zakharia, 2010, p. 527).

Bilingual Education and Bilingual Programs In exploring ways to expand the value of bilingual education to minority language speakers, it is important to look at the way bilingual education is conceptualized in the U.S. society and education. Bilingual education in the twentieth century reflected the ways in which society defined bilingualism at the time, from a monolingual perspective (Garcı´ a, 2009). That is, since monolingualism was considered the norm, languages were seen as separate, discrete entities. Thus “legitimate linguistic practices are only those enacted by monolinguals” (Garcı´ a, 2009, p. 115) within this framework. From this perspective, bilingual education programs are considered either within the frameworks of subtractive bilingualism, as a students’ home language is devalued, or additive bilingualism, in which a students’ home language is maintained and developed while a new language is learned (Cummins, 1994). Subtractive bilingualism often resulted in a child’s language shift to the dominant language (Garcı´ a, 2009) and transitional bilingual education programs were implemented to do so. Additive bilingualism frameworks resulted in maintenance and enrichment models of bilingual education (Fishman, 1976; Hornberger, 1991, as cited in Garcı´ a, 2009), but languages are still compartmentalized or treated as separate entities within the same person. Within the United States, most bilingual programs are only offered for Spanish-speaking students as they require a certain concentration of same-language speaking children. Some communities offer bilingual programs in other languages such as the Somali bilingual support at Cedar High School in the Midwest, which uses a transitional model, with Amharic and Oromo being offered in another school within the district (Njue & Retish, 2010). However, this is a rarity, and even in predominately Arab communities, such as Dearborn, Michigan, recent arrivals are educated in English-only programs (Ajrouch, 2004; Sarroub, 2005). Since this research began, Arab-English dual language programs have been established in the New York city public schools. These schools serve a growing Arabic-speaking population from throughout the Middle East and North Africa, and students who desire to learn the language. However, while newspapers have been quick to cover political controversies about these schools, educational research is lacking in these new settings.

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Translanguaging Garcı´ a’s (2009) notion of dynamic bilingualism acknowledges multiple coexisting norms, which characterize multilingual speech and support multimodal use of language interactions. Programs within this framework help students to develop the ability to communicate fluidly across linguistic planes and to use various languages for various tasks (Blackledge & Creese, 2010b; Cummins, 2007; Garcı´ a, Flores, & Woodley, 2012). This linguistic flexibility acknowledges that languages are neither compartmentalized within an individual nor can they be within the classroom. Translanguaging refers to the “multiple discursive practices in which bilinguals engage in order to make sense of their bilingual worlds” (Garcı´ a, 2009, p. 45). The reformulation of translanguaging, from the work of Welsh educator, Cen Williams, was used in describing the use of multiple languages for learning input and output. Garcı´ a (2009) extends this framework to the classroom in exploring multilingual interactions between and among teachers and students. Translanguaging also is consistent with Cummins’ (2000) theory of a common underlying proficiency that acknowledges that the languages of a bilingual are not separate but interact within cognitive processes. Translanguaging is important in classrooms where multilingual students are making sense of their learning and use the home language in reading, speaking, listening, or writing. There are significant ways that teachers of all language backgrounds can engage emergent bilinguals in translanguaging (Celic & Seltzer, 2011).

METHODOLOGY This was a qualitative research design based on student interviews and discussion of art pieces the students produced. Embedded in the methodology outlined below was a goal for positive relationships with and among participants and the recognition of the power dynamics in the research and teaching processes. Thus, deliberate data collection methods were employed to broaden opportunities for students to express and represent their experiences and meaning-making, and engage participants in the process of data analysis. Together, the researcher and the participants created a class contract. Participants were asked, “What will enable you to feel safe to share and be welcomed as an expert in this space?” Students contributed ideas about language, actions, specific wording, and different ways to show

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Fig. 1.

Group Agreement.

respect and let others take center stage. It was then agreed upon and signed by all, and remained hung up in our room for the remainder of the year, with consistent reminders and references made to the original agreement (Fig. 1).

DATA COLLECTION Data collection in this study was diverse in its methods and mindful of the needs and choices of participants. Visual productions including photography and social maps were used as arts-based research and offered ways to expand the capacity of this research (Cahmann-Taylor, 2008). By opening epistemological possibilities, art provided opportunities for expression in various forms and modalities for participants. The primary purpose of students’ art was to enhance and deepen the information gathered from the multilingual interviews. It was important to consider students’ multiple ways of expressing themselves with a diverse collection of data.

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To facilitate and make space for engagement with art, decision-making, and open dialogue, the majority of the data collection was elicited, created, and discussed in after-school sessions over one full school year, twice a week, for 90 minutes. Within sessions, students created visual responses and engaged in prompted and student-led discussion. Although the overarching questions were planned, students expanded on questions with more specific inquiries. For example, students filled in the blank for a mapping prompt of “Describe a time you felt _____ in school.” Other prompts were more structured. For example, students were asked to describe their ideal school using photography. It is important to note that the form of arts-based research employed in this study was for the purpose of eliciting students’ experiences and perceptions. This was not a class for students on how to take photography or a right way to take pictures. Rather, like Luttrell’s Worcester Project (2010), students were not encouraged to produce a particular kind of image but rather to approach the photography portion of this project with the understanding that “there is merit in projects that seek to preserve and understand whatever meanings children might give to their images if we listen carefully and systematically” (p. 226). Students were actively engaged in conversations before taking photographs. They discussed the ethics of photography and picture taking. Participants then used these photographs in interviews and group discussions as visual support of ideas. Photography was also used in larger art pieces using mixed-media visual art and graphic arts. The topics of these pieces included “Where I’m From,” handbooks for an ideal school, and “My Future.”

DATA ANALYSIS Data analysis of field notes and interviews took place in two parts in-process analytic writing and analytic coding of field notes (Maxwell, 2005). Narrative analysis (Reissman, 2008) was a meaningful way to organize emerging patterns and themes that appeared in the data. The use of in-process analytic writing acknowledges that as the field researcher participates on site, she inevitably interprets, reflects, and questions what is experienced and observed. Thus, as field notes were kept within classrooms and after-school sessions with students, interpretative and analytic forms of writing accompanied field notes in a separate “notes-on-notes” section, set apart from the more descriptive writing of the field notes. Emerson, Fretz, and Shaw (1995) suggest using both asides and commentaries in order to

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capture “ruminations, reflections, and insights and make them available for further thought and analysis” (p. 100). These writings came in the form of further questions or suggestions to follow-up with participants about, personal reactions, and preliminary connections between current and previous observations or other data. The first phase of open coding involved close readings of field notes in order to pull out and name emerging themes or patterns. By asking questions, I was able to draw on a wide range of resources, including my own experiences, those in a collaborative writing and research learning environment and those of the participants themselves. For example, I asked, “What assumptions are being made in students’ learning?” and “What are students doing to make sense of how they are learning?” Turning the answers into codes involved creating a short word or phrase that captured what was happening. Once codes were established, a second phase of memo writing allowed for rich, analytical writing while also exploring possible links to theoretical frameworks and relationships between initial codes, interpretations, and preliminary themes. With interviews, the student-produced artifacts were used as a tool to elicit stories. I used narrative analysis to organize emerging patterns of students’ experiences within school, how they articulated messages about themselves, and their languaging. Additional stories beyond schooling helped to build context for students’ experiences and meaning-making. Stories of life histories and visions of their future helped to create the personal context in which each student languaged in school and made meaning of learning. The students themselves helped to shape the data analysis in this study as well. Following the school year of data collection, we engaged in collaborative thematic analysis based on preliminary findings. We engaged in discussion and collaborative analysis focusing on common and diverse findings. It was important that my eyes were not the only ones seeing and interpreting the participants’ stories and artifacts through a valuable member-checking (Maxwell, 2005). This member-checking continues as I work with student participants currently in writing and sharing of this work in conferences, academic, and school spaces.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY There are limitations to this study that must be acknowledged. The first limitation is the language gap between the researcher and student

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participants at times. While the consistent use of translating in our after-school sessions helped to overcome language barriers among various members of the group, it is also important to consider its limitation. For example, as students translated for one another, they added their own interpretation of meaning and language choice to the translation. This is also true in the peer interviews. While participants conducted their interviews in home languages, they then went through the act of summarizing and reporting what they learned in English for the whole group and for myself. This process includes a variety of choices being made by the students as they negotiate which words to use in translation and which information from the interviews to focus on for sharing. An additional limitation in this study focuses on the personal nature of this work. The use of interviews, whole-group discussion, and student art creation is asking the students for their personal perspectives. In responding to this request, students have the opportunities to show and share what they choose. These then may result in some students feeling pressured to show a certain positive side or to conform to the sentiments of peers. The limited number of participants may also be considered a limitation in this study. It would be valuable for future studies to continue working with students who share characteristics with the participants in this study but that vary in settings and educational contexts.

FINDINGS In the final stages of this study, participants created handbooks for a new school, their ideal school. These books spoke directly to teachers and school leaders about how students envision a supportive and productive learning experience. Below are two excerpts from Ananna’s introduction section: The school that I studied in is ____. It is a school for the immigrant students who don’t know much English. When I started my school in ___ I was only Three months in the USA. It was a little bit difficult for me to be adjusted with the situation and traditions of the USA and to speak in English. But this is a school in New York where even though you can’t speak English the teachers and the students don’t criticize you and they help you to improve your English speaking. This is really appreciating about this school. On the other hand, there are some negative things about this school. Almost all the students here speak Spanish and sometimes they speak in Spanish while the teachers are teaching and they force the teachers to speak in Spanish. It discourages other students to speak in English.

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Sometimes I was discriminated because of my race by some students, teachers, and other workers. Some Spanish speaking people don’t even care about other people who don’t speak Spanish.

This paradox was a common theme that ties together major findings in this study and speaks to the original research questions of this study. Students’ experiences, stories, and even their advice to educators provide insight into the overarching research question, How do linguistic and religious minority students make meaning of their learning, languages, and relationships in a newcomer high school? as well as to both subquestions (1) How do the students understand messages about themselves that are constructed and articulated in school? and (2) How do the students language throughout the school day? Ananna, like other participants, made meaning of her school experience as a safe space for her to learn but with challenges as a minority language speaker. She is not criticized for mispronouncing words, and she noted often in group discussions how she was allowed to use her bilingual dictionary and was not prevented from speaking Bengali with classmates for learning purposes. She used her home language throughout the day to support her learning. However, this positive perception at the school’s environment is overshadowed when considering the lack of privilege experienced by nonSpanish-speakers. Ananna internalizes her teachers’ language use as a specifically oppressive act. Although the benefits of bilingual education are acknowledged, it is also articulated as a privilege for only some students. Thus, language minority students’ language throughout the day becoming bilingual teachers for one another and themselves, creating their own bilingual education in peer communities and using independent resources. Students are building on the Spanish-English bilingual strengths of the school with their own multilingualism. The details of Ananna’s book selection echoes sentiments of the data from the study as a whole. The students’ voices came together to uncover several valuable findings from their perspectives and using their words: • I, and common-language classmates, take it upon ourselves to use our home languages as a learning support daily in spite of not having bilingual teachers and resources. • I experience multiple racisms in feeling discriminated when my language and culture are not a positive part of my learning. • Art is a valuable tool for expanding and deepening students’ languaging and expression.

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This complex, and seemingly contradictory, set of findings leaves these emergent bilinguals with feelings of success and community as well as failure and oppression within school. These students value bilingualism in education but recognize it as a benefit not afforded to them. Take It Upon Ourselves For Global High School students, multiple languages are used throughout the day in the processes of learning and socializing. The languaging among groups of students and through multigenerational interactions can be examined through a lens of translanguaging as described by Garcı´ a (2009). Translanguaging in the form of speaking a home language with classmates as a bridge to learning English was something experienced by all the participants. Each translanguaging event was initiated by the students themselves. They were neither discouraged by teachers nor were students ever told to stop or use English-only. Nor were they explicitly encouraged to use their home languages. This self-regulated use of translanguaging for learning included speaking with same-home-language peers, engaging with home language texts, and going online for home language support. Abdoul, who learned French as an additional language in school in Burkina Faso, described his use of French as the only opportunity he had to speak a home language in school, and one that was originally facilitated through the help of a fellow student: I would speak French more when I was freshman, when I didn’t speak English, and still do sometimes. When I don’t get something, I ask in French, to a student, or ask Boubacar in French. No teacher said to me, “Ask in French,” I just did, or Boubacar told me, “Ask me in French, that’s ok.” No one else is from Burkina Faso like me, but French is ok for me to help me because I learned French in school in my country.

While Abdoul’s translanguaging helped in his learning of English or content, he specifically noted that no teacher told him to speak a home language or, “Ask in French,” but rather, another student offered help. Here, Boubacar, from Guinea, speaks Fulani and French. Boubacar offered his help in French to Abdoul and facilitated translanguaging to assist a new student in sense-making for his schooling. These experiences illustrate how students took it upon themselves to create the conditions and resources to translanguage. They found in their language community, a community of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991) where students use home languages to support each other’s learning.

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Photography and Language Student photography sparked conversation about translanguaging in the classroom initiated by the students themselves. Focused on the question, “Where am I from?” they took pictures and shared photography in response. Arietou shared the photograph presented in Fig. 2. She explained to the group that this is a picture of Plane`te-jeunes, an African French language magazine with comics, stories about celebrities, puzzles, advice, and letters. “In ESL,” Arietou explained, “we have to read for homework, and write. But you can write about anything, so I read this and then I write in English, and it’s ok.” This implementation of translanguaging to fulfill a reading assignment was initiated by Arietou without suggestion from her teacher or anyone else. Here, she took it upon herself to use home language material in order to fulfill expectations for literacy assignments. Online Resources Through online language tools, students used what they knew in their home languages. Sitting side-by-side in desks pushed together, Arietou and Koudiratou worked on and chatted about their ideal schools in Kotokoli and French. Arietou continuously utilized Google Translate on her laptop when she did not know what to write in English. However, upon typing “tujor se souvenir moi” in the French box, she complained that it was just

Fig. 2.

“Where I’m from” Photograph by Arietou.

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not working. When she typed in her word, the same word “tujor remember me” appeared as English. Koudiratou, sitting next to her, saw her frustration, looked over to her laptop and noticed the misspelling of “toujours.” She deleted and re-typed the correct spelling, pressed enter, and an English translation appeared. Arietou gave her a thankful smile, and they went back to their work. Arietou and Koudiratou, and others, used online language tools such as Google Translate (translate.google.com) and Reverso (reverso.net) often. These chances mostly came when provided with time or assignments on the school computers or laptops. When typing in English, they each kept an Internet window open in the corner of their computer screen on either the Google Translate or Reverso webpages. Constantly clicking back and forth and sometimes speaking to each other in French or Kotokoli, they produced academic writing, presentations, and art projects in English. This translanguaging captures the girls’ initiative in taking it upon themselves to utilize online language tools and support each other in home languages. These online language tools have an added advantage of providing a space for students to engage in home language literacy. As in Arietou’s “toujours”; through her use of Google Translate she was able correct the spelling of a home language word and learn from it for future use. There are few, if any, opportunities for the students in this study to write or type in their home languages during the school day. Online language tools provide one such space for literacy practice in translanguaging. Students wrote full paragraphs in home languages and clicked enter. They quickly learned that a misspelled word in the original language would not result in a translation. As Koudiratou offered her knowledge, other students asked classmates for assistance in typing in French, Arabic, or Bengali. In these multilingual interactions, as students translanguaged online for the purpose of writing in English, they engaged in home language literacy learning. Translanguaging for language minority students does not come without challenges. For some participants, at times, there is no one in a class who shares their home languages. Other times there is another student who shares a home language but the teacher has separated students in groups. Abdoul shared what he understood to be the teacher’s rationale for the grouping that “me and Ayi talk too much when we sit next to each other” even though, Abdoul insisted, “We’re talking about what we doing!” This conflict between what students were saying and what they were perceived to be saying when they speak home languages adds a challenging layer to using translanguaging to its fullest in the classroom. As teachers assumed the worst about students’ intentions, they separated them

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or told them to be quiet and thus students’ lost valuable learning opportunities to use translanguaging in learning.

Multiple Racisms The label of “other kids” was used to describe a diverse group of students not only by teachers, staff, and language majority students in Global High School but also by the students who this term seeks to identify. In the hallways, classrooms, and main office, constant references were made to two distinct groups of students in the school: “Spanish kids” and the “other kids.” Although this “othering” of non-Spanish speakers is based on a linguistic difference, from the perspective of the students, this othering goes beyond language. Exploring their experiences through a lens of Critical Race theory, the participants in this study experience “the call” over and over again in school the moment when one is reminded of one’s minority standing, and of the groupings, structures, and their own personal place in their school reality based on power (Ladson-Billings & Donner, 2008). Blackledge and Creese (2010a) argue that “the social construction of distinction based on ‘ethnicity,’ ‘race,’ and ‘class,’ goes hand-in-hand with the social construction of distinction based on linguistic practice ideology” (p. 5), thereby enabling the experiences of language minority immigrants to be further examined through a lens of Critical Race Theory. Although the students did not express experiences of discrimination based on traditional definitions of race, that of skin color, they identified experiences of discrimination based on their language, home countries, and religion, and used the word “racism” in their writing and speech to define and describe these moments. The word “racism” was conceptualized and used by emergent bilinguals in this study as experiences of oppression based on how they are othered in the school, and the power structures that exist with dominant language, religious and ethnic groups that they do not belong to. Due to the repeated use of the words “racism” and “racist,” and the varied nature of the roots of these experiences from the students’ perspective including language, homeland, and religion, the concept of multiple racisms is used to capture both the nature and frequency of these experiences. Multiple racisms refers to ways in which the student participants conceptualized diverse interactions as racist, whether rooted in their differences in language, homeland, or religion. These multiple racisms were expressed in stories of unfair treatment by school adults and classmates, as well as the content and pedagogy

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experienced in classrooms. As we hear these stories, it is important for educators and other students to know, as a direct instruction from the participants, that although they had these experiences, overall, these students were, and are, happy individuals. They have good days, and they have bad days, but they are positive, smiling, and learning in school while being critical of the world around them. They feel safe and express pride in what makes them different and in their multifaceted identities. Another salient point raised by participants was their respect for bilingual education, and how they did not want to come across as “anti-Spanish,” but rather aware of privilege not received. It is in the moments when they experienced discrimination or racism that are the focus of stories in which the students specifically expressed connections between their experiences and what teachers, schools, and classmates should know, and, therefore, change. “This is what we want to change,” explained Chaimae, “but don’t make it sound like we are complaining.” “Don’t make the teachers feel bad,” added Ananna. It is the intention of this chapter that their instructions be applied, and that their stories spark useful strategies to address teaching challenges and student needs. When analyzing students’ experiences, the most salient themes that emerged from their stories were rooted in differences of language, homeland, and religion. These conversations about racism could not be discussed without consideration for the students’ real-world experiences with inequity. In our sessions, we discussed students’ different reactions to their own feelings of unfair treatment. Students shared experiences of sadness, anger, violence, asking questions of their oppressor, and ways to make a positive change from a negative experience.

Language and Power An analysis of language and power in Global High School can be framed as that of a language ecology or a “study of diversity within specific sociopolitical settings where the processes of language use create, reflect and challenge particular hierarchies and hegemonies, however transient they may be” (Blackledge & Creese, 2010a, p. 202). The hierarchy of languages in the school and how those hierarchies are enacted, performed, and perceived by students and teachers impacts the young speakers of all languages within the school. These are then reflected in classroom practices and interaction, and language minority students make specific meaning of their own experiences. Emergent bilinguals in this study expressed a common

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experience of linguistic racism, what Skutnabb-Kangas (1988) calls linguicism, defined as “ideologies and structures that are used to legitimate, effectuate and reproduce an unequal division of power and resources between groups which are defined on the basis of language” (p. 13). What is worth exploring is that this experience with linguicism, expressed as racism was framed by the students not as treatment based on languages spoken by them but rather based on a language not spoken by them, namely Spanish. The students shared over and over again stories focused on their personal experiences with inequity or unfair treatment rooted in what they felt was their status as non-Spanish-speakers in Global High School. Fatou’s story is an example of language interactions between bilingual adults and Spanish-speaking classmates in Global High School that language minority students do not experience. Fatou conceptualized the root of her experiences of unfairness as her inability to communicate in Spanish: They [teachers] always accept their [Spanish-speaking students’] excuse, and they say their excuse in Spanish, the teacher understands and respect that and take it. I say what I say in English, I know they understand me, but they don’t respect it unless you say it in Spanish.

Here, Fatou felt as though her needs were not respected because she could not express them in Spanish, which is the home language of her teacher. She also perceived her teacher to have respect for a particular language (Spanish) rather than considering the teacher to have respect for the content of what the Spanish-speaking student said or the student herself. Fatou differentiated between what it meant to have a teacher “understand” a student, meaning they hear and comprehend the language spoken, and to have teachers “respect” a student, meaning they take their needs into consideration and grant them what they ask for. For Fatou, she has understood, her words made sense to the teacher, and she was able to comfortably communicate in English with all adults in the school. However, she did not feel respected because she could not share in the use of Spanish with some teachers who share this home language with the majority of other students in the school. What Fatou expressed was her feelings about the privilege of Spanish speakers and the lack of privilege she experienced. At Global High School, it is a privilege to speak Spanish. This leads to more meaningful communication with teachers and from Fatou and other language minority students’ points of view, greater respect and acceptance from the larger school community as well. The students in this study did not allow negative sentiment to deter their learning with or use of the unique languages that made them the target of

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discrimination. Rather, home languages of the students, however their status was minoritized in school, were used and valued as positive learning tools by the students themselves. Students created a community of practice based on language to support the lack of formal bilingual education offered by the school. Art as a Tool for Language An additional finding in this study came from the methodology itself. Through the use of visual arts, students were able to express and speak language in deeper ways than if written and spoken English were the only means of communication. The example in Fig. 3 illustrates how the students’ photography elicited unique conversations about language, learning, identity, and school. Had it not been for this image captured by Ananna, perhaps this conversation would have flowed differently or not at all. In the response to the prompt, “Where I’m From,” the picture below is taken from a computer screen showing the website of Anannas’s former school in Bangladesh. The presence of English and Bengali writing sparked conversation among the group about the power and prestige of languages in their home country, in the New York city, and in Global High School. Here, as was the purpose of all of the student-created art, the photograph served as

Fig. 3.

“Where I’m from” Photograph by Ananna.

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a visual springboard for deeper narratives and expansion of the students’ thinking. Ananna used this visual to show how English and Bengali hold status in Bangladesh. This was a catalyst for others to think about the role and power of languages in their own experiences.

Fig. 4.

My School Map Key.

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Social Maps Through the creation of social maps, students were able to “locate places that play a significant role for them, both positively and negatively, and to provide a common point for discussion” (Travlou, Owens, Thompson, & Maxwell, 2010, p. 310) among a group of students while also providing the researcher with a visual of the students’ experiences in a particular space, specifically where they felt included and excluded. The maps gave students an opportunity to explore feelings, perceptions, and experiences in the public space of school. Once completed there were follow-up discussions of these creations. The experiences and corresponding symbols for the social maps were decided on by the group of research participants. Several days of conversation resulted in a list of emotions and perspectives to be symbolized on students’ school day maps, and the group also decided that two free-choice symbols should be available for unique emotions experienced by individuals. The map key shown in Fig. 4 was then distributed for reference during the creation process. Fig. 5 shows a map completed by Abdulrahman that was used as a starting point for interviews and group discussion. Students used their photographs and maps to create larger pieces of art, specifically graphic arts pieces including PowerPoint, collages, and physical or electronic books. It is important to note that for about half of the participants, this was their first experience using PowerPoint, or any computerbased presentation program. Therefore, our after-school sessions creating graphic arts pieces became an opportunity for them to learn a new medium of expression and representation. For some other study participants, their knowledge and creativity with such tools was expanded as they took creative risks in their artistic work from manipulating photography, to using

Fig. 5.

School Map by Abdulrahman.

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animation and video embedded in presentations, and providing soundtracks for videos. The space, as well, was created as welcoming of questions in order to explore new tools or design methods within the art media used. This created opportunities for students so engage with art and technology in new ways and share their findings with the group or demonstrate for them ways to use technology that they had found.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Although the students’ perspectives on how teaching, learning, and schooling should take place come from the specific context of this research, they can provide student-centered teaching strategies with similar language and cultural populations. These tools for teachers can also be used when teachers do not share a common home language with their students. In critical pedagogy, students are empowered as cultural experts and are an integral part of the learning experience. This one chapter can only begin to cover what teachers might do with the linguistically culturally diverse students. For additional strategies in critical and culturally responsive teaching, teacher educators can turn to resource pages from CUNY-New York State Initiative for Emergent Bilinguals (www.cuny-nysieb.org), Education for Liberation Network’s Edlib Lab (www.edliberation.org/ resources/lab), and Rethinking Schools (www.rethinkingschools.org). From Multiple Racisms to Culturally Reflective and Respectful Teaching What this chapter seeks to address is ways that teachers and teacher educators can build on student stories of schooling. The chapter also suggests the following practical suggestions for teachers and teacher educators. The multiple racisms experienced by participants is not, in any way, to diminish or exclude Spanish-English bilingual learning. Participants and the researcher here greatly value and respect the foundations laid for bilingual education and culturally relevant schooling. However, it is now necessary to extend this work to all, and find ways for schools to utilize the home languages of diverse students. • Students as teachers. Have students lead the class in learning about a part of the world that they feel they are an expert in including cultural

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aspects, interesting facts, and language. The lesson can be shared in a video clip, visuals, or a song to illustrate the concept and to reduce talking pressure for the students. Educate yourself about Islam. Become informed about when Ramadan and the Eid are in any given academic year. Understand what these religious observances mean for students, and how you can be an ally for Muslim students and advocate for their rights in school. Ask students, families, or Muslim school staff to teach you and the school community about how they celebrate holidays and about their religious culture and traditions. Understand and express in your classrooms the diversity of Africa. It is a continent with many countries, with national, ethnic, linguistic differences, diverse borders, and diverse people. It is also often under- or misrepresented in curriculum. Bring Africa and its diversity into your classrooms with short stories and novels, mathematical word problems, cultural traditions, economics, government and history, biological diversity, and linguistic variation. Bring guests including community, family, and school members who can speak first-hand about African experiences. Make the classroom and safe, supportive, and critical space for talking about culture, religion, race, and differences. The experiences of immigrant students are rooted in their emerging and evolving identities. Building connections between these identities and learning, and discussing challenges, uncomfortable topics, and difficult situations in the classroom can be empowering for the students. Explore issues of power and privilege in education and the world around the students’ lives. Address the power of different languages in your classroom and school, and allow students to express experiences about how they feel with language. Ask and act. Ask students what they need and listen to what they have to say. Use the support of student, staff, and community translators to learn what newcomer students may need. Act on those needs, provide resources, and work with students to make changes in the classroom.

From Arts-Based Research to Pedagogical Implications It is important to engage language minority students in multiple and creative ways in the classroom. Art is an excellent way to help students express themselves, especially if they are emergent bilinguals not completely confident about their English proficiency. Use art and involve students in artistic expression with drawing, collage, video, and map making.

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Video or voice recording is another way to help students express themselves both orally and in writing. For example, students can record themselves or use video to share their written pieces. Then students watch their video or listen to their recording and edit and revise their writing based on changes they both hear and read.

From Taking It upon Ourselves to Encouraging Translanguaging The ability to translanguage to make meaning was a key finding of this research project. Although these students did not have access to bilingual education in their home languages, they were able to draw on the home language to support their learning. Several practical teaching strategies for teachers are listed below: • Frame teachers as language policymakers (Garcı´ a & Menken, 2010). Although classes might be designated as English-only or ESL, teachers can allow students to use their home languages by supporting and encouraging, translanguaging. In a striking metaphor, Garcı´ a and Menken (2010) explain: It is educators who “cook” and stir the onion. The ingredients might be given at times, and even a recipe might be provided, but all good cooks know, it is the educators themselves who make policies each distinct and according to the conditions in which they are cooked, and thus always evolving in the process. (p. 250)

• Frame students as language policymakers too. As Garcı´ a and Menken (2010) explain “language education policies are socially constructed and dynamically negotiated on a moment-by-moment basis” (p. 256). Therefore, students can take the lead in translanguaging and shaping the linguistic landscape of the classroom. Students can use multiple languages and multilingual materials to provide their own bilingual education. In these multilingual interactions, students become language policymakers, building off the precedent of bilingualism set by the teacher and other Spanish-speaking classmates. • Have bilingual dictionaries or glossaries available. Dictionaries in all home languages should be provided in classrooms. Teachers should encourage students to use them. For free bilingual content-area glossaries in a variety of languages, see The New York State Education Department’s bilingual glossaries http://www.p12.nysed.gov/biling/ bilinged/bilingual_glossaries.htm. • Introduce students to cognates. Encourage students to look for cognates in English and their home languages. Various resources are available.

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The Languages of New York State: A CUNY-NYSIEB Guide for Educators (Funk, 2012), http://www.nysieb.ws.gc.cuny.edu/files/2012/07/ NYSLanguageProfiles.pdf, discusses 12 different languages and includes linguistic features and basic vocabulary for each. This bilingual resource can also be used for building a school’s or classroom’s multilingual ecology. Teachers and students can put up multilingual posters, labels, and welcome signs to physically display all students’ languages. Students share their home languages. Ask students how to translate a central concept for the class even if no one else in the class speaks that language. It is valuable for others, as well as language minority students to hear this language and hear the teacher encouraging its use as a learning tool. Provide students with independent reading texts in home languages. Teachers should make an effort to find texts in their students’ home languages. This can be one of the few chances students get to engage in home language literacy. For bilingual books written by students in many languages, see Thornwood Elementary School’s Dual Language Showcase, http://www.thornwoodps.ca/dual/index.htm. Group students by home languages to work through a task. When students work in same-language groups, they can help each other make sense of the instruction in English. Teachers might have students make their own reference materials. For example, they might create a glossary or a poster. Provide access to online translation tools for language minority students. Whenever possible, allow students access to a computer, tablet, or a smartphone to allow them to use Google Translate, Reverso, or languagespecific applications. Home language books on tape. Have students, families, staff, and community members create home language “books on tape” for newcomer students. Participants will record themselves reading aloud a home language translation of a book written in English, allowing a student to read along with the English book while listening to their home language translation of the story. This is also valuable literacy learning for students creating the tapes.

It was not enough for the emergent bilinguals in this study to simply be allowed to speak in home languages. What was needed was explicit encouragement and support from teachers in translanguaging pedagogies, support in resources and materials, and a deeper multilingual ecology, adult involvement in multilingualism, and student-led learning of cultural experiences. Schools and teachers enact messages that students’ languages and cultural resources are indeed valuable and education worthy. Their own funds of knowledge (Moll, 2007) are utilized as they become the language experts and find a safe and welcoming space to pull from all their linguistic

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repertoires in learning. Deliberate integration of minority languages and students’ cultural understandings and experiences can speak volumes to students who perceive discriminatory practices in schools. Empowering students to use their languages in the classroom and making deliberate opportunities for home languages as learning tools can have a profound impact on language minority students’ sense of self and academic achievement in schools. Teachers and school communities can be creative and resourceful, and teacher educators can lay the foundation of approaching education holistically with translanguaging.

REFERENCES Ajrouch, K. (2004). Gender, race, and symbolic boundaries: Contesting spaces of identity among Arab American adolescents. Sociological Perspectives, 47(4), 371 391. Blackledge, A., & Creese, A. (2010a). Multilingualism: A critical perspective. London: Continuum. Blackledge, A., & Creese, A. (2010b). Translanguaging in the bilingual classroom: A pedagogy for learning and teaching? Modern Language Journal, 94(i), 103 115. Cahmann-Taylor, M. (2008). Arts-based research: Histories and new directions. In M. Cahnmann-Taylor & R. Siegesmund (Eds.), Arts-based research in education (pp. 3 15). New York, NY: Routledge. Celic, C., & Seltzer, K. (2011). Translanguaging: A CUNY-NYSIEB guide for educators. Retrieved from http://www.nysieb.ws.gc.cuny.edu/files/2013/03/Translanguaging-GuideMarch-2013.pdf Cummins, J. (1994). The acquisition of English as a second language. In K. SpangenbergUrbschat & R. Pritchard (Eds.), Reading instruction for ESL students. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Cummins, J. (2000). Language, power and pedagogy: Bilingual children in the crossfire. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Cummins, J. (2007). Rethinking monolingual instructional strategies in multilingual classrooms. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 10(2), 221 240. Delgado, R. (2000). Storytelling for oppositionists and others: A plea for narrative. In R. Delgado & J. Stefanic (Eds.), Critical race theory: The cutting edge (pp. 60 70). Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. Emerson, R. M., Fretz, R. I., & Shaw, L. L. (1995). Writing ethnographic fieldnotes. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press. Funk, A. (2012). The languages of New York state: A CUNY-NYSIEB guide for educators. Retrieved from http://www.nysieb.ws.gc.cuny.edu/files/2012/07/NYSLanguageProfiles.pdf Garcı´ a, O. (2009). Bilingualism and education in the 21st century: A global perspective. West Sussex, UK: Wiley Blackwell. Garcı´ a, O., Flores, N., & Woodley, H. H. (2012). Transgressing monolingualism and bilingual dualities: Translanguaging pedagogies. In A. Yiakoumetti (Ed.), Harnessing linguistic diversity for better education. Oxford: Peter Lang Publishing Group. Garcı´ a, O., & Menken, K. (2010). Stirring the onion: Educators and the dynamics of language education policies (looking ahead). In K. Menken & O. Garcı´ a (Eds.), Negotiating language policies in schools: Educators as policymakers. New York, NY: Routledge.

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Garcı´ a, O., & Zakharia, Z. (2010). Positioning language and ethnic identity. In J. A. Fishman & O. Garcı´ a (Eds.), Handbook of language and ethnic identity (pp. 521 534). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Ladson-Billings, G., & Donner, J. (2008). The moral activist role of critical race theory scholarship. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), The landscape of qualitative research (pp. 371 402). Los Angeles, CA: Sage. Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press. Luttrell, W. (2010). ‘A camera is a big responsibility’: A lens for analyzing children’s visual voices. Visual Studies, 25(3), 224 237. Maxwell, J. (2005). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Moll, L. (2007). Bilingual classroom studies and community analysis: Some recent trends. In O. Garcı´ a & C. Baker (Eds.), Bilingual education: An introductory reader (pp. 272 280). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. New York State Education Department. (2013). Bilingual glossaries. Retrieved from http:// www.p12.nysed.gov/biling/bilinged/bilingual_glossaries.htm Nieto, S., & Bode, P. (2008). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural education (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. Njue, J., & Retish, P. (2010). Immigrant students in an American high school transitioning: Academic and social performance of African. Urban Education, 45(3), 347 370. Norton, B. (1995). Social identity, investment, and language learning. TESOL Quarterly, 29(1), 9 31. Norton, B. (2000). Identity and language learning; gender, ethnicity, and educational change. London: Longman/Pearson. Reissman, C. K. (2008). Narrative methods for the human sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Sarroub, L. (2005). All American Yemeni girls: Being Muslim in a public school. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. Sirin, S., & Fine, M. (2008). Muslim American youth: Understanding hyphenated identities through multiple methods. New York, NY: New York University. Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (1988). Multilingualism and the education of minority children. In J. Cummins & T. Skutnabb-Kangas (Eds.), Minority education: From shame to struggle. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Solorzano, D. G., & Yosso, T. J. (2002). Critical race methodology: Counter-story telling as an analytical framework for education research. Qualitative Inquiry, 8, 23 44. Thornwood Elementary School. (2011). Dual language showcase. Retrieved from http://www. thornwoodps.ca/dual/index.htm. Travlou, P., Owens, P. E., Thompson, C. W., & Maxwell, L. (2010). Place mapping with teenagers: Locating their territories and documenting their experience of the public realm. Children’s Geographies, 6(20), 309 326. U.S. Census Bureau. (2009). American community survey, Bronx country, one-year estimates. Retrieved from http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-context=adp&ds_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_&-tree_id=309&-redoLog=true&-_caller=geoselect&geo_id=05000US36005&-format=&-_lang=en Valenzuela, A. (1999). Subtractive schooling: U.S.-Mexican youth and the politics of caring. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

“WE ONLY TEACH IN ENGLISH”: AN EXAMINATION OF BILINGUAL-IN-NAME-ONLY CLASSROOMS Kip Austin Hinton ABSTRACT When bilingual teachers are first hired, many say they are pressured to teach material only in English (Menken, 2008). Removing instruction in a child’s native language is not likely to improve scores on English standardized tests (Rolstad, Mahoney, & Glass, 2005), and long term, English-Only instruction reduces academic success and reduces graduation rates (Iddings, Combs, & Moll, 2012). This chapter looks at bilingual classrooms in a Texas school district, through classroom observations, interviews, and a large-scale survey seeking to answer the question, what do officially bilingual classrooms look like when they operate monolingually? Results showed that administrators exerted pressure, and teachers used methods they expected not to work. Some bilingual classrooms had teachers who either could not speak Spanish, or chose not to. Because classrooms operated without the legally required amount of first-language instruction, the district’s “bilingual” programs undermined

Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals Advances in Research on Teaching, Volume 24, 265 289 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3687/doi:10.1108/S1479-368720150000024012

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accountability data while harming emergent bilinguals. Teacher educators have not prepared bilingual teachers for the reality of anti-bilingual schools. New teachers need to know how to not only implement researchbased instruction but also defend their instructional choices. Wherever lawmakers, agencies, and administrators have allowed transitional bilingual programs to become de facto monolingual, there may be a role for colleges of education to play, monitoring, assisting, and, if necessary, publicizing lack of compliance. Study findings are limited to one specific district; even in districts with similar phenomena, the manner in which a bilingual program ceases to be bilingual will vary substantially. Keywords: Early-exit bilingual education; first-language literacy; monolingual instruction; English-Only

INTRODUCTION Years ago, I met a recent graduate of a bilingual (EC-6) certification program. She was happy to have found a job, but disappointed when her new principal told her not to use Spanish with her native Spanish-speaking students. At the time, I was surprised. Why would a principal openly violate the law? Had this new teacher been placed into an English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom, instead of a bilingual classroom? Graduates of quality certification programs know how to promote literacy in two languages. Yet in Texas, some of my former students have reported receiving a pre-packaged curriculum that is English-Only, while others received explicit instructions to teach material only in English. This could mean that even in districts with large bilingual education programs, there may be many teachers who are not actually teaching bilingually; many emergent bilinguals may not receive any bilingual instruction. This chapter is focused on the secretive erasure of bilingual education.

PURPOSE AND QUESTIONS The purpose of this study is to better understand classrooms that are officially bilingual, but monolingual in practice. Administrators hire newly certified bilingual teachers, then tell them to teach only in English

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(Menken, 2008). New teachers feel powerless to refuse a principal’s mandate (Grossman, Thompson, & Valencia, 2002). Instead of using the researchbased practices they studied for years, new teachers implement an EnglishOnly curriculum they know little about. New teachers become practitioners of a form of unofficial instruction, about which little is understood. In this context, I consider the instruction offered in such classrooms, by looking at a district with a large early-exit bilingual program, ostensibly teaching English and Spanish. This study, then, is guided by the following research questions: • What do officially designated bilingual classrooms look like when they operate monolingually? • What do educators see as the causes and effects of this monolingualism? • In such a program, how do educators perceive Spanish and its speakers?

SIGNIFICANCE Policy makers may assume that their rules are followed, while researchers hope that their recommendations are followed. Yet administrators often choose their own path, based not necessarily on law or research, but on practical considerations such as standardized testing (Printy, 2010). Transitional early-exit bilingual is a dominant form of bilingual education in Texas and other states, but implementation is not consistent (Rodriquez, 2011). If a bilingual program is not actually teaching two languages, this has implications for millions of students. One defense of bilingual education is that it prepares students for a multilingual world (Genesee, 2008). Researchers in California, Arizona, and Massachusetts have spoken out against the implementation of English-Only programs but if the early-exit bilingual programs were only teaching English anyway, then what is being defended? Accountability schemes like Adequate Yearly Progress have been criticized for ignoring the situation of schools that serve low income emergent bilinguals (Koyama & Menken, 2013), undermining the validity of accountability data that has already been criticized as one dimensional (e.g., Martin, 2011). There has been little research devoted to the topic of bilingual classrooms that are monolingual in practice. Any bilingual teacher or emergent bilingual learner would be significantly affected by such a classroom. Teacher training programs, specifically, need to understand the circumstances they are preparing bilingual teachers for.

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LITERATURE REVIEW Bilingual instruction refers to the teaching used in a school environment to provide instruction in two languages (Freeman & Freeman, 2009). This is done in a way that promotes biliteracy and advances content knowledge in both languages, and it is done using specific instructional methods (Ovando & Combs, 2011). Effective instructional methods in an ESL classroom and a bilingual classroom may be quite similar, with the difference being that ESL teachers implement strategies to develop one language, while bilingual teachers develop two languages even within transitional models that cover only early elementary grades, literacy development in both languages is a defining feature of bilingual education. Without academic proficiency in their first language, “students are likely to suffer cognitive difficulties in L2” (Ovando & Combs, 2011, p. 168). Bilingual proficiency requires “listening, speaking, reading, and writing modes in both languages and the ability to use both languages for all academic work across the curriculum at each grade level” (p. 168). In a transitional bilingual program in the United States, utilizing English and Spanish, students’ Spanish proficiency is not developed beyond the third grade, while their English development continues far beyond that. Though transitional bilingual programs do not develop balanced biliteracy, and this is not the best bilingual model, students have some command of first-language literacy and academic vocabulary (Dura´n, Roseth, Hoffman, & Robertshaw, 2013). This provides a reasonable foundation for academic success in a second language (Lessow-Hurley, 2012). Bilingual education programs can be highly enriching and can lead to higher academic achievement (Collier, Thomas, & Tinajero, 2006). Implementation, however, is an obstacle (Alanı´ s & Rodrı´ guez, 2008). Valdez, Freire, and Delavan (2013) note the trend toward dual-language bilingual classrooms that resurrect the “two solitudes” construct (Cummins, 2007), by segregating learning between two monolingual teachers, one who uses only English, one who uses only Spanish or only Chinese. Such an arrangement promotes bilingualism while avoiding bilingual methods or situations, which advances a false notion of segregated, independent language knowledge. Menken and Solorza (2012) find that schools that switch from bilingual education to English-Only have done so to the detriment of students and under pressure from accountability schemes. While state laws say that bilingual education is supposed to teach two languages, state accountability focuses on measures of proficiency in one language English (Palmer & Lynch, 2008). And while researchers and teacher educators know

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the benefits of bilingualism and bilingual instructional methods, superintendents, principals, and teachers are the ones with input into the actual functioning of classrooms. As such, they may opt to promote English-Only methods, regardless of the official program claimed by the district. Such a situation, where the labeling of a bilingual program does not match its actual instruction, has in passing been called bilingual-inname-only (Wong Fillmore & Valdez, 1986). Some have connected this phenomenon to the pressures of standardized testing in English (Wright & Choi, 2006), but bilingual-in-name-only has not been the focus of extensive research. The mislabeling of a bilingual education classroom is legally significant. For example, in Texas the Texas Education Code (TEC) requires that all bilingual education programs facilitate “learning basic skills in the primary language” (2F§29.055(a)). Early-exit bilingual, specifically, is legally defined as “a bilingual program that serves students identified as students of limited English proficiency in both English and Spanish and transfers a student to English-Only instruction” two to five years later (2F§29.066(b)(1)). The Texas Administrative Code (TAC) further specifies that transitional bilingual programs provide “English and Spanish instructional materials,” develop “skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing both in their home language and in English” as students learn “language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies both in their home language and in English” (19,II§89.1210). TEC mandates extra funding (2F§29.051) specifically to support the increased costs of a bilingual program, such as paying stipends to teachers or buying extra textbooks. Bilingual-in-name-only would violate such laws, undermining data on the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of bilingual education, ESL, or EnglishOnly programs: statistics published about appropriations or test scores of individuals in a certain program may not be describing that program at all. This would lead to inaccurate conclusions. Finally, research shows that removing instruction in a child’s native language is not, in fact, likely to improve scores on an English standardized test (Rolstad, Mahoney, & Glass, 2005). Students who never learn to read and write their first language can be impaired throughout their academic careers; years later, these students become long-term English learners (LTELs), a population most districts have been unable to support (Menken, Funk, & Kleyn, 2011). English-Only instruction does not improve learning for bilingual students, and actually reduces academic success, while increasing the number of students who drop out (Iddings, Combs, & Moll, 2012).

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SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS The Texas district for this research is a high poverty, overwhelmingly Latino district (higher than 90%). There are over 17,500 students in the district, 4,250 of whom are “English Language Learners” (ELL), meaning they are emergent bilinguals being supported or monitored (thousands of other students may be proficient in two languages, but data are not available on this). At half of the elementary campuses, over 30% of students are emergent bilinguals, and throughout the district, emergent bilinguals are concentrated at the lower elementary grades (K, 1st, and 2nd), where they constitute the majority. Three quarters of the district’s students are economically disadvantaged, and poverty is especially prevalent among emergent bilinguals. The district offered a range of bilingual and non-bilingual language programs: among those emergent bilinguals receiving support, over 90% were in transitional early-exit bilingual; around 5% were in dual language bilingual one-way or dual language bilingual two-way; around 5% of students (mostly above fifth grade) were in pullout ESL or content-based ESL. The new dual-language bilingual program was small, and only covered kindergarten through second grade, but was intended to expand yearly as its students progress through school. In this district, almost all teachers work with students who are ELL. Participants included teachers, students, parents, and administrators, especially within bilingual education classrooms. The dual-language classrooms functioned as a counterpoint, highlighting shortcomings of the early-exit bilingual program which dominated the district.

METHODOLOGY Qualitative research is inductive. Rather than simplifying the world of humans, qualitative research accepts and considers a social or cultural situation in all its complexity (Creswell, 2013). Questions emerge from the data. Researchers must maintain an openness that allows for answers that do not fit our questions, and categories we had not expected (Weisner, 2014). My understanding of the bilingual education classrooms was developed by building emergent categories, which were refined in accordance with grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). This process integrated input from different types of participants (students, parents, educators) and

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their varying explanations (Corbin & Strauss, 1990). These qualitative methods were chosen to allow educators to explain and demonstrate their practices related to language and teaching methods. In order to provide triangulation (O’Cathain, Murphy, & Nicholl, 2010), there is a supplemental survey producing both qualitative and quantitative data. Though this study is not fully mixed-methods, the quantitative element produces an overview of the role of bilingual methods in the classroom. In conjunction with qualitative elements, this allows for either complementarity or intermethod discrepancy (Moffatt, White, Mackintosh, & Howel, 2006) for patterns found in participants’ words and actions. This study includes observation, interviews, and a survey. The bulk of data came from 25 non-participant classroom observations (20 60 minutes each) and 50 ethnographic, semi-structured interviews (Creswell, 2013; Emerson, Fretz, & Shaw, 1995). Purposive sampling (Creswell, 2013) was used to identify participants: within the district, campuses at each level were randomly selected, and administrators were randomly selected within each of these campuses. Teachers were randomly selected within targeted campuses and departments, thereby assuring that a range of experiences would be represented. Students and their parents were identified through convenience sampling. Observations were unannounced to reduce the possibility of influencing instruction. While the observations and interviews do not constitute a statistically representative sample, the survey does. The survey design allowed participants to share their perspectives and practices related to bilingualism in the classroom. It was distributed to all administrators and teachers in the district to allow their anonymous input. There were 450 completed surveys, approximately a third of the total population (p < 0.01, confidence interval >98%). Percentages in the findings derive from quantitative elements of the survey.

Data Analysis The three types of data observations, interviews, and surveys were separately analyzed with open-coding (Corbin & Strauss, 1990; Emerson et al., 1995), then the codes were arranged and built into categories. Categories were revised as new codes were added, and, after all data had been analyzed, they were elaborated into the themes that make up the findings (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2007). The themes established with the observation and interview data were compared to the survey data to determine

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whether quantitative and qualitative claims aligned. The findings present those areas where all types of data reinforced the same themes. Significant data that deviate from the themes are included within their respective section.

FINDINGS In this district, the privileging of monolingual practices spanned many aspects of education. Study findings are organized according to key patterns that suppress and limit bilingualism: • • • • • • • •

Monolingual instructional methods Monolingual standardized tests Monolingual teachers Monolingual students in bilingual classrooms Lack of Spanish materials Lack of professional development in bilingual teaching English-Only attitude Complications of dual-language bilingual

Several of these patterns were created through explicit policy decisions at the state or local level (e.g., monolingual standardized tests). Others developed through mismanagement, neglect, or ignorance. Based on interview, observation, and survey data, each one manifested in ways that act to suppress Spanish. Added together, the patterns constitute a substantial and comprehensive policy of bilingual-in-name-only.

Monolingual Instructional Methods Fifty point nine percent of all administrators and 45.3% of all teachers agreed that bilingual education classrooms were not really bilingual, but monolingual. Furthermore, these administrators and teachers identified this as the most important cause of low achievement among emergent bilinguals. Only 12.8% of teachers felt that their school provided strong support for the development of Spanish proficiency. Among administrators, 31.6% admitted that the district did not help students develop first-language literacy and 47.4% said there was low-quality curriculum in bilingual classes. Several students said that entire days could pass without a single word in Spanish.

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Teachers and administrators were proud to say that emergent bilinguals were taught “the same way” that monolingual English speakers were taught. One elementary principal said, “My advice would be, forget who is bilingual, teach all students.” In terms of literacy development for speakers of Spanish, one principal explained his school’s process of focusing on English: They use the word walls, have vocabulary building, they do oral reading, choral reading, of course they start out with phonics with the little ones just learning the basics of the language, the sounds, the letter identification, and then going into grouping the letters together, then forming the words, and then sentences.

The significance here is that these may be useful ways to promote firstlanguage literacy in English, but to develop second-language literacy in English, this process is lacking. For example, phonics is a program of questionable effectiveness (Phillips, Norris, & Steffler, 2007) designed for students with five or six years of practice listening to spoken English. Spanish speakers were given material covering English phonics when they did not yet know the phonology, a situation in which instruction will be significantly less effective (Vadasy & Sanders, 2010). Specific students knew Spanish phonology, but could not write Spanish and could not speak English fluently; students struggled during lessons on English spelling. I observed several early-exit bilingual teachers using instructional methods that help students acquire language. These methods include scaffolding, hands-on learning, daily reading, integrating students’ cultural knowledge, and cognates. These strategies were used exclusively to promote English. This is a good practice for an ESL classroom, and some early-exit bilingual teachers led what could be described as effective ESL classrooms with students who are willing to expand and experiment with their language knowledge. As one teacher put it, the district’s effective bilingual teachers “provide students with the tools necessary to be active learners instead of teachers relying on the transmission mode.” Other early-exit bilingual teachers spoke about language acquisition methods during interviews, but did not actually use them during class; their classrooms operated similarly to ineffective ESL classrooms. This meant that students would sit silently, without interaction, as the teacher lectured or distributed worksheet after worksheet, with content such as vocabulary lists and verb conjugations. A non-bilingual teacher said that rather than featuring instruction in two languages, “some bilingual teachers feel that ELL curriculum needs to be watered down,” which creates “the idea that bilingual ed classrooms are subpar to regular” classrooms.

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Whether instruction was effective or not, there was one thing all observed early-exit bilingual classrooms had in common: nobody in the room was expected to improve their Spanish. Some teachers endorsed the idea of students being biliterate, but simultaneously confirmed that it was not happening in their particular classroom. “They can work on their Spanish in middle school,” said one teacher, “when they take Spanish as a foreign language” (SFL). Notably, numerous native Spanish speakers finished middle school having never taken SFL. Parents agreed that the early-exit bilingual classrooms only taught English. A mother explained, “Mi hija estaba en bilingu¨e, y no se´ si me la quitaron de bilingu¨e, pero ya es puro ingle´s. El ma´s chico esta´ en bilingu¨e pero es todo en ingles” [My daughter was in bilingual, and I don’t know whether they removed her from bilingual, but now it is entirely English. My younger son is in bilingual but it is all in English]. Another parent had been enthusiastic about the bilingual program until she realized she was unable to help with any of her first grader’s homework: “La tarea la llevan en ingle´s. Y yo le hago como puedo, pues como le dije, yo no tuve muchos estudios” [Her homework was in English. And I helped however I could, but like I said, I never had much education]. Several parents expressed surprise at their children’s lack of Spanish writing ability. Three older teachers who were not involved in the bilingual programs believed that bilingual classrooms were actually monolingual Spanish classrooms where teachers only used Spanish. This claim proved untrue within observed classrooms, and district-mandated assessments at every grade level required English knowledge (teachers mentioned two non-curricular placement tests which used Spanish; these appeared not to influence instruction). It is possible that in the past, there were teachers who relied on monolingual Spanish methods; in any case, the implementation of teaching practices that only use one language (regardless of which language) would fulfill neither the letter nor the intent of bilingual education.

Monolingual Standardized Tests One important source of pressure on teachers and administrators is the state’s standardized test regime. One administrator explained, Bilingual teachers in grades three to five are focused on getting students ready for STAAR [the state’s standardized test], and therefore have little time or energy to address the needs of ELLs. Often times children who have been in the U.S. only two or three years are given a “crash course” in English in an effort to get them ready for the state test.

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One administrator was surprised when I asked about preparation materials in Spanish. “All tests are in English,” said one bilingual teacher, by way of explaining why Spanish is not a part of their instruction. 52.4% of teachers said that the excessive time and attention devoted to standardized tests contributes to the district’s failure to properly educate emergent bilinguals. Even at grade levels that do not have a STAAR exam, the schools purchased and mandated additional English tests, such as benchmarks (practice tests) to constantly monitor students’ progress in English. A teacher told me that her principal, assistant principal, and department leader helped her promote English in preparation for the test. I asked for an example, and the teacher showed materials from a private company, saying, “They’re gonna have to take the test in English, so it doesn’t make sense to still have them doing things in Spanish, you know?” While there were Spanish assessments at the beginning or end of the school year, these assessments were treated as low-stakes, and no early-exit bilingual teachers aligned curriculum with them in contrast to the STAAR, which dictated curricula at many grade levels. Because of the test preparation, English was seen by many bilingual certified teachers as the only option.

Monolingual Students in Bilingual Classrooms At certain elementary schools, any single classroom was likely to contain monolingual Spanish speakers, monolingual English speakers, and bilingual speakers of Spanish and English. Perhaps due to rapid exiting, there were two schools where teachers said they did not have enough ELLclassified students to fill an entire classroom at certain grade levels. In the first grade, monolingual English speakers had been used to fill an early-exit bilingual classroom. The teacher said she had no choice but to speak only in English, because some students “don’t understand any Spanish at all” (I was skeptical of this claim, because the students understood my questions in Spanish; furthermore, in this community, English speakers could hardly go to recess, church, or a grocery store without encountering Spanish words). At the same time, this teacher had one student who was new to the United States, a monolingual Spanish speaker. After the teacher gave instructions to the class, she would often walk over to this student in order to quietly summarize the instructions in Spanish. During individual and group work, she intentionally placed this student at a table with students who were bilingual so that they could help with translating the

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English-Only activities. Due to immigration and the mobility of farmworker populations, new monolingual Spanish-speaking students could arrive at any time and be placed into early-exit bilingual classrooms. The inconsistent placement of students is problematic. Not because it is impossible to teach in such a situation, but because the teachers invariably chose monolingual methods, which became fundamentally subtractive for the bilingual students. 47.9% of the administrators and counselors preferred their school to use dual-language bilingual in a two-way format, though only three campuses had such a program. Two-way dual-language bilingual programs actually require English speakers and Spanish speakers to be in the same classrooms, with bilingual instruction and a bilingual curriculum. The presence of monolingual students is a problem solely if it leads to monolingual instruction.

Monolingual Teachers Perhaps the largest obstacle to bilingual instruction is the existence of teachers who are not bilingual. A principal explained the depth of this problem: If you want to run a true dual language, you have to have the staff to run it. If you’re going to do these dual-language campuses, fantastic, but staff them appropriately. Because, a bilingual teacher, I have some now, there was discussion about having a true bilingual classroom. They were like “I don’t know Spanish.” Are we doing it just because they have that label. You can ask some of them something in Spanish, they won’t even understand.

Survey results show 24 teachers (6% of all the bilingual certified teachers) who have bilingual certifications and admit they cannot speak Spanish. The consensus was that in the past, when the state’s certification exam was relatively easy, this district had mounted an initiative to encourage teachers to gain bilingual certifications for bureaucratic (rather than instructional) purposes. Administrators, parents, and teachers told stories of bilingual teachers who do not speak Spanish. A few examples, from interviews and the survey: We have excellent bilingual teachers, but others are not. For instance, there was one bilingual teacher who did not speak Spanish. She was able to get her bilingual endorsement but she was not helpful at all. Bilingual teachers do not feel comfortable to teach in Spanish. I am “bilingual” only because I passed the test.

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The biggest challenge is having a teaching staff that is truly fluent and bilingual. In other words, having the ability [to] teach the content in the Spanish language without faltering or searching for the correct subject content words.

Another teacher believed that when it comes to bilingualism, many bilingual teachers “do not have it in their heart.” Perhaps the biggest indictment of bilingual teachers came from parents and students. At two campuses, parents expressed confusion about bilingual teachers who were unable to participate in Spanish conversations. When asked about ways to improve his school, one student, whose teachers hold bilingual certifications, said his school needs “Maestros que hablan espan˜ol, o clases de espan˜ol” [Teachers who speak Spanish, or Spanish classes].

Lack of Spanish Materials In many rooms, instructional scope and sequence were based on the designated textbook, which was in English. Some early-exit bilingual teachers said they would like to present lessons in Spanish, but that they just didn’t have the materials. If teachers wanted to incorporate Spanish instruction and assignments, the teachers would need to either (1) find and purchase, with their own money, Spanish language materials that align with the appropriate standards; or (2) translate, on their own time, the textbook’s English language materials into Spanish. Teachers in both early-exit bilingual and dual language bilingual programs noted things like a classroom with 12 Spanish textbooks, 30 English textbooks, and 22 students. Several teachers pointed out inequalities in materials both physical and digital, such as the teacher who said, “We need more books written in Spanish, in the classrooms and in the school library and software in Spanish.” A second grade bilingual teacher told of how her school had thrown away some Spanish books, concurrent with a switch to English-Only curriculum in the early-exit bilingual classrooms. “My Spanish group feels left out,” she said. In all cases, the district and campus leaders were willing to provide ESL materials, which by definition do not promote Spanish proficiency. One librarian offered suggestions to increase the bilingual resources: We would like to have more “bilingual literacy nights” or maybe have some authors who come in to read bilingual books, or maybe some regional authors who come in and present their books so the kids can see more of their culture. We do have sometimes authors who come but usually those are English authors.

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English materials are a necessary component of bilingual classrooms, and they were available and used in all classrooms, yet there were very few earlyexit bilingual classrooms with significant amounts of Spanish materials. Unlike teachers, some administrators spoke enthusiastically about bilingual materials, such as “reading adoption, math adoption also has the practice workbooks in Spanish.” However, several other administrators admitted that there were insufficient Spanish books available in libraries and their Accelerated Reader (AR) program. Teachers who mentioned the AR program agreed that it lacks books in Spanish. One administrator expressed a belief that the current materials are sufficient: “they have Spanish books in the library, but have I looked at them? No. Because I haven’t had a need to.” Beyond the issue of the materials’ existence, there was a question of quality and level. The few bilingual classrooms with Spanish texts had them only at a basic level, while English texts were present at many levels. Not all teachers believed their schools needed more Spanish materials. One kindergarten bilingual teacher said that the materials were available if she wanted them. It is possible that Spanish texts are plentiful but earlyexit bilingual teachers lack access; as a teacher in the monolingual English program pointed out, “Yes, we do have resources in Spanish. We have Measuring Up in Spanish, which is a book that is in English and Spanish, and we have the STAAR Master.” Many bilingual education teachers are happy to only use English, so they do not feel that Spanish materials are needed. Lack of Professional Development in Bilingual Teaching Early-exit bilingual teachers felt a general lack of support from administrators, especially for professional development related to bilingual education. Specifically, the teachers reported having no professional development related to Spanish instruction or bilingual instruction. One teacher said, “We would like to attend conferences such as TESOL, NABE, and TABE, but because of money we cannot go.” Frustrated, another teacher explained that there is No support for the bilingual teachers. The only thing administration cares about is having the paperwork that they need, documentation, and more paperwork. But supporting us? Sending us to valuable training that is not boring but empowering? I think this year I have only gone to one bilingual training, that is it. No, we are on our own.

Instead, said the teachers, they’ve received training about committees, “exiting” students, and testing students. Several said they had training in

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the ESL method Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) years ago, but that SIOP was no longer used in their schools. Many dual-language bilingual teachers appreciated the recent training they’d had for implementation of their new program. One principal at an early-exit bilingual campus said her “bilingual teachers should receive the same trainings as the dual language teachers do … we would like to have the Go´mez and Go´mez [workshops].” 27.4% of all district teachers said they were willing to attend professional development to help them use Spanish to teach emergent bilinguals. Even dual-language bilingual teachers wanted more professional development related to Spanish instructional methods; the training so far had been devoted to things like program structure and fidelity. In examining the district budget from 2009 to 2014, the per-pupil spending on bilingual education was consistently low, barely 25% of the state average. This likely placed financial constraints on professional development as well as on materials. Multiple aspects of bilingual education are simply more expensive than monolingual education. A frustrated teacher said, “We just do not again have the manpower, materials, and training for a bilingual instructional platform.”

English-Only Attitude Though interviews and observations indicated a need to increase support in Spanish, a significant minority of the district’s educators would object to such a change. 12.5% of teachers said the district embraces Spanish too much already, and 14.6% of administrators and counselors favored an Arizona-style English-Only program. Most notably, 115 of the district’s bilingual education teachers are fluent Spanish speakers, yet are not willing to teach in Spanish. They constitute 28% of the district’s bilingual education teachers. Several said they would rather quit than teach even one period in Spanish. “Spanish is not really a focus of the school,” explained the principal of a school with nearly a dozen bilingual education classrooms. Numerous teachers saw statements like this as an indication of the district’s widespread English-Only attitude. Two students reported being stopped in hallways or at recess, by teachers who told them to stop speaking Spanish. In accordance with state law, district policy is to make paper information such as announcements available in English and Spanish. In practice, parents at five schools said some information was sent home only in English.

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Even among Spanish-speaking parents, some had an English-Only attitude. One parent said she encouraged the teacher to avoid Spanish around her son. Class time spent on Spanish would, in the opinion of one Spanish-speaking parent, put them behind English speakers. Another parent was concerned about teachers’ use of Tex-Mex (the local variety of Spanglish), which she said would prevent her son from learning “correct” Spanish. Five parents said they planned to teach their children Spanish at home, though they were not trained as teachers and most had never finished high school. Some parents were under the mistaken impression that the early-exit bilingual program was conducted in Spanish; they opted out by placing their children into an officially monolingual English classroom with teachers who had no training in helping second-language learners. Teachers in officially designated monolingual classrooms emphasized the importance of avoiding Spanish, often justifying their opinions with anecdotes about language learning in very different circumstances: I think we do children a disservice when we continue to speak Spanish to them when they need to learn English. When I was an exchange student in high school, I lived in Mexico for a year. I did not know any Spanish when I went in mid-August. No one spoke English to me there!

Though the majority (69.2%) of the district’s teachers spoke two or more languages, many refused to express empathy for emergent bilinguals. In some cases teachers hid their Spanish knowledge from students. A teacher lamented that some leaders would Anglicize their names, such as an administrator named “Pedro” who told everyone to call him “Pete.” A thirdgrader explained, “The teachers who speak Spanish do treat us well and make us feel welcome and comfortable. We do not feel that with EnglishOnly teachers.” Notably, the majority (51.5%) of teachers preferred the use of actual bilingual instruction, meaning that educators with an English-Only attitude were a minority within the district. Despite their greater numbers, those in favor of bilingual teaching had so far been unable to influence policy beyond the small dual-language bilingual program. Outside SFL, English maintained its position as the only language appropriate for academic achievement. Negative Views of Emergent Bilinguals Teachers worried that their bilingual education students were systematically treated as inferior. An elementary teacher explained, “Our bilingual children

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are seen in a negative way, whether you all want to admit it or not, that is another story. Our children are segregated. Even students themselves point to bilingual kids and say, ‘there’s the bilingual kids’.” A teacher at a different school argued that emergent bilinguals, in fact, are inferior, and shared her theory explaining why: students “refuse to struggle” and become lazy because they know their teachers know Spanish. The Spanish within the school, this teacher explained, is used to translate and coddle, rather than advance biliteracy or even monoliteracy (in either language). Negative Views of Spanish Early-exit bilingual teachers taught in ways that often discouraged learning in Spanish, and especially discouraged learning of Spanish. 18.3% of the district’s teachers reported fellow teachers treating Spanish knowledge as less valuable. “Our classrooms are essentially monolingual,” lamented one bilingual teacher. During an entire class period, all but two of a teacher’s spoken words were in English these two words were cognates, to assist students in understanding a text they were reading. When interviewed, she, like other teachers, clarified that she did not put effort into promoting Spanish proficiency. Another teacher wrote that “there are cases where students [using Spanish] were reprimanded because ‘you are in America’.” In such a case, mastering English was not enough; there was pressure to abandon or forget Spanish. In terms of their use of Spanish, most early-exit bilingual teachers acted similarly to the ESL teachers, with occasional use of the students’ native language in order to promote English. This means that in the majority of observed early-exit bilingual classrooms, Spanish was permitted, and even used by teachers to explain or reinforce concepts, give instructions, or express kindness. For example, a fifth grade classroom used Spanish for affectionate instructions, such as “m’hijita, lee esto” [My child, read this]. Short Spanish phrases were sometimes used to reprimand or redirect student attention. Yet in ESL and early-exit bilingual alike, the assignments and curriculum remained in English. This often meant that what little Spanish was used was conversational, while the English was both conversational and academic. In a first grade class, all students were legally classified as ELL, but the teacher believed the classification was incorrect. She took it upon herself to fix this “mistake” by conducting 100% of her lessons in English, to “promote inclusion of English speakers.” And while this teacher admitted that many of the students in her room were Spanish dominant, she said their English was improving fast anyway, so staying in English was

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not a problem. Another teacher argued that if students heard her use Spanish, they would think they should be using Spanish, too.

Complications of Dual-language Bilingual The dual-language bilingual program had already shown signs of success. Yet in the context of this district, it also had unintended consequences. In the past three years, the district has created and expanded a dual-language program based on the Go´mez and Go´mez model (2013), a popular framework in Texas. The dual-language bilingual program was observed to include many effective strategies, some Spanish or bilingual materials, and literacy practices in both English and Spanish. Observations revealed that rather than promoting the strict and problematic segregation of languages, teachers tried to embrace students’ varying proficiencies, guiding them toward biliteracy. Many district personnel expressed enthusiasm about the dual-language bilingual programs, typified by this administrator’s perspective: I just think that this dual language program maintaining both languages is really going to be a fantastic benefit because the students in the other program, they would be exited, and in this dual language program, from my understanding both languages are going to be maintained so that way they’ll be proficient in the listening, reading, speaking, and the writing.

Some administrators went so far as to pin their hopes of increased standardized test scores on these particular emergent bilinguals. Observations and interviews revealed several complicating factors. First of all, the dual-language bilingual program is very small, constituting only eight classrooms, compared to the early-exit bilingual program, which is used in over 100 classrooms. Certain elements were not wholly effective for example, the Language of the Day, an alternating system in which all school personnel speak either Spanish or English during homeroom and outside the classrooms, was sometimes ignored because school employees preferred to use English every day. All dual-language bilingual teachers expressed a need for more Spanish texts. Nonetheless, when compared to the rest of the district, dual-language bilingual classrooms implemented extensive and effective instruction in both languages. While the dual-language bilingual is promising, there were side effects of the program. Two teachers cited the dual-language bilingual as an excuse to erase Spanish from their classrooms, with one teacher saying, “If there

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are parents who want that, we have that at the dual-language schools. We [in early-exit bilingual] only teach in English.” A principal concurred, saying, “Honestly, the program that we have we don’t do Spanish reading or writing. That’s more like in the dual program.” A second issue is that, because the success of the dual-language bilingual program was important to certain district leaders, it became the priority for spending. This means that when Spanish books and bilingual software were purchased, or when professional development was available, it was funneled away from the early-exit bilingual program (certain purchases were likely funded by grant money, earmarked for the dual-language bilingual program). A veteran administrator worried that the new program might only complicate things: “If you try so many programs, you do not implement them correctly … we are spending a lot of money on them but because there are so many programs, we are losing our focus.”

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Texas law requires bilingual classrooms to use bilingual methods. Additionally, research on educating emergent bilinguals consistently shows that bilingual methods are more effective than methods using only one language. Yet the leadership in this district has implemented monolingual education by erasing Spanish from their early-exit bilingual program. This is not a new phenomenon, and it is not a case of mere neglect. Monolingual education had been implemented systematically throughout the district. Inside bilingual classrooms, the instructional methods, standardized tests, teachers, and even some students were monolingual. There were insufficient materials in Spanish and insufficient professional development related to bilingual teaching. An English-Only attitude was present to some extent in most of the district’s classrooms, including early-exit bilingual classrooms. The one program that supports biliteracy, the dual-language bilingual, was perhaps too small to have much impact, and had unintended (and potentially harmful) consequences. The emphasis on English-Only is longstanding and cannot be attributed solely to the effects of the state’s standardized test. Even if educators did not intend for Spanish to be abandoned, they made choices that prioritized English. Influencing all of these patterns and decisions is an English-Only attitude, held by a minority of teachers, administrators, and counselors.

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Within and beyond districts, there are steps that can be taken to minimize the harmful impact of monolingual practices in bilingual classrooms.

Responding to Bilingual-in-Name-Only As teacher educators, we are preparing bilingual teachers to work in schools. Are we preparing them for ideal, law-abiding schools, or are we preparing them for reality? There are classrooms that are bilingual-in-nameonly, where funding is not being spent on things like bilingual professional development, Spanish textbooks, or dual-language tutoring. Explaining the shortcomings of English-Only instruction does little to restore bilingual methods to classrooms or reduce inconsistency among programs. Emergent bilinguals often spend their elementary years moving between classrooms with varying language teaching methods. Bilingual-inname-only compounds this problem. Even among educators within a single school, there is misinformation about what is being taught in the bilingual classrooms. A teacher, when asked about what her classroom needs, scoffed: “Now all of a sudden everyone cares and wants to know our concerns.” It took years to create such problems, and it may take years to fix them. Not surprisingly, emergent bilinguals in this district said their Spanish knowledge had decreased over time. This relates to a larger downward trend of achievement continuing into high school, at which point LTELs are often pushed out of schools (Menken et al., 2011). This has the “positive” effect of increasing test scores, making it seem like the district is doing a better job of educating those students who remain. If the district would instead promote students’ academic growth in Spanish, they could see genuinely positive effects on both achievement and graduation rates. This district, like all districts, is periodically visited by accreditation teams, but one teacher described the day of their visit as “a show.” Gaps in the accountability scheme are very large. Any imposition of top-down solutions could become onerous, such as shared lessons required in every bilingual classroom within the state or video monitoring of teachers; such steps would serve to deprofessionalize teaching and harm students (Milner, 2013). Better options might come from the bottom-up, emerging from teachers and communities themselves. If teachers have the skills to properly implement bilingual education, that is a good step, but it is not enough

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(Villegas, 2007). Teachers need the will and confidence to teach effectively, despite administrators (Achinstein & Ogawa, 2006). Educators need the courage to maintain a bilingual program that is legally compliant and enriching, despite pressure related to test scores. Teacher educators need to respond to the reality of bilingual-in-nameonly education. I am not recommending that bilingual teacher candidates resign themselves to teaching English-Only; instead, we need to teach candidates about what is happening and prepare them for it. The EnglishOnly mindset of teachers and administrators relates not to ability, but to what some teacher training programs now refer to as dispositions (Borko, Liston, & Whitcomb, 2007), which are difficult to teach directly. Some programs are already building creative ways to promote not just competence but advocacy for students of color (Fitts, Winstead, Weisman, Flores, & Valenciana, 2008). The ability to advocate may never be as important as it is during a one-on-one meeting between a veteran principal and a new teacher. Even without administration’s support, teachers can take positive steps in response to the systematic use of monolingual instruction. Such steps include the promotion and public use of languages other than English; the teaching of lessons with content in the students’ home language; and finding materials to support bilingual instruction. Resistance, in this case, would actually entail following the law. Teachers can follow the law even when a principal does not. There is a popular belief among teachers and teacher educators that since NCLB, state and federal governments have taken over larger portions of educational policy. However, the data here suggest that local decisions can nullify specific policies. This district’s educators may feel forced to ignore state mandates about bilingual education in order to meet state mandates about standardized testing. Such regulations do contradict each other, but the fact remains that educators are in a position to decide which side of the contradiction is more important. Otherwise, program fidelity would show much less variance. The district in this study had bilingual certified teachers who were unprepared for pressure from principals and veteran teachers; they readily discarded years of coursework and practicum in order to help administrators promote a failed monolingual policy. New teachers need to be prepared to not only implement research-based instruction but to also defend their instructional choices. Wherever state lawmakers, agencies, and administrators have allowed transitional bilingual programs to become de facto monolingual, there may be a role for teacher educators to play, monitoring, assisting, and publicizing (if necessary) the lack of compliance.

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FUTURE RESEARCH AND STUDY LIMITATIONS For future research, it is important to know how widespread the phenomenon of bilingual-in-name-only is in classrooms. That would require more extensive study, within numerous districts. Texas law is unusual in that some form of bilingual education is required, but the findings here have implications in many places. States like California and Massachusetts privilege ESL or SEI, yet maintain policies defining bilingual education as a program that educates in two languages. That is, if a district offers something called bilingual education (as many do), it is required to be genuinely bilingual. This means that in various states, the legal implications of bilingual-in-name-only classrooms are worth further investigation. Considering the district in this study, at least six (and potentially many more) classrooms were labeled and funded as bilingual, but provided zero bilingual instruction. The practice of offering monolingual submersion classrooms under the guise of bilingual classrooms could be widespread in Texas, and perhaps the entire United States. Accountability data about the fidelity of bilingual education or the tracking of students after exiting does not yet exist. Only by observing classrooms and talking to people can we determine what is actually being taught. It is also important to figure out the relationship between these classrooms and student achievement. While the data here suggest bilingual-inname-only could be damaging for students, the simple fact that these classrooms are deceptively labeled makes it very difficult to sort out results through test scores or graduation rates. Advocates of English-Only might hypothesize that students in these classes perform better on English standardized tests than students in truly bilingual classes. Advocates of bilingual education, including myself, might hypothesize that deceptive labeling muddies the water and makes it challenging to even count the students in a particular program, and impossible to track their progress. If state educational agencies are interested in accurate information about the relative success or failure of bilingual education, we need a system that encourages compliance, either through better communication or monitoring of the districts. This study does not imply that all districts implement early-exit bilingual programs in violation of state laws; in Texas and elsewhere, many are in compliance. Even the quantitative data about language usage are statistically significant only for the population in one specific district. This study reveals how a particular bilingual program ceased to be bilingual; in other districts, the patterns will vary substantially.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The work in this chapter is part of a larger study on bilingual and ESL education. I am grateful to my UT Brownsville colleagues Sandra Mercuri, Marı´ a E. Dı´ az, Tanya Pe´rez, and Brenda Lyne, who worked alongside me collecting this data. I am also grateful to the people of the district, who shared their classrooms and words with us.

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Go´mez, L., & Go´mez, R. (2013). Go´mez & Go´mez Dual Language Enrichment Model: PK-5th. Dual Language Training Institute. Retrieved from http://dlti.us/doc/ DLEMODELELEMENTSPK-5.pdf Grossman, P., Thompson, C., & Valencia, S. W. (2002). Focusing the concerns of new teachers: The district as teacher educator. In A. M. Hightower (Ed.), School districts and instructional renewal (pp. 129 142). New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Iddings, A. C. D., Combs, M. C., & Moll, L. (2012). In the arid zone drying out educational resources for English language learners through policy and practice. Urban Education, 47(2), 495 514. Koyama, J., & Menken, K. (2013). Emergent bilinguals: Framing students as statistical data? Bilingual Research Journal, 36(1), 82 99. Leech, N. L., & Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2007). An array of qualitative data analysis tools: A call for data analysis triangulation. School Psychology Quarterly, 22(4), 557. Lessow-Hurley, J. (2012). Foundations of dual language instruction (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Martin, P. C. (2011). Selecting one story and hiding others: How AYP chooses the portrayal of a school. Current Issues in Education, 14(1), 1 32. Retrieved from http://cie.asu.edu Menken, K. (2008). English learners left behind: Standardized testing as language policy. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Menken, K., Funk, A., & Kleyn, T. (2011). Teachers at the epicenter: Engagement and resistance in a biliteracy program for ‘long-term English language learners’ in the US Kate Menken, Alexander Funk, and Tatyana Kleyn. In M.O´. Laoire & C. He´lot (Eds.), Language policy for the multilingual classroom: Pedagogy of the possible. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Menken, K., & Solorza, C. (2012). No child left bilingual: Accountability and the elimination of bilingual education programs in New York City schools. Educational Policy, 28(1), 96 125. Retrieved from http://epx.sagepub.com/ Milner, H. R. (2013). Scripted and narrowed curriculum reform in urban schools. Urban Education, 48(2), 163 170. Moffatt, S., White, M., Mackintosh, J., & Howel, D. (2006). Using quantitative and qualitative data in health services research What happens when mixed method findings conflict? [ISRCTN61522618]. BMC Health Services Research, 6(1), 1 10. O’Cathain, A., Murphy, E., & Nicholl, J. (2010). Three techniques for integrating data in mixed methods studies. British Medical Journal, 341(September 17), c4587 c4587. Ovando, C. J., & Combs, M. C. (2011). Bilingual and ESL classrooms: Teaching in multicultural contexts (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/ Languages. Palmer, D., & Lynch, A. W. (2008). A bilingual education for a monolingual test? The pressure to prepare for TAKS and its influence on choices for language of instruction in Texas elementary bilingual classrooms. Language Policy, 7(3), 217 235. Phillips, L. M., Norris, S. P., & Steffler, D. J. (2007). Potential risks to reading posed by highdose phonics. Journal of Applied Research on Learning, 1(1), 1 18. Printy, S. (2010). Principals’ influence on instructional quality: Insights from US schools. School Leadership & Management, 30(2), 111 126. Rodriquez, A. S. (2011, May). Exploring why some bilingual students have low academic performance while others succeed after transitioning into all-English instructional settings at an inner city elementary school. Dissertation, University of Houston, Houston.

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AFTERWORD The Big Ideas: Putting the Pieces Together The purpose of this chapter is to paint a big picture of all of the chapters of the two books: Volume One (ART Volume 21): Research on Preparing Preservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals and Volume Two (ART Volume 24), Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals. Both of these books are included in the series, Advances in Research on Teaching, edited by Dr. Stefinee Pinnegar and published by Emerald Books. I want to thank Drs. Yvonne S. Freeman and David E. Freeman, editors of these two volumes, for offering me this opportunity albeit, a seemingly overwhelming opportunity. Literacy is a constructive process. All readers bring their own prior knowledge to the page to make meaning of the research projects in these two books. I applied my prior knowledge as I attempted to answer the question, “What are the big ideas that readers could take forward into their own professional work?” As I considered this question, I realized that I was reflecting on the individual authors’ reflections on their own practice since each chapter is an attempt to investigate the effects of the practices teacher educators engage in with preservice and inservice teachers to prepare them to work effectively with emergent bilinguals.

WHAT IS REFLECTION? As the teacher educators and authors included in these two books reflect on their own practice, they share a mutual goal: to improve pedagogy for emergent bilingual students, their own pedagogy, and that of their readers. As I thought about this, I realized that reflective practice and the pedagogy for emergent bilingual students would be the focus of this final chapter. Next, I asked a group of 24 teachers, both preservice and inservice, what 291

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reflection meant to them. After working in groups, the educators came up with the following definitions of reflection. Reflection is … • • • •

using thought to understand the implications of a particular experience; learning from the past and considering how to improve; thinking purposefully about what we’ve learned and experienced; looking back from another point of view and making connections to create new understandings; • thinking about our experiences in a purposeful way with the intent to improve; • evaluating, analyzing, and contemplating our own teaching.

The ideas that the teachers expressed were similar to what I had previously written about reflection (Wink, 2011). I concluded that: It is how we think and learn more deeply. It is how we get smarter. It is what we, professionals, do to understand more and better. It is focused deep thinking on a specific experience. It is when we ask ourselves: What can I learn from this? “It is when we ask ourselves: What was my role in all of this?” (p. 41)

The end of the semester paper of a graduate student, Stefinie, brings together these various definitions: It will be through my own reflection that I am able to see, understand, and change my own bias, to create a more equitable classroom and school, and to begin the transformative change needed to live in a more equitable society. (Stefanie Lapp, personal communication, August 5, 2014)

Stefinie’s definition encapsulates the focus of the teacher educators who shared their research projects for these volumes. In order to find commonalities and differences among the chapters, I looked at the various definitions of reflection. I integrated the ways the teachers defined reflection and collapsed my previous six definitions into four. By thinking about the various definitions of reflection, I was able to see new categories of knowledge in these chapters. The four definitions are: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Reflection is how we think and learn more deeply, which makes us smarter Reflection is focused deep thinking on a specific experience Reflection is when we ask ourselves: “What can I learn from this?” Reflection is when we ask ourselves: “What was my role in all of this?” (adapted from Wink, 2011)

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Reflection Is How We Think and Learn More Deeply, which Makes Us Smarter It is clear that reflection takes place when we learn from the past and consider how to improve our own pedagogy so that emergent bilingual students will have greater access to content in their developing new language. In their chapters, the following teacher educators, whether they were working with preservice or inservice teachers, offer all of us new opportunities to learn more deeply as they extended our knowledge. Brisk, Homza, and Smith in their chapter, Preparation to Practice: What Matters in Supporting Linguistically Responsive Mainstream Teachers, focus our attention on learning about bilingual learners so that preservice teachers are better prepared to work in bilingual programs. The authors conclude that the linguistic demands of content knowledge need to be a part of all preservice teachers’ knowledge base. They need a depth of understanding in order to serve their emergent bilingual students well. This case study, conducted in Massachusetts, is a call for ongoing professional development in language acquisition and English language teaching for both preservice and inservice teachers. Such instruction is especially necessary in this context where state laws have prohibited bilingual instruction and there is a lack of teachers who can serve as good models for effective teaching of emergent bilinguals. In Mainstream Teachers in Two-Way Immersion Programs: Becoming Content and Language Teachers, de Jong and Barko-Alva also challenge teachers to explicitly integrate language and content when working with emergent bilingual students. In their Florida study, they found that dual immersion programs offer mainstream teachers the opportunity to think more deeply as they work in new dual language contexts. As the mainstream teachers in their study began to consider content and language objectives, there was a shift in assumptions about teaching and learning. In particular, the teachers needed to develop a thorough understanding of language objectives and to see themselves as language teachers whether they were teaching in Spanish or English. Ebe provides a rubric for determining the cultural relevance of texts. She helps readers understand what a culturally relevant text is, and what it is not. In her chapter, The Power of Culturally Relevant Texts: What Teachers Learn about Their Emergent Bilingual Students, Ebe clearly helps reader think more deeply as the teachers in her study use authentic, culturally relevant texts to enhance the learning within their classrooms. Like the students in this study, readers can make new connections about how we think and learn.

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In his Annotated Lesson Plans: The Impact on Teacher Candidate Preparation for Emergent Bilingual Students, Hughes uses an annotated lesson plan to demonstrate the linkages between theory and practice. He asked his preservice teachers to make explicit connections between the lesson they were planning (practice) and the theory that undergirded it. He shares his sample lesson and annotation plan designed to promote higher levels of learning to challenge readers to think more deeply about lessons taught to emergent bilinguals in schools. Mercuri challenges the traditional idea of keeping languages separate. She studied teachers in dual language classrooms who supported their students’ use of their first language to make sense of the content they were learning in their new language. The Preview/View/Review structure that Mercuri shares in Teachers’ Understanding of Practice: Planning and Implementing Preview/View/Review in the Dual Language Classroom deepens the learning for the students, making them smarter. Like Mercuri, O’Connor and Crawford support the emerging trend of using the first language to make learning in the new language more meaningful. Although in the past bilingual teachers separated the languages they used to teach in at all times, new research shows that the use of hybrid language practices affirms the identity of students as O’Connor and Crawford demonstrate in their chapter, An Art of Being in between: The Promise of Hybrid Language Practices. This chapter and Mercuri’s chapter help readers consider more deeply the notions of translanguaging and hybrid language practices. Sharma and Lazar in their chapter, Pedagogies of Discomfort: Shifting Preservice Teachers’ Deficit Orientations toward Language and Literacy Resources of Emergent Bilingual Students, provide us a deeper understanding of the deficit orientations many preservice teachers hold of emergent bilinguals. In their chapter, we also gain new understanding of the concept of pedagogies of discomfort (Zembylas, 2010). Like many teacher educators in these chapters, Sharma and Lazar’s research helps them to reflect about whether their students really do begin to understand their emergent bilingual students’ needs and change their deficit views.

Reflection Is Focused Deep Thinking on a Specific Experience Reflection is the purposeful process of focused thinking in order to understand the implications of a particular experience. Although all the authors focus and consider implications, I highlight the following authors, whose

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research focus leads readers to reflect on the experiences these authors discuss. Combs captures the imagination of readers with her chapter, Performing Goofiness. Performed goofiness, as described by Combs, is when teachers use drama, gesture, and exaggeration in their teaching to help students both make sense of instruction and to help students become more comfortable in their use of their new language. The preservice teachers in her study began to see the importance of the social aspects of learning. Combs writes of the benefits of evoking emotions in a bilingual or multilingual environment. This unique study provides readers with the opportunity to think deeply about a different experience in teaching and learning. Kleyn and Valle, like others in the two volumes, use the S-STEP (self-study of teacher education practice) research process in their chapter, Modeling Collaborative Teaching in Teacher Education: Preparing PreService Teachers to Teach ALL Students. While many researchers study collaboration, their specific example is of two teacher educators conducting research on their own practices as they team teach their preservice teachers who are preparing to work with special needs or emergent bilingual students. In their chapter, Joining the Team: A Study of Unintentional Professional Development, Silva, Weinburg, and Smith focus us specifically on what they learned by working with one another over several summers. These three teacher educators in different fields of expertise taught each other as well as inservice teachers as they all worked in a summer program with emergent bilingual students. The teacher educators as well as the inservice teachers working with them taught integrated science units, and as they did, they learned about situating meaning and hybrid language use. Over their seven years of research they developed the 5R (Reveal, Replace, Repeat, Reposition, and Reload) model for working with emergent bilinguals. Wink in her chapter, Freedom within Structure: Practices for Teacher Sustainability, Efficacy, and Emergent Bilingual Student Success, highlights specifically the effects of mandated curriculum and standardized testing as deterrents to efficacy. Using the Goal Spiral, a structured plan designed for teachers to incorporate personal and professional goals into their daily teaching, the teachers Wink studied found that sustainability emerges when teachers have control over the learning within their own classrooms. They experience joy in their teaching as their emergent bilingual students become engaged through interactive activities and develop academic English and content knowledge.

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The specific experience captured by Woodley is centered around the needs of Muslim emergent bilinguals students. Her chapter, Empowering Language and Learning with Muslim Immigrant Youth, describes how she incorporated an arts-based approach and individual and group interviews in English and students’ first languages including Bengali, Arabic, Fulani, Kotokoli, Wolof, and French to discover how the students supported each academically by using their first languages. Through the sharing of their own specific experiences, the students provided the researcher with specific suggestions of how teachers can support the learning of students from different language groups and also develop sensitivity to lesser represented minority groups within a school.

Reflection Is When We Ask Ourselves: “What Can I Learn from This” As we consider other points of view, we try to make new connections and create new understandings. When we ask ourselves what we can learn from this, we are using the past experiences of others to improve the future learning of students in classrooms. Goulah and Soltero capture the transformation that teachers can experience when they carry forward their learning from a graduate program. In their chapter, Reshaping the Mainstream Education Climate through Bilingual-Bicultural Education, they point out the changes their students made in their teaching practices and their advocacy practices for emergent bilinguals as a result of what they learned in their graduate studies. The study also brought out the frustrations of the students as they reflected on their learning and understandings of the needs of bilingual learners and the lack of changes they saw in the ways that other teacher education programs were structured and the ways emergent bilinguals were served in schools. In his study, Hinton reflected on the results of his research, which showed that it is not effective to label a program as bilingual, but then teach in English only. Hinton’s study of a Texas school district demonstrates why a bilingual program can be a de facto monolingual program and what the consequences can be. Although only a study of one district, “We Only Teach in English”: An Examination of Bilingual-in-Name-Only Classrooms is a call for the effective use of the first language in bilingual programs in general to improve the academic success and increase the graduation rates of emergent bilingual students. The learning, which readers will take from Musanti, is from the value and importance of understanding literacy and biliteracy development.

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In her chapter, “Porque se´ dos idiomas.” Biliteracy Beliefs and Bilingual Preservice Teacher Identity, Musanti takes readers inside her literacy/biliteracy class, and readers come to know the Latino/a bilingual education preservice students’ views of themselves as learners, as future teachers, and as speakers of Spanish. Rodrı´ guez and Musanti challenge readers to learn effective practices to teach content in bilingual classrooms, and more specifically, to teach the academic language of Spanish in content areas. In their chapter, Preparing Latina/o Bilingual Teachers to Teach Content in Spanish to Emergent Bilingual Students on the US Mexico Border, the authors’ reflect on their research, and readers come to see how these future teachers living along the Mexico and Texas border translanguage and come to value their own bilingualism. In A Self-Study of Teacher Educator Practice: Strategies and Activities to Use with Authentic Texts, Soto shares the ways in which she supported teacher candidates in their planning of literacy activities grounded in authentic texts. As her preservice teachers used authentic literature and employed strategies they had learned in their teacher education classes, they reflected on the effectiveness of the strategies and, in some cases, revised and adapted the strategies to meet individual student’s needs. In their chapter Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me This Before? Spezzini, Austin, and Prado focus on how teachers applied their learning after they had experienced a long distance graduate program grounded in learning communities. The teacher educators in this research project wanted to know if the coursework and professional development experiences they provided helped the teachers better serve emergent bilingual students. The former students identified reflective collaboration as key to the program. In Monolingual Teacher Candidates Promoting Translingualism: A Selfstudy of Teacher Education Practices Project, Schwarzer and Fuchs provide readers with a deeper understanding of the power of translingualism. Through the description of three student projects a Sociocultural Reflection project, a Community Study, and, a Linguistic Landscape project, students come to value the multilingualism of their communities. This S-STEP research project provides teacher educators with theoretically grounded reflective approaches to research.

Reflection Is When We Ask Ourselves: “What WAS my Role in All of This?” This is probably the most difficult question of all, when speaking of reflection. It is important that reflection takes readers to consider their own

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teaching practices in light of what they read. The metaphor of a mirror can be helpful in consideration of the definition of reflection. Lo´pez and Assaf in their chapter, Developing Deeper Understandings of Diversity: Service Learning and Field Experiences Combine for Generative Learning of Bilingual/ESL Preservice Teachers, highlight the significance of “layering of learning.” As preservice teachers participated in their field experiences and service learning, they became more aware of the diversity of their students and their students’ needs. The student teachers came to understand their role in addressing the needs of their students as they participated in the service learning and field experiences, and their reflections on these experiences led to changed practices. Through their work on a five-year research project Ostorga and Farruggio were able to see how helping preservice teachers implement best practices for emergent bilinguals led to these future teachers’ understandings of themselves and their students as emerging bilinguals. In their chapter, Discovering Best Practices for Bilingual Teacher Preparation: A Pedagogy for the Border, the authors report on the preservice teachers’ reflections and clearly show how the teachers looked at their roles in teaching and advocating for their students. They also consider how the attitudes of all the faculty in a teacher education program toward first language use affects student teachers. As I reflect on the definitions of reflection and the chapters I categorized under each, it is clear to me that it is possible to move a chapter from one group to another and that many of the chapters fall in one way or another into any and all of the four descriptors.

CONCLUSION The teacher educators in these volumes have reflected on their own practice as well as the practice of the preservice and inservice teachers they work with and, in doing so, help readers reflect on their practices, values, and understandings of emergent bilinguals.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I want to thank the 24 teachers of ESLM2 2014 Curriculum, Methods, & Assessment for ESL/Bilingual Education, The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), Global Education, Mallorca, Spain. Joan Wink

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REFERENCES Wink, J. (2011). Critical pedagogy: Notes from the real world. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Zembylas, M. (2010). Teachers’ emotional experiences of growing diversity and multiculturalism in schools and the prospects of an ethic of discomfort. Teaching and Teachers: Theory and Practice, 16(6), 703 716.

ABOUT THE EDITORS Yvonne S. Freeman and David E. Freeman are professors emeriti at The University of Texas at Brownsville. Their research focuses on effective education for emergent bilinguals. They present regularly at international, national, and state conferences. The Freemans have published books, articles, and book chapters jointly and separately on the topics of second language teaching, biliteracy, bilingual education, linguistics, and second language acquisition. Their newest books are Essential Linguistics: What Teachers Need to Know to Teach Reading, ESL, Spelling, and Grammar (2nd ed., 2014); Between Worlds: Access to Second Language Acquisition (3rd ed., 2011); Academic Language for English Language Learners and Struggling Readers (2009); The revised translation of La ensen˜anza de la lectura y la escritura en espan˜ol y en ingle´s en clases bilingu¨es y de doble inmersio´n (2009); and English Language Learners: The Essential Guide (2007).

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS Julia S. Austin is Director of Educational Services in the Graduate School at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She initiated the ESL teacher certification program in 2001 and currently teaches a practicum seminar for ESL master’s students, teaching methods for university instructors, and grant writing for researchers. She also directs national professional development grants to train teachers in effective instruction for emergent bilinguals. Her research focuses on how content teachers learn to work effectively with their emergent bilingual students and also how they help their colleagues through collaborative mentoring and one-on-one professional development. Katherine Barko-Alva is a Ph.D. candidate and McKnight Doctoral Fellow in the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida where she has been an instructor in the area of ESL/Bilingual education. She has presented at state, national, as well as international conferences. She has worked as a bilingual research assistant at a Dual Language program in Florida and collaborated on designing and implementing professional development for Dual Language teachers. Currently, she is working on finalizing her dissertation. Layne J. Crawford is an earth science teacher at Vista Del Sol High School in southern Arizona. She studied geology and education at the University of Arizona. She worked with her coauthor as she studied language use in her high school classroom. She is interested in linguistic anthropology and social justice within the context of science education and how these disciplines relate to her students’ multicultural identities. Ester de Jong is Professor in the area of ESOL and Bilingual Education and Director of the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. Her research interests include language policy, bilingual education, and mainstream teacher preparation for bilingual learners with a special focus on two-way immersion education. Her book, Foundations of Multilingualism in Education: From Principles to

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Practice (Caslon Publishing), focuses on working with multilingual children in K-12 schools. Ann E. Ebe is Director of Bilingual Education and Associate Professor of Literacy Education in the Graduate School of Education at Hunter College in New York City. Dr. Ebe teaches graduate courses in literacy and biliteracy. Her primary research interests include exploring the reading process of bilingual students and the use of culturally relevant texts to support literacy development. Her book on the teaching of reading is entitled Insight from the Eyes: The Science of Effective Reading Instruction (Heinemann). She is also the co-author of the Rigby professional development seminar STEEL: Strategic Teaching Essentials for English Learners. Jason Goulah is Associate Professor of Bilingual-Bicultural Education and Director of the Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education at DePaul University in Chicago. He is also Director of Bilingual-Bicultural Education and World Languages Education at DePaul University. His research interests include transformative world language learning; Makiguchi and Ikeda studies in education; and language, culture, identity, and new literacies. His scholarship has appeared in multiple edited volumes and scholarly journals. He is the editor of Daisaku Ikeda, Language and Education (Routledge, 2013) and (with Andrew Gebert) Makiguchi Tsunesaburo (1871 1944): Philosophy in Context (Routledge, 2013). He received the 2009 Stephen A. Freeman Award for best language education research article of the year. Kip Austin Hinton is an assistant professor of Bilingual, Biliteracy and Intercultural Studies in the Department of Language, Literacy, and Intercultural Studies at the University of Texas at Brownsville. He teaches undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral courses in bilingual education, linguistics, assessment, sociocultural foundations, and research methodology. His research interests include educational equity, multiliteracies, borderlands, and race. He is an active advocate for immigrant and language rights. Sandra Mercuri is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Masters in Bilingual Education Program at University of Texas, Brownsville. Her research interests include professional development for teachers of emergent bilinguals and the academic language of science. Dr. Mercuri works extensively in dual language schools and presents regularly at international, national, and regional conferences. She is the author of Supporting Bilingual Learners’ Literacy Practices Through Science: The Challenge of Teaching Science in a Time of Accountability (Lambert) and coauthor of

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Research-based Strategies for English Language Learners and Dual Language Essentials (Heinemann). Brendan H. O’Connor is Assistant Professor of Transborder Culture, Applied Linguistics, and Learning in the School of Transborder Studies at Arizona State University. He is a linguistic anthropologist of education whose interests include classroom interaction, race and racialization in discourse, linguistic landscapes, and the cultural context of schooling in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. He has published on these topics in books and journals and presents at national and international conferences. Josephine Prado is Assistant Professor of English Language Learner Education in the School of Education at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She teaches graduate courses for the ESL master’s program in grammar, second language acquisition, multicultural society, and programs and policies. She also manages a national professional development grant to train teachers in the effective instruction of emergent bilinguals. Her research focuses on language use, identity, the relationship between school and community, and how content teachers learn to work effectively with their emergent bilingual students. Alma D. Rodrı´ guez is Associate Professor and Chair of the Language, Literacy, and Intercultural Studies Department at the University of Texas at Brownsville. She has over 15 years of experience working with Hispanic emergent bilinguals in the United States at all levels, elementary, secondary, and higher education. She has held teaching as well as administrative positions at the elementary and secondary levels in schools with high numbers of emergent bilinguals. Currently, as a teacher educator, Dr. Rodrı´ guez specializes in the preparation of bilingual and ESL teachers at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She has published articles and book chapters on bilingual teacher education in English and Spanish. Cecilia Silva is a Professor of Bilingual/English as a Second Language education at Texas Christian University. Her research interests focus on the integration of language, literacy and concept development. She presents regularly at local, regional, national, and international conferences on topics of literacy and academic literacy for emergent bilingual students. She is coauthor of numerous journal articles and book chapters as well as books including Teaching the Dimensions of Literacy, Cases of Successful Literacy Teachers, and Curricular Conversations: Themes in Multilingual and Monolingual Classrooms. Over the past 20 years she has worked with teacher preparation programs.

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Kathy Horak Smith is an assistant professor in the Mathematics Department at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, TX. Her work focuses on mathematics education for pre-service teachers. She has over 15 years’ experience working with teachers on integrating mathematics, science, and language and emerging from this work is over a dozen publications and approximately 50 professional and teacher practice presentations. Sonia W. Soltero is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Leadership, Language and Curriculum, and former Director of the Bilingual-Bicultural Education Graduate Program at DePaul University in Chicago. She has written articles, books, and handbooks on bilingual and ELL education as well as current Latino education issues. She has authored two books: Dual Language: Teaching and Learning in Two Languages (Pearson) and School-Wide Approaches to Educating English Language Learners (Heinemann). She has been involved with dual and bilingual education for over 25 years as a dual language teacher, professor, professional developer, and researcher. Susan Spezzini is Associate Professor of English Language Learner Education in the School of Education at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She teaches courses in phonology for the ESL master’s program and in culturally/linguistically responsive instruction for the EdS program in teacher leadership. She also directs national professional development grants to train teachers in effective instruction for emergent bilinguals. Her research focuses on how content teachers learn to work effectively with their emergent bilingual students and also how they help their colleagues through collaborative mentoring and one-on-one professional development. Molly Weinburgh is the William L. & Betty F. Adams Chair of Education and Director of the Andrews Institute of Mathematics & Science Education. Her honors include the Chancellor’s Distinguished Achievement as a Creative Teachers and Scholar and American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in science education, non-majors biology, and directs the Ph.D. in Science Education. Her research interests and publications include equity issues in science education and inquiry-based instruction. Her recent research focuses on academic language acquisition and conceptual understanding in science by emergent bilinguals. Dawn Wink is Director and Associate Professor of the Department of Teacher Education at Santa Fe Community College. Wink’s work explores

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the tensions and beauty of language, culture, and place. Her publications include Meadowlark and Teaching Passionately: What’s Love Got to Do With It? co-authored with Joan Wink. Joan Wink is a professor emerita of California State University (CSU), Stanislaus and is an adjunct professor at Black Hills State University and The College of New Jersey, Global Education program. Partially retired, she lives on a cattle ranch in South Dakota. Her publications, blog, and newsletter are available at www.JoanWink.com Heather Homonoff Woodley is an Assistant Clinical Professor of TESOL, Bilingual and Foreign Language Education at New York University, Steinhardt. Dr. Woodley teaches courses in teacher action-research and multicultural education. Her work focuses on meeting the academic, linguistic, and social-emotional needs of emergent bilinguals, particularly Muslim immigrant youth who speak less common languages. Woodley’s research takes a pedagogical approach to arts-based research, using visual and performing arts to spark and build on youth voices in classroom spaces. She has published work exploring multilingual classroom practices and arts as social justice education.