Incorporating Contextual Knowledge in Facilitating Professional Development for Teachers of Multilingual Learners

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

The proposed symposium focuses on the facilitation of professional learning for teachers of multilingual students. Facilitation is a key feature of professional learning (Borko, 2004; Grossman, Wineburg, & Woolworth, 2001) but has unfortunately received too little attention in a scholarly climate that tends to privilege analyses of outcomes over analyses of process (Knight & Wiseman, 2006). The purpose of the symposium is to investigate the intersection of local contexts and the facilitation of professional learning for teachers of multilingual students. More specifically, the sessions investigate different ways in which facilitators gain knowledge of local contexts (including school and district policies, community relations, and teaching practices) through intentional listening, and then use that knowledge to inform the professional learning they facilitate.

Sub Unit

• Division G - Social Context of Education / Division G - Section 3: Social Context of Multiple Languages and Literacies

Chair

• Mariana Castro, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Papers

• Deepening Teaching Practices: Examining the Roles of Hearing and Being Heard in Teachers' Concept Development - Kersti Tyson, University of New Mexico; Casandra Sisneros, University of New Mexico

• The Dialogical Process of Professional Learning: Transforming Practice With Teachers of Multilingual Students - Susana Ibarra Johnson, University of New Mexico

• The Role of Classroom Observations in the Facilitation of Professional Learning for Middle School Teachers - Daniella Molle, University of Wisconsin

• Attending to Context When Facilitating Professional Learning Focused on Continuous Improvement and Multilingual Learners - Amanda Nell Spalter, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Discussant

• Kathy Escamilla, University of Colorado - Boulder