EL Summer Symposium 2019

All teachers must enter the classroom with pedagogical preparation for working with multilingual learners students (Gándara & Escamilla, 2017; Garcia & Kleifgen, 2018) as well as dispositions necessary for critical, reflective, and responsive practices (Motha, 2014). More specifically, content-area instructors should have not just strong pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman, 1983), but also have specific training on supporting multilingual learners in their respective content areas, including developing language objectives, implementing differentiated instruction and assessment, and creating culturally responsive settings for learning; English Language Development instructors in Sheltered English Immersion programs and Bilingual Education programs should be verse in differentiating across the broad range of English proficiency levels (Goldenberg, 2013), working with various language backgrounds (Swan, 2001), and familiar with different needs of students with varying educational experience and migrant backgrounds (Office of English Language Learning & Migrant Education, 2008); and Dual Language and World Language instructors need specialized preparation in language development and content development in the respective language of instruction (Baker & Wright, 2017). In practice, this translates into curricular and instructional practices that are informed by a firm foundation in curricular standards, mechanics of the English language, understanding the second language acquisition process, and a solid collection of research-based and culturally-relevant instructional tools for teaching multilingual students (Valdes, Kibler, & Walqui, 2013) alongsiderecognition of students’ cultural and linguistic capital (Gonzalez, Moll, Tenery, Rivera, Rendon, Gonzales, & Amanti, 1995) through pedagogical practices such as translanguaging pedagogy (Fu & Hadjioannou, 2019; Seltzer, Garcia, and Ibarra-Johnson, 2016) and anti-racist TESOL pedagogy (Motha, 2014). Unfortunately, multilingual learners are often in classrooms where their instructors do not have the appropriate or limited background knowledge and training (MA DESE, 2019) and/or do not utilize these practices (Lucas & Grinberg, 2008). In this talk, we will consider this current classroom context within established case law regarding the education of multilingual students (e.g., Lau v Nichols, 1974; Castañeda v Pckard, 1981). Participants will be challenged to ask themselves the following questions: What curricular and instructional practices are necessary for multilingual learners to receive effective and quality instruction? How can teachers deliver effective and quality instruction to multilingual students if they haven’t had adequate training? Do our current classroom settings violate Multilingual Learners’ Civil Rights?

How can classroom discussion really work as a tool for inviting all learners into rich academic discussions with their grade level peers? In their keynote address, Professors Andrea Bien and Catherine O'Connor take up this question by drawing on their collaborative work with BPS teachers and students. They will start from a place of recognizing the deeply complex work classroom discussion demands of teachers and students. Then they will unpack one particular type of discussion that has the potential to create openings for all students to participate. They will focus on the role of questions in expanding or limiting opportunities for access to both the discussion and to academic content. They will share cases of BPS teachers engaging together in cycles of planning, enacting, and reflecting on classroom discussions that support all learners. Professors Bien and O'Connor hope to contribute to teachers’ thinking about how to facilitate classroom discussions, while considering questions such as discussion about what, for whom and with whom? In addition, they will describe expanded possibilities for how teachers can do this intellectual work together.