Teacher-preparation programs in U.S. universities mostly prepare homogeneous groups of candidates: female, middle class, and White (Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2005; Darling-Hammond & Cobb, 1996; Lortie, 1975; Zumwalt & Craig, 2005). Traditional university programs reproduce the values of future teachers (Cushner & Brennan, 2007; Gay, 2000) who are unaware, personally and academically (Myles, Cheng, & Wang, 2006; Ng, 2003), of diversity in schools. A teacher’s lack of understanding about racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse students is “oftentimes substituted by stereotypes and pre-or misconceptions” (Ng, 2003, p. 383). Future teachers become reluctant to work with minority children, low-income families, and English language learners.

Urban schools in the United States experience a shortage of teachers who are willing to work with diverse populations (Casey, 2004; Ng, 2003; Valdés, 1996). The teacher shortage is mostly seen in the West and the Southern states. There is a high demand for bilingual (Spanish-English) teachers to work with Spanish-speaking students. Similarly, the demand for minority teachers grows as the number of minority students increases (Casey, 2004). Alternate certification routes beyond four-year college programs have surged across the United States (Humphrey & Wechsler, 2007; Stafford & Shaughnessy, 2006) as a quick solution. Candidates take their first preparation courses in the summer and become employable right away. The teaching certification is usually completed within a year.

Evidence suggests that alternative certified teachers are from more diverse backgrounds (Humphrey & Wechsler, 2007) than traditionally certified candidates. Some programs recruit people “with outstanding credentials and bilingual skills as prospective ESL teachers” (Cantu & Solis, 2006, p. 3). Some candidates are recent college graduates or adults who had previous careers in fields other than teaching. Efforts to attract candidates to teach in bilingual programs have gone beyond U.S. borders and into Spain and Mexico.

MOVING TO THE UNITED STATES

In 1993, my husband, a U.S. citizen, and I decided to move from Mexico to Texas. I was born and raised in Mexico, where I taught seven years in public elementary schools and three in a private secondary school. My schooling and teacher credentials were from Mexican institutions. Once in the United States, I had to obtain a Texas state teacher’s certificate before I could apply for jobs. The most viable option was to attend an alternative certification program.

I joined one of the first cohorts in the local alternative certification program (Education Service Center Region XIII, 2011). Upon joining this program I met six classmates who had just been recruited from Mexico. My new classmates received the promise of a future job and help to obtain working visas. My visa was processed through my husband’s citizenship. We all became a cohort of professional immigrants in the United States and began our training in June. Just two months after arriving in the United States, we were hired by schools as bilingual/ESL teachers.

Living for the first time in the United States presented unexpected situations I had to overcome. I had to learn some skills that were just a matter of new logistics. For example, how to follow specific traffic rules when driving. Other situations were more complex, like going to the doctor and explaining in English, my second language, the progress of my pregnancy. Learning new routines was overwhelming. In addition, my new social environment presented tensions between immigrants and U.S citizens, people of color and Whites, English speakers and non-English speakers. I was quickly displaced from my comfort zone.

I was hired to teach lower elementary at a school with 84.5 percent of low-income families. The student population was 68.9 percent Hispanic, 12.4 percent African American, and 16.7 percent White; 29.7 percent of these students were considered English language learners (Texas Education Agency, 2011). Of the 19 students I had my first teaching year, 15 were from Mexico, recent immigrants and second generation; three were African-American; and one was White.

I was expected to teach all subject areas ―language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies―in English. I also needed to teach English as a second language to students who spoke Spanish. My students’ English skills varied from beginning to advanced. It was a challenging load to juggle.

IN SEARCH OF A PERSONAL IDENTITY

I felt the insecurity of belonging to a place and unfamiliar environment as a professional worker. As a Mexican, I felt at home when speaking Spanish with some of my students and their families, but a stranger beyond that. I was also looking for an identity as a new immigrant in the country (Olsen, 2000; Vertoveck, 2001)―an identity that would help me understand the displacement I felt in the United States.

In a study of foreign-trained teachers in Canada, Myles et al. (2006) found that “minority candidates were aware of their vulnerability and ‘otherness’ as new immigrants and/or people of color . . . and worried about their English language proficiency; they were aware of their accent” (p. 236). In my case, I learned English as an adult in a language academy in Mexico. My English was adequate for social situations, but not strong enough to feel confident in my new professional setting. During my job interview, I was assured that my Spanish skills were an asset. Indeed they were for my Spanish-speaking students, but not for the rest of my class. I felt as if I were learning English along with some of my students.

My first year in the United States was a complex time when personal transitions were embedded into the professional. I did not understand who I was. Was I a bilingual/ESL teacher, minority educator, or a recent professional immigrant? Zeichner and Gore (1990) argued that “skills that candidates learn in the practicum are strongly influenced by what they bring to the experience, such as their assumptions, conceptions, beliefs, dispositions and capabilities” (as cited in Myles et al. 2006, p. 234). Up to now, my point of reference was limited to schools in Mexico.

My English skills needed to be honed by expanding my vocabulary to include the vernacular of my profession. Baines, McDowell, and Foulk (2001) explained that “placing an inexperienced alternatively certified teacher in a classroom may solve momentary staffing needs . . . but the iatrogenic consequence of this quick-fix mentality is that student morale and achievement may suffer” (p. 36). Accordingly, I felt unprepared to teach. I was not alone in these feelings. My colleagues from Mexico were experiencing similar sentiments of inadequacy and displacement.

Myles et al. (2006) identified four challenging areas for foreign-trained teachers: adapting to a different school system and philosophy of teaching; becoming proficient in the English language; establishing a healthy relationship with a mentor; and acquiring experience in elementary education. What I found myself lacking, besides English, was a connection with the school system and new teaching practices. I felt a lack of confidence in my first year and it became evident in my classroom.

CHALLENGES IN WORKING WITH DIVERSE STUDENTS

Ten months after moving to the United States, I passed the exams that officially certified me as a bilingual/ESL elementary school teacher. I felt both successful at obtaining my new certification and frustrated at not fully understanding how to teach in my new school. Previous courses in pedagogy or experience working with children are not required for enrollment in alternative certification programs (Baines et al., 2001). I had previous teaching experience but there was a dissonance between my past experience and my present situation. This was the first time I faced a widely diverse group of students. Humphrey and Wechsler (2007) noted that “the neediest students in the most troubled schools end up with the least prepared teachers” (p. 492). This was my case. I knew that my students presented different needs, but I did not know how to address them within my classroom.

My previous courses in pedagogy from Mexico helped me to understand general issues of child development, but I lacked training in bilingual and ESL methodologies. Alternative certification programs do not include understanding of cultural diversity, class, and race (Myles et al., 2006) as part of their curriculum. Even traditional college programs for future teachers do not address “issues of race, language, and culture” (Beynon, Ilieva, & Dichupa, 2001, p. 141). I was unable to mediate disputes between the different racial groups represented in my classroom. After 10 years of working in Mexico I had felt like an experienced teacher. Now, set down in this foreign environment, with inadequate preparation, I felt again like a first-year teacher. My background as a Mexican helped only some students, mostly my newly arrived Mexican students, but I was disappointingly helpless with the rest of my class.

In my new school, 5.9 percent were beginning teachers and 25.6 percent teachers had been teaching from one to five years (Texas Education Agency, 2011). About a third of teachers had minimal experience. Talking about our experiences in our first year of teaching became the focus of conversations with my peers in the training program. Issues of transitioning to a new country, working in a new school, and learning an unfamiliar system became intertwined. How to move forward? Regaining my confidence as a teacher came from the support of a colleague, an experienced teacher mentor assigned to me by the school.

BENEFITS OF A MENTOR PROGRAM

Mentor programs are one way to support new teachers in increasing self-esteem, teaching skills, and belonging experience. Casey (2004) emphasizes that there is a high need for ongoing support to become an effective teacher, especially in urban schools that face large numbers of new teachers who come from a wide range of teacher preparation programs. Learning from others about the school culture and moving toward full participation was vital for me. I had to reframe my outsider perception of the U.S. educational system. I had to become an insider of my new teaching experience.

Conversations with my Mexican peers in the program became my first informal mentoring process. Exchanging ideas and knowing that I was not alone provided emotional support. My assigned mentor provided me with insights about the school system. I began by studying the grade-level curriculum. I learned about procedures for taking my students to the cafeteria and school buses, resources that in Mexico were available only in private schools. My mentor taught me how to organize extracurricular activities. I learned how to arrange my classroom with materials I had never seen in public schools in Mexico. My mentor helped me to understand the school district procedures and walked me through official documentation.

At the same time, I became keenly aware of my new surroundings and how other teachers conducted their practice. I would pay attention to the technical words teachers used and I would practice phrases in my classroom. I immersed myself in the mentor-apprentice relationship. Looking back, my Mexican peers and my school mentor helped me to improve my confidence in teaching and to begin understanding the complexity of becoming a bilingual/ESL teacher. They provided me with time for conversations, questions, and insights.

CONCLUSION

The teacher shortage in U.S. schools is addressed by hiring teachers through alternative certification routes. The programs recruit Spanish-speaking candidates beyond U.S. borders to become bilingual/ESL teachers. Once teachers move to the United States, they face challenges living in a new country. Teachers are expected to work with students from diverse social, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds. In addition, they need to have knowledge of language acquisition processes and teaching strategies to serve English language learners. Crossing blurry social, cultural, and linguistic lines becomes harder than crossing defined geographical borders between Mexico and the United States. Not being adequately prepared becomes a disservice to students in schools. A mentoring program is essential in supporting first-year teachers. Effective mentoring contributes to the success, effectiveness, and retention of teachers in schools.

REFERENCES

Baines, L., McDowell, J., & Foulk, D. (2001). One step forward, three steps backward: Alternative certification programs in Texas, Georgia, and Florida. Educational Horizons, 80(1), 32-37.

Beynon, J., Ilieva, R., & Dichupa, M. (2001). Teachers of Chinese ancestry: Interaction of identities and professional roles. Teaching Education, 12, 133-151.

Cantu, L., & Solis, A. (2006). Promoting excellence in teaching through a highly qualified teaching force. IDRA Newsletter, XXXIII. San Antonio, TX: Intercultural Development Research Association.

Casey, P. J. (2004). Providing support for first year, alternatively certified, bilingual teachers in high poverty, urban elementary schools (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Texas at Austin.

Cushner, K., & Brennan, S. (2007). Intercultural student teaching: A bridge to global competence. Lanham, MD: Littlefield.

Darling-Hammond, L., & Bransford, J. (2005). Preparing teachers for a changing world: What teachers should learn and be able to do. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Darling-Hammond, L., & Cobb, V. L. (1996). The changing context of teacher education. In F. Murray (Ed.), The teacher’s educator handbook: Building a knowledge base for the preparation of teachers (pp. 64-62). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Education Service Center Region XIII. (2011). Educator certification program in Texas. Retrieved from http://www5.esc13.net/certification/teachercertification.html

Gay, G. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Humphrey, D. C., & Wechsler, M. E. (2007). Insights into alternative certification: Initial findings from a national study. Teachers College Record, 109, 483-530.

Lortie, D. C. (2002). School teacher (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.

Myles, J., Cheng, L., & Wang, H. (2006). Teaching in elementary school: Perceptions of foreign-trained teacher candidates in their teaching practicum. Teacher and Teacher Education, 22, 233-245.

Ng, J. C. (2003). Teacher shortages in urban schools. The role of traditional and alternative certification routes in filling the voids. Education and Urban Society, 35, 380-398.

Olsen, L. (2000). Learning English and learning America: Immigrants in the center of a storm. Theory into Practice, 39, 196-202.

Stafford, D., & Shaughnessy, M. F. (2006). An interview with Delia Stafford about alternative certification. North American Journal of Psychology, 8, 497-502.

Texas Education Agency. (2011). 1993-1994 elementary school data file. Academic Excellence Indicator System. Retrieved from http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/aeis/94/index.html

Valdés, G. (1996) Con respeto: Bridging the distances between culturally diverse families and schools: An ethnographic portrait. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Vertoveck, S. (2001). Transnationalism and identity. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 27, 573-582.

Zumwalt, K., & Craig, E. (2005). Teachers’ characteristics: Research on the demographic profile. In M. Cochran-Smith & K. Zeichner (Eds.), Studying teacher education: The report of the AERA Panel on Research and Teacher Education (pp. 111-156). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

M. Luisa Illescas-Glascock has been a teacher for 27 years. She has taught in Mexico and the United States and currently teaches in China. Her research interests focus on young English language learners and sociocultural identity of teachers working abroad. She holds a PhD in cultural studies in education from the University of Texas at Austin.