Browsing by Subject "Bilingual teacher preparation"

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A snapshot of Texas bilingual preparation programs
(2022-07-01) De La garza, Sarah A.; Reyes, Pedro, 1954-; DeMatthews, David E; Valenzuela, Angela; Salinas, Cinthia
Extant research on bilingual teacher preparation is growing but limited. The purpose of my study was to analyze bilingual program structures and the experiences of bilingual preservice candidates. The following research questions guided my study: (1) What are the most common structures of bilingual teacher preparation programs in Texas related to English learner student needs? (2) How, if at all, do programs vary in their structures around knowledge of cultural and linguistic diversity? (3) How, if at all, do programs vary in their structures around knowledge of linguistics? The study employed a 2-stage exploratory sequential design that involved interviews with bilingual program directors and an extensive document analysis of program documents and syllabi. This study also addressed a gap in the literature through a multi-institutional case study, the findings of which were based on a sample of 7 bilingual preparation programs in Texas. The findings to the first research question describe how various curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, and faculty structures impact the state’s bilingual preparation programs. These structures respond to state policies such as the passage of H.B. 3 and H.B. 3217 in 2019, existing certification exam requirements for bilingual preservice candidates, and the new clinical residency model. The findings also illustrate the programs’ dependence on adjunct faculty to teach general preparation courses. Bilingual candidates have mixed access to tenure-track or tenured faculty for specialized bilingual courses. The findings of the second and third research questions illuminate how programs varied in their structures of knowledge of cultural diversity, linguistic diversity, and linguistics. Some programs were more intentional about addressing cultural diversity from a political or intersectional lens than others. Moreover, programs varied in their attention to the English Language Proficiency Standards and emergent bilinguals’ levels of English proficiency. While the document analysis showed variation in how programs addressed candidates’ knowledge of Spanish language structures, few differences emerged in what bilingual candidates learned about English language structures. This manuscript concludes with implications to consider in the policy, practice, theoretical, and research areas. These recommendations include longitudinal studies and revision of existing certification exam policies.
Creating border crossing spaces for decolonizing critical literacy encounters in teacher preparation
(2021-05-06) Batista-Morales, N. S.; Salinas, Cinthia; Worthy, Jo; Medina, Carmen L.; Abril-González, Patricia; Wetzel, Melissa; DeLissovoy, Noah
Ultimately, this research study aimed to provide pathways for children of Color to engage in transformative literacy experiences that go well beyond developing basic, mechanical reading skills, to have access to learn in literacy classrooms that center opportunities for understanding and critiquing of their sociopolitical realities and colonial histories. In order to do that we need to understand the ways in which we can best prepare teachers to respond, include and engage with contemporary socio political, economic, and environmental realities in their literacy classrooms during increasingly difficult times in communities of Color. Guided by a critical case study methodology, this project sought out to answer two research questions: What discourses emerge from the deliberate cross-context collaboration of preservice teachers while learning about critical literacies and anti-colonial frameworks? And, how does a transnational collaboration, across teacher preparation programs in Texas and Puerto Rico, support preservice teachers’ understandings and applications of anti-colonial theories and methods? By bringing together critical literacy and de/anti-colonial theoretical frameworks, I learned that the most common discourses within the synchronous class discussions were the awakenings the preservice teachers experienced, how they participated in restrictions and ruptures through the possibilities of engaging in this work in elementary classrooms, and lastly how they held onto the double narrative argument. Regarding the collaboration in itself, my findings revealed the role of the collaboration, the teacher educators, and preservice teacher in the learning that occurred across contexts. Recommendations include a centering of voices of Color in the field of literacy teacher preparation, an openness to the ways in which preservice teachers will define colonialism in their own terms, and space to center emotion as a central to learning how to become critical de/anti-colonial literacy educators.