The Coconstruction of a Community of Practice in a Fourth-Grade Bilingual Classroom

• In Event: Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: Pedagogies of Multiple Languages and Literacies

Abstract

Using theoretical and methodological tools from Communities of Practice and Sociocultural Learning research, this study documented how a bilingual teacher and her students co-constructed a community of practice during science class. Analysis revealed that through the integration of literacy practices with science, the students acquired ways to write, talk and read adopting the science discourse. Important connections between home and school were present as a component of this community of practice. Engaging in the work of doing science bilingually became an essential characteristic of the co-construction of the community of practice. Implications for bilingual education and elementary science education include acknowledging the importance of utilizing all available linguistic resources to gain content-area knowledge and develop academic biliteracies.

Author

• Maria-Antonieta Avila, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee