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 four years of 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—yet have found that very little has changed.
The Rule
As a child, I heard stories of how my mother struggled in school. She was young when she immigrated to the United States and was expected to simply 'catch on' to English language and American schooling. As a young student myself, most of the educators I encountered 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 pre-service teacher, I observed teachers of linguistically diverse students discuss how to 'fix' their students' lack of English rather than 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 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, and that many districts have or anticipate having an ELL teacher shortage. Now, as I begin to renew my certificate and reflect on my past four years as a lead teacher, I see how my prior experiences and those of my family remain prevalent today. The requirements for ESOL recertification are minimal, and the statistics I researched as a master's student have only marginally improved, with many districts still operating from a deficit-based approach to English learners.
The Exceptions
Despite this reality, there are exceptions, and I have hope that these outliers can become the norm. 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 2nd grade classroom because Mrs. Stern encouraged her to write in Spanish and proudly displayed her work. It is true that most teachers refused to discuss my culture or any culture besides Western Europe. It is also true that one of my high school teachers encouraged me to educate my peers about my experiences as an exchange student abroad, which was one of my first steps toward finding my passion for education. There is both quantitative and anecdotal evidence that teachers walk into diverse classrooms every day without training, but it is also true that I hear ELL students correcting their teacher's Spanish in the hallway (I have colleagues who set aside time to learn Spanish from their students), and I see more hands go up at trainings asking for materials in students' native languages. All this makes me believe that, even if teachers are untrained, it does not mean they are unwilling.
Start with Relationships
We have to learn from the outliers who, instead of seeing a language barrier, saw instead an opportunity to learn more about students and facilitate their development into confident and proud bilingual and multicultural students. We need fewer scripts and more prompts, less Q&A and more conversation, fewer test scores and more observations and reflections. How do we figure out how to guide a student of any background? We get to know them. Change begins with the Mrs. Sterns of the world. We can't underestimate the power of talking to students and asking about not only where they come from, but also who they are.
Become an expert on your students and their specific literacy needs and how those needs are situated within their cultural and linguistic trajectories. With this insight teachers can and should pursue opportunities to learn and use research-based practices. Culture in the classroom does not exclusively mean the study of a student's home country; rather it should emphasize student's home experience by creating ongoing opportunities for students to have their voices heard in a classroom community. 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.
To See the Change, We Must Be the Change
We must believe in the value of bilingualism and biculturalism. It is not a question of fixing a 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 in getting to know individual students and possessing an authentic interest in who they are.
We can't afford to wait for districts to change; we educators must be the outliers who change the system from within by curating our own professional development, supporting and educating each other, and most importantly, showing up every day and making 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.
More on This Topic: Embracing ELLs' Home Languages in the Writing Workshop