Gabriella Solano, Duval County Public Schools, New York, USA

Introduction

I have been involved in bilingual education my whole life. I am the child of Costa Rican immigrants, I was an exchange student in Argentina, I got my master’s in education with a bilingual education certificate, and I am currently in the process of renewing my teaching certificate after 4 years teaching Spanish and English to a group of culturally and linguistically diverse students in a dual language school. I have experienced bilingual education in the home, as a student, and as a teacher and have found that very little has changed.

As a child I remember stories of how my mother had to struggle to find her way in school as a recent immigrant expected to simply catch on. As a young student, most educators did not acknowledge my culture or inquire about my heritage. If they had any training in culturally responsive teaching, it was not apparent. As a preservice teacher, I observed teachers of diverse students discuss how to “fix” their lack of English instead of incorporate, embrace, and utilize the diverse set of skills and experiences their students had. As a master’s student, I conducted a research project about English language learner (ELL) education and found statistics showing general education teachers without an ELL-related endorsement or certification account for the largest number of teachers of ELLs (46,093). Fourteen districts collectively reported having more than 2,000 teachers who were ESL/bilingual endorsed or certified but not teaching ELLs. About half of the responding districts indicated that they either had an ELL teacher shortage or anticipated one in the following 5 years (Uro & Barrio, 2013).

Now, as I begin to renew my certificate and reflect on the past 4 years as a lead teacher, I see how my prior experiences and those of my family remain prevalent today. To recertify, the requirements for ESOL certification are minimal, the rhetoric and practices of many school districts convey the dominating idea that ELLs are deficient (Thomas & Collier, 2002), and the statistics I researched as a master’s student have moved only marginally.

How Do We Move Forward?

Despite this reality, I remain as motivated as I was when preparing to enter the teaching profession because what also remains unchanged are the exceptions to these unfortunate patterns and the hope that these outliers can become the norm. Thinking back to my life as a bilingual education student and teacher, it is true that my mother had to struggle in school without any ELL programs, but it is also true that she still remembers Mrs. Stern’s second grade classroom because Mrs. Stern encouraged her to write in Spanish and proudly displayed her work on the wall. It is true that most teachers refused to discuss my culture or any culture besides Western Europe, but it is also true that my high school teacher was fascinated by my time abroad as an exchange student and encouraged me to share my experiences and educate my peers, which was one of my first steps toward finding my passion for education. There is both quantitative and anecdotal evidence that current teachers walk into diverse classrooms every day without training, but it is also true that I hear ELLs correcting their teacher’s Spanish in the hallway because I have colleagues that set aside time for their Spanish-speaking students to teach them Spanish. It is true that I see more hands go up at trainings asking for materials in students’ native language.

All this makes me believe that, ultimately, it is true that teachers might be untrained, but that does not mean unwilling. We can’t wait for districts to require formal training. We have to learn from the outliers who might not have had the right textbook or may never have gone to an English language teaching–related professional development, but did see all their students as valid contributors to the classroom community. Instead of seeing a language barrier, they saw an opportunity to learn more and facilitate their students’ development into confident and proud bilingual and multicultural students. How is this done? I believe what we need are fewer scripts and more prompts. Less question and answer and more conversations. Less test score data and more observations and reflections. How do we figure out how to guide a student of any background? We get to know them. Of course, all teachers need ongoing professional development and training and should be receiving high-quality education specific to ELL education and culturally responsive teaching, but are we to wait for district policies to improve? We simply cannot afford to. Change begins with the Mrs. Sterns of the world. The power of talking to students and asking about not only where they come from but also who they are should not be underestimated (Claessens et. al, 2017).

The Power of Our Daily Practice: Small Changes Make Big Impacts

Instead of waiting for the opportunity to become an expert on ELL best practices, the focus should be on becoming an expert on your students and their specific literacy needs and how those needs are situated within their cultural and linguistic trajectories. Then, with this insight, teachers can and should pursue opportunities to learn and use research-based practices. This requires study of one’s own perceptions of ELL students as well as identification of critical literacy skills, interest in student's identities, and investigation of the cultural background that influences their unique characteristics and needs.

Culture in the classroom does not exclusively mean study of students’ home countries, rather it should emphasize students’ home experience by creating ongoing opportunities for students to have their voices heard in a classroom community (Whitsett & Hubbard, 2009). Posting a map in the classroom is an empty visual if students are not invited to infuse meaning into that map by sharing personal narratives in multiple and meaningful ways.

It is hard to quantify the instructional impact of teacher-student relationships, but that should not stop teachers from making it a priority (Muller, Katz, & Dance, 1999). Though instruction should be well planned, strategic, and focused on building academic skills and conceptual understandings, rapport with students should reflect a natural and genuine interest in who the student is and how they are growing (Claessens et. al, 2017). Development of pedagogical best practices should be occurring in tandem with understanding of students and one’s relationship to them.

Looking Forward

There are many suggestions and research findings that teachers should have the opportunity and requirement to learn, but first and foremost educators must understand their individual perspectives on ELL education and let that guide the learning experiences they engage in to increase their preparedness for effective teaching. There are not a certain number of years teaching nor a particular certification that merits a halt in professional development and personal growth. The needs of students are constantly changing, and teachers’ skills and understanding should be responding to those needs through those teachers seeking development as professionals and people.

We must believe in the value of bilingualism and biculturalism. It is not a question of mending an “issue” or “deficit”; it’s about ensuring that the opportunity to be bilingual is encouraged and facilitated through effective teaching and assessment. Regardless of content, grade, and district policy, true change for students and teachers begins with a genuine investment of time getting to know individual students and possessing an authentic interest in who they are.

I don’t know if in another 4 years the statistics will look different, and unjust policies will improve. I certainly hope they do. What I do believe is that the only way they will change is if we as educators change and strive to be the outliers; to curate our own professional development; to support and educate each other; and, most important, to show up every day and make it clear to students of all different nationalities, languages, and socioeconomic statuses that they are the priority and have just as much to teach as they do to learn.

References

Claessens, L. C. A., van Tartwijk, J., van der Want, A. C., Pennings, H. J. M., Verloop, N., den Brok, P. J., & Wubbels, T. (2017) Positive teacher–student relationships go beyond the classroom, problematic ones stay inside. The Journal of Educational Research, 110(5), 478–49.

Muller, C., Katz, S. R., & Dance, L. J. (1999). Investing in teaching and learning dynamics of the teacher-student relationship from each actor’s perspective. Urban Education, 34(3), 292–337.

Thomas, W., & Collier, V. (2002). A national study of school effectiveness for language

minority students’ long-term academic achievement. Santa Cruz, CA: Center for

Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence.

Uro, G., & Barrio, A. (2013). English language learners in America’s great city schools: Demographics, achievement, and staffing. Washington, DC: Council of the Great City Schools.

Whitsett, G., & Hubbard, J. (2009). Supporting English language learners in the elementary and secondary classrooms: How to get started. SRATE Journal,18(2), 41–47.