A District's Language Policy Change: A Portrait of Bilingual Teachers

• In Event: 30.080 - Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: 30.080-18 - Policy, Equity, and Bilingual Students

Abstract

Educational policy decisions are often made by district or state officials, but it is teachers who ultimately have the agency to enact policies in their classrooms. Using qualitative methods, aided by the tool of portraiture (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Hoffmann Davis, 1997), this paper tells the story of bilingual teachers who navigated the change in their school district from bilingual education to all-English instruction, and are now reviving bilingualism. It examines teachers’ backgrounds, beliefs, experiences, as well as the district and school contexts, that informed the teachers’ decision-making regarding language policy in their classrooms. Findings iterate the importance of involving teachers in language policy decisions, and in considering the influences that teachers’ personal and professional experiences and beliefs have on their practice.

Author

• Jody A. Slavick, University of Colorado - Boulder