Preparing culturally and linguistically responsive teachers of multilingual learners through teacher research

Kevin Donley; Sabrina Wesley-Nero; Crissa Stephens; Hina Ashraf; Douglas Reed

doi:10.54475/jlt.2023.032

Authors

Kevin Donley Georgetown University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2473-428X
Sabrina Wesley-Nero Georgetown University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3781-5273
Crissa Stephens Georgetown University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5761-8739
Hina Ashraf Georgetown University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4753-1493
Douglas Reed Georgetown University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54475/jlt.2023.032

Keywords:

teacher education, linguistically responsive pedagogy, culturally relevant pedagogy, multilingual learners, teacher research

Abstract

This article presents an overview of Project ELEECT (English Learners’ Educational Excellence Capitol Teacher Training Project), a U.S. Department of Education-funded program designed to prepare teachers in Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Pedagogy (CLRP) for multilingual learners (ML). The purpose of Project ELEECT is to promote educational justice for MLs by revising a Master of Arts + ESL Licensure program for pre-service teachers and creating a professional development program for in-service teachers. It prepares pre-service and in-service teachers of MLs in CLRP through teacher research, and specifically offers a novel professional learning tool, which we call Impact on Learning Studies (IOLS). This teacher research tool represents a framework for the systematic and intentional self-study of their teaching practices. In this article, we lay the foundations for a research agenda that investigates pre-service and in-service teachers’ understanding and implementation of CLRP, documents concrete examples of CLRP in various classroom contexts, and examines the efficacy of teacher research initiatives to prepare teachers in CLRP. Project ELEECT prepares teachers to invite students’ cultural and linguistic experiences into their classrooms, create spaces for CLRP, and foster critical consciousness in learning settings, thus taking a major shift towards cultivation of anti-racist dispositions in education.

Author Biographies

Kevin Donley, Georgetown University

Kevin Donley, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the MA in Educational Transformation Program at Georgetown University. He has previous experience as a secondary social studies and history teacher at a Spanish-English bilingual school in Quito, Ecuador. His research examines how teachers of multilingual learners navigate the complex personal, social, political, and curricular dimensions of language policy and literacy instruction. He primarily employs qualitative research methodologies to demonstrate how teachers draw on their practical experiences, knowledge, and judgment to implement culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogies for their multilingual learners, like translanguaging.
Email: kd847@georgetown.edu
Sabrina Wesley-Nero, Georgetown University

Sabrina Wesley-Nero, PhD, directs Georgetown University’s Program in Education, Inquiry and Justice and is head of the Teacher Preparation program in the MA in Educational Transformation (MAET) program. She has extensive experience in the field of education. She has taught in English as a Second Language, Spanish bilingual, Spanish immersion, and general education K-12 classrooms. She served as Director of Curriculum for the New Teacher Project in New York and Director of Research and Program Evaluation at Center for Inspired Teaching in Washington, DC. Her research focuses on the experiences of students who have historically been marginalized as a result of their racial, socioeconomic, cultural and linguistic identities; the teachers who serve these students; and the educational contexts in which these students thrive.
Email: sabrina.wesleynero@georgetown.edu
Crissa Stephens, Georgetown University

Crissa Stephens, PhD, is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the MA in Educational Transformation Program at Georgetown University. Her research centers on language and social justice. At its heart, her work is about speaking, listening, and being heard in interactions and institutions in the context of language policy and equity planning. Through community-engaged, critical ethnography and discourse analysis, she partners with communities such as newly-arrived multilingual mothers and their emergent bilingual children, youth of color in contexts of segregation, and equity-driven educators and policymakers.
Email: crissa.stephens@georgetown.edu
Hina Ashraf, Georgetown University

Hina Ashraf, PhD, is an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Linguistics, Initiative for Multilingual Studies, at Georgetown University. She is a Fulbright postdoctoral scholar, language curriculum advisor, and critically reflective practitioner. She teaches and writes about language policy in multilingual contexts and translingual discourses. Her research investigates the role of languages in either curtailing or affirming social, economic, and racial justice in society, and particularly among Indigenous, migrant, and other marginalized communities.
Email: hina.ashraf@georgetown.edu
Douglas Reed, Georgetown University

Douglas Reed, PhD, is the Director of the MA Program in Educational Transformation at Georgetown University. His teaching and research interests center on educational politics and policymaking, American political development and American constitutional law. He is also a co-founder and director of the Program on Education, Inquiry and Justice at Georgetown, a recently-created program that views education and the teaching arts as a central element of the liberal arts.
Email: reedd@georgetown.edu